BlackBerry Torch 9810: 3 things you should know

The BlackBerry® Torch™ smartphone family is welcoming a whole slew of new siblings today. In addition to the all-touch BlackBerry® Torch™ 9850 and 9860 smartphones, we also announced the BlackBerry® Torch™ 9810 smartphone, the evolution of the popular BlackBerry® Torch™ 9800 smartphone. #TeamBlackBerry members in North America will be able to purchase the BlackBerry 9810 smartphone from AT&T, Bell, Telus and Rogers. For more details on pricing and international availability, make sure to check out our BlackBerry Torch product page or contact your local carrier.
We asked Product Manager David to get the inside dirt on the 3 things you need to know about the BlackBerry Torch 9810 smartphone. Let’s do this!
1. The BlackBerry Torch 9810 is the BlackBerry Torch smartphone evolved
Our intention with the BlackBerry Torch 9810 smartphone was to build upon the success of the original BlackBerry Torch all-in-one design by combining powerful new hardware with the powerful new BlackBerry® 7 OS. The new BlackBerry Torch 9810 improves upon its predecessor, the BlackBerry Torch 9800, with a crisp new 3.2” inch touch screen with a VGA (600×480) resolution at 246 DPI (“dots per inch”), which is a great tip-off to the new hardware under the hood. The BlackBerry Torch 9810 smartphone also features a 1.2 GHz processer, a 5 MP camera with HD video recording, face detection and image stabilization, a digital compass and HSPA+ network support. Combined with the BlackBerry 7 OS, these new hardware features ensure that the BlackBerry 9810 smartphone is faster and more fluid than its predecessor.
We’ve also added subtle refinements to the traditional BlackBerry Torch casing, as well as its keypad. To top it off, we coated the BlackBerry Torch 9810 smartphone in a distinctive silver color that we feel reflects the power and performance of the device.

2. The BlackBerry Torch 9810 smartphone is a great blend of form and function
Unlike its new siblings, the all-touch BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 smartphones, the BlackBerry Torch 9810 smartphone features the original Torch’s popular full QWERTY keypad, touch screen, trackpad combination. With a touch screen larger than its new cousins, the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and BlackBerry 9930 smartphones, the BlackBerry Torch 9810 is a flexible device for people who require both form and function from their smartphone.
Like the other new all-touch BlackBerry Torch smartphones, the big, brilliant touch screen of the BlackBerry Torch 9810 is well-suited for 3D games, watching videos and browsing the web. If you need to get some work done on the go, that screen is also handy for viewing Microsoft® PowerPoint® and Microsoft Word documents with the free bundled Premium version of Docs to Go™. Of course, if you need to start editing those documents, or you want to fire off a few emails or BBM™ your friends, you can easily switch to portrait mode and slide out the full QWERTY keypad. The BlackBerry Torch 9810 smartphone’s HD camera captures photos or video and makes it easy to share both with friends via Facebook, Twitter, and BBM 6 (or possibly through that BBM 6-connected app you’ve downloaded). Regardless of your needs, the BlackBerry 9810 smartphone offers the flexibility to get it done.
3. The new BlackBerry 7 powers the BlackBerry Torch 9810
Like the all-touch BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860, the BlackBerry Torch 9810 smartphone is running the brand new BlackBerry 7 OS, and thus shares many of the same benefits. For starters this means a new and improved BlackBerry browser, optimized touch screen UI (“user interface”), BBM 6, hardware accelerated Liquid Graphics, and support for new apps like the Wikitude augmented reality browser on the BlackBerry App World™ storefront. Make sure to check out what my coworkers Sangita and Troy had to say about these BlackBerry 7 features in their BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 post, and stay tuned for a more in-depth overview from BlackBerry 7 Product Manager, Annu, in a future blog post.
For my money, my favorite BlackBerry 7 feature has to be the next generation BlackBerry browser. The BlackBerry browser is smooth and responsive, whether scrolling through web pages with your fingers or using the trackpad. Web pages load at tremendous speeds, and are naturally rendered as you’d expect to see them on your desktop browser, thanks to Liquid Graphics.

BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860: 5 things you should know

I’m happy to tell you about two new BlackBerry® 7 OS smartphones announced today, the all-touch BlackBerry® Torch™ 9850 and 9860 smartphones. #TeamBlackBerry members in North America will be able to purchase the BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphone from AT&T, Rogers, Telus and Bell, and the BlackBerry Torch 9850 smartphone from Sprint and U.S. Cellular. For more details on pricing and international availability, make sure to check out our BlackBerry Torch product page or contact your local carrier.
To ensure you have our patented Inside BlackBerry insight into these sweet all-touch BlackBerry 7 OS smartphones, I tapped Product Managers Sangita and Troy to list the 5 things you need to know about the BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860. Take it away, Sangita and Troy!
1. The all-touch BlackBerry Torch has a screen built for everything
With a 3.7” inch touch screen at a WVGA (800×480) resolution with 253 DPI (“dots per inch”), the BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 have the biggest BlackBerry® smartphone screens ever. These all-touch screens provide a sharp and crisp viewing experience to combine everything BlackBerry devices are known for – performance, security and reliability – with new user features like augmented reality apps and improved web browsing and multimedia experiences.
Personally, I love the BlackBerry Torch smartphone screen most for browsing the web with the next generation BlackBerry 7 browser. My news sites, shopping sites and my daily obsession, tech and lifestyle blogs, all render fast and look great on that big, beautiful screen. Of course using BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 smartphone touch screens to pan, zoom and scroll through my favorite websites is easy as well.
One design element to note with the all-touch BlackBerry Torch screen: we designed the face of the BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 smartphones to ‘fall over’ the device edge (something we call ‘The Waterfall’ internally), which lengthens the screen to provide a visual experience that works in landscape or portrait orientation.

2. The new BlackBerry Torch smartphone design is sculpted for touch
Our design goal with the all-touch BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 smartphones was to create a stylish look that sets the product apart in a field filled with boxy devices. The seamless front lens with ‘Waterfall’ ends offers a great visual experience and the sculpted back provides a perfect ergonomic fit, regardless of whether it’s used as a traditional phone (in portrait orientation) or like a gaming console or web browser (in landscape orientation).
Though there are many layers to the BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 smartphones design, they are integrated and flow one into the other. For example, the buttons on the side of the smartphone are simple to find with your fingers and provide quick access volume, mute and camera functionality, but are understated, so as not to interrupt the design. Another example would be the back housing of the BlackBerry Torch smartphone, which dips down to fit in the camera lens and flash, without impacting its form and feel in the palm of your hand.
Engineering the BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 smartphones to meet this vision wasn’t easy, and there were a number of occasions where it appeared that we might have to trade-off form for function. But our development teams rose to the challenge, and in the end, have delivered a product that is both aesthetically pleasing and incredibly functional for both personal and professional use.

3. The new BlackBerry Torch smartphone evolves the all-touch experience
We knew when designing the BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 smartphones that the touch screen user interface (“UI”) would have to be both refined and robust enough to support an all-touch device (it would be pretty hard to write an email otherwise, Ed.). Many improvements and enhancements have been made to the touch screen UI in the BlackBerry 7 OS that the BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 smartphones take full advantage of. These improvements vary from minor adjustments of touch sensitivity based upon screen location to redesigning the layout of the virtual keyboard for easier texting (I personally love the fact that symbols and numbers are now combined under one key). In addition, the predictive text algorithms have also been optimized to provide fewer, more targeted word choices for faster communications.
All these improvements combine holistically to ensure an efficient and intuitive experience when using the BlackBerry Torch smartphone, whether you’re BBM™ chatting with a friend or playing the latest game.

(YouTube link for easy mobile viewing)

4. The all-touch BlackBerry Torch smartphone is packed to the gills with new features, including an HD camera and Magnetometer
In addition to the large and crisp screen, the all-touch BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 smartphones have many hardware features new to BlackBerry smartphones, including an HD camera and magnetometer (also known as a “digital compass”). These features aren’t just for show, but allow BlackBerry smartphone users to create, consume and share great content on their device. Here are a few examples:
Camera – The BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 smartphone cameras supports HD recording at 720p to capture stunning videos to view on your BlackBerry smartphone, computer or HDTV. But my favorite feature has to be the 5MP, zero-shutter lag photo camera. I have a five-month-old son and my BlackBerry Torch smartphone (which is always with me) has been the perfect tool for me to capture those special moments. The ability to upload these photos from within the Camera app with a few clicks to Facebook® so I can virtually instantly share these moments with friends and family turns the BlackBerry Torch into something more than a smartphone for me.
Magnetometer – Combined with the Camera app and GPS, the magnetometer or digital compass on the BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 smartphones has enabled a new class of “augmented reality” applications on the BlackBerry platform. One example is the Wikitude augmented reality browser, which will be available on the BlackBerry App World™ storefront at launch. The Wikitude browser combines real and virtual worlds via the Camera viewfinder to provide immediate and relevant data about one’s surroundings. One great feature of the Wikitude browser is its integration with BBM 6. This (opt-in) feature allows you to see the location of your BBM 6 contacts in real-time and spontaneously arrange to meet for coffee if you happen to be in the same ‘hood. See the video above for an example.

5. The new BlackBerry 7 OS powers the all-touch BlackBerry Torch smartphone
Together with the powerful hardware found in the BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 smartphone, the new BlackBerry 7 OS offers a variety of performance and usability enhancements resulting in a truly wonderful user experience. Annu plans to talk about BlackBerry 7 in more detail in an upcoming post, so we will highlight one specific aspect of BlackBerry 7: something we call ‘Liquid Graphics’.
From the ground up, the software architecture of BlackBerry 7 has been redesigned to maximize the use of hardware acceleration and graphical fidelity. This optimization allows for rich graphics, smooth animations and a fluid touch experience. Liquid Graphics touches much of the features discussed above, from the new BlackBerry browser to the all-touch UI to 3rd party applications like the Wikitude browser or 3D games. Combined with the large screen, Liquid Graphics provides a responsive and striking graphical experience for BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 smartphone users.
Please post a comment and let Troy and Sangita know what you think of the new all-touch BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 smartphones, and don’t hesitate to ask questions about each device!

Check out the Global BlackBerry PlayBook Community

Now that the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet is being used in a wide variety of industries by a range of various professionals, I thought it would be prudent to throw a spotlight on one of the more interesting communities involved with the product, as well as how you can get involved and provide feedback. I had the pleasure of speaking with John H., a member of the Beta Programs team at Research In Motion® (RIM®). Check out the conversation below!
Hi John, can you give us a quick introduction to what you do at RIM?
Sure, Luke. RIM’s Beta team operates programs for new software through the BlackBerry® Beta Zone. My colleagues and I are members of the beta team and are specifically interested in the BlackBerry® Tablet OS; what people think of it, how they use it, what they’d change, and what they love about it. It is essential to our job to make sure the voice of our customers is represented internally.
So what is the “Global BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Community”?
The community is open to anyone in BlackBerry Beta Zone and is an open forum for discussions about the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and the BlackBerry Tablet OS.

How does RIM work with the members?
We’re in the discussion boards every day reading what people are sharing with us. Also, after every new software release, we capture the feedback of users through a survey once they’ve upgraded. Because we develop these devices for our customers, as I mentioned previously, it’s very important to us to have a solid understanding of their needs, thoughts, and requests.
Where does feedback go after it’s provided by the community?
My team is very close to stakeholders and product owners at the company who coordinate the product development process. We then use this information to contribute to building and developing top notch mobile technology. All of the feedback is important to us, and we’re always looking for important trends, which is why it is important for users to weigh in with their thoughts on hot topics in BlackBerry Beta Zone.
How can individuals get involved?
The process is simple – BlackBerry Beta Zone is free and easy to join. After signing up or logging in, they can look for the Global BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Community in the “Eligible Programs” area as displayed in the image below. They can then hop into the discussion boards and let us know what they think. It’s our promise that posts and opinions are read, and we often respond with our own thoughts and interactions.

Thanks for your time John! It sounds like a great opportunity to become involved in the future of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.
We definitely have an exciting opportunity here to shape the future – we’re looking forward to everyone’s thoughts!

WES is now part of BlackBerry World



Please welcome a new addition to the Inside BlackBerry Blog, Sarah Burt! Sarah works on the Corporate Marketing team at Research In Motion® (RIM) and will be providing updates on our new conference, BlackBerry World, going forward. Post a comment and say hi! Ed.
If you’re an IT administrator, developer, or BlackBerry® partner, then you’ve probably attended WES at some point in the past 9 years. WES has been our flagship BlackBerry conference held in Orlando, Florida each spring. We have attracted over 5000 customers and partners annually to come network and get an in-depth view of all things BlackBerry.
Now there’s a new conference taking its place – BlackBerry World. The BlackBerry World conference is the best place to get all the necessary news and information related to BlackBerry, with a ton of hands-on and interactive content. This is truly the place to come and get an in-depth, 360-degree view of all things BlackBerry. You’ll still get all the WES tracks and sessions you’re used to, and we’re also adding tracks exclusively for BlackBerry Channel Partners. We’ll have over 100 sessions on topics ranging from supporting individual-liable smartphones in your environment to getting up to speed on the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet. Over 150 sponsors will take part in the Solutions Showcase, where you’ll find apps that make your job easier and apps that make waiting in line easier. And of course, we’ll continue to present insightful keynote speakers and the very latest in BlackBerry announcements.
Registration opens in January, but you can find out more about the BlackBerry World conference now by checking out www.blackberryworld.com. Continue to watch the Inside BlackBerry Blog for more conference posts from me in 2011 – I’ll keep you up to date on the latest conference details. We’re excited for the next phase!

BlackBerry PlayBook Web Fidelity Video (Multimedia, Games and Social Networking)

Check out our latest BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet video, just in time for CES 2011! When we posted the BlackBerry PlayBook vs. iPad comparison video, many Inside BlackBerry readers posted comments suggesting a variety of different websites they’d like to see on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and we took that to heart in our new video.
Our good friend Matthew from the web browser group at Research In Motion® (RIM®) is back as well, demonstrating rich web video content using both HTML5 and Adobe® Flash®, and social networking with Facebook® Chat, Facebook Flash games and viewing embedded content in your News Feed.
Please post a comment to let us know what you think and keep suggesting more websites you’d like to see running on BlackBerry PlayBook! If you’re interested in more PlayBook video content, check out this Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog video on the BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK, which outlines some of the tools developers can use to make great BlackBerry PlayBook apps.

CES 2011: BlackBerry PlayBook PM Ryan Bidan (VIDEO)

For our final Inside BlackBerry video from CES 2011, it’s my great pleasure to present the above Q&A with BlackBerry PlayBook tablet Product Manager Ryan Bidan. I ask Ryan about his show experience and a bunch of other questions sent to us by you, the readers. Check it out!
From all of us at RIM and the Inside BlackBerry team, I want to send out a hearty thank you to everyone that helped to make CES 2011 such a special event. Please post a comment and let us know what you thought about the show and what we can do to make CES 2012 even better. We hope to see you again next year!

Five Tips for BlackBerry Smartphone Power Users



Just the other day I realized that I’ve been using a BlackBerry® smartphone for over six years. During those six years, I’ve learned quite a few tips and tricks that have allowed me to maximize my smartphone experience. Today I’d like to share five of my favorite tips that I use daily, so grab your BlackBerry smartphone and let’s get started.

Tip 1 – Navigate menus quickly using your BlackBerry smartphone keyboard
This is a really handy tip that applies to BlackBerry smartphones that include a physical keyboard. Whenever you are presented with a menu, you can use your keyboard to quickly cycle through the various menu options by tapping the first letter of any option listed in the menu.
For example, in the screenshot at the top of this post, you’ll notice the menu that appears if you press the Menu key while using the Pictures application on your BlackBerry. If you want to select the “Set as Contact Picture” option, depending on which BlackBerry smartphone you are using, you can scroll up using the trackpad, or simply touch the screen.
My preferred method however is to hit ‘S’ on the BlackBerry smartphone keyboard, as this will start cycling through the Menu and land on anything that starts with an ‘S’. So the first time I hit ‘S’, the option of “Set as Wallpaper” will be highlighted. Hitting ‘S’ again will then highlight the “Set As Contact Picture” option, which is what I was looking for.
Tip 2 – Dial phone numbers using letters



How many times do you look at a 1-800 phone number like 1-800-BLACKBERRY and wonder what numbers you need to dial? Great news – you don’t need to wonder anymore, as your BlackBerry smartphone will figure out the corresponding numbers automatically.
To use this feature, all you need to do is enter the first part of the phone number – in this case “1-800” – then, while holding down the ALT key, spell out ‘BLACKBERRY’ and hit the green phone button to place the call. This is a simple tip that offers a lot of value!
Tip 3 – Maximize your productivity using multitasking



A lot of you might already know this, but your BlackBerry smartphone allows you to multitask – which is handy if you’re like me and are always doing two things at the same time. For example, let’s say you are playing a game such as Word Mole when a friend asks you for some information that you have saved in your Memopad. Instead of having to close your game, use the Application Switcher that is built into your BlackBerry smartphone to temporarily leave your game and access the home screen. You can then open your Memopad, get the information your friend needed, and then get right back to your game by using the Application Switcher.
If you want to try this feature, all you need to do is hold the Menu key of your BlackBerry smartphone down for a few seconds, and you’ll be presented with a list that contains the icons of any open applications. So if I wanted to get to my BlackBerry® Browser, I just need to select the Browser icon and I’m browsing the web.
If the icon for the application you’d like to use isn’t displayed, select the House icon to return to the Home Screen, and then open the application you needed. The Application Switcher is also a handy way of finding out which applications are currently running on your BlackBerry smartphone as well!
Tip 4 – Home screen shortcuts



If you follow the Inside BlackBerry Help Blog, you may have seen my post where I provide instructions on how to enable BlackBerry smartphone home screen shortcuts. This feature allows you to use your keyboard to access applications instead of having to navigate and click on each icon. This feature combined with this post’s Tip 1 – using the keyboard to navigate menus – is what allows me to speed through my BlackBerry smartphone.
Tip 5 – Find your BlackBerry smartphone information



After owning several different BlackBerry smartphones, I sometimes have trouble remembering what my BlackBerry smartphone PIN number is. Here’s a quick tip that allows you find out what your BlackBerry PIN is in addition to some other userful information, such as your current battery level, uptime and signal strength.
To access this information, all you need to is hold down ALT + SHIFT and hit ‘H’ on your keyboard. In case you’re wondering which keys I’m referring to, if you use a BlackBerry® Torch™ 9800 smartphone, the keys you would want to hit are circled in red below.



Don’t forget to check out the user guide for your BlackBerry smartphone model, which can be found at the BlackBerry Documentation webpage. The user guides contain a lot of useful information for your device, so I strongly recommend checking them out. You can also learn more about application shortcuts, which is a really cool feature I’ll be talking about in a future post.
What are some of your favorite tips? Leave a comment and let me know, as I might feature your tip in an upcoming post!

Inside BlackBerry: Our BBM Emoticon Wall

Hello, #TeamBlackBerry! Community Manager Mitchell here, hoping you’ve had a great week. Are you following our @BlackBerry and @BlackBerryBlog Twitter® accounts?  If so, be sure to drop us a line and let us know what cool stuff you’re up to right now – we always love hearing what the great members of our community are up to (why not show us by taking some photos for our official BlackBerry Flickr albums?).
In this first edition of our “Inside BlackBerry” series, I am going to take you behind the scenes at Research In Motion® (RIM®) and show you one of the wonderful new additions to our workplace! We hinted at this addition to our office in one of our Facebook® posts and, after receiving a lot interest in seeing the full picture, we decided to feature it in this blog post! Now, for those of you who know what we are talking about, kudos to you; for those of you scratching your brain, we are talking about the famous Emoticon Wall!



What’s really cool about the Emoticon Wall is that it shows every single emoticon available to use on BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™), which to me is wicked awesome and super helpful. Sometimes the Emoticon Wall moves to different places in our building, sometimes in a different order, but always with those friendly BBM emoticons! I wanted to share this with you because it reminds me every day how much the #TeamBlackBerry community loves BBM, and how sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words (which is handy when you’re chatting with friends on the go!). What’s your favorite emoticon, #TeamBlackBerry? Mine has got to be TALK TO THE HAND: “>:/”.
There are a bunch of other really great displays like the Emoticon Wall around RIM. For example, in our recent Get to Know Community Manager Carolyn post, you can see my fellow Community Manager in front of our new Application Wall. Stay tuned for more pictures and stories from around RIM HQ!
Until next time,
Mitchell

Where's my BlackBerry App World icon?



Last week, an update notification was sent out for the BlackBerry App World™ storefront v2.1.2.15. If you are running an older OS version on your BlackBerry® smartphone, specifically BlackBerry® Device Software v4.6 and v4.7, your BlackBerry App World icon may have disappeared after installing the update. We have released a fix for this and the new version, BlackBerry App World v2.1.2.19, is available for download at the link below.
Download BlackBerry App World v2.1.2.19
Note: Users who weren’t affected by the missing icon issue may also see an upgrade notification for v2.1.2.19. The only change in this version is the missing icon fix.
If you have any questions, please let us know in the comments section.

Get To Know Community Manager Carolyn!



Members of the #TeamBlackBerry community who read the Inside BlackBerry® blog and follow @BlackBerry and @BlackBerryBlog on Twitter® may have noticed a new face amongst our ranks: Carolyn. Carolyn is here to help out Team BlackBerry in any way she can, and she’s looking forward to being an active part of our great online community!
Here’s a little interview I conducted with Carolyn to get you acquainted with her:
Tell us a bit about yourself and where you are from.
I am a small town girl, born and raised in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada. After graduating from university, I decided to spread my wings and venture out of Canada to the land Down Under – Australia! I made Sydney my home for close to two years before making my way back to Canadian soil. This experience was definitely a highlight for me, as one of my favorite things to do is to travel and learn about different cultures.

What is your favorite BlackBerry-related memory?
My sister has been travelling across Australia, New Zealand and Asia, and we have been keeping in touch over BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™). We get to talk over BBM so often that it makes it seem like she’s still here. If we were to rely solely on voice calls, we would barely talk because you have to pay for international calling and it can cost so much. Hooray for BBM!
So, you’ve been on the road for the Meet the PlayBook fan events getting to meet #TeamBlackBerry members in-person. What are you hearing from them about the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet?
It has been great to see all the excitement around the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet both from our fans online and in-person. During the fan events, I had the chance to meet a variety of different people including developers, small business owners, moms and musicians, who all have unique plans for their BlackBerry PlayBook tablet – and are teaching me about how it fits into each of their lifestyles.
One couple in particular that has family members living in another country was excited about the Video Chat application. While talking to them, not only were they thrilled about the chance to keep in touch with their family members in real-time, but they also liked the ability to see the faces of their loved ones.
I have also received a lot of positive comments online about the size of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet – it seems like it’s the perfect travel companion, because it fits almost anywhere. We’ve been getting a constant stream of feedback on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet since it’s been available in stores and are happy to hear that people love it as much as we do.
What is your favorite type of UGC (“User Generated Content”) created on a BlackBerry smartphone?
I love pictures! It’s so handy to be able to take great quality images right from my device and send them to family and friends or post to Facebook® from wherever I am. I also love seeing the images that fans send to us (like the ones on our Flickr account) – it’s awesome to be able to see what our followers are up to.
What is the most-used tool on your BlackBerry smartphone?
My Calendar or my Alarm Clock – I use them religiously every day. I can honestly say I would be lost without them in my day.
What is your favorite BlackBerry smartphone tip/trick?
I am constantly using T and B to navigate from the top and bottom of my pages – so handy! I also make sure to keep up with the @BlackBerryHelp team on Twitter, because they’ve got plenty of tips that are really useful.
Thanks for this, Carolyn! Readers – if you have any questions for Carolyn, please post them in a comment below! Also, have you met our other BlackBerry Community Manager, Mitchell?

Clarity Theme for BlackBerry Smartphones

(Check out this great guest post from our good friend, Greg. You may remember him from our Inside the BlackBerry Accessibility Team feature. Ed.) On behalf of the Accessibility Team at Research In Motion® (RIM®), I’m extremely pleased to tell you about the new Clarity theme for BlackBerry® smartphones, available for free in BlackBerry App World™. This theme is designed to help meet the needs of customers who may have visual impairments related to partial vision loss and/or colorblindness, and even customers new to smartphones.
The Clarity theme for BlackBerry smartphones includes the following features:

• Simple, easy to use home screen
• Clickable header on the home screen, enabling customers to choose between seeing Date and Time or Network and Battery information
• High contrast application screens
• Large, text-based application icons on the home screen
• Supports devices running BlackBerry® Device Software version 5.0, including BlackBerry® Curve™ series of smartphones, the BlackBerry® Tour™ 9630 smartphone, and the BlackBerry® Bold™ series of smartphones. BlackBerry 6 OS and touch screen enabled BlackBerry smartphones are currently not supported.

Find more information or download the theme today at BlackBerry App World! Also, you can learn more about BlackBerry Accessibility at our website, or read the Inside the BlackBerry Accessibility Team feature right here on Inside BlackBerry!
If you have any questions for us about accessibility and your BlackBerry smartphone, please let us know in the comments! Click the link below to see more Clarity them for BlackBerry smartphones screenshots.

Announcing BlackBerry Theme Studio 6!



BlackBerry® Theme Studio 6 is here, it’s free and easier to use than ever before! It enables one of the great features of the BlackBerry platform – the ability to personalize your phone by creating and loading your very own custom themes.
BlackBerry Theme Studio is a suite of tools including Theme Builder, for creating themes, and BlackBerry® Composer, for creating animations and graphics to use in themes. With these tools, you can customize virtually everything in your theme, including backgrounds, sound effects and ringtones, icons, menus and fonts. You can even add animations and screen transitions.
BlackBerry Theme Studio has also empowered professional theme designers. Their creations are available on sites like the BlackBerry App World™ storefront. In fact, themes make up over 20% of the titles in BlackBerry App World, and themes are the second-largest category of titles. To learn more about using BlackBerry Theme Studio, check out these great Inside BlackBerry blog posts:

• BlackBerry Theme Studio – Build your own BlackBerry Theme!
• BlackBerry Theme Studio – Build your own BlackBerry Theme! (Part Two)
• BlackBerry Theme Studio Tips: Using Adobe Photoshop

Now, this new release of BlackBerry Theme Studio makes it even easier to create a custom theme. Some of the exciting features of the new Version 6 include:

• A new user interface for BlackBerry Theme Builder that lets you click on any item on the preview screen and directly edit its settings. This allows for faster editing and a shorter learning curve. Plus, you can select multiple items to change all at once.
• The Background Wizard makes it easy to add dynamic wallpapers to your theme. Options include date-based or time-based changes (to highlight a special holiday or change images by the time of day), and slideshow backgrounds (to cycle through your favorite photos).
• New productivity features allow you to batch update all of the graphics in a theme automatically. You can also change fonts across multiple phone screens automatically. Also, BlackBerry Theme Studio continues to be compatible with popular graphic design tools such as Adobe Photoshop® and Corel® Paint Shop Pro.
• For our professional theme designers, a new “export” option makes it simple to offer themes through BlackBerry App World. The “export” option is designed to package all of the selected files and settings into a single zip file, ready for upload to BlackBerry App World.
• Last but not least, the new version supports the latest BlackBerry smartphone devices and software, including the new BlackBerry® Torch™ 9800 and BlackBerry® Style™ 9670 handsets, as well as new BlackBerry® 6 UI elements like the graphic content menus.

Whether you want to personalize your own phone, create unique themes to share with friends, or join the ranks of commercial theme designers on BlackBerry App World, I encourage you to try this new release.

• Download BlackBerry Theme Studio 6 for personal use
• Download BlackBerry Theme Studio 6 for commercial use

BlackBerry ID – Common Questions



BlackBerry® ID is a single sign-on identity service that gives customers convenient access to multiple BlackBerry® products, services and applications. With BlackBerry ID, there’s only one login and password to remember.
If you use BlackBerry App World™, you are most likely familiar with BlackBerry ID. BlackBerry® Protect™ and BlackBerry® News – both of which can be found in BlackBerry® Beta Zone – also use BlackBerry ID, so today I’d like to take a moment and go over some questions I’ve seen people ask about BlackBerry ID since it is starting to appear in more applications and services.

What applications can I use my BlackBerry ID with?
As of May 2011, BlackBerry App World, BlackBerry Protect and BlackBerry News are the only applications that currently support BlackBerry ID. When a new BlackBerry ID-enabled application or service is released in the future, you’ll be able to log in right away. A BlackBerry ID is also required during the setup process if you purchased a BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet.
A great example of this is BlackBerry App World on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, which requires you to enter your BlackBerry ID in order to download and purchase apps. If you already have a BlackBerry ID and have previously saved your payment information to your BlackBerry App World account, you’ll be able to log in to BlackBerry App World and purchase games and applications without having to enter your payment information all over again – pretty convenient!
For information on how to setup your BlackBerry ID payment options, click here for an overview of how to set up and change payment options. If you don’t have a BlackBerry ID, you can sign up for one right now.
Can I use my BlackBerry ID with different BlackBerry smartphones?
Absolutely! One of the features offered by BlackBerry ID is the ability to use it on a different BlackBerry smartphone. For example, let’s say you purchase a new BlackBerry smartphone – in order to transfer settings from BlackBerry App World and BlackBerry Protect, all you need to do is log in to these applications on your new device using your BlackBerry ID. You’ll then be asked if you want to transfer your data and/or settings to your new BlackBerry smartphone, making switching BlackBerry smartphones really easy!
To learn more about this feature, review the user guide for the BlackBerry ID-enabled application you want to learn more about.
I forgot my password. How do I reset it?
If you’ve forgotten your BlackBerry ID password, resetting it is quick and easy so you can get up and running again right away. All you need to do is click on the ‘Forgot Password’ link that appears on any BlackBerry ID login screen, enter the email address you used to register for your BlackBerry ID and click OK. You will then be asked to answer your security question that was set up during the initial BlackBerry ID creation. Once answered correctly, selecting OK will generate the password reset email.
The email will be sent to your BlackBerry ID email address and can be accessed by logging into the email inbox. Be careful though, because if you try the wrong answer too many times, you’ll end up locking your BlackBerry ID account.



You can also reset your BlackBerry ID from any computer by visiting the BlackBerry ID website.
I used the wrong password too many times and BlackBerry ID says my account is locked. What do I do now?
In the event that you attempt to log in to a BlackBerry ID-enabled application ten times unsuccessfully due to an invalid password, or you answer your security question incorrectly too many times, your BlackBerry ID account will be locked. If this happens, you’ll receive an email stating that your BlackBerry ID account has been locked, and any subsequent attempts to login will be met with an error message stating that your account has been locked.
When this happens, you will need to visit this recovery website and follow the instructions to reset your BlackBerry ID password. (A link to this website is also included in the email you receive when your account is locked out.) When you access the site, you’ll be asked for your BlackBerry ID username, which is the email address you submitted at the time you signed up for a BlackBerry ID. You will then be required to answer the security question that you specified when you created your BlackBerry ID. Your secret password is not case sensitive.
After answering your security question correctly, an email will be sent to you and will include a link that, once clicked, will allow you to specify a new password.
For a complete overview of how to reset your BlackBerry ID when your account has been locked, check out KB26361 – How to reset a BlackBerry ID password after an account lockout.
With this being said, if you want to learn more about BlackBerry ID and sign up for an account today, visit the BlackBerry ID website.
Do you have a question about BlackBerry ID? Leave a comment and let me know. Also, don’t forget to pop by the BlackBerry Community Support Forums and say hello!

Five BlackBerry Bridge Tips for BlackBerry PlayBook



BlackBerry® Bridge™ – which allows you to access some of the information on your BlackBerry® smartphone (including email, contacts, calendar, memos, tasks and BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™)) while using your BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet – is one of my favourite BlackBerry PlayBook tablet features. If you need a quick tutorial, learn how to set up BlackBerry Bridge right now!
If you’re new to BlackBerry Bridge, I’d like to share some tips with you so you can take advantage of some of these features.

1. Multiple email account support and folder browsing



If you have multiple email accounts integrated on your BlackBerry smartphone, you’ll be presented with a consolidated inbox of all of your email accounts when you use the BlackBerry Bridge Messages application on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. If you tap the “All Messages” tab that appears in the top corner of your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, you’ll be able to select a specific email account which is convenient if you receive a lot of email to multiple email addresses.
In this menu, you’ll also notice the View Folder option, which allows you to view the sent items folder of a particular email account. This is handy if you have enabled the “Hide Sent Messages” setting on your BlackBerry smartphone in the Messages options.
2. Customizing the Messages Application view



What if you wanted you’re sent or filed items to appear by default in your All Message list while using your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, instead of having to use the View Folder option? To do this, all you need to do is customize the message options that appear on your BlackBerry smartphone. The reason you need to edit these settings on your BlackBerry smartphone is because the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet displays your messages based on the settings you’ve specified on your BlackBerry smartphone. To review the options available to you, including how to hide sent and filed items, complete the following steps on your BlackBerry smartphone:
1. On your BlackBerry smartphone home screen, select “Messages”.
2. Press the menu key and select “Options”.
3. Select one of the following depending on your BlackBerry smartphone:
• BlackBerry® Device Software version 4.0 to 5.0 – Select “General Options”
• BlackBerry® 6 – Select “Message Display and Actions”
After saving these changes, re-open the Messages application on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and you’ll see your preferred settings take effect. Screenshots of how this screen appears on a BlackBerry 6-enabled BlackBerry smartphone are below.
3. Using the Search feature

Whenever you are using the Messages, Contacts, Memos, Tasks or Bridge Files applications on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, you’ll notice a magnifying glass icon and a search field. When you perform a search on your BlackBerry tablet, it’s the same as doing a search while using your BlackBerry smartphone. If you want to perform a remote search of your email accounts, you’ll need to do this using your BlackBerry smartphone, as the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet does not currently support remote email search. If you aren’t familiar with the remote search option and want to learn more, check out KB15161 – How to perform a remote search for email messages.

4. Opening Attachments and File Types supported by BlackBerry Bridge Files
When using the Messages application and viewing an email that contains an attachment, you’ll be able to open it if it’s a supported file type. Current supported file types are:

• Adobe® Reader® for opening PDF Files
• Documents To Go® for opening Microsoft® Excel® (XLS, XLSX), Microsoft® Word (DOC, DOCX) and Microsoft® PowerPoint® (PPT) files
• Pictures, videos and music files (provided they are of a supported media type)

Tip: To find out more about BlackBerry PlayBook tablet-supported media types, review the Support Media Types for BlackBerry Tablets reference guide.
Something to note is that if your BlackBerry smartphone is activated on a BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, BlackBerry Bridge will not save attachments to your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. The attachment will instead be saved to the microSD™ card on your BlackBerry smartphone. If your BlackBerry smartphone isn’t activated on a BlackBerry Enterprise Server, attachments will be saved on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.
When you are using BlackBerry Bridge Files, you’ll be able to access files located on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and the microSD card of your BlackBerry smartphone. File types supported by BlackBerry Bridge Files currently are:

• Adobe Reader for opening PDF Files
• Documents to Go for opening Microsoft Office Excel (XLS, XLSX), Microsoft Word (DOC, DOCX) and Microsoft PowerPoint (PPT) files

5. Adding images to your Contacts



If you have a lot of contacts and want to add images to their contact cards on your BlackBerry smartphone, you can use BlackBerry Messenger or Facebook® for BlackBerry smartphones to do this automatically! To learn more about how this features works, click on one of the links below, depending on which application you are using on your BlackBerry smartphone:
BlackBerry Messenger version 5.0.3

• Link a contact with a contact in the Contacts application
• Overwrite contact pictures with display pictures

Facebook for BlackBerry smartphones version 1.9

• Link a friend with a contact in the contacts application

Do you have a tip for using BlackBerry Bridge? Leave a comment and let us know!

How to set up BlackBerry Bridge





Setting up BlackBerry® Bridge™ is really easy – it only takes about five minutes! To begin, you must have a BlackBerry® smartphone running BlackBerry® Device Software version 5.0 or later and a BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet. (Click here to find out which version of software your BlackBerry smartphone has.) You’ll need to install the BlackBerry Bridge application on your BlackBerry smartphone, because it’s the software that you’ll use to connect and communicate with your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.
Your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet comes with BlackBerry Bridge built in, but it must be installed (instructions noted below) and, provided you’ve completed the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet setup process and you have a BlackBerry smartphone that meets the minimum device software requirement above, all you’ll need to do is install the BlackBerry Bridge application on your BlackBerry smartphone and pair it with your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.
Here’s how to do it!

Listed below are the steps to get BlackBerry Bridge set up on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet so you can start using it right away! If you run into some trouble along the way, scroll down for some suggestions on what to do.
1. On your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s home screen, tap the Gear icon in the top right corner.
2. Tap BlackBerry Bridge.
3. Tap Setup.
4. Create and type in the name of your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet (or keep the default name) and tap Next.
5. Tap Install Now.

6. On your BlackBerry smartphone, open the BlackBerry App World™ storefront.

7. Press the Menu key and select Scan a Barcode.
8. Scan the barcode displayed on on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, and select Download when shown the BlackBerry Bridge installation screen.

9. On your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, tap < Back.

10. Tap Continue.
11. On your BlackBerry smartphone, open the BlackBerry Bridge application.

12. Select Add New Tablet, followed by selecting Continue.

13. Scan the barcode that’s displayed on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s screen using your BlackBerry smartphone.
14. After the pairing process completes, select Ok on your BlackBerry smartphone and tap Done on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.



After completing these steps, you’ll notice a new BlackBerry Bridge category appears on the home screen of your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. At this point, all you need to do is tap the application you’d like to use. The BlackBerry Bridge is pretty awesome.
Tip: Set a password on your BlackBerry smartphone to help ensure your information is safe if the device becomes misplaced. If your BlackBerry smartphone is ever locked and/or misplaced, you will be required to enter this password on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet in order to useBlackBerry Bridge. To learn more about using a password on your BlackBerry smartphone, check out the user guide for your BlackBerry smartphone.

Troubleshooting Suggestions

Bridge has been disabled by your System Administrator
If this message appears when you open the BlackBerry Bridge application on your BlackBerry smartphone, you’ll need to contact your BlackBerry system administrator and request that your IT policy be changed. For more information, check out KB26159 – ‘Bridge has been disabled by your System Administrator.’ message is present when launching BlackBerry Bridge on your BlackBerry Smartphone.
Barcode Pairing Failure

If this error message appears when you’re trying to scan the barcode of your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet using BlackBerry Bridge on your BlackBerry smartphone, make sure you are scanning the barcode that’s used for pairing, and not the barcode used for installing BlackBerry Bridge using BlackBerry App World.
After scanning the barcode on your BlackBerry smartphone to download BlackBerry Bridge, make sure you tap “Back”, and then “Continue” on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. The barcode that is displayed on this screen is the barcode you need to scan using BlackBerry Bridge on your BlackBerry smartphone. For more information, check out KB26155 – ‘Barcode Pairing Failure. The barcode does not appear to be a BlackBerry Bridge barcode.’ error appears when trying to pair a BlackBerry smartphone to a BlackBerry PlayBook.
If you are scanning the correct barcode and you are still encountering this error after clicking Retry Barcode Scan, we suggest you complete the setup process manually. To do this, complete the following steps:
1. On your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, tap Manual Pairing.
2. On your BlackBerry smartphone, tap Try Manual Setup.
3. Select your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet when it’s displayed on your BlackBerry smartphone.
4. Verify the numbers displayed during the pairing process match, then tap Yes on your BlackBerry smartphone and on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.
5. Enter the secret code displayed on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet on your BlackBerry smartphone – this code is case sensitive.
6. Tap “Ok” on your BlackBerry smartphone and “Done” on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, and you’ll have completed the BlackBerry Bridge setup process.
If you still can’t connect after completing the manual pairing process, your BlackBerry smartphone may have an IT policy that disables Bluetooth pairing, or all Bluetooth connectivity. For more information, you’ll need to contact your BlackBerry system administrator.
If you’re still running into an issue even after completing the steps above, check the BlackBerry Support Community Forums for some additional help – and don’t forget to take advantage of the 90 days of complimentary technical support that is included with your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet purchase once it has been activated. Also, don’t forget to check out the BlackBerry PlayBook How To website to learn more about your tablet.
Bookmark the Inside BlackBerry Help Blog, as I’ll be doing a series of posts on BlackBerry Bridge – if you have any questions, make sure you post them below in a comment!

BlackBerry DEVCON Americas- Register Now!

We are thrilled to announce that registration for BlackBerry® DEVCON Americas is open! BlackBerry DEVCON Americas – taking place October 18-20, 2011 at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco, California – reflects our commitment to make this an incredible event for developers from across North America and Latin America. In fact, we have re-opened the BlackBerry DEVCON Americas Call For Papers for developers in Latin America until May 30th; we are looking to have sessions presented in Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.
Early Bird registration for BlackBerry DEVCON Americas is only $699 USD, or $599 USD for our qualifying 2010 event alumni. This is our best registration offer ever (35% less than last year!) and represents incredible value to attendees. Also, this deal can be combined this with a special early-bird 4th-night-free offer for even more savings. Please hurry as these early bird offers end June 24th – register now! We also have special registration pricing for students ($199 USD) and faculty ($399 USD). All prices are subject to applicable taxes; please see the applicable terms and conditions.
We are also excited to announce the first ever BlackBerry DEVCON Europe as well as the second edition of BlackBerry DEVCON Asia, which builds on the success of its debut event earlier this year! We are opening the Call For Papers for BlackBerry DEVCON Europe and BlackBerry DEVCON Asia from May 2nd to June 24th. We are expecting great submissions for both events – make sure you stay tuned here for more information on dates and locations!
These events offer the best opportunity for BlackBerry platform developers – learn more about all three events at the official BlackBerry DEVCON website.