[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

Give your smartphone a nickname

To set the name that appears for your smartphone on a Wi-Fi network or other devices when sharing media files wirelessly for example, give your BlackBerry Z10 a nickname. To do this, tap Settings followed by About and set the Device Name field to your desired name.

Rearrange Home screen icons and create folders

To move icons around, tap and hold any icon until it starts pulsing. When this starts to occur, drag it to the new location and release your finger. Hold the icon to the left or right edge to move it to a new panel. To stop moving icons, tap anywhere on the screen.

To create a folder, drag one icon on top of another when they are pulsing. To move an icon out of a folder, open the folder and tap and drag the icon onto the blue banner that appears along the bottom of your screen. If you need to rename the folder in the future, open it followed by holding the folder name for a moment.

Set a picture as your wallpaper

Anytime you are viewing a picture you want to set as your wallpaper, tap the three dot menu icon (bottom right corner) followed by Set As and select Wallpaper.

In order to set a picture as a wallpaper however you’ll need to save it to your smartphone first. To do this while using the Browser for example, tap and hold the picture followed by selecting the save option. You also have the option of using preloaded wallpaper by going to Settings > Display and tapping Select next to Wallpaper

Change your font size

To change the size of your font, tap Settings followed by Display and you will have the option to change the font size used on your smartphone

Adjust Screen Brightness and Screen Lock Timeout values

Continuing with the display theme, two more options you might want to customize is screen brightness setting as well the screen lock timeout value. Screen brightness in pretty self-explanatory and for those unfamiliar with the screen lock timeout value, this setting controls how long your device will wait before locking your screen automatically to prevent accidental taps and presses. To unlock your smartphone, swipe up from the bottom of the screen.

Screen Brightness

• Settings > Display and slide the bar to desired brightness

Screen Lock Timeout

• Settings > Display and select your desired value from the Screen Lock Timeout listing

Using music shortcuts & show what you are listening to in BBM

If you listen to a lot of music on your smartphone, enabling music shortcuts will allow you to quickly skip back and forth between songs by pressing and holding either volume key. To set enable this option, tap Settings, select System Volume and set Music Shortcuts to On.

If you want to show what song you’re listening to while using the Music app, open BBM, swipe down from the top of the screen and tap Settings followed by setting “Show What I’m Listening To” switch to On. After you are done listening, your BBM status will switch back to your previous status message.

Set up voice mail & speed dial

To check your voice mail from the calls screen, open the Phone app, swipe down from the top of the screen and tap Settings. Tap Voice mail and type enter your voice mail access number and password.

To set up speed dial, open the Phone and while viewing the call list or contacts view, touch and hold a phone number or contact followed by selecting Add to Speed Dial. To remove a speed dial setting, tap and hold the speed dial number followed by tapping the trashcan icon.

How to obtain support and learn more

To learn about a feature on your BlackBerry 10 smartphone or troubleshoot an issue, there are several great options available to help. Visit www.blackberry.com/support for access to product manuals, how-to demos, tips and tricks, YouTube videos, support forums, knowledge base articles, Twitter support, and contact information for your region.

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

With the release of BBM 7.0 on December 10th, 2012, you now have the ability to make and receive BBM Voice calls over Wi-Fi.

In addition to BBM Voice, 16 new emoticons have been added, and you’ll also notice that BBM 7.0 is now linked with your BlackBerry ID for easy synchronization of your BBM Profile and Contacts.

For those that haven’t upgraded yet, I’d recommend verifying that you can access your BlackBerry ID account by visiting the BlackBerry ID website and signing in so you can check that your login credentials are accurate. In the event you are unable to log in to your BlackBerry ID because you’ve forgotten your password, check out our post on how to reset your BlackBerry ID password before upgrading to BBM 7.0. Provided you can log into your BlackBerry ID and are using a BlackBerry smartphone with BlackBerry 6 or BlackBerry 7 OS, you are able to upgrade to BBM 7.0.

To learn more about BBM 7.0 including how to upgrade, make and receive BBM Voice calls and more, check out the video above as well the BBM 7.0 User Guide.

Do you have a question or comment about BBM 7.0? Leave a comment and let us know!

With the recent release of BBM 7.0, we wanted to share some of our favorite BBM tips from past Five Tip Fridays with you.

1. Use Contact Categories to Organize Your BBM Contacts

From BlackBerry Juliana’s Five Tip Friday – Julianna’s BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) Networking Tips

When my BBM contact list started to really grow, I found that I needed a way to organize the list. Using Contact Categories was an easy way to manage my list, as I could create categories like “Work”, “Personal”, “Family” and “Conferences”.

To create a new Contact Category:

1. Press the Menu Key and select “New Contact Category”
2. Type in your category, then press “OK”
3. If there are contacts you want to add, you can select them now and select “OK”.

Once you have one or more Contact Categories created, you can add any new contacts to a category when you invite them to BBM or accept their BBM invitation.

2. Stick your BBM Barcode up

From BlackBerry Ty’s Five Tip Friday – Social networking for BlackBerry smartphones

Looking for an easy way to share your contact details or BBM Group details? Consider saving the respective BBM barcodes and putting them on your website, posters, business cards, and of course, your favorite social networks so other BlackBerry device users can get in touch with you!

To save a copy of your BBM barcode(s) to your smartphone that you can then email or copy, complete the steps below.

To display a personal barcode:

1. On your Home screen, select BlackBerry Messenger
2. On the contact list screen, press the Menu key
3. Select “View My Profile” & next to PIN Barcode, select “Show”
4. Press the Menu key and select “Save Barcode Image”.

To display a group barcode:

1. On your Home screen or in the Instant Messaging folder, select the BlackBerry Messenger icon
2. Select the group you would like to display the barcode for
3. Press the Menu key & select “View Group Details”
4. Select “Display Group Barcode”
5. Press the Menu key and select “Save Barcode Image”.

3. Share from anywhere – use the power of the BBM Super App

From BlackBerry Brian’s Five Tip Friday – Five Tips for Unleashing the Power of BlackBerry Messenger

Sharing tweets, web page links and your BlackBerry Traffic ETA are just a few examples of items that you can share with your BBM contacts. For example, if you are viewing the Inside BlackBerry Help Blog using the BlackBerry Browser and you want to share the link, press the Menu Key and select “Send Page Address” followed by “BBM Chat”. You can then select which contacts you’d like to share the link with. You also have the option of sharing information with BBM Groups as well.

Note: One of my favorite BBM-connected apps is BlackBerry Traffic. To learn more about this fantastic app that helps you determine your ETA, check out our blog post on BlackBerry Traffic 3.0.

4. Link a BlackBerry Messenger contact with the Contacts app

From BlackBerry Ty’s Five Tip Friday – BlackBerry smartphone Contacts Tips

When you link a contact with a contact in the Contacts application, you might be able to perform additional tasks using BBM. For example, during a chat, you might be able to quickly call or send an email message to the contact from the menu. If contacts do not have display pictures in BlackBerry Messenger, their contact pictures from the Contacts application will appear in BlackBerry Messenger instead. Try linking a contact right now using the steps below.

1. Open BlackBerry Messenger and highlight a BBM contact
2. Press the Menu key and select “Link with BlackBerry Contact”
3. If the BBM contact is already in your Contacts app click “Select Contact”
4. If the BBM contact is not in the Contacts App, select “New Contact” and enter the Contact details
5. Press the Menu key and select “Save”/

To unlink the BBM contact from the Contacts application, while highlighting the BBM contact, press the Menu key and select “Remove Link with BlackBerry Contact”.

5. Add a Text Message Contact to BBM

From BlackBerry Brian’s Five Tip Friday – Five Tips for Unleashing the Power of BlackBerry Messenger

Communicate with friends using BBM and SMS from a single app. If you have a friend or family member who uses SMS text messaging, you can add them your BBM contact list, thus removing the need to have the Text Messages Icon showing on your device. To take advantage of this feature, complete these steps:

1. Open BBM, press the Menu key and select “Invite to BBM”
2. Select “Add a contact to text within BBM”
3. Enter the contacts information
4. Select “Add Contact”.

Bonus – Flags in BlackBerry Messenger

From BlackBerry Ty’s How to use Flags in BlackBerry Messenger (BBM)

Although this blog post is more of a “how to” than a tips post, we took the liberty of adding it as this Friday’s bonus. This is an updated list of available country flags you can add to your BBM Display Name, Status Message or while chatting with friends and family. Click the link above to view the post containing the flag list. Enjoy!

Have a question about this post? Leave it below to let us know!

Whether it’s changing how conversations are displayed or how your contact list appears, here are a few tips you can take advantage of when it comes to changing how BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) appears on your BlackBerry® smartphone.

Customizing the BBM Chat Style

By default, BBM will display your conversations using Bubbles, but you have the option of using a Stripe-based layout or one without Borders instead.

To change your BBM Chat Style, complete the following steps:

1. Open BBM, press the Menu key and select “Options”
2. Next to “Chat Style”, select your desired option from the following list:

• No Borders
• Bubbles
• Stripes

3. When finished, press the Escape key and save your changes.

Sorting Chats and selecting a Contact List Style

Now that you’ve customized how conversations appear, here are two more settings that you can use to customize how your contact list appears.

Change how chats are sorted

1. Open BBM, press the Menu key and select “Options”
2. Next to “Sort Chats By”, select one of the following options:

• Most Recent
• Alphabet

3. When finished, press the Escape key and save your changes.

Customize the Contact List Style

Whenever you open BBM, you’ll notice the “Recent Updates” option along the top that when accessed shows recent status changes from your contacts — new pictures, status messages and more.

If you like viewing this menu, you should consider using the “2 lines” Contact List Style so you can view your contacts’ most recent status whenever you are looking at your BBM contacts list, in addition to using the “Recent Updates” option.

1. Open BBM, press the Menu key and select “Options”
2. Next to “Contact List Style”, select either “1 Line” or “2 Lines”
3. When finished, press the Escape key and save your changes.

Personalize Chat Bubble Colors

To close off this list of tips, take advantage of the Bubble Colors setting that allows you to specify what color conversations appear in on a per-contact basis.

To assign a Bubble Color, complete the following steps.

1. Open BBM and highlight a contact or BBM group
2. Press the Menu key and select “View Contact Profile”
3. Set the “Bubble Color” setting to your desired color
4. When finished, press the Escape key and save your changes.

To remove any Bubble Colors you’ve previously specified, complete the following steps.

1. Open BBM, press the Menu key and select “Options”
2. Next to Bubble Colors, select “Reset”.

Got a question about BBM? Leave a comment and let us know!

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) groups are a great way to keep a bunch of friends or a number of co-workers connected. Today I’ll be providing an overview of how to manage a BBM group. Click the video above to get started, and then use the steps I’ve provided to fill in the rest. If you are looking for information on the features of BBM groups, check out the post BlackBerry Messenger Groups: Share pictures, lists and chat with several friends at once.

With that being said, let’s get started by creating a group:

1. Open BlackBerry Messenger
2. Under the heading “BBM Groups”, select “New BBM Group”
3. Create a group name and optionally add a description
4. If you would like all group members to have the ability to invite people to the group, choose “Yes” from the drop down to the right of “Allow Non-Admin Members to Invite Others”; otherwise, choose “No”
5. Select “Create Group”.

Now that you have a group, let’s invite some members!

Something to keep in mind before you begin inviting people to your group is that each group has a 30-member capacity. Also, inviting people to your group is similar to inviting someone to your BBM contact list:

1. In BBM, select the group
2. Within the group, press the Menu key and select “Invite to BBM Group”
3. Select one of the following:

• Invite by sending a PIN or email message
• Scan a PIN barcode
• Select from BBM Contacts

Just like adding a BBM contact, the person will have to accept the invitation before they can join the group.

Administering Groups in BlackBerry Messenger

Setting an Administrator Password

Setting an administrator password means that only you can change the group’s settings.

1. Open BBM from the Home screen or from within a folder
2. Select the group to be administered
3. Press the Menu key and select “Administration” and then “Set Administrator Password”
4. Type in the desired password, confirm the password and select “Ok”.

Customizing your BBM Group

1. Open BBM form the Home screen or from within a folder
2. Select the group to be administered.
Tip: When you launch BBM to interact with a group, type the first letter of the group’s name and your contact list will be filtered so you can quickly access the group.
3. Press the Menu key and select “Group Details”

The first options available on this screen allow you to edit the group name and description or choose a new group icon.

If you would like to keep your BBM status visible to people on your contact list only (thus avoiding sharing it with BBM Groups), change the “Share My Status Message” field to “No”.

Group Barcode

Select “Display Group Barcode” to view the barcode for your group. I recommend saving your barcode to the device memory so you can easily share it with others. While displaying the group’s barcode, press the Menu key and select “Save Barcode Image”. If you would like some ideas on how to share your barcode and other social networking tips, check out Ty’s blog post Social Networking Tips for BlackBerry smartphones.

Administration

Choose “Yes” if you want non-administrators to have the ability to invite other BBM users to your group. By choosing “No”, non-administrative members will not have the option to invite people to the group.

Group Options

Under the heading “Group Options” you will find the setting for how your BlackBerry smartphone interacts with the group. To enable the settings “Save Chat History” and “Save Pictures”, your BlackBerry smartphone must have onboard device memory or a Media Card installed; if you don’t have one or both, the option will not be available to select.

Select “Message List Integration settings” to configure how the group works with your message list; this is the Messages app which can be found on your Home screen or within a folder. Select “Some Activities” to choose from individual activities you want displayed on the message list. Activities not viewed in the message list can be viewed from within the BBM group.

Have a question about administrating a BBM Group? Leave your question below!

Most people who know me know that I love to connect with others — whether it’s meeting new people or keeping my existing connections strong. After seeing Brian’s Five Tip Friday – Five Tips for Unleashing the Power of BlackBerry® Messenger and Ty’s Five Tip Friday – Social Networking Tips for BlackBerry® smartphones blog posts, I decided I had to share my own five BlackBerry Messenger (BBM™) tips for those that love to network as much as I do.

Here are some features you may not know about or may not use. I love them because they let me get even more out of BBM!

1. Connect your connections with Multiperson Chat

This is my absolute favorite feature in BlackBerry Messenger! Multiperson Chat allows you to start a BBM chat with several of your BBM contacts. What I love about Multiperson Chat is:

• The people in your chat do not have to be contacts with each other. As long as they are all on your BBM contact list, they can chat with each other in a Multiperson Chat that you start.
• A Multiperson Chat is temporary, and you can select only the people who need to be a part of that particular conversation.
• You or any other participant in the chat can leave the conversation at any time and the remaining participants can still continue the conversation.

I often use Multiperson Chat when I want to introduce my contacts to each other or have a targeted conversation with a group of experts I know.

To start a Multiperson Chat:

1. Press the Menu key and select “New Multi-person Chat”
2. Select your BBM contacts for the chat, then press OK

2. Use Contact Categories to Organize Your BBM Contacts

When my BBM contact list started to really grow, I found that I needed a way to organize the list. Using Contact Categories was an easy way to manage my list, as I could create categories like “Work”, “Personal”, “Family” and “Conferences”.

To create a new Contact Category:

1. Press the Menu Key and select “New Contact Category”
2. Type in your category, then press OK
3. If there are contacts you want to add, you can select them now and press OK

Once you have one or more Contact Categories created, you can add any new contacts to a category when you invite them to BBM or accept their BBM invitation.

3. Use Broadcast Messages Instead of Personal Messages

Most of the people in my BBM contact list leverage the Personal Message field in their BBM profile to provide their contacts with regular status updates. For when you want to target a specific group within your contact list, Broadcast Messages could be another option.

By using Broadcast Messages, you can send a BBM message to either everyone in a Contact Category, or hand-pick your recipients. To send a Broadcast Message:

1. Press the Menu Key and select “New Broadcast Message”
2. Type your message in the Message field
3. Then either:

• Select the contacts you want to receive the message; or
• Select your desired Contact Category and select “Select All”

4. Press Send

Your message will be sent to your selected contacts and show as a Broadcast Message in a new or existing chat.

4. Invite a contact using NFC (Near Field Communication)

If you and your contact have an NFC-enabled BlackBerry smartphone such as the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900/9930 smartphone, you can use NFC to add each other to your BBM Contact List. This is a great new way to connect, in addition to our existing options such as a using email address, PIN, or scanning a barcode.

To add a contact using NFC:

1. Ensure both BlackBerry smartphones are NFC enabled and have the NFC connection turned on.
2. In BBM, press Menu and select “Invite to BBM”
3. Select “Invite using BlackBerry Tag”
4. Hold the backs of the BlackBerry smartphones together

And with that, you have added a new BBM contact using NFC technology!

5. Back up your BBM Contact List

Last but not least, make sure your BBM Contact List is backed up! You can create a remote backup or local backup onto your BlackBerry smartphone or SD card. This will ensure you can always restore your BBM contact list, including when switching devices.

To back up your BBM Contact List:

1. Press the Menu key
2. Select Options
3. Press “Backup”

• To back up your Contact List remotely, select “Back up files remotely”. Select any email address on your BlackBerry smartphone when prompted and the backup will complete automatically.
• To back up your Contact List on your BlackBerry smartphone, select “Back up files locally”, press “Back Up Now” and select your file destination followed by pressing “Save”.

So what do you think? Leave your favorite networking tips for BBM in the comments!

Planning a vacation couldn’t be easier thanks to several useful apps available for BlackBerry® smartphones. These handy apps allow you to book your trip, plan it out, and even share it with friends and family. Let’s dive right in!

1. Organize with BlackBerry Messenger Groups

Keep in touch with the friends and family using BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) and BBM Groups. BBM Groups allow you to create a shared calendar that can be used by members to help plan activities and events. You can also take advantage of lists — an easy way to plan ahead so you don’t forget anything.

Here’s a quick overview of how to add a calendar appointment and share the contents of it with members of a BBM Group.

1. Open the Calendar app from the Home screen, or from within a folder
2. Press the menu key and select “New Appointment”, or navigate to the specific time and select it
3. Choose the BBM Groups calendar
4. Enter the Subject and location
5. Press the Menu key and select Save.

If you need some help setting up group chats or a BBM Group, these additional blog posts will get you started!

• Get to Know BlackBerry Messenger
• BlackBerry Messenger Groups: Share pictures, lists and chat with several friends at once
• Five Tip Friday – Five Tips for Unleashing the Power of BlackBerry Messenger

2. Keep on track with BlackBerry Maps

BlackBerry® Maps not only helps you get where you need to go, but you can mark sporting venues, restaurants, and even a spot on the sidewalk as favorites so you can find your way back there again. Another great feature is “Find a Location” — use this feature to find food, drink, services, and shopping close to your current location.

To use the “Find a Location” Feature:

1. Press the Menu key and select “Find a Location”
2. Enter a search term such as “coffee” or enter an address
3. Press the Menu key and select “Start Search”.

If you would like more information on BlackBerry Maps, I suggest taking a look at Ty’s blog post Five reasons why BlackBerry Maps is awesome!

3. Inform or Stay informed with Twitter for BlackBerry smartphones

Share your trip as you experience it with Twitter® for BlackBerry smartphones (as long as it’s 140 characters or less, of course). Twitter is also a great way to get up-to-the-minute information from your favorite news outlets and more. One of my favorite features is the ability to save searches so I can easily run the same search again in the future.

To save a search, complete the following steps:

1. Open the Twitter app from your Home screen or from within a folder
2. Select the magnifying glass along the top of the app
3. Enter your search criteria and press enter to start searching
4. To save your search query, press the Menu key and select “Save Search”.

4. BlackBerry Travel Helps Keep You Organized

As Ty mentioned in the post Five Tip Friday – Traveling with a BlackBerry smartphone, BlackBerry® Travel is designed to make it easier to plan, book, manage and share your travel activities. This app can help you find hotel and car rental options, and it will also scan your Messages app and export all supported travel email messages.

The real tip here is to read the blog post mentioned above — not only does it have additional information on BlackBerry Travel, but also information on other apps that may help you on your journey.

5. Pictures and Video

Whenever you are heading to an event, make sure you take lots of pictures and video on your BlackBerry smartphone so you can enjoy those memories down the road. Be sure to update your various social media profile pictures as well when you get home so you can share your experience with friends and family.

In case you need some help with recording and sharing pictures, here are some posts that will get you started and hopefully provide you with some ideas:

• How to take photos with a BlackBerry 6 smartphone
• How to copy and share photos taken with a BlackBerry smartphone
• How to Record and Share HD videos with BlackBerry 7

Do you have a tip you’d like to share? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Today I’d like to share an updated list that now contains just over 230 countries, as well as instructions for how to use these flags within BBM. In the event you identify any missing flags, make sure you leave a comment and let me know!

What are BlackBerry Messenger Flags?

Simply put, you can add a flag or multiple flags to your BBM Display Name or Status Message, or while you are chatting with friends and family.

For example, in the screenshot above you’ll notice I have a Canadian flag in my BBM Status Message, and my colleague Brian (who sent me a BBM message) has the Canadian flag in his BBM Display Name. He also sent me an image of Taiwan’s flag.

How do I use flags within BlackBerry Messenger?

To use a flag within BBM, all you have to do is identify the code that’s listed next to the Country Flag you would like to display. Using the previous screenshot, for example, the codes required are *CA* for Canada and *TW* for Taiwan.

After identifying these codes, while composing a message, enter *CA* for example and after hitting space you’ll notice it changes to the flag image. A very important thing to keep in mind you must use the space key after the 2nd asterisk (*) in order for the code to change to the flag.

Alright, with that being said, here’s the updated flag listing!

What flags are available?

Since I’ve been using a BlackBerry® smartphone, I’ve built up quite a detailed listing of Contacts. I’ve got no more use for an overstuffed little address book since I’ve started compiling all my friends, family, colleagues and other contacts into this handy app! So for this Five Tip Friday, I’d like to share a few of my favorite tips related to the BlackBerry Contacts app. For example, did you know you that you can easily back up your contacts and more using BlackBerry® Protect? We’ll go over that and more tips below.

Let’s begin!

1. Add Contacts to the Home screen

For those using BlackBerry® 6 or BlackBerry® 7 OS and later, you have the ability to add contacts to your Home screen in addition to other items such as websites and files. This is a great way to get one- or two-click access to an important contact.

Try adding a contact to your Home screen right now by using the steps below.

1. Open the Contacts app and highlight a contact
2. Press the Menu key and select “Add to Home Screen”

• To change the name of the shortcut, type a new name.
• To change the icon image, tap on the image to the left of the name.
• To change the location where the shortcut appears, change the Location field.
• To add the shortcut to your Favorites panel, select the Mark as Favorite checkbox.

3. Click Add.

After adding a few Contacts to your Home screen, consider adding a dedicated folder to help with organization. To do this, while viewing your Home screen press the Menu key and select “Add Folder”. Don’t forget that you have the option of specifying what the folder icon looks like by tapping on it.

To learn more about this feature, open the Help app and search for ‘Add a shortcut to your Home screen’.

2. Link a BlackBerry® Messenger contact with the Contacts app

When you link a contact with a contact in the Contacts application, you might be able to perform additional tasks using BlackBerry Messenger (BBM™). For example, during a chat, you might be able to quickly call or send an email message to the contact from the menu. If contacts do not have display pictures in BlackBerry Messenger, their contact pictures from the Contacts application will appear in BlackBerry Messenger instead. Try linking a contact right now using the steps below.

1. Open BlackBerry Messenger and highlight a BBM
2. Press the Menu key and select “Link with BlackBerry Contact”
3. If the BBM contact is already in your Contacts app click “Select Contact”
4. If the BBM contact is not in the Contacts App, select “New Contact” and enter the Contact details.
5. Press the Menu key and select “Save”.

To unlink the BBM contact from the Contacts application, while highlighting the BBM contact, press the Menu key and select “Remove Link with BlackBerry Contact”.

3. Easily Share Contact Cards

Sharing information on your BlackBerry smartphone is really quick, and that applies to sharing Contact information as well! The next time someone asks you for your contact details or someone’s contact information that you have within the Contacts app, consider sending them a contact card using the steps below.

1. Open the Contacts app and highlight a contact
2. Press the Menu key and select “Send Contact Card”
3. Select how you would like to send the Contact Card using several different methods:

• Email
• PIN
• Bluetooth®
• Text Message
• BBM Contact

4. Setting up Contact Alerts

You can create contact alerts that allow you to customize ring tones and alerts for calls and messages from specific contacts or groups of contacts. When you receive a call or message from the contact, your BlackBerry smartphone uses the assigned ring tone or alert, even if you select the Silent profile or Vibrate Only profile.

If you do not want to be notified with the assigned ring tone or alert, you can select the All Alerts Off profile.

1. On the home screen, click on the Sound and Alert Profiles icon
2. Click “Change Sounds and Alerts” and select “Sounds for Contacts” followed by “Add Contact Alert”
3. In the Name field, type the name of the contact alert
4. In the Contacts field, type the name of the contact and select a contact
5. Change the ring tone and alert information for calls and messages
6. Press the Menu key and select “Save”.

5. Back it up for free using BlackBerry Protect

Does the idea of losing your Contacts scare you? I know it worries me because after years of using my BlackBerry smartphone, I have a huge number of Contacts. To help make sure my Contacts listing is safe, I’ve been using BlackBerry Protect, which is a free service that automatically backs up important data on your smartphone over the air. This means items such as your Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, Memos and more will be backed up on a daily, weekly or monthly schedule. To learn more about BlackBerry Protect – as well a few other reasons you should consider it – using check out my post on 5 reasons why you should use BlackBerry Protect.

Note: Password Keeper and Wi-Fi® Network Profiles will be available for backup on BlackBerry 7 smartphones only. If you use BlackBerry 6 or earlier, please make a backup using BlackBerry Desktop Software to ensure Password Keeper and Wi-Fi Network profile information is backed up safely.

Got a tip you’d like to share? Leave a comment and let me know!

One of the best ways to connect with friends and family – as well as stay on top of everything going on in the world today – is by using social networks such as BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™), Facebook®, Twitter® and more. I was recently asked to provide some tips to a friend of mine who is constantly updating her statuses, so today I’d like to share five tips to help you get the most out of your social networking experience while using a BlackBerry® smartphone!

1. Add your own Bit.ly account details to Social Feeds

The next time you want to share a link with friends using the Social Feeds app that’s included with your BlackBerry smartphone, considering adding your Bit.ly account to the Social Feeds options before hand. Doing this will allow you to measure things such as how many clicks your link got and from which countries your link was viewed (one of my favorite stats!).

To add your Bit.ly account details to Social Feeds, complete the following steps:

1. On the home screen, open “Social Feeds”
2. Press the Menu key and select “Options” followed by “Display and Actions”
3. Enter your Bit.ly login details and select “Login”.

After doing this, any links you share using Social Feeds will now get shortened using your Bit.ly account so you can view stats on your link by logging into Bit.ly’s website.

2. Stick your BBM Barcode up

Looking for an easy way to share your contact details or BBM Group details? Consider saving the respective BBM barcodes and putting them on your website, posters, business cards, and of course, your favorite social networks so other BlackBerry device users can get in touch with you!

To save a copy of your BBM barcode(s) to your smartphone that you can then email or copy, complete the steps below.

To display a personal barcode:

1. On the Home screen or in the Instant Messaging folder, click the BlackBerry Messenger icon
2. On the contact list screen, press the Menu key
3. Click “View My Profile” & next to PIN Barcode, select “Show”
4. Press the Menu key and select “Save Barcode Image”.

To display a group barcode:

1. On the Home screen or in the Instant Messaging folder, click the BlackBerry Messenger icon
2. Select the group you would like to display the barcode for
3. Press the Menu key & select “View Group Details”
4. Click “Display Group Barcode”
5. Press the Menu key and select “Save Barcode Image”.

3. Send and share from anywhere!

One of my favorite features offered by the BlackBerry smartphone is the ability to send and share just about anything with just about anyone using a variety of methods! For example, after snapping a photo using the camera, press the Menu key and you’ll notice the “Send” option. After selecting this option, you’ll be shown a listing of different ways you can share your photo. What’s really convenient is that depending on the apps that you installed on your smartphone, you’ll have even more sharing options! For example, on my smartphone, I have the following options:

• Email
• Text Message
• BBM Contact
• BBM Group
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Bluetooth®
• Tag

Note: In case you are wondering, the “Tag” option is displayed because I am using a NFC-enabled BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 smartphone. Selecting the “Tag” option allows me to share a photo using NFC technology with another NFC-enabled BlackBerry smartphone.

As you can see, sharing content is really easy and not specific to photos, as you can send other types of files and multimedia as well! I know I use the option of sharing to BBM Contacts and Twitter daily – what about you?

4. Speed along using shortcuts

Something I recommend doing when setting up a new BlackBerry smartphone or switching to a different BlackBerry device is to review the user guide for your particular device so you can learn more about it. More importantly, you can find out all the useful tips and shortcuts available to you! Within the user guide you’ll be able to learn how to fly through your favorite apps, but also get tips on how to maximize battery life and maintain your free space as well tips on how to keep your personal information safe. To view the user guide for your device, just open the Help app that’s shown on your Home screen and you’ll be able to learn a lot more about your smartphone. Super convenient!

You also have the option of visiting http://docs.blackberry.com, selecting BlackBerry Manuals followed by Smartphone Manuals. Within this website, you can select your particular device, and you’ll then be provided with links to the several useful documents such as the user guide, a getting started guide and more.

I cannot stress enough the value offered by the user guide, so make sure you check it out in order to get the most out of your BlackBerry smartphone experience!

5. Secure your account information and generate random passwords

Looking for an easy way to manage all of your account details and login credentials? If so, you need to check out Password Keeper, a free app included with BlackBerry smartphones that allows you manage your accounts in one place. On top of managing your account information, one of my favorite features it the ability to generate random passwords that contain numbers, letters, and symbols. What I like the most about the random password feature is by accessing the Password Keeper options, I can customize how a random password is generated, which is great in case you need a password that is a specific length and containing a combination of characters.

To learn more about Password Keeper, check out Heather’s post on how to set up and use BlackBerry Password Keeper.

Bonus Tip: Post an update to multiple Social Networks simultaneously

Got something you want to share with friends on BBM as well as Twitter? Instead of sending separate messages, you can send one message that gets sent simultaneously to both social networks. Here’s how:

1. On the home screen, open “Social Feeds”
2. Press the Menu key and select “New Post”
3. Specify which social networks should receive the update
4. Enter your message, then click the “Post” button

Got a question or tip you’d like to share? Leave a comment and let me know!