IT blogs are ablaze lately about whether the iPhone has graduated from dawdling device to legitimate business tool. One camp says the iPhone is just too pretty and trendy to use for work; the other side says it’s much more conducive to productivity than any buggy smartphone. Even venerated researchers are weighing in. According to a Forrester report released in April, workers who use iPhones are “happier and more productive.”

Who knew a gadget could have such power? Read more…

admin How To, Mobile Devices, Time-Saving Tips, Worker Productivity, iPhone iPhone, tips and tricks, Worker Productivity

It’s the unofficial start to summer! It’s time to turn on your away message and get lost. But before you do, make sure you are covered. Here are some tips to keep your e-mail house in order while you enjoy the season: Read more…

admin BlackBerry, How To, Outlook, Time-Saving Tips BlackBerry, Fourth of July, Office 2007, Out of Office Assistant, Outlook

If your smart phone freezes on you, resist the urge to pull a Naomi Campbell. Read these tips instead; you’ll save yourself unnecessary frustration – and even the cost of a new phone.

Frozen Treat: Three tips on resetting your smart phone.

How to Thaw a Frozen BlackBerry (all versions)

The first step to take if your BlackBerry is misbehaving is to reset it. Doing this will clear the internal memory and solve many issues. There are three ways to reset a BlackBerry: soft, double-soft, and hard.

Soft Reset
Press ALT+RIGHT SHIFT(CAP)+DELETE to perform a soft reset.

Use this reset method when you want to stop all applications on a BlackBerry while leaving the device powered on.

Double-Soft Reset
Start by performing a soft reset (ALT+RIGHT SHIFT(CAP)+DELETE). The screen will turn off. When it turns back on, press ALT+RIGHT SHIFT(CAP)+DELETE again. You should then see another blank screen, followed by an hourglass.

Performing a double-soft reset stops all applications on the BlackBerry and is nearly the equivalent of a hard reset. Timing is the key to performing this manuever. This is something to try if you are having difficulty removing the battery to perform a hard reset.

Hard Reset
Starting with the device powered ON, remove the battery for 30-60 seconds. After you put the battery back in, the device will reboot. This usually takes between one and three minutes.

NOTE: The BlackBerry Pearl, Curve and Storm only have the ability to perform a hard reset. However, there are third-party applications that you can download that provide the ability to perform a soft reset. (by Joel Reeves)

How to Thaw a Frozen Windows Mobile Device (Pocket PC Edition 5, 6) Read more…

admin BlackBerry, Mobile Devices, Windows Mobile, Worker Productivity BlackBerry, freeze, hard reset, soft reset, Windows Mobile

There’s no doubt mobile devices have altered the way we work. According to Pew Internet and Research, almost half of American workers report doing at least some work at home, and about 20 percent say they do job-related tasks at home every day.

Accessing your e-mail using keyboard shortcuts takes productivity one step further.

In preparation for the holiday, here are some tips to help you keep your mobile work time to a minimum while you’re enjoying the family feast:

For the BlackBerry

Filter Incoming Mail

Say, for example, you receive a daily report that you will not read or deal with on your phone and would prefer to just handle it back at the office. Can you create a filter for that?

Of course you can. Here’s how:

1. Click on the Messages icon to open your messages, then click the trackwheel or Menu button and select Options.

2. Select E-mail Filters.

3. Click your trackwheel or Menu button, select New and then type a filter name. Read more…

admin Mobile Devices, Time-Saving Tips BlackBerry, holiday, iPhone, Outlook, productivity, Thanksgiving, tips and tricks, Windows Mobile

Although iPhones are catching up, the BlackBerry still rules mobile business communication. Case in point: We ran this tipsheet earlier in the year, and it continues to bubble up to the top of most-read lists. Here it is again.

Indeed, we get hundreds of BlackBerry calls a week, and most aren’t from the guy who cannot find the on/off button. Rather, it’s the managers on their way to meetings or hopping on flights who want to know the handy tricks and tips that will save them time and make their smart phones smarter.

Here are a few of the notables:

Tip No. 1: How to Filter Incoming Mail
Say, for example, you receive a daily report that you will not read or deal with on your phone and would prefer to just handle it back at the office. Can you create a filter for that?
Of course you can. Here’s how: Read more…

admin BlackBerry, How To BlackBerry, calendar, shortcuts, smart phones

The Wall Street Journal never fails to address topics that seem obscure but are awfully relevant to current affairs. This time the paper turns its attention to the growing battle over keyboard layout due to the proliferation of full-keyboard smart phones.

It’s QWERTY versus Dvorak and the fight is getting ugly.

It’s QWERTY versus Dvorak and the fight is getting ugly. That is, as ugly as a keyboard layout melee can get.

A little background: The first typewriter’s keyboard was arranged in alphabetical order, which proved to be poor design when two keys near each other were pressed in succession. The keys would jam. So inventor Christopher Sholes shuffled the letters around, placing the most commonly used keys away from each other. Thus, the QWERTY keyboard was born.

But there’s another keyboard layout, the Dvorak, which is not widely used. The Dvorak has been around since the 1930s, when an efficiency-minded inventor named August Dvorak placed the most commonly used letters, like vowels, on the “home row” (on a QWERTY, the home row starts with ASDF… and ends at single and double quotes). Read more…

admin Mobile Devices, Rants ANSI, August Dvorak, Christopher Sholes, Dvorak, efficiency, jailbreak, QWERTY

With all the complaining about social media sapping the productivity out of the world’s workers, Twitter ruining the English language, and smart phones extending the work week to 24-7, it’s nice to read a story or two about technology’s blessings.

Do regular people who travel the same routes every day really need satellite-powered hand-holding?

Two recent examples that caught my attention:

1. Information Week’s “GPS Can Save Drivers 4 Days Per Year, Cut Co2 by 21%”

GPS devices always seemed an unnecessary accessory. Granted, they are valuable tools for traveling workers, like salespeople and cops, but do regular people who travel the same routes every day really need satellite-powered hand-holding?

Then along comes this study, in which researchers found that drivers who use a real-time traffic-enabled GPS save up to four days of driving time a year. Even better, they cut the CO2 emissions by 21 percent.

If I didn’t have an excuse to buy a GPS before, I do now. Read more…

admin Mobile Devices BlackBerry, GPS, mVisum

I’ve asked the question on this blog before, but I have to ask it again: Are you still waffling about supporting mobile devices, and, in particular, the iPhone?

You had better get it together. The heavies are starting to weigh in.

Resistance is futile, says one CIO. The iPhone is the most popular handheld device available.

Last month, Forrester Research released findings from a study that said IT departments are moving closer to supporting all mobile device platforms. Although BlackBerry (upwards of 60 percent) and Windows Mobile (40 percent) still take the lead, according to the study, one out of four companies now supports iPhones.

The only thing holding the iPhone back from catching up is its so-so security, which remains a big concern for CIOs. (There’s also that pesky issue of AT&T’s spotty coverage. But that’s for another time.)

Security doesn’t seem to be the main issue if you look at the results of a recent TechRepublic poll, which asked 300 CIOs if they support the iPhone, and their reasons for doing so or not doing so. TR editor in chief Jason Hiner posted the results on his blog and the findings have at least one common thread: The iPhone is still viewed as a personal “gadget,” and thus has no place in the enterprise. Read more…

admin BlackBerry, Mobile Devices, iPhone Forrester, Jason Hiner, smart phones, TechRepublic, Zenprise

If you thought BlackBerry and mobile device support needs were overwhelming your IT department now, prepare yourself, as it’s only going to get worse. According to a recent study, smartphone use for business will almost double from 2008 to 2011, the variety of devices being used will increase, and IT departments will continue to be ill-equipped to handle mobile device support needs.

Yikes. All that, and we’re still in a recession.

Because the majority of users are higher-profile employees, the downtime has a greater impact on an organization’s bottom line.

According to the study, which was sponsored by Zenprise Inc. and published in March by Osterman Research, smartphone use in the enterprise will jump from 23 percent to 46 percent by 2011. Although the BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices will continue to dominate the business market, support needs will increase for other platforms such as iPhone and Palm OS.

The report made special note of downtime as a key issue. Because the majority of users are higher-profile employees, such as senior and middle managers, the downtime has a greater effect on an organization’s bottom line.

“…Users become so dependent on mobile devices, and others become so dependent on being able to reach them, that downtime can cause serious problems – slower decision-making, slower customer response, etc.,” the report states. “Making mobile messaging available 24×7 is as critical, if not more so, than making conventional messaging available.” Read more…

admin Mobile Devices 24x7 support, BlackBerry, CIO, Help Desk, iPhone, Outsourcing, Palm OS, Windows Mobile

The economy may be showing some signs of rebound, but that doesn’t mean CIOs are back to their old spending habits. In fact, according to a report released this month by Gartner, four in 10 CIOs significantly cut budgets in the first six months of 2009.

What, or whom, to cut is never easy, especially when the software for the upcoming migration has already been purchased. It’s easier to drop services than it is to lay off employees; services don’t have a face or a family. Read more…

admin Mobile Devices, PowerPoint, The Lingua Twitta