The Quickest Quick Start Guide for a Blackberry Newbie including Calendar Syncing

Don’t know where to start?  Purchased or employer issued, it is still your first Blackberry smartphone.  Congratulations.  Eight essential items you need to know to get started:

1.  Plug it in. Your Blackberry needs juice and lots of it.  You cannot overcharge your Blackberry.  You can use all of the Blackberry features, including the placing and receiving calls, while it is charging.

2.  Familiarize yourself with the navigation. Go through the “Setup Wizard” (usually a Blackberry looking icon with a gear overlay) and learn the basics of navigation.

3.  Set up your e-mail accounts. If it is employer issued, this was probably done for you and you may not be able to add additional e-mail addresses.  If you purchased it from your carrier and in a store, you probably have one e-mail account activated.  You can set up e-mail accounts under “Email Settings” (usually an envelope icon with a gear overlay).  Your messages may not arrive immediately but should begin “pushing” to the Blackberry within 20 minutes.

4.  Put your most important icons on the “home screen.” Your beginning home screen can be viewed by tapping (but not holding down) the red hang-up button.  The items displayed on your home screen can be changed.  Usually you would want your calendar and e-mail inbox(s) to appear on the home screen.  Tap the Blackberry button (left of the trackball/trackpad).    Go to any icon you want on the home screen and tap the Blackberry button again.  You want to “Move” that icon to one of the first positions in the list of icons.  The first several icons will appear in the same order on your home screen.  Eventually, you will probably want to download a new “theme” for your Blackberry that will display your new e-mails and calendar appointments right on the home screen.

5.  Do your first backup. Install the Blackberry Desktop Manager software on your computer.  After the installation, use the data cable provided and backup your device.  This should take about three minutes.  You should perform regular backups to protect against data loss.

6.  Download the Google Apps for the Blackberry. Point your Blackberry browser to m.google.com.  This will install your Apps “OTA” or over-the-air.  You will likely want to install Google Maps, among others.  It includes very good GPS capabilities and street views.  You can search the map for businesses, restaurants and everything else available the Google Maps service.  Google Maps on the Blackberry does not provide turn-by-turn voice navigation.

7.  Calendar Syncing OTA. You probably do not want to plug in your Blackberry to sync the calendar with your computer.  You may be away from your computer or want to avoid the hassle of wiring up often.  You want to do it OTA.  If your Blackberry was employer issued and you are a BES (Blackberry Enterprise Service) customer , your calendar will sync OTA with Microsoft Outlook at work.  If you are not a BES customer (Blackberry Internet Service (BIS)), you have two primary options.  You can sync with Google Calendar by using the Google Sync app or you can use a new service, mIQ, which is free from Best Buy Mobile.  Both will enable you to sync your calendar with your computer OTA.  If you use Microsoft Outlook or Thunderbird, you can still sync OTA but it requires what I refer to as a “three way sync.”  You need a plugin for Thunderbird to sync the calendar to Google Calendar and then Google Sync on the Blackberry.  You will actually have three calendars that are all in sync.  If you use Microsoft Outlook and you are a BIS customer, then use Google Calendar Sync on your computer and the Google Sync app on the Blackberry.  You can download the Google Calendar Sync for your computer at Google’s website.

8.  Getting Support. If you need assistance, your carrier or employer may be able to help you.  I recommend Google searches for common problems and the website Crackberry.com for additional free support.  The Crackberry.com forums section provides helpful answers to common problems.  If you need additional support for more complicated issues, post a comment here.  As a self-proclaimed Blackberry ninja, I can either post up tutorials or point you in the right direction.

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