The Blackberry Bold 9900 QWERTY keyboard.
Message shortcuts
RIM has a huge selection of keyboard shortcuts that will make email quicker.
1: C - compose
2: Enter - open message
3: Del - delete a message
4: R - reply
5: L - reply to all
6: F - forward
7: T - jump to the top of the message list
8: N - move to the next message
9: P - move to previous message
10: U - move to the next unread item
Lock screen
Losing your phone can be a nightmare, but in the event of that happening, by setting a quick message on the lock screen with information about who you are, you may be able to get your Bold 9900 returned quicker.
Go to Options - Display and you can enter your name and a contact email address or phone number should your phone go missing.
Battery life
Although the Bold 9900 has a better battery life than other smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S2 and HTC Sensation, there are going to be times when you need to make the battery last that little bit longer.
To extend your battery life further we’d suggest first adjusting the screen, which uses most of the battery. Go to Options - Display - Screen Display and scroll down to Backlight and and choose between 10 levels. We'd also suggest reducing the Backlight Timeout (the time it takes before the screen switches off), 10 seconds is the shortest.
Automatic on/off
Go to Options - Device - Auto ON/OFF, here you can choose exactly when the phone turns on and starts receiving data. For example you might get up at 7am, so you can set the Bold 9900 to turn on at 6.55 and start downloading email and app update information ready before you wake up. You might choose to turn it off at midnight, knowing you won’t be awake to use it.
Voice search
Tap the Universal Search magnifiying glass on the right to launch Voice Search, a new feature for OS 7 a new features for OS 7. As well as using it to search for people and places, it can also be used to location applications quickly if you don’t have time to type. Tap the magnifying glass and speak slowly and clearly.
Search options
By default Universal Search is set to search everything, including Contacts, Home Screen, PIN/Other Messages, Documents, Twitter and You Tube. Go to: Options - Device - Search and you can deactivate anything you don’t want the feature to search.
Secure delete
If you use your Bold 9900 a lot for business you may be dealing with sensitive documents. If so, we’d suggest occasionally performing a Memory Clean, which will deletes any data that has been stored on the temporary memory, including passwords and encrypted data from emails. Options - Security - Advanced Security Settings - Memory Cleaning.
Convenience key
Location on the right side of the 9900, by default the Convenience Key is set to quickly launch the camera with a tap, but go to Options - Device - Convenience Key, click the drop-down menu and you can choose between Messages, Contact, BBM and Text amongst others.
Homescreen icons
One of the highlights of Blackberry OS are the new resigned icons, which are sharper, brighter and more colourful, however, people with poor eyesight may prefer alternative views.
RIM has included some accessibility options. Go to Options - Accessibility where you can adjust the number of columns on the homescreen from one to four, choose between Normal, Reverse and Greyscale colours and activate sounds when icons are pressed.
Factory reset
Go to Options - Security - Security Wipe and you can select what you want to delete.