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Broaden your Outlook

Posted on 28 Jan 2009 at 16:31

Paul Ockenden accesses two Exchange Servers from Outlook, and gets a bug fix for his phone.

There's a knack to loading firmware from a different network into your BlackBerry. The first thing you need to do is make sure you have the most recent version of the Desktop Manager software on your machine, then download and install the update onto your PC - but with the BlackBerry disconnected. Once that's done, locate and delete a file called vendor.xml, which you'll usually find in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\AppLoader. If you don't do that then the upgrade will fail. Finally, connect your BlackBerry to your PC. In most cases, the Desktop Manager software should kick in to tell you there's an update available, and offer to upgrade your device: if this doesn't happen then double-click the loader.exe file, which you should find in the same folder where vendor.xml used to be.

The upgrade can take some time - well over an hour if you have lots of applications and data - and during much of that time your phone will be unavailable, so make sure you do it at a time when you're not expecting important calls. Also, during the process you might think the device has frozen, since it can sit there for a good half-hour or so with Desktop Manager saying: "Waiting for initialisation". Just leave it alone and eventually it will come back to life.

After the process has completed, all of your applications and data should be restored to the BlackBerry, but if you're using BIS you may need to log onto the relevant website and re-send the service books. Likewise, if you have a corporate BES setup, you'll probably need to re-activate your device. Incidentally, I'd suggest that corporate users ask permission from their BES administrators before upgrading their phones, because unknown firmware connecting to the server could trigger alerts and result in the phone being locked or even remote-wiped!

Sorry, I must dash

I want to tell you about one of my favourite Windows Mobile applications, Fake Call, which is perhaps a bit frivolous for this column, but does exactly what it says on the tin: either at a single key-press, or at a set time, it will make your phone appear to receive a totally realistic incoming call, using your normal ringtone and profile settings, and seeming to come from one of your contacts. It even plays a recording that sounds like you're speaking to a real person...

No doubt you can think of your own uses for such software, which might include escaping boring meetings, skiving off work early, keeping visits to relatives short and sweet, and much more. Of course, I'd never use it for anything so low, given that my clients, co-workers and relatives all read this column... Seriously, though, Fake Call costs only $5 after an initial 14-day trial, and as beer-money utilities go I think it's utterly brilliant. You'll find it at www.trinketsoftware.com/FakeCall.

Told you so

You can't fail to have noticed that the world has gone netbook crazy: over the past few months, sales of these diminutive laptops have rocketed. In fact, I'm typing this column on one of the original Asus Eee PC 701s that helped kick-start the frenzy. The 701 is now rather long in the tooth, despite being less than a year old, and I've got a couple of alternative netbooks here on long-term loan from other manufacturers, but for some reason I keep returning to it. Despite its small screen and lack of CPU power, I retain a certain affection for this machine: it feels cheap, but it's small, light, and it works. But my love affair with tiny laptops is far from new - I've been a fan since long before netbooks acquired that name.