New and Useful: Google Sync for BlackBerry
In December, Google released a new application called Google Sync for BlackBerry that automatically sync's your device calendar with your Google Calendar. For anyone else using the clunky Google Calendar mobile version in their BlackBerry browser, this is quite exciting.
To download, visit http://m.google.com/sync from your BlackBerry browser.
If you'd rather not have another app on your device, but you want an easier way to get to your Google Calendar, try texting GVENT (48368). You'll get an SMS back with your calendar information: "nday" = next day's calendar; "next" = next event; "day" = today's events
Using a BlackBerry as a Bluetooth Modem with my MacBook
It used to be much easier to find these instructions online, but it took me awhile yesterday. So, here they are where I can find them, and you might be able to use them too.
These instructions work for my Blackberry Pearl on TMobile using a MacBook running Leopard. It may work with other Bluetooth-enabled phones and existing TMobile data plans, or you may find parts of the instructions helpful.
1. Pair BlackBerry and MacBook
2. Open Network Preferences
3. Select "Bluetooth" in the list of connections
4. Choose "Add Configuration..." under "Configuration" on the right side
5. Telephone Number: wap.voicestream.com
6. Account Name: guest
7. Password: guestguest
You may have to click "Apply" before being able to click "Connect."
The Pearl lasts for.ev.er
So I was on the phone for almost 200 minutes today, and the Pearl still has battery remaining. In fact, it has more than one bar of battery remaining. I didn't even have time to get the thing fully charged! I'm impressed. Yes, I got another BlackBerry Pearl today. I ran back to the comforting arms of T-Mobile, and I'm thrilled. It took literally 30 seconds to sync all my data to the phone, and I could not be more pleased. Given the 4+ hour debacle of trying to get the Treo and the Mac to get along, I was bracing myself for difficulty. Everything worked smoothly though.
I just returned from a couple hours out with some friends at the 8 Ball Saloon. The 8 Ball is a truly wonderful place. Ann Arbor doesn't have many bars that combine dart boards, pool tables, cheap drinks, laid back attitudes, and permanent hand stamps. In fact, I'm not sure we have any other bars that have all those things. Oh, and popcorn! Yum. I stopped after one drink tonight, but you wouldn't know it if you'd seen me lying in the back of a pickup during a post-midnight McDonald's run. My friend Jessie and I needed some French fries, and Cory obliged. Here's the evidence to prove it:
Please take me back!
I have had enough of the Treo 755p and enough of Sprint's subpar service.� I am running back to the loving arms of T-Mobile, but first I'm taking a detour through the rebates of wirefly.com.� I called Wirefly today to make sure that I was eligible for a rebate on a new phone and service plan with T-Mobile and was assured that since I cancelled my T-Mobile account and moved to Sprint, I was in fact eligible.� So, I'm getting a free Blackberry Pearl in the next 2-3 business days.
Going back to the Pearl is exciting.� It's smaller and easier to use than the Treo.� It also looks "cooler" and just generally rocks.� T-Mobile's service is also $45 less per month and includes such niceties as the ability to utilize SpinVox again. Sprint doesn't allow customers to forward their calls to a different voicemail provider, and I've been forced to listen to voicemail again. Bleck.� When I go back to T-Mobile on Friday, I'll get my messages via text again.� Whew!
Stay tuned to read how much this cell phone roulette ends up costing.� I think we all know I'm not getting out of it without spending a couple hundred dollars.
Libby on a leash
I gave in and picked up a BlackBerry Pearl yesterday. I was wandering around the Twelve Oaks Mall waiting for my friend to finish her cookie so we could go into the Apple store and pick up my ailing MacBook. Back to that in a sec, first the BlackBerry. So, this Pearl is HOT. H-O-T hot. I bought the white one. It looks like this:
Aren't you jealous? I think my inner geek may have outdone herself this time though. The BlackBerry might be too much for me. The QWERTY keyboard is a shocker after so many messages (over 400 last month) as a T9 user. My Samsung t809 is the maybe the best phone ever, and I can see myself going back to it before my 14-day trial is up on the NerdBerry (thanks for the nickname, Liz).
For those of you Gmail addicts thinking of getting a BlackBerry, I suggest using the Gmail mobile application instead of BlackBerry's Internet Email. The Internet Email option ensures that you'll get a buzz or ding or whatever alert every time any Tom, Dick, or Harry sends you an email. Yes, that includes the guy from some third-world country asking for a loan and the person who posts incessantly to your favorite listserv. If you get as much email as I do, your poor Pearl will wear itself out trying to get your attention. The Gmail mobile application lets you decide when to check your mail and shows the same content in your Inbox as gmail.com. That means no (or very little) SPAM, no messages you have skip your Inbox. It also means you won't be alerted to new email. I'd rather have to check it myself that not get a moment of peace though.
If the way I used my BlackBerry today is any indication of how I'll use it in the future, I'm officially on a leash. You can tug on it by sending me email or SMS. I'm pretty sure it works as a phone too, so you can even call me.
Now back to the MacBook. I'm usually a happy Mac user. I LOVED my PowerBook G4. It was the bomb. Then Apple started using Intel processors, and I could see the obsolescence of my little PowerBook. So, I jumped on the bandwagon and bought a MacBook. My MacBook has been ailing since the second day I owned it. I will spare you the saga. The latest news is that the guys at Apple had it for 5 days, replaced all kinds of stuff including the logic board, top case, and some switch, and my MacBook is still broken. It still has issues. It sill doesn't work the way an investment of this size should. I am sad.
Summary: I bought a BlackBerry and am now constantly available. My MacBook is still broken. I still haven't finished my to-do list.