BlackBerry Hacks

Preface

The BlackBerry has come from relative obscurity to omnipresence in a very short amount of time. How was Research In Motion, a relatively small Canadian company, able to steal the thunder from the dominant players in the handheld arena and revive what was becoming a lackluster market? The Internet’s original killer app: email. For years no handheld could match the BlackBerry’s knack for email. From the small but usable QWERTY keyboard to the push technology that delivers email to a device as it’s received, BlackBerry has reached a level to which even the largest players in the industry must scramble to catch up.

Meanwhile, RIM is intent on conquering other aspects of the mobile user experience such as web browsing and secure corporate data access. RIM continues to pour improvements not only into the device itself, but the entire BlackBerry platform. Everyone from the end user to the BlackBerry administrator to the developer will find conveniences in the BlackBerry that don’t exist on other platforms. In this book, you’ll find clever uses for some of these enhancements and new tricks for using some features that have been there from the beginning.

Why BlackBerry Hacks?

The term hacking has a bad reputation in the press. They use it to refer to those who break into systems or wreak havoc with computers as their weapon. Among people who write code, though, the term hack refers to a “quick-and-dirty” solution to a problem, or a clever way to get something done. And the term hacker is taken very much as a compliment, referring to someone as being creative, having the technical chops to get things done. The Hacks series is an attempt to reclaim the word, document the good ways people are hacking, and pass the hacker ethic of creative participation on to the uninitiated. Seeing how others approach systems and problems is often the quickest way to learn about a new technology.

The BlackBerry is ripe with opportunities for the hacker in all of us. Just the size of the keyboard and screen required RIM to build hacks into the device to make it usable for the average person. There are a slew of hacks for the beginner, but even the most advanced power user will find juicy nuggets to incorporate into daily use.

How to Use This Book

You can read this book from cover to cover if you like, but each hack stands on its own, so feel free to browse and jump to the different sections that interest you most. If there’s a prerequisite you need to know about, a cross-reference will guide you to the right hack.

How This Book Is Organized

The hacks in this book vary by type and sometimes by audience. As such, it is divided into nine chapters:

Chapter 1, Using Your BlackBerry

This chapter focuses on getting around in your BlackBerry. There are hacks to change programs, do things quickly, hide rarely used icons, and other useful tricks. Use this chapter to make your BlackBerry your own.

Chapter 2, Email

Use this chapter to become a black belt in the BlackBerry’s bread and butter. The hacks in this chapter will help you use the device to interact with the application that even your grandmother now uses.

Chapter 3, Games

Where would a computing platform be without its games? Kill some time in the airport waiting for your next flight with the hacks in this chapter.

Chapter 4, The Internet and Other Networks

Interact with the web services that make the Internet what it is today. The Web has transformed handhelds from simple personal digital assistants to truly mobile computers.

Chapter 5, Free Programs

Where there’s an operating system, there are sure to be programs available for it. The applications highlighted in this chapter are free for the taking.

Chapter 6, Shareware Apps

If you’re willing to drop a little coin, you can use your BlackBerry to perform a variety of functions from multimedia hacks to spell checking. This chapter features some of the coolest third-party applications out there.

Chapter 7, BES Administration

BlackBerry has become a mission-critical service in the eyes of the corporate executives that use it. BlackBerry administrators will find helpful techniques to help them keep their sanity.

Chapter 8, The Web and MDS

BlackBerry’s Mobile Data Service gives users secure access to data from the Internet as well as the intranet. Use this chapter to turn your tired intranet site into a mobile, push-enabled application optimized for the BlackBerry.

Chapter 9, Application Development

Use this chapter as a guide for jumping into BlackBerry development with two feet. These aren’t just simple “Hello World” hacks—they are high octane techniques that show even beginning developers how to do powerful things with the BlackBerry.

Where to Learn More

This field is changing at a quick pace. There are some excellent sites to visit to keep abreast of the latest happenings in the world of BlackBerry:

• The BlackBerry Forums (http://www.blackberryforums.com/) is a third-party forum site where users exchange questions and answers about BlackBerry. If you run into a problem, there’s a good chance someone else has, too.

• The RIM section of Howard Forums (http://www.howardforums.com/) is a frequently used forum for exchanging tips and tricks for BlackBerry usage.

• BlackBerry Cool (http://www.blackberrycool.com) is an excellent blog that regularly posts software reviews, general news, and tips for Black-Berry users.

• BBHub (http://www.bbhub.com) is another heavily posted weblog that highlights new software and news on the BlackBerry.

• BlackBerry.com (http://www.blackberry.com) is the official site of Black-Berry. You’ll find the latest handhelds, press releases, webcasts, and insight right from the source.

• The BlackBerry Developer Journal (http://www.blackberry.com/developers/journal/index.shtml) is a free monthly email newsletter for developers that provides the latest techniques, APIs, and news for BlackBerry developers.

• The BlackBerry developer forums (http://www.blackberry.com/developers/forum/) allow developers to interact and ask questions on anything related to the BlackBerry. There is currently a Java forum and a Browser forum.

• The BlackBerry Blog (http://blackberryblog.com/) is another blog to monitor the latest BlackBerry happenings.

• The BlackBerry tag on del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us/tag/blackberry) is a nice collection of the latest URLs that alpha geek BlackBerry users are bookmarking.

Conventions

The following is a list of the typographical conventions used in this book:

Italics

Used to indicate URLs, filenames, filename extensions, and directory/folder names. For example, a path in the filesystem will appear as C:\Temp.

Constant width

Used to show code examples, the contents of files, and console output, as well as the names of variables, commands, and other code excerpts.

Constant width bold

Used to highlight portions of code, typically new additions to old code. It also indicates text that you should type in literally.

Constant width italic

Used in code examples and tables to show sample text to be replaced with your own values.

Gray type

Used to indicate a cross-reference within the text.

Alt-X

Press and hold Alt and tap X, in that order.

Alt-X,Y,Z

Press and hold Alt, and then type X, Y, and Z, in that order. Release Alt when you are done typing.

You should pay special attention to notes set apart from the text with the following icons:

Tip

This is a tip, suggestion, or general note. It contains useful supplementary information about the topic at hand.

Warning

This is a warning or note of caution, often indicating that your money or your privacy might be at risk.

The thermometer icons, found next to each hack, indicate the relative complexity of the hack:

beginner

moderate

expert

Using Code Examples

This book is here to help you get your job done. In general, you may use the code in this book in your programs and documentation. You do not need to contact us for permission unless you’re reproducing a significant portion of the code. For example, writing a program that uses several chunks of code from this book does not require permission. Selling or distributing a CD-ROM of examples from O’Reilly books does require permission. Answering a question by citing this book and quoting example code does not require permission. Incorporating a significant amount of example code from this book into your product’s documentation does require permission.

We appreciate, but do not require, attribution. An attribution usually includes the title, author, publisher, and ISBN. For example: "BlackBerry Hacks by Dave Mabe. Copyright 2006 O’Reilly Media, Inc., 0-596-10115-5.”

If you feel your use of code examples falls outside fair use or the permission given above, feel free to contact us at [e-mail].

How to Contact Us

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