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BlackBerry Storm Tips, Part II: Using RIM’s First Touch Smartphone

Can’t get enough info on your new BlackBerry Storm? Read our second installment of useful tips: LOCK THE CAPS You can tap the capitalization key on the keyboard, but that only capitalizes one letter before switching off. What if you need to type an entire e-mail in caps, perhaps an angry note to your cable […]

Written By

Troy Dreier

Jan 17, 2009

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Can’t get enough info on your new BlackBerry Storm? Read our second installment of useful tips:

LOCK THE CAPS
You can tap the capitalization key on the keyboard, but that only capitalizes one letter before switching off. What if you need to type an entire e-mail in caps, perhaps an angry note to your cable company? To activate caps lock, hold your finger on the capitalization button for a few seconds. You’ll see a small lock icon appear. To turn it off, tap the button again.

Speak Easy
If you want to remove the dial pad from the screen when you’re in the middle of a call, simply slide a finger down the screen. The numbers will disappear and the other phone controls will show.

Soft Touch
If you’ve been using the Storm for a little while, you’re used to tap-clicking to select something, but lighter taps have uses, too. To enlarge a Web page, lightly tap the area twice. You can do this several times until the selection is large enough to view. To return the page to normal size, press the Go Back button below the screen.

Sorting Threads
A light touch can also help you when sorting your e-mail. To view all the messages in a thread, find one message in that thread and then lightly touch and hold a finger on the subject line. All the appropriate messages will line up.

Select a Song

The previous tip works even when sorting through your music library. Too see all the songs by a given artist, find one track by that artist and then lightly tap and hold on the name. You’ll get a list of all the correct songs.

Mini Menu
There’s an easy way to remind yourself what applications are already open and to switch between them. Press and hold the Menu button until you see the application switcher. Click the app you want to open up.

Bring it Home
Customize the look of your home screen in just a few seconds. Press the menu button below the screen twice, and then select Options. You’ll get a preference page that lets you customize how many buttons show on the home screen and which background image is used.

Voluble Voicemail
Hear your visual voicemail out loud by automatically turning the speaker on. When you open the app, you should see a blue speaker icon in the top right corner. Tap it to put your voicemail on speaker every time. If you don’t see the speaker icon, press Compose, then hit the Go Back button. It should show up now.

All Thumbs
Having trouble typing? Try using both thumbs. Use your left thumb for the left-hand keys and your right thumb for the right-hand keys. Many users report improved accuracy when typing this way.

Multiple Messages
If you’re an instant messaging power user and you like to hold multiple IM conversations at one time, there’s an easy way to switch between them. Drag your finger across the screen to the right or left to view a new conversation.

This article was first published on WiFiPlanet.com.