Blackberry Tips
Boost Your BlackBerry’s Battery
Battery-boosting strategies are always handy, whether your battery indicator is running on empty or you discover you left your charger at home and need your BlackBerry to last all week. Follow these simple
Lower the Backlight Timeout setting to conserve power.
tips to keep your BlackBerry running when you need it most.
Lower the Backlight Timeout setting to conserve power.
Tweak The Backlight
One of the best ways to improve battery life is to adjust your BlackBerry’s screen and keyboard backlight. From the Home screen, scroll to and select Settings, select Screen/Keyboard, select Backlight Brightness, and then press the trackball to reduce the setting to 10. If you can still read the screen, then your battery will thank you. You can change the Backlight Timeout setting here, as well. Highlight the setting, press the trackball, and select 10 Sec. This adjustment turns the backlight off after you leave your BlackBerry idle for 10 seconds. If you’re not willing to work with a dimmer BlackBerry, you can press the power button once to turn on the backlight at the current setting (with the BlackBerry idle), press it again to momentarily increase the backlight to 100, and then press the power button a third time to turn off the backlight. When enabled, the Auto Backlight feature senses the current ambient light conditions to dim the backlight in lower-light situations and brighten it in sunnier conditions. Use this feature if you like using a brighter backlight setting, but disable it if you’re using the lower backlight settings. Finally, press the Escape key, save the changes, and then press the Escape key again to get back to the Home screen.
Your BlackBerry needs some serious juice to power all that functionality.
Basic Battery Care
To make sure you get the most out of your battery, you can practice some basic battery maintenance tips. The Li-Ion battery in your BlackBerry is best recharged often and typically before it is fully discharged. Letting the battery deplete completely on a regular basis can permanently damage it. If you can’t be without your BlackBerry for even a moment, consider buying a spare battery. If you’re not using a battery for a prolonged period, charge it to about 40 to 60% of its maximum charge and then store it in a cool place, such as a refrigerator. Do not freeze your battery.
Use Auto On/Off
BlackBerry’s Auto On/Off feature lets you turn the phone on and off at designated times of the day. For instance, if you know you will only get calls during a given time period or don’t want to be interrupted at night, set Auto On/Off and give your battery a break. From the Home screen select Settings, Options, and Auto On/Off; enable both Weekday and Weekend options; and then select the times you want your device to turn off and on. Press the Escape key, select Save, and press the Escape key twice more to return to the Home screen.
Wireless can spell death for a low battery, so consider turning off some or all connections.
Go Offline
Much of the BlackBerry’s core functionality depends on its wireless capabilities, but those radios can quickly suck a battery dry. You can really improve battery life if you can live without Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, and cellular service. Scroll to and select Manage Connections from the Home screen to access the wireless connections screen. You can pick and choose the wireless radios you want to disable by scrolling to and selecting the appropriate checkboxes. To turn off all connections, select the Turn All Connections Off option at the top of the screen. To resume wireless connectivity, access Manage Connections again and then click Restore Connections from the top of the screen. Press Escape to return to the Home screen.
The default five-bar network signal indicator gives you a rough idea of your current network connectivity, but there’s a way to get a more accurate picture of your coverage. Press and hold ALT and then type NMLL to change the bar-style signal strength indicator to a numeric value measured in decibels relative to 1 milliwatt (dBm). A good signal will fall in the range of -40 to -90 (roughly equivalent to four and five bars), and anything lower than -90 (approximately one or two bars) indicates that your BlackBerry is struggling to maintain a connection. If this is the case, turn off the Mobile Network radio. When coverage is spotty, your BlackBerry will boost output to maintain a connection and retransmit dropped packets repeatedly, which is detrimental to the BlackBerry’s battery life. To change the coverage indicator back to the bars, simply press and hold ALT and type NMLL again.
Delete Original Messages After Replying
The BlackBerry knowledgebase recommends deleting original messages after you’ve replied as another way to extend battery life. Select Messages from the Home screen, scroll to any messages you’ve replied to, press the Menu key, select Delete, and then select On Mailbox & Handheld or On Handheld. Press Escape to return to the Home screen.
Compose One Message For Multiple Contacts
Rather than send out multiple messages to different contacts, you can ease the demand on your BlackBerry by composing a generic email and using the Add To, Add Cc, or Add Bcc commands to send the message to multiple contacts. From the Home screen, select the Messages utility, press the Menu key, select Compose Email, input one or more email address in the To: field, and then compose the message. At any point you can press the Menu key and select Add To, Add Cc, or Add Bcc to include more people on the message. When you’re finished, press the Menu key, select Send, and then press the Escape key to return to the Home screen.
Change Your Profile
Ringtones, vibration, and even the LED can all prematurely deplete an already low battery. If you’re looking to get more mileage from your BlackBerry battery, limit the use of these indicators. To turn off all indicators, select Profiles from the Home screen and scroll to and select Off. The Quiet profile displays the LED indicator only, which can improve battery life if you plan to keep the BlackBerry within view at all times. You can also tweak the notifications for all applications, such as Calendar appointments, emails, Push-to-Talk messages, SMS texts, and tasks, by pressing the Menu key from the Profiles selection screen and then selecting New Profile. Continue down the list, selecting applications to access the notification settings.
by Andrew Leibman
BlackBerry Help Site Gets An Update
What a difference a month makes. In last month’s “BlackBerry Tips” article, we recommended BlackBerry Answers to get instant access to solutions for your BlackBerry inquiries. After our January issue went to press, RIM relaunched its mobile.blackberry.com Web site, the home of BlackBerry Answers, and made finding the content you’re looking for much easier. To check out the improvements, launch the Browser, press the Menu key, select Go To, type mobile.blackberry.com, and press the trackball to navigate to the site.
Boost Your BlackBerry’s Battery
Battery-boosting strategies are always handy, whether your battery indicator is running on empty or you discover you left your charger at home and need your BlackBerry to last all week. Follow these simple
Lower the Backlight Timeout setting to conserve power.
tips to keep your BlackBerry running when you need it most.
Lower the Backlight Timeout setting to conserve power.
Tweak The Backlight
One of the best ways to improve battery life is to adjust your BlackBerry’s screen and keyboard backlight. From the Home screen, scroll to and select Settings, select Screen/Keyboard, select Backlight Brightness, and then press the trackball to reduce the setting to 10. If you can still read the screen, then your battery will thank you. You can change the Backlight Timeout setting here, as well. Highlight the setting, press the trackball, and select 10 Sec. This adjustment turns the backlight off after you leave your BlackBerry idle for 10 seconds. If you’re not willing to work with a dimmer BlackBerry, you can press the power button once to turn on the backlight at the current setting (with the BlackBerry idle), press it again to momentarily increase the backlight to 100, and then press the power button a third time to turn off the backlight. When enabled, the Auto Backlight feature senses the current ambient light conditions to dim the backlight in lower-light situations and brighten it in sunnier conditions. Use this feature if you like using a brighter backlight setting, but disable it if you’re using the lower backlight settings. Finally, press the Escape key, save the changes, and then press the Escape key again to get back to the Home screen.
Your BlackBerry needs some serious juice to power all that functionality.
Basic Battery Care
To make sure you get the most out of your battery, you can practice some basic battery maintenance tips. The Li-Ion battery in your BlackBerry is best recharged often and typically before it is fully discharged. Letting the battery deplete completely on a regular basis can permanently damage it. If you can’t be without your BlackBerry for even a moment, consider buying a spare battery. If you’re not using a battery for a prolonged period, charge it to about 40 to 60% of its maximum charge and then store it in a cool place, such as a refrigerator. Do not freeze your battery.
Use Auto On/Off
BlackBerry’s Auto On/Off feature lets you turn the phone on and off at designated times of the day. For instance, if you know you will only get calls during a given time period or don’t want to be interrupted at night, set Auto On/Off and give your battery a break. From the Home screen select Settings, Options, and Auto On/Off; enable both Weekday and Weekend options; and then select the times you want your device to turn off and on. Press the Escape key, select Save, and press the Escape key twice more to return to the Home screen.
Wireless can spell death for a low battery, so consider turning off some or all connections.
Go Offline
Much of the BlackBerry’s core functionality depends on its wireless capabilities, but those radios can quickly suck a battery dry. You can really improve battery life if you can live without Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, and cellular service. Scroll to and select Manage Connections from the Home screen to access the wireless connections screen. You can pick and choose the wireless radios you want to disable by scrolling to and selecting the appropriate checkboxes. To turn off all connections, select the Turn All Connections Off option at the top of the screen. To resume wireless connectivity, access Manage Connections again and then click Restore Connections from the top of the screen. Press Escape to return to the Home screen.
The default five-bar network signal indicator gives you a rough idea of your current network connectivity, but there’s a way to get a more accurate picture of your coverage. Press and hold ALT and then type NMLL to change the bar-style signal strength indicator to a numeric value measured in decibels relative to 1 milliwatt (dBm). A good signal will fall in the range of -40 to -90 (roughly equivalent to four and five bars), and anything lower than -90 (approximately one or two bars) indicates that your BlackBerry is struggling to maintain a connection. If this is the case, turn off the Mobile Network radio. When coverage is spotty, your BlackBerry will boost output to maintain a connection and retransmit dropped packets repeatedly, which is detrimental to the BlackBerry’s battery life. To change the coverage indicator back to the bars, simply press and hold ALT and type NMLL again.
Delete Original Messages After Replying
The BlackBerry knowledgebase recommends deleting original messages after you’ve replied as another way to extend battery life. Select Messages from the Home screen, scroll to any messages you’ve replied to, press the Menu key, select Delete, and then select On Mailbox & Handheld or On Handheld. Press Escape to return to the Home screen.
Compose One Message For Multiple Contacts
Rather than send out multiple messages to different contacts, you can ease the demand on your BlackBerry by composing a generic email and using the Add To, Add Cc, or Add Bcc commands to send the message to multiple contacts. From the Home screen, select the Messages utility, press the Menu key, select Compose Email, input one or more email address in the To: field, and then compose the message. At any point you can press the Menu key and select Add To, Add Cc, or Add Bcc to include more people on the message. When you’re finished, press the Menu key, select Send, and then press the Escape key to return to the Home screen.
Change Your Profile
Ringtones, vibration, and even the LED can all prematurely deplete an already low battery. If you’re looking to get more mileage from your BlackBerry battery, limit the use of these indicators. To turn off all indicators, select Profiles from the Home screen and scroll to and select Off. The Quiet profile displays the LED indicator only, which can improve battery life if you plan to keep the BlackBerry within view at all times. You can also tweak the notifications for all applications, such as Calendar appointments, emails, Push-to-Talk messages, SMS texts, and tasks, by pressing the Menu key from the Profiles selection screen and then selecting New Profile. Continue down the list, selecting applications to access the notification settings.
by Andrew Leibman
BlackBerry Help Site Gets An Update
What a difference a month makes. In last month’s “BlackBerry Tips” article, we recommended BlackBerry Answers to get instant access to solutions for your BlackBerry inquiries. After our January issue went to press, RIM relaunched its mobile.blackberry.com Web site, the home of BlackBerry Answers, and made finding the content you’re looking for much easier. To check out the improvements, launch the Browser, press the Menu key, select Go To, type mobile.blackberry.com, and press the trackball to navigate to the site.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment