The BlackBerry has become an invaluable tool for those of us who need to stay connected and in the loop. But most people take advantage of only a few features that this marvelous communications device offers. What if you could do much more with your BlackBerry than just web surfing and email?

BlackBerry Hacks will enhance your mobile computing with great tips and tricks. You'll learn that the BlackBerry is capable of things you never thought possible, and you'll learn how to make it an even better email and web workhorse:

• Get the most out of the built-in applications

• Take control of email with filters, searches, and more

• Rev up your mobile gaming--whether you're an arcade addict or poker pro

• Browse the web, chat over IM, and keep up with news and weblogs

• Work with office documents, spell check your messages, and send faxes

• Become more secure, lock down your BlackBerry and stash secure information somewhere safe

• Manage and monitor the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) and Mobile Data System (MDS)

• Create web sites that look great on a BlackBerry

• Develop and deploy BlackBerry applications

Whether you need to schedule a meeting from a trade show floor, confirm your child's next play date at the park, or just find the show times and secure movie tickets while at dinner, this book helps you use the remarkable BlackBerry to stay in touch and in-the-know--no matter where you are or where you go.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 22 Ratings

A bit outdated - 2009-08-09
Reviewer Rating:
Being new to the world of Blackberries, I decided to pickup this book for some technical knowledge of the device. Unfortunately, in the world of technology, 3 years is a long time and much seemed not applicable to my Bold (9000). Many of the shortcuts were in the manual and some of them were not usable on the Bold. After the first couple of chapters I skimmed through and decided that maybe 1/3 of the book was relevant to what I was expecting. If you have an older Blackberry, perhaps you may find it useful but like other technical documents, 3 years old is just too old to keep up with the rush of new technology and new devices that pops up daily. *You may note that reviewers that gave the book high marks had reviewed the book close to its publication date.

Blackberry Hacks - 2009-06-29
Reviewer Rating:
BlackBerry Hacks: Tips & Tools for Your Mobile Office
For every BLACKBERRY OWNER, this is the book for you! Don't 'Blackberry' without it!

Outdated information for 2009 Blackberry models - 2009-03-25
Reviewer Rating:
I bought this hoping for a set of tips more tightly focused on the operation of the Blackberry OS and built-in applications. It turns out to be more of a compendium of 3rd party apps that you can access with your (older) Blackberry. It doesn't address the newer Blackberry models (Pearl, Curve, Bold, etc) as it was published in 2006 and has not been revised in the interim.

I would not recommend this book unless you have an older Blackberry model. Hacks 94 to 100 do appear to be helpful introductory material if you want to develop your own Blackberry apps, though they aren't worth the cover price of this book. Look for a used copy if you must have it.

Average at Best - 2009-02-02
Reviewer Rating:
When I got this book, I was really expecting to get more information from it regarding tricks on the BlackBerry. The problem is, the book only really talks about tricks you can do with third party applications. It does touch on a few nifty tricks, but nothing that I would say is not of value.

Some of the great parts of this book though has to be the entire section dedicated to maximizing your memory or hack 12. Also keep in mind, that the market changes so fast that device lifetime is about 6 months to a year. This seriously needs an update.

The BES administration piece, just teaches you how to do a bunch of right clicks. (Which I would hope anyone who accesses the BES would already know this.) Also deals with a much older version of the BES version 3. Although I could see how some of those BES scripts would be useful

I would say this is a good book when it first came out now, but is almost useless at this point with technology where it is now. Could really use an update.

Good intermediate guide - 2007-06-25
Reviewer Rating:
A lot of the first hacks of the book might seem old-hat to a Blackberry 101 graduate. But as the book progresses it gets deeper into the BB's relationship with the servers, but not in an overly-complex way. It seems designed toward folks who have already read the manual and want a little bit more, but aren't quite ready to become systems engineers.

Toward the end it describes, again in simple language, how to download the development environment from RIM, and actually start building simple applications, starting with a simple stock quote Java program, with source, that can then be used as a beginning example for further development. In just a few pages a programmer can start with the sample, build an app, and prepare it for both OTA and desktop installation. It is at about the same level as the first K&R C chapter where we were taught how to write "hello world", compile and link, and run our first program. I always do best when they give me and example rather than trying to explain in english how to do it. And Mabes makes that really simple.

If you want to do more than just use the Blackberry, and want some tips on little known tricks, and want to actually write code for the blackberries, without having to read all of "Professional Blackberry" and ALL of the RIM literature, this is a good place to start.

Mike Jalkut, Embedded Systems Compiler Developer

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