curve

Question: I just purchased a BB Curve with sprint. According to the specs this phone supports an 8gb card. I actually only have a 4gb card but as soon as i put in the card into the phone the phone stops working, it takes about 5 seconds to move from window to window; the scroll ball doesnt respond normally and basicly whatever could possibly go wrong goes wrong.

The card is a good card (I Think) i used this same card before in my 8830 and it worked pretty good; though also a little slower then without the card, while the 8830 takes only a 4 gb card and it worked all right, i assumed that the curve that has the capacity for an 8gb shouldn't be killed by a 4 gb card.

Answer: The size of the memory card shouldn't have anything to do with the slowness that you're experiencing. It's possible though that the memory card itself needs to be reformatted, which you can do right from your phone.

Options >> Media Card >> Blackberry Menu >> Format Card

First, click the Options icon on your BlackBerry icon screen (the one that looks like a wrench in most default BlackBerry themes).

Inside Options, scroll to Media Card and click the trackball.

Next, while on the Media Card screen hit your BlackBerry Menu key (to the left of the trackball).

Choose Format and select "Yes" when the prompt asks if you're sure you want to format the card. After about 10 seconds, you'll see another prompt that tells you your card has been reformatted.

I feel obliged to reply to my own post title "Apple Drops iPhone Price to $199 and Converts Blackberry Fans", and let you know that I decided to actually stick with the Blackberry.

It turned out that I'm not eligible for the upgrade price because I bought my BB less than a year ago and signed up for a 2 year contract with AT&T. So the new iPhone 3G would have cost me $399 for the 8GB model and $499 for the 16GB model - and I just can't justify that much money for a phone and web browser.

Also, reports of the 3G's fast internet speed indicate that it comes at the price of battery life - spent in as little as 2 hours! I can easily go for 2 days on a single charge with my Curver, and I'm not enthused about the prospects of having to plug an iPhone in for charging every few hours.

Fortunately RIM will be releasing the Blackberry Bold very soon in 2008 and it claims to have 3G speed - so I'll keep my eyes on that one instead, and I still use my Curve around the clock for web browsing, email, texting, twitter, taking pictures, listening to music, and finding my location on Google maps.

So it's all still very good in Blackberry land, and I know you want one of those t-shirts ;-)

Question: How can I transfer my itunes songs and videos into my Blackberry 8330 curve?

Answer: Blackberry curves let you play mp3 music just like an iPod, and you can transfer songs and videos from iTunes to your Blackberry using an SD Micro memory card and a USB card reader.

Here's the general approach for transferring music files from your computer to a Blackberry:

1. Plug an SD Micro memory card into your computer using a USB card reader.

2. Copy music from your computer onto the SD Micro card.

3. Plug the SD Micro card into your Blackberry (behind the battery) and it will automatically recognized the music files.

Blackberry Curves come with 64 megs of built-in memory, which is barely enough for even a single music album. Fortunately, the Curve also has a memory expansion slot that allows up to 4 gigabytes of SD flash memory - the same amount of storage as an iPod nano.

You can get a 2 GB 3-in-1 microSD/miniSD/SD Kit from Wireless Emporium (shown below), which is enough for about 1,000 songs.

Combine it with a USB card reader (also available for a few bucks at Wireless Emporium), and you'll be able to plug it directly into your computer or laptop and transfer songs or videos to it from iTunes.

The memory expansion slot is located behind the battery, so you'll need to turn off your Blackberry and remove the battery to get to it. The memory expansion slot takes SD Micro flash disks, which are about 1 cm in size.