To celebrate the weekend, here are five tips that I think everyone with a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet should know about.

1. How to cut, copy and paste text

Working with text on the tablet so you can cut, copy or paste is really easy. More or less it’s just a case of tapping and holding the screen followed by selecting your desired option

Cut or Copy Text – Touch and hold the text you’d like to cut or copy and when the cursors appear, adjust them accordingly. When you’ve finished selecting the text, tap Cut or Copy.

Paste Text – When you are ready to paste text that you’ve cut or copied, simply tap and hold where you want to text to be inserted and select Paste from the menu that appears.

2. Pairing with BlackBerry Bridge

Do you own a BlackBerry smartphone? If so, you should consider pairing with your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet using BlackBerry Bridge. Doing so allows you to take advantage of several features such as the ability to browse the web on the tablet using your BlackBerry smartphones connection (if supported by your wireless server provider).

Setting up BlackBerry Bridge is really easy as well. All you need to do is start the BlackBerry Bridge setup process on your tablet which will guide you though installing BlackBerry Bridge on your smartphone as well helping pair your smartphone and tablet. To start the setup process, complete the following steps.

1. On your tablet home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen to access Settings
2. Tap BlackBerry Bridge followed by selecting Setup
3. Specify your desired Tablet Name and tap Next
4. Do one of the following:
   • If you have BlackBerry Bridge installed on your smartphone, tap Continue
   • If you do not have BlackBerry Bridge installed on your smartphone, tap Install Now and following the prompts to install BlackBerry Bridge on your smartphone. When finished, tap Back on the tablet and followed by tapping Continue
5. Follow the instructions on your tablet to scan the barcode which will start the pairing process

After pairing your smartphone and tablet, make sure you check out the BlackBerry Bridge User Guide to learn more.

3. Securing your tablet

I don’t know about you but my tablet contains personal documents, images, videos and more so to prevent others from accessing my personal data, I’ve set a password on my tablet.

Doing this allows me to have peace of mind because in the event I lose my tablet, unless the person who finds it knows my password (ed – which they shouldn’t because passwords are secrets!) they will not be able to access to my personal files.

If they try to guess my password, after 10 invalid password attempts, my tablet data is automatically deleted as a security precaution.

To set a password on your tablet, complete the following steps:

1. On your tablet home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen to access Settings
2. Tap Security followed by selecting Password
3. To set a password, set the Enable Password switch to On
4. Specify your desired password
5. Tap Ok

4. How to copy files to, and from the tablet

Want an easy way to connect to your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet for file sharing? If so, you should try Wi-Fi File Sharing since it allows you to drag and drop documents, pictures, videos, music, and more between your computer and tablet without the need to track down a USB cable.

To setup and start using Wi-Fi File Sharing, complete the following steps.

1. On your tablet home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen to access Settings
2. Tap Storage and Sharing
3. Set the Wi-Fi Sharing switch to On
   • To set a password to help protect your files, tap Password
   • For more information on securing Wi-Fi File Sharing, please review the Help app on your tablet
4. On your tablet, tap About.
5. In the drop-down list, tap Network and make note of the Wi-Fi IPv4 address for your tablet.
6. Do one of the following:
7. If your computer uses a Windows operating system, click Start followed by Run. Type your tablet IP address in the following format: \\xx.xxx.xxx.xxx.

If your computer uses a Mac operating system, open Finder, select Go followed by Connect to Server. Type your tablet IP address in the following format: smb://xx.xxx.xxx.xxx.

• Drag a file from a location on your computer to a folder on your tablet or vice versa

5. Set Up Print To Go

One of my favorite apps is Print To Go because it allows me to print a variety of files such as webpages, images and more to my tablet. For example, every time I come across a new recipe online I’ll use the websites ‘Print’ option, select Print To Go on my PC and within minutes I’ll be in my kitchen following the steps on my tablet thanks to Print To Go.

To get started with Print To Go, you’ll need to visit
http://blackberry.com/printtogo
to download and install the Print To Go software on your personal PC.

After installing the Print To Go software on your computer, print a file like you normally would and select Print To Go as the printer. In the fields that appear on the screen, enter your BlackBerry ID and password and click Sign In. When printing is complete, tap the Print To Go app and you’ll see the new file has been added that you can view using Print To Go, or Adobe Reader on your tablet.

Do you have a question or comment? Let us know below!

Working with people in different time zones can present some challenges; their local time must be considered when organizing meetings and setting deadlines, or even just picking up the phone to have a conversation. To help keep aware of other colleagues’ time zones, I’ve added a clock for each of their locations in the Clock app on my BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet. After reading this post, you will know how to set the time on your tablet, have your tablet display time using the 24-hour clock, add new clocks, and set an alarm.

Setting the Date & Time

When it comes to setting the date and time on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, you have two choices: automatic or manual. If you would like to use the option Set Date and Time Automatically, you might want to check out KB26484 – How the BlackBerry PlayBook synchronizes its time to learn how it works. To manually configure the date and time, follow these steps:

1. From the Home screen, tap the gear (settings) icon in the top right corner
2. Tap Date & Time and select your time zone from the drop-down menu
3. Toggle Set Date and Time Automatically to “Off”
4. Set the Date and Time.

Adding a New Clock

When you first open the Clock app, a clock is already available displaying your tablet’s current date and time based on the Date and Time settings. To add a new clock showing a different time zone, follow these steps:

1. From the Home screen or from within a folder, tap the “Clock” icon
2. Swipe down from the top bezel and tap “New Clock”
3. Specify a name, time zone, and how you would like the clock to appear
4. When finished, tap the clock face to save your settings.

Setting a Home Clock

While adding a new clock, you might have noticed the option “Set as Home Clock”. The Home Clock is important because each clock can have an alarm configured; however, to enable the alarm a clock must be designated as the Home Clock. To set a clock as the Home Clock, simply tap the clock face followed by “Set as Home Clock”.

Setting an Alarm

As I mentioned above, each clock can have its own alarm configured, but for the alarm to sound a clock must be identified as the Home Clock (circled in red below). To set an alarm, follow these steps:

1. From the Home screen or from within a folder, tap the Clock icon
2. Tap your Home Clock followed by tapping “Alarm”
3. Configure the alarm settings

4. Next to Alarm, tap “On” followed by tapping the clock face to finish.

Tip: To quickly view your alarm as well as to turn it on or off, tap on the date and time from the Home screen (circled in red below). Your alarm details are listed beneath the calendar.

Use a 12-hour or 24-hour clock

By default, the tablet displays time in the 12-hour format. If you prefer to view the time as a 24 hour clock – for example, 13:30 instead of 1:30PM – follow these steps:

1. From the Home screen, tap the gear (settings) icon in the top right corner
2. Tap Date & Time from the menu
3. Toggle “On” next to Use 24-Hour Time.

Have a question about using the Clock app on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet? Leave it below and let us know!

#TeamBlackBerry, I’ve got a question for you: When was the last time you backed up your BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet? Performing a backup on your tablet is something I encourage all of my friends and family to do, because one day you might be glad you did.

I know I was relieved when I was able to recover videos of my niece’s ice skating show that I recorded a few weeks ago. What happened is that I had recorded several videos using my BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and moved them onto my USB thumb drive. Several hours later I ended up knocking my keychain with my USB thumb drive attached to it into a sink full of water. After a few minutes trying to figure out how to save my USB thumb drive (ultimately it was lost), I realized I had a backup of my tablet thanks to BlackBerry® Desktop Software, which meant my videos were safe. All I had to do was restore the backup file to my tablet and presto – the videos were back, so we could always remember her first skating show!

Learn how to start backing up your tablet automatically (or on a schedule, if desired) after the break.

Before we begin, you’ll need to download BlackBerry Desktop Software, which allows you to back up and restore your tablet. To download and install it, click on one of the links below depending on which operating system you are currently using:

• BlackBerry Desktop Software for PC
• BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac

An important note about restoring backup files

When you restore a backup file to your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, files that are currently stored on your tablet will be deleted when a backup file is restored. In other words, if you have files stored on your tablet that have been added to your tablet since your last backup, considering using USB or Wi-Fi® file sharing to copy them off the tablet before restoring a backup file.

Something else to keep in mind is that backup files can only be restored provided that the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet you are using was set up using the same BlackBerry® ID. Attempting to restore a backup file made using one BlackBerry ID on to a tablet that was set up using a different BlackBerry ID will result in the following error (depending on which version of BlackBerry Desktop Software you are using):

• BlackBerry Desktop Software for PC – “There was an error restoring”
• BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac – “BlackBerry Desktop Software failed to restore your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet”

If this error occurs, to restore the backup file you’ll need to perform a security wipe of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet followed by setting it up again using the same BlackBerry ID that was used when the backup file was created.

Backing up and restoring your tablet

Provided you have installed BlackBerry Desktop Software for PC or Mac, follow the steps below depending on which version you are using:

BlackBerry Desktop Software for PC

How to configure and perform a manual tablet backup

1. Click on the Start Menu, select “All Programs” followed by “BlackBerry Desktop Software”
2. Connect your tablet, click “Device” followed by “Back up” and select one of the following options:

• To back up all of your tablet data, click “Full”.
• To back up all of your tablet data except for your media files, click “Quick”.
• To selectively choose what information on your tablet you’d like to back up, click “Custom” followed by selecting the desired data.

3. After specifying what information will backed up, customize the backup file using any of the following options

• To change the default name for the backup file, in the “File name” field, type a new name.
• To encrypt the back up the file, select the “Encrypt backup file” check box and type a password.
• To save the settings so that there is no prompt to set these options again when backing the tablet in the future, select “Don’t ask for these settings again” check box.

4. To start a backup, click on “Back up”.

Enabling Automatic Backups of your tablet

After determining what information will be backed up and how the backup file will be created, to enable automatic backups of your tablet, open BlackBerry Desktop Manager, connect your tablet and click on the “Device Options”. In the following screen, check “Back up my device” and specify your desired schedule – daily, weekly or monthly. After doing this, click “Ok” and automatic backups will be performed based on the frequency you set.

Restoring a tablet backup file

In the event you need to restore a backup file, complete the steps below. Keep in mind, doing this will remove files stored on the tablet before the backup is restored.

1. Open BlackBerry Desktop Software, click “Device” followed by “Restore”
2. Select a backup file that contains the data you want to restore and do one of the following:

• To restore all of your tablet data, click “All device data and settings”.
• To select which tablet data you want to restore, click “Select device data and settings” followed by selecting what data you would like to restore.

3. A warning will appear that all data will be replaced with the back up file, click “Yes”
4. If the backup file is encrypted, type the password that you set to encrypt
5. Click “Restore”.

You may encounter an error that reads as the following: “There was error restoring – There could have been a problem with the device or connection during the restore. Verify that the device is turned on and connected.” This is a result of restoring a backup file on to a tablet that using a different BlackBerry ID than the one used when the backup was created.

To learn more about this error, check out the following knowledge base article KB31317 – Unable to restore a BlackBerry PlayBook backup file taken from a different BlackBerry ID.

BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac

How to configure and perform a manual tablet backup

1. On your computer, in the Applications folder, click the BlackBerry Desktop Software icon
2. Click “Back Up” in the upper right corner and do one of the following:

• To back up all of your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet data, click “All Data”.
• To selectively choose what information on your tablet you’d like to back up, click “Custom” followed by selecting the desired data.

3. After specifying what information will backed up, customize you backup using any of the following options:

• To change the default name for the backup file, in the “File name” field, type a new name.
• To encrypt the back up the file, select the “Encrypt backup file” check box.

4. Click “Back Up”
5. If you selected to encrypt the backup you will be prompted for a password. After typing the password, click “Encrypt”.

Enabling automatic backups of your tablet

To specify a schedule that will automatically back up your tablet, complete the following steps:

1. On your computer, in the Applications folder, click the BlackBerry Desktop Software icon
2. Click “Device Options” and on the Backup tab, select the “Automatically back up when device is connected” checkbox and select a interval
3. To back up all of the media files on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, select the “Include media in automatic backup” checkbox.
4. To encrypt the backup file, select the “Encrypt automatic backup file” checkbox
5. Click “OK”.

Restoring a tablet backup file

In the event you need to restore a backup file, complete the steps below. As mentioned earlier, doing this will remove files stored on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet before the backup is restored.

1. Open BlackBerry Desktop Software and click “Restore”
2. Select a backup file that contains the data you want to restore and do one of the following:

• To restore all your device data, click “Restore all data”.
• To select which data you want to restore, click “Restore selected data” followed by selecting what data you would like to restore.

3. A warning will appear that all data will be replaced with the back up file, click “Yes”
4. If the backup file is encrypted, type the password that you set to encrypt
5. Click “Restore”.

If you encounter the following error “BlackBerry Desktop Software failed to restore your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet”, this is a result of restoring a backup file on to a tablet that using a different BlackBerry ID than the one used when the backup was created.

To learn more about this error, check out the following knowledge base article KB31317 – Unable to restore a BlackBerry PlayBook backup file taken from a different BlackBerry ID.

If you have questions or feedback, make sure you leave a comment!

I wanted to shed some light on a question I’ve been asked a few times by friends and family after upgrading to BlackBerry® Bridge™ 2.0. The question in particular: “After upgrading to BlackBerry Bridge 2.0 on my BlackBerry® smartphone, my BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet no longer shows the BlackBerry Bridge Browser icon. Where did it go?”

Here’s your answer:

When the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet was launched in April 2011, BlackBerry smartphone users had the ability to install BlackBerry Bridge 1.0, which allowed them to pair their smartphone and tablet together to get even more features. One of these features was the “Bridge Browser”, which allowed users to browse the web on their BlackBerry PlayBook tablet using their existing BlackBerry smartphone’s connection, if supported by their wireless service provider.

With the release of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, a new version of the BlackBerry Bridge app for BlackBerry smartphones was released as well – version 2.0. This new version offered a lot of features and functionality such as Remote Control and Presenter Mode. To learn more about the new features as well as how to set them up, check out my post BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 and BlackBerry Bridge – The Perfect Pairing!

One of the biggest improvements in BlackBerry Bridge 2.0 was a more seamless integration with the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s native browser. The native Browser built into the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet can now fully utilize the BlackBerry Bridge connection from your BlackBerry smartphone, thus eliminating the need for a special Browser. The only time where a dedicated BlackBerry Bridge Browser icon is now added to the BlackBerry Bridge panel is when a paired smartphone is activated with a BlackBerry® Enterprise Server. This is done to ensure highest standards of security for access to corporate resources. Only the dedicated BlackBerry Bridge Browser can access your intranet via the BlackBerry smartphone connection.

For example, in the following screenshot, BlackBerry Bridge Browser is displayed since my BlackBerry smartphone is associated with my corporate BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

In case you aren’t sure, you can tell if your smartphone is associated with a BlackBerry Enterprise Server by using the following steps to access the Enterprise Activation screen. If you don’t know which type of BlackBerry® Device Software you are using, check out this post on how to identify BlackBerry Device Software versions.

BlackBerry Device Software 6.0 to 7.1

1. From the Home Screen, select Options
2. Select Device
3. Select Advanced System Settings
4. Select Enterprise Activation

BlackBerry Device Software 4.0 to 5.0

1. From the Home Screen, select Options
2. Select Advanced Options
3. Select Enterprise Activation

If the BlackBerry smartphone is currently activated, the screen displays “Desktop: Activated On (DATE).”

If the BlackBerry smartphone is not currently activated, the screen displays “Not Activated”.
If you are missing the option for Enterprise Activation completely, this means that your wireless service plan does not support the user of a BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which means you are not associated with a BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

Got a question about BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 or BlackBerry Bridge 2.0? Leave a comment and let me know!

With the release of BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS 2.0 for the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet (pssst – have you downloaded the most recent update yet?), here’s a quick refresher on how to secure physical access as well as file sharing on your tablet. This is important information because using a password is a simple way to prevent someone from accessing your personal information, which is why this is one of the first things I recommend doing when you set up a new BlackBerry PlayBook tablet or BlackBerry® smartphone.

I’ll also be showing you how to secure file sharing on your tablet whenever you want to send files to and from our tablet using USB or Wi-Fi® Sharing. Learn more about securing your tablet after the jump!

How to secure physical access to your tablet

To set a password that allows you to lock and unlock your tablet, complete the following steps while viewing your tablet’s Home screen.

1. While viewing your Home screen, swipe down from the top bezel to access your tablet settings.

• Tip: You can also use the Gear icon that appears in the top right corner of the Home screen to access your tablet settings.

2. Tap “Security” followed by “Password”.
3. Toggle “Enable Password” to “On” and when prompted, enter your desired password twice followed by selecting “Ok”.

• Note: This password cannot be reset so ensure you remember what password you have entered.

4. Specify a desired “Lock After” value to determine how long your device waits before entering standby mode.

• Tip: To exit standby mode, just swipe across the screen from bezel to bezel.

After enabling a password on your tablet, here a few things you should know:

• To change your password in the future, use the “Change Password” option that’s available in the Password settings screen.
• To lock your tablet, press the Battery icon on the Home screen status bar followed by selecting Lock.

• To unlock your tablet, swipe from bezel to bezel; for example, left to right, top to bottom, etc.

Help! I forgot the password used to unlock my BlackBerry PlayBook tablet!

When you set a password on your tablet, you’ll have 10 attempts to enter the correct password. If the wrong password is entered 10 times, your tablet will perform a security wipe which will wipe and erase your stored data. As mentioned earlier, this password cannot be reset so make sure you remember what password you will be using.

To help prevent data loss, we always recommend performing backups of your tablet’s data using BlackBerry® Desktop Software. For more information on how to back up the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s data, check out KB26134.

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

(Not a fan of text? Check out the above video instead to learn how to secure your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet)

How to secure shared files and folder access

In addition to setting a password to secure physical access to your tablet, I also recommend using a password to secure access to shared files and folders on your tablet. Something to keep in mind is that changing any of the settings below will cancel any file transfers that are currently in progress.

1. While viewing your Home screen, swipe down from the top bezel to access your tablet settings.

• Tip: You can also use the Gear icon that appears in the top right corner of the Home screen to access your tablet settings.

2. Tap “Storage & Sharing” and enable one or both of the following options:

• File Sharing – Allow access and sharing your tablet’s files and media over a USB connect to your computer
• Wi-Fi Sharing – Allow file sharing over Wi-Fi networks

3. Toggle “Password Protect” to “On” and when prompted, enter your desired password twice followed by selecting “Ok”.

• Tip: Need to change your password in the future? Just tap on the “Change Password” button to enter your new password.

4. Tap “Network Identification” and review the Tablet Network Name, Workgroup and Username

After doing this, whenever you connect your tablet to a computer using a USB cable, you’ll need to enter a password on your computer in order to access the tablet’s file system. In the event you are using Wi-Fi sharing, you’ll need to enter the user name obtained in the step 4 listed above and the password you set in order to view files and folders on your tablet using a Wi-Fi connection. For more information on using Wi-Fi Sharing, check out my post on how to copy files to and from a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet using Wi-Fi sharing.

	Explore tablet hardware Using the tablet interface BlackBerry Bridge Personalization Docs To Go Print To Go Calendar Contacts Video Player Messages Video Chat Browsing the web

More about BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0

1. Help Blog: Getting Started with Email, Contacts and Calendar in BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0
2. Help Blog: Getting Started with Video Chat in BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0
3. BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 is here!
4. New Video Chat features with BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0
5. BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 Reviews from CES
6. CES 2012: BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 Communicates [Video]

One of the announcements made at BlackBerry® DevCon Americas this year was the availability of the Developer Beta for the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS v2.0 (Development Beta OS), which is or designed to allow developers to test and refine their Android™ apps to run on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

The Developer Beta OS doesn’t contain any updates of end-user features or functionality, so unless you are developing for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, you should not be using the Developer Beta OS. Another important thing to keep in mind is that some apps and games that are designed for the current PlayBook OS – which as of today is v1.0.7 – may not function properly with the Developer Beta OS (don’t worry, this will be fixed by the time PlayBook OS 2.0 is out of beta and ready for general availability).

In the event you installed the Developer Beta OS and now want to return to the current PlayBook OS (v1.0.7), which is highly recommended if you are not a developer, here’s an overview of what to do:

The first thing you’ll need to know is that if you signed up for and installed the Developer Beta OS, you’ll need to wait approximately 24 hours before you can reinstall the current version (v1.0.7), otherwise your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet will apply the Developer Beta OS again. (For those who received a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet at BlackBerry DevCon Americas with the Developer Beta OS pre-installed, you can install v1.0.7 at any time.)

Provided 24 hours have passed since signing up and installing the Developer Beta OS, complete the following steps using BlackBerry® Desktop Software to return to the current non-beta release (v1.0.7) of the BlackBerry PlayBook OS.

Tip: BlackBerry Desktop Software is available for PC and Mac users, and the latest version can be downloaded from the BlackBerry Desktop Software website.

Restoring the BlackBerry PlayBook OS to v1.0.7 will erase everything on the tablet, so make sure that you back up any important documents and files before proceeding. Important: If you backup your PlayBook while it is running the Developer Beta OS, you’ll be unable to restore this backup file to your PlayBook once you’ve loaded OS v1.0.7. This is in reference to running a general back up using the BlackBerry Desktop Manager. What you can back up safely are specific documents, photos, or other files – and then reload them once you’ve restored OS v1.0.7. There are several methods to accomplish this; consider using USB File Sharing, or Wi-Fi® File Sharing to backup important documents, photos, or other files before proceeding with the steps below.

Requiremens:

• BlackBerry PlayBook tablet with at least 20% battery life
• BlackBerry Desktop Software and a USB cable
• Active Internet connection

Instructions:

1. Turn off the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet
2. Using a PC or Mac, open BlackBerry Desktop Software
3. Using the USB cable, connect the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to your computer:
   • If prompted, enter your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet password
4. A dialog will appear stating BlackBerry Desktop Software cannot connect to your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. When this appears, click “Update”.
   • Note, this dialog will disappear when the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet boots up completely. If this occurs, disconnect the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and repeat the previous steps to get the dialog to appear again.
5. Enter your email address or uncheck “Yes, email me when updates are available”.
6. Depending on which version of BlackBerry Desktop Software you are using select one of the following options:
   • BlackBerry Desktop Software for PC, click “Install”.
   • BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac, click “Repair”.

After clicking one of the above options, your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet should have the current non-beta release of the BlackBerry PlayBook OS installed (v1.0.7). After the OS is restored to v1.0.7, you’ll be presented with the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet Setup Wizard, which will allow you to setup the tablet again. While setting up your tablet again, you can check out the BlackBerry PlayBook category of the Inside BlackBerry Help Blog to learn more about your tablet.

Got a question? Leave a comment and let me know!

Taking photos using a BlackBerry® smartphone with v6.0 device software or BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet is really quick and easy, and allows you to capture great photos in plenty of different environments. Today I’d like to provide an overview of some of the options available when taking photos so you can customize them as you see fit, as well as take advantage of some options you might not have previously used.

For this post, I’ll be focusing on BlackBerry® 6 device software, so if you are using an earlier version of BlackBerry device software, check the user guide for more information on available camera options. If you don’t know which version of BlackBerry device software you are currently using, check out our post on How to Identify your BlackBerry Device Software version.

BlackBerry 6

Beyond the viewfinder, the first thing you’ll notice when you launch the camera application are the options along the bottom of the screen, as per the screenshot above. I’ve numbered each of the buttons in red so you can see what they mean below:

1. Camera Pictures – Selecting this option will allow you to review photos you’ve taken previously. This is a quick way to access photos you just took so you can send your favorite one to a friend.
2. Geotag Options – This setting allows the camera to record geographical information of the location in which you take a photo. Tapping this icon will allow you toggle this feature on and off.
3. Camera Button – This one is pretty obvious, but to snap a photo, just tap on this button when you are ready. You can also press the convenience key on your BlackBerry smartphone to take a picture instead of pressing the camera button.
4. Flash Settings – To change the flash settings, just tap on the flash icon. The options available to you are Flash On, Flash Off, and Automatic Flash, which triggers a flash if required.
5. Camera Scene Mode – You can select from several different scene modes which allow you to optimize the settings for different environments. A complete listing is below for those that are curious:

• Auto – Ideal for capturing a wide range of subjects under most conditions.
• Face Detection – Detects the faces of subjects and puts them in focus in most lighting conditions.
• Portrait – Ideal for capturing people; skin tones are accurately reproduced.
• Sports – Ideal for capturing sports or other quickly moving subjects.
• Landscape – Ideal for capturing bright, outdoor scenes; enhances the detail and sharpness of the scene.
• Party – Ideal for capturing people in dim, indoor environments.
• Close-Up – Ideal for capturing subjects that are close to the camera; enhances the detail and sharpness of close-up subjects
• Snow – Ideal for capturing snow scenes; colors are accurately reproduced in scenes that are primarily white.
• Beach – Ideal for capturing beach scenes; colors are accurately reproduced in the scenes of sea, sand, and sky.
• Night – Ideal for capturing dim, outdoor scenes.
• Text – Ideal for capturing text on white backgrounds; enhances the detail and sharpness of text.

To learn more about taking photos on a BlackBerry 6-enabled BlackBerry smartphone, check out the user guide for your particular BlackBerry smartphone model, which be found at http://docs.blackberry.com. This site also includes other information such as how to change the location of where photos are saved, and how to customize the autofocus and digital zoom settings.

BlackBerry PlayBook tablet

The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet has a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera that you can use to capture great pictures. The 3 megapixel front-facing camera is perfect for quickly taking a self-portrait or creating a profile picture. With that being said, when you tap the Camera icon on a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, you’ll be presented with the following screen. To help explain the options, I’ve numbered them in the screenshot in red so you can see what they mean below:

1. Current Scene Mode – If you swipe down from the top bezel while using the camera, you’ll be able to set the scene mode to one of the following options: Auto, Sports & Whiteboard (which is great for capturing images text on white backgrounds). In the screenshot, A denotes Auto has been selected.
2. Zoom Slider – Slide this toggle up and down to zoom in and out while you prepare to take a photo.
3. Geotag – This setting allows the camera to record geographical information of the location in which you take a photo. Tapping this icon will allow you toggle this feature on and off.
4. Camera/Video Camera Mode – Tapping this button will allow to switch between the camera and video camera in case you want to shoot a video instead.
5. Camera Button – Tapping this button will snap a photo.
6. Switch Cameras – Since the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet includes two cameras, tapping this button allows you to switch between the front and rear facing camera.

Don’t forget to swipe down from the top bezel while using the Camera application, as you’ll be presented several other options such as the ability to enable Image Stabilization and the ratio of the photos you take. For a video walkthrough, check out the BlackBerry PlayBook How To Demos for Taking Pictures. You can also review the user guide for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet by visiting
http://docs.blackberry.com
.

How do you use the camera on your BlackBerry smartphone or BlackBerry PlayBook tablet? Leave a comment and let me know!

Welcome to the first Five Tip Friday here at the Inside BlackBerry® Help Blog, where I plan on sharing five tips and tricks on all things BlackBerry® smartphone and BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet! I want to pass along any tips and tricks you care to share as well, so make sure you leave a comment so I can include it in the future.

For our first week, here are a few of my tips while using the browser on a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet:

1. Double tap to zoom in and out while browsing the Web

If you are viewing a blog – let’s say the Inside BlackBerry Help Blog – and you want to zoom in on a post, you can pinch to zoom or double tap, which I like because it zooms in the right on the column. To zoom out again, just repeat the process.

To help show what I mean, I’ve placed a red X where I was tapping on the screen. Here is a screenshot before double tapping on the red X:

After double tapping on the red X in the previous screenshot:

2. Double tap to make Adobe® Flash® objects full screen

I know I just mentioned the double tap, but this is different (in a very cool way)! If a website has a video you want to watch or a game you want to play, double tap on it to make it full screen. When you want to go back to the website again, just swipe down from the top bezel. I use this tip when I watch cooking videos in the kitchen.

To help show what I mean again, the red X is where I am tapping on the screen. Here is a screenshot before double tapping on the red X:

After double tapping on the red X in the previous screenshot:

3. Open Link in a New Tab

This is a quick and useful tip I use whenever I encounter something I want to check out after I finished visiting a website. To do this, press and hold on a link and a menu will appear with a few options, one of the options will be to open the link in a new tab.

The following screenshot shows the menu that appears after I tapped on ‘Read More’ for a few seconds:

4. Press and hold .com for more options

When entering a website address, you can press and hold on the .com button to get a menu the following extensions: .net, .org, .edu, .gov, .ca, .biz

5. Enable Private Browsing

When private browsing is turned on, the browser only stores your history, cached files, cookies, and other information temporarily. This information is deleted when you close the browser. To enable this, swipe down from the top bezel while using the browser and select Options, followed by tapping Privacy & Security.

Inside this menu, set the Private Browsing switch to On.

You can easily identify if Private Browsing is enabled, as the browser will show “Private” in the top right corner that I’ve circled in red in the following screenshot. To turn it off, complete the same steps but toggle Private browsing to off.

Want more tips? Check out my other post for an additional five BlackBerry PlayBook tablet browsing tips and tricks.

Using the BlackBerry App World™ storefront to install new applications onto a BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet or BlackBerry® smartphone is really easy – but what about removing applications? Today I’d like to show you how easy it is to remove an application from your device.

Removing applications from a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet

To remove an application you’ve installed from BlackBerry App World or a bookmark that you’ve placed on your home screen, complete the following steps:

1. Select the All view.

2. Tap and hold your finger on the application or bookmark you’d like to remove. A few seconds later you’ll notice all of the icons start to pulse, and applications and bookmarks that can be removed will have a trashcan beneath them as per the screenshot below (circled in yellow).

3. Tap on the trashcan below the icon you’d like to remove and when you are done, tap the checkmark that appears in the top left corner (circled in red).

You should keep in mind that if you remove an application or bookmark from another view, such as Favorites, Media or Games, the icon will be removed from that view only. To remove the application or bookmark completely, make sure you delete it from the All view.

Removing applications from a BlackBerry smartphone

Before proceeding, you’ll want to make sure you know which version of BlackBerry® Device Software you are currently using. If you don’t know what version you are using, check out this post for information how to identify your BlackBerry device software version. After identifying your version, select the appropriate steps below:

BlackBerry® 6

1. Select Options from the home screen or, using Universal Search, enter Options.

2. Click Device > Application Management.

3. Highlight the application to be deleted.
4. Press the Menu key then click Delete.

5. Click the option to Reboot Now if the option is presented on the BlackBerry smartphone.

BlackBerry Device Software 5.0

1. Select Options from the Home screen.

2. Select ‘Applications’.

3. Highlight the application to be deleted.
4. Press the Menu key then click Delete.

5. Click the option to Reboot Now if the option is presented on the BlackBerry smartphone.

BlackBerry Device Software 4.1 to 4.7

1. Display the Options menu from the Home screen.
2. Click Advanced Options > Applications.
3. Highlight the application to be deleted.
4. Press the Menu key then click Delete.
5. Click the option to Reboot Now if the option is presented on the BlackBerry smartphone.

Got a question about your BlackBerry smartphone? Leave a comment and let me know!

Browsing the web using the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet is a great experience, as you are able to take advantage of everything the web has to offer. Today I’ll be providing an overview of several features built into the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet browser. If you have a question after reading this post make sure you leave a comment and let me know as I may do a post about the question you ask!

With that being said, let’s get started by taking a look at how bookmarks work.

The first time you open the browser on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, you’ll be presented with the bookmarks screen by default. You have the ability to view your bookmarks in a thumbnail view or list view. To change the view, all you need to do is tap on the icon that I’ve circled in red below. You’ll also notice a Pencil icon (circled in Green) which, after tapping it, allows you delete a bookmark by tapping on the trashcan icon (circled in yellow) as per the following screenshot:

To access your bookmarks while using the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet browser, all you need to do is tap on the gold star icon. To add a new bookmark, browse to the site you’d like to bookmark and tap on the star icon with the green plus symbol next to it. You’ll then notice two options appear, the first being “Add to Bookmarks” followed by “Add to Home Screen”. The first is pretty self-explanatory, and the second is a feature I really like as it allows you to add a thumbnail bookmark to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet home screen. A great way to try this out is by adding the Inside BlackBerry Help Blog to your home screen (Thumbs up! – Ed.)

If you’d like to remove a bookmark after adding it to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet home screen, all you need to do is tap and hold on the icon for a few seconds until it starts to pulse. While pulsing, you can drag it to a new location on your home screen, or tap on the X below it to remove it from the home screen completely. I love this feature as it allows me to add my favorite websites to the Favorites view set on my BlackBerry PlayBook tablet!

After you’ve modified your icons, tap on the checkmark that appears in the top left corner of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet home screen view bar that I’ve circled below in red.

You might be wondering at this point: How do I change my settings so that my BlackBerry PlayBook tablet opens up my favorite homepage instead of displaying my bookmarks? To do this, swipe down from the bezel, select “Options” and toggle the “For a New Page Show” setting from “My Bookmarks” to “My Home Page”. You can then specify what page should be loaded by entering the web address in the “Home Page” field.

Besides changing the “For a New Page Show” setting, you also have the ability to customize several options such as which search engine is used by default, and the ”Remember Open tabs When I Start Browser” setting.

What was the first setting you customized in the browser on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet? Leave a comment and let me know.