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This phone, like most phones, PDAs, and smartphones, has a display that can get scratched. I decided to buy some screen protectors for it and, after long deliberation, decided to go with ScreenGuardz. No adhesive and the price is right ($9.99 for a set of 15, 2 sets for $16 which includes first class mail delivery). I got them a few hours before I got my new phone so I had a chance to put them on a fresh screen and they work wonderfully! Size is a little off but the president of the company signed on to the 7100t board of BlackBerryForums and personally offered to replace everyone’s order with one sized to their own dimensions! For $16, I felt a little cheap sending him an email with my proposed dimensions but he responded almost immediately and said he was sending out 2 replacement sets sized to my dimensions. With service like that, he’s bound to have a successful company and he’s made a customer for life out of me.

OK, I promised I’d post an update about my new BlackBerry 7100t when I had more to say. Well, now’s the time. I’ve had to return the phone 2 times so now I’m on my third and it looks like 3rd time’s the charm! The Q/W key on the first phone wouldn’t work so I returned it almost immediately and it was replaced the same day. Then, a few days after I got it, the keypad on the 2nd phone began to fail intermittently. To get it to function again I would have to push on the screen in various places. Sometimes a row of keys wouldn’t work, other times a column wouldn’t work and yet at other times a few keys out of a row or column wouldn’t work. It took them almost 3 weeks to replace my handset this time but it looks like this one is good.

I have to say, throughout the whole ordeal, I’ve enjoyed the new phone. Guess that makes me a BlackBerry junkie. I like the form factor, I like the way it feels in my hand, I like the applications that run on it and, most importantly, I like the way it synchronizes with my Outlook contacts and calendar.

I resisted doing this but over the prior weekend I got over 30 pieces of comment spam. I deletedeach and every one of them but it so infuriated me that I have turned off comments for the time being. My apologies to my friends and those of you who have so kindly commented in the past. If you have comments, please feel free to email them to me. Send them to tony — (at) — tonys-links (dot) com.

See this article in TechWeb.

Looks like a fascinating read. First chapter is available online here.

Map at http://qwr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/latestfault.htm.

Microsoft’s Developer Division execs (“leadership”) have their own aggregated weblog here, including Sr. VP of Servers and Tools Eric Rudder.

NAVIGATING SCREENS

Move cursor –> Roll Trackwheel
Exit a screen or dialog box –> Press Escape
Click an icon or menu item –> Roll Trackwheel to select item; Click Trackwheel
Select multiple items or characters –> Hold Shift and roll Trackwheel
Move to top of screen –> Press 1
Move to bottom of screen –> Press 7

ATTACHMENTS
Pan horizontally across an image –> Hold Alt key and roll Trackwheel
Zoom in on an image –> Press 3. To continue zooming, hold Shift and roll Trackwheel
Zoom out of an image –> Press 9. To continue zooming, hold Shift and roll Trackwheel
Rotate an image –> Press Period (.) key

GENERAL TIPS
Reboot –> Remove Battery
Save battery –> Turn off BlackBerry handset in fringe or no-coverage areas

CALENDAR
For these tips to work in Day view, in the calendar options, set Enable Quick Entry field to No
Create an appointment –> Press Period (.) key
Move to next day, week or month –> Press 6
Move to previous day, week or month –> Press 4
Move cursor horizontally in Week view –> Hold Alt and roll Trackwheel
Move cursor vertically in Month view –> Hold Alt and roll Trackwheel

BROWSER
Open browser and display list of bookmarks made available by service provider –> Press Convenience Key
Edit web address in Go To dialog box –> Hold Alt and roll Trackwheel. Select address. Edit text. Click Trackwheel
Move down a page –> Press 9
Move up a page –> Press 3
Move between full-screen mode and normal mode –> Press Exclamation Point (!) key

ON THE HOME SCREEN
Return to Home screen from any other screen –> Press End
Lock the keyboard –> Hold (*) or click Keyboard Lock
Unlock the keyboard –> Press Send + (*) or double click Trackwheel
Switch between Default and Vibrate notification profiles –> Hold #
Switch to another application –> Hold Alt. Press Escape. Continue to hold Alt. Select application. Release Alt to switch to that application

PHONE
Open phone –> Press Send
End call –> Press End
Call selected name or phone number –> Press Send
Call a speed dial number –> Hold assigned number key
Type an extension –> Press ZX. Type extension number
Call your voice mail access number –> Hold 1
Type a letter in a number field –> Hold Alt and press letter key
Type the first letter on a key –> Press once. To type second letter, press twice
Turn mute on/off during call –> Press Exclamation Point (!) key
Switch between the speaker and earpiece during call –> Press Period (.) key
Change volume during call –> Roll Trackwheel

MESSAGES
Open the selected message –> Press Enter
Compose message from messages list –> Press Comma (,) key
Reply to message –> Press Exclamation Point (!) key
Forward message –> Press Period (.) key
Reply to all –> Press Question Mark (?) key
View received messages –> Press Alt + 3
View SMS messages –> Press Alt + Question Mark (?) key
View MMS messages –> Press Alt + 9
View phone call logs –> Press Alt + Period (.) key
View voice mail messages –> Press Alt + 7

TYPING
To type words quickly using SureType

In this article, PC Magazine names the 7100t as one of their two Editor’s Choices.

Back at the beginning of September, I saw some reviews of the new Blackberry phone from T-Mobile and RIM, the 7100t. The reviews were excellent and so I ran down to my local T-Mobile store to take a look at their mock-up. They had it in the back and were very secretive about it but, still, I got to see the form factor and hold it in my hands. I liked it!

See, I’ve been carrying a Blackberry since 1999. It’s one of the originals, (the 850). I’ve seen and tried the newer models but they were all too big for me — the form factor of the original, pager-sized unit was perfect. But, over time, the software’s gotten out of date (they do’t maintain it much, anymore) and the synchronization’s not working too well and I’ve had to carry two devices: the Blackberry for my calendar, contacts, tasks and notes, and my phone.

So, the new unit was released on September 30. One of my local T-Mobile stores had 5 in stock in the morning. By 2PM, they only had 2 left. When I went in at 5PM, I got the last one. And, let me tell you, it’s sweet!. The predictive typing is superb, the synchronization software is first-rate (they use the Intelisync SDK from Pumatech), and the integration between all the components is excellent. If I just key in a phone number, and it’s associated with one of my contacts, it automatically associates the call with that person and displays that information on the call screen, plus, it logs all calls in the “inbox”. Very cool, very useful. I’m glad I got it.