How to Use Your BlackBerry Phone As an Internet Modem On a PC

If you have been wondering how possible it is to browse the internet using your blackberry phone as an internet modem on your PC, then this post will help clear your doubt on that. To make it clear, it's very possible and you are about finding out how.

Most people who use Blackberry Internet Service don't really utilize the offer that comes with simply because they feel they are limited to doing some things on their phone which ordinarily are done comfortably while on a PC.

Again, most people subscribe to BIS and only use it for pinging and checking of mails, but using your Blackberry device as a internet modem can give you the access to explore more just like your normal universal internet data modem.

How to Get Started

To get started, you will need to put three (3) things in place which include:

1. Blackberry Phone (Bold or Curve)
2. Blackberry USB Data Cable
3. Blackberry Desktop Manager

When you have these three (3) positioned proceed to the steps below:

Using Your Blackberry Device as an Internet Modem

Step 1:  Subscribe to a Blackberry BIS plan. For some reasons, I recommend you subscribe to Airtel BIS or Glo BIS because their Blackberry Plans have been tested and found to work very well on a PC. I am not too sure of MTN BIS.

• Glo Monthly BIS comes with 3GB data, to subscribe text “somonth to 777? Costs N1200

• Airtel Monthly Blackberry Bundle comes with 1GB data, to subscribe text “bsm” to 440, costs N1200

Step 2:  If you have the CD of Blackberry Desktop Software that came with your phone, simply insert it in your computer DVD drive and run/install it. If don't have it simply download the Blackberry Desktop Software. 

Step 3: When you are done doing either of the two above, connect your Blackberry Smartphone to your PC using the USB Data Cable.  Note: On doing this a popup will show on your Blackberry screen prompting you to either Charge your BB only, Sync, or Use USB Mode, when you see it select the USB Mode

Step 4: Now double click on the Blackberry Desktop Software icon on your desktop, when it opens click on Tools ==>> Mobile Internet Settings ==>> then click on Add to add a new Internet Profile for your network

For easy configuration, I have stated below the internet settings for Airtel and Glo. To see those of MTN and Etisalt read Access Point Name (APN) of MTN, Glo, Airtel and Etisalat

Internet Settings for Glo NG

Profile Name: Glo Nigeria

Password: flat

Username: flat

Access Point: blackberry.net (this is if you are using Blackberry subscription) otherwise use “gloflat”

Internet Settings for Airtel NG

Profile Name: Airtel Nigeria

Username: internet

Password: internet

Access point: internet.ng.airtel.com

Step 5: Leave every other additional commands blank and Save the settings. 

Step 6: Now go back to your Blackberry Desktop Software and click on “Start Mobile Internet”. At this point, your PC will be connected to the internet using your Blackberry smartphone as an internet modem.

How to Check Your Data Balane

To check your data balance on Glo BIS text Info to 127 while for Airtel type the USSD code *141*712*0# and press the Ok/Enter key.

Read: Check The Expiry Date of Your MTN, GLO, AIRTEL and ETISALAT BIS for a detailed guide.

Hope you enjoyed reading this post? Let me know what your opinions are via the comment form below.

Cheers!

How To Use Airtel BIS to Browse on Your PC

A few weeks back I shared with you how to use Glo BIS to browse on your PC. I am sure most of you are still enjoying it till date. Today, I will be showing you how to do same using your Airtel BIS to browse on your PC. This update to an extent will save you some money compared to the amount you spend on the normal Internet Data Bundle Plans for Airtel, Glo, MTN, and Etisalat which most times does not favour some folks. Using just N1,200 you get a 1GB data bundle for PC browsing for a whole month!

I came to know about the Airtel BIS on PC through my cousin who got the update and informed me to put it up on my blog. Normally before I do such, I usually try it myself to ascertain the work-ability and guess what? I tried it on my PC and it worked perfectly. I used the Airtel BIS plan on my PC to compose this very article you reading now, sounds great huh? Alright without wasting much of your time, let me show you I did it.

What You Need

1. Funny enough you don't need a BlackBerry phone to do this. Any kind of mobile phone can do it, even your Nokia Torchlight is perfect!
2. An internet Modem (If you have the Airtel Dongle, good for you, otherwise you can always use any universal modem or what I callcracked or unlocked modem. In my own case I used my Etisalat ZTE 180MF Modem which I have cracked or unlocked before now.
3. An Airtel N1000 and N200 recharge cards

How I did it

Step 1: Insert your Airtel SIM card into your mobile phone and then recharge the line with Airtel N1,200 worth of credit

Step 2:  Now dial *440*4# and send to subscribe to Airtel Social Blackberry plan which costs N1,200/month for 1GB. After sending the code, you will receive a text message confirmation that "you have been subscribed to Airtel Complete Social Blackberry service plan"  

Step 3: Remove the SIM from your mobile phone and insert it into your Airtel Dongle (Data Modem) or Universal Modem (Unlocked Modem) and then plug unto your PC USB Port.

Step 4: Launch the modem, and then on your modem dashboard, click on "Tools" then "Options" and then select "Profile Management".

Step 5: Under Profile Management, click on "New" and enter the following Airtel BIS settings:

Connection Name: Airtel BIS
APN : internet.ng.airtel.com
Username: internet
Password: internet

Step 6: Now click Save, to have the new BIS settings saved on your modem internet profile.

Step 7: Next will be to connect to the internet. To do that simply go back to the Connection interface, select "Airtel BIS" from the list of connection names and then click "Connect".

That's all.

You can equally use the Airtel BIS to browse on your iPad, iPhone, Android, Nokia phone, Tecno Series of Torch Screen smartphones (Tecno N3 and D3) using the settings above to do their configuration.

How to Check Airtel BlackBerry® Service Expiry Date & Balance

To check Airtel BIS expiry date and balance, simply send STATUS as sms to 440.

Enjoy!

How To Use MTN BIS to Browse on PC (Tested and Working Fine)

Recently I shared with you a post on to How to Browse with MTN BIS on a PC or Desktop Computer. In that post, I mentioned a software called Spotflux, which enables you successfully connect to the internet via your MTN BIS plan. Today, I will be sharing with a new settings that does not require any software or VPN settings to work.

I learned about it few hours ago, and tried it with my MTN BIS which is currently running and it worked! This settings is equivalent with the one I wrote on Airtel BIS on PC, so if you have read the post before now you won't find it hard, truth is that is just too simple.

How to Get Started

Step 1: First things first, recharge your normal N1,500 for full month plan and then text BBC to 21600 or if you wish to do the weekly plan, you recharge N500 and then text BBCWEEK to 21600.

Step 2: Normally, you will need to confirm if your subscription was successful, so you can proceed to the next stage.

Step 3: Once you have confirm that, remove the SIM card from your phone and insert it in your USB 3G Modem and then create a new profile using the following settings:

Connection Name: MTN BIS
APN : blackberry.net
Access No: *99#
Username: web
Password: web

Now save the settings and set it as your default Profile and then connect to the internet. It should work perfectly just as it did for me.

Note: Glo recently stopped their BIS from working on a PC, based on this note, I am having the same feeling that MTN may at any moment do same. So I advice you check this out and try using it while the offer lasts. Meanwhile, Airtel BIS on a PC is working perfectly and so far there is no sign of withdrawing the service, though anything can happen!

Let me know what you think in comments...

Cheers!

BlackBerry Link: Download Blackberry 10 Desktop Manager for BlackBerry 10 OS

The RIM's latest launch "BlackBerry Z10" is no doubt a moving trend in the smartphone market. In less than 5 months of its release, the device has hit the market, especially that of Nigeria market. This explains the reason why most folks were on the watch waiting for RIM to drop the ball. All that said, there is one thing which some folks don't know yet, that the Blackberry® 10 smartphone has a different Blackberry Desktop Softwareentirely different from the previous version. The one for BBz10 is called "Blackberry Link"

Before now, a friend called me to complain that his "BlackBerry Z10" does not synchronize with the Blackberry Desktop Software version already installed on his PC. After speaking with him, I decided to do a little research to find out why, and I was able to discover that the new BB z10 has its own Desktop Software, which simply means that you will need to download the one compatible with it in other successfully connect your BB 10 to your PC.

The following are what you can use BlackBerry Link to do on a computer:

• Sync music, pictures, videos, and documents between your BlackBerry device and your computer over USB or Wi-Fi connections.
• Back up and restore your device data.
• Transfer supported settings and data to your new device.
• Manage multiple devices that use the same or a different BlackBerry ID.
• Update or reinstall your device software.

BlackBerry Link supports BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry 10 OS and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets running BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1.

System requirements: BlackBerry Link for Windows

Hardware: 
==> Intel compatible 1GHz or higher processor
==> 512 MB of RAM
==> USB 1.1 or higher USB port
==> Screen resolution of 1024x768 or greater
==> 100 MB of free hard disk space for typical installation

Software:
==> Windows XP SP3 or later, Windows Vista, Windows 7
==> Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 or an active Internet connection
==> iTunes 10.1 or later or Windows Media Player 11 or later for music synchronization
BlackBerry smartphones
==> A BlackBerry smartphone running BlackBerry 10 OS and a media card or built-in media storage
System requirements: BlackBerry Link for Mac OS

Computer software:
==> Mac OS 10.6 or later
==> iTunes 10 or later for music and video synchronization
==> iPhoto version 9 (iLife ’11) or later to import your pictures and videos
==> An active Internet connection

BlackBerry smartphones:
==> A BlackBerry smartphone running BlackBerry 10 OS and a media card or built-in media storage

BlackBerry PlayBook tablets
==> A tablet running BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1

Sounds interesting right? Head on to BlackBerry official website to download Blackberry Link for PC and Mac.

Enjoy!

Can I Upgrade My Bold 9700 to the New BlackBerry OS 7?

This morning I got a call from one of my readers whose question led me into writing this post. The fellow called me to find out if his Bold 9700 can be upgraded to the new BlackBerry OS 7 which RIM launched on 2nd of May 2011.

He said he came across an article that discussed a guide on how to upgrade BlackBerry device to RIM's new 0S 7 Operating system. What he failed to find out was the BlackBerry line which the upgrade is meant for. 

If you have a similar question or have been considering doing such, I would suggest you learn from what I am about writing.

The OS 7 to start with is only available on devices that launched with it, that is the new BlackBerry lineup manufactured within the period it was launched till date. Basically, what I mean is all BlackBerry phones manufactured from May 2011 till date.

Bold 9700 which debunked in 2009 came with an OS 5 which later was allowed by RIM to run an upgrade to OS 6 launched in 2010. As a matter of fact, Bold 9700 commonly known as Bold 2 has half the processor speed and 1/3 the amount of RAM desirable to run OS 7. Hence running OS 7 on it will definitely choke the phone.

Like I said earlier, the latest OS available for Bold 9700 is 6.0.0.706. and 6.0.0.668 which is the latest official. If you are using the AT&T's version of the BlackBerry Bold 9700 you can easily do the upgrade directly from AT&T's website.

That's it!

Tags : BlackBerry Tips

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BlackBerry 10 Data Bundle Plans For MTN, Glo, Etisalat & Airtel Nigeria

A reader of this blog once asked me to write on MTN, Glo, Etisalat and Airtel data plans for BlackBerry 10 devices. This demand was made after I posted an article on the new BlackBerry 10 Desktop Manger called "BlackBerry Link". In that post, I wrote in details the things you can do with BlackBerry Link on your PC and the requirements for both PC and Mac.

Today, we will be looking at the various data bundle plans for the RIM's power-packed product "BlackBerry z10" This device is no doubt gradually phasing out most of the BlackBerry 7 devices and below, as many people now go for the N100,000 - N130,000 smartphone. To crown it all, I heard that RIM will before the end of this year launch 3 more devices (including Q10). This is a heads up if you are already planning to buy BB z10.

However, for those who are already flexing the BlackBerry 10 device, I have compiled the various data plans for MTN, Glo, Etisalat and Airtel. If you are using BlackBerry 7 OS and below the links below will show you the already existing plans for your device:

• MTN BlackBerry Complete Plans and their Subscription Codes
• Glo BlackBerry Social and Complete Internet Plan
• Etisalat Nigeria Full Bouquet of Blackberry® Plans
• Airtel Nigeria Blackberry Internet Complete Plans

"The new stuff about the new BlackBerry 10 is that you get to enjoy only the BBM whenever your internet data bundle expires. All other features that works with the internet will stop working when your data expires except the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM)"

Ok, enough talks let's hit the jackpot!

MTN Nigeria BlackBerry 10 Internet Data Plans

BB10 Maxi Plans

S/N	Plan Name	Validity	Data	Cost	USSD Code	SMS Code
1.	BB10 Maxi	Monthly	1.5GB	N3,000	*216*15#	BBMAXIM
2.	BB10 Maxi	Weekly	350MB	N1,100	*216*14#	BBMAXIW
3.	BB10 Maxi	Daily	50MB	N200	*216*13#	BBMAXID

BB10 Midi Plans

S/N	Plan Name	Validity	Data	Cost	USSD Code	SMS Code
1.	BB10 Midi	Monthly	500MB	N1,500	*216*12#	BBMIDIM
2.	BB10 Midi	Weekly	125MB	N550	*216*11#	BBMIDIW
3.	BB10 Midi	Daily	15MB	N100	*216*10#	BBMIDID

BB10 Mini Plans

S/N	Plan Name	Validity	Data	Cost	USSD Code	SMS Code
1.	BB10 Lite	Monthly	260MB	N1,000	*216*9#	BBLITEM
2.	BB10 Lite	Weekly	70MB	N350	*216*8#	BBLITEW
3.	BB10 Lite	Daily	10MB	N70	*216*7#	BBLITED

To subscribe to any of the above MTN BlackBerry 10 plans, simply dial the appropriate USSD code or send SMS code to 21600

Glo Nigeria BlackBerry 10 Internet Data Plans

Category	Package	Cost	Data	Keyword
BB10Max	Month	NGN 3000	1.5GB	MaxMonth
	Week	NGN 1050	350MB	MaxWeek
BB10Mid	Month	NGN 1400	500MB	MidMonth
	Week	NGN 600	100MB	MidWeek
BB10Lite	Month	NGN 1000	200MB	LitMonth
	Week	NGN 400	50MB	LitWeek

To subscribe to any of the above Glo BlackBerry 10 plans, simply send the appropriate keyword to 777

Etisalat Nigeria BlackBerry 10 Internet Data Plans

BB10 Monthly Plans

S/N	Plan Name	Data	Price	Opt in Code USSD	Opt in Code SMS
1.	BB10 Lite	200MB	N1,000	*599*2#	SMS MLite to 399
2.	BB10 Mid	360MB	N2,000	*599*3#	SMS MMid to 399
3.	BB10 Max	1GB	N3,000	*599*4#	SMS MMax to 399
4.	BB10 MaxPlus	1.5GB	N4,000	*599*1#	SMS MPlus to 399

            

BB10 Weekly Plans

S/N	Plan Name	Data	Price	Opt in Code USSD	Opt in Code SMS
1.	BB10 Lite	85MB	N850	*599*2*1#	SMS WLite to 399
2.	BB10 Mid	200MB	N1,000	*599*3*1#	SMS WMid to 399
3.	BB10 Max	500MB	N1,500	*599*8#	SMS WMax to 399

Airtel Nigeria BlackBerry 10 Internet Data Plans

Plans	Duration	Data	SMS Code	USSD Code	Price
BB10 Max – Month	30 days	1.5GB	BMM	*440*7#	N3,000
BB10 Max – Week	7 days	350MB	BMW	*440*8#	N1050
BB10 Max – Daily	24 hours	50MB	BMD	*440*9#	N200
BB10 Midi – Month	30 days	500MB	BIM	*440*10#	N1500
BB10 Midi – Week	7 days	130MB	BIW	*440*11#	N525
BB10 Midi – Daily	24 hours	15MB	BID	*440*12#	N100
BB10 Lite – Month	30 days	250MB	BLM	*440*13#	N1000
BB10 Lite – Week	7 days	80MB	BLW	*440*14#	N350
BB10 Lite – Daily	24 Hours	10MB	BLD	*440*15#	N70

To subscribe to any of the above Airtel BlackBerry 10 plans,simply dial the appropriate USSD code or SMS Code 440

That's it! Now you can go ahead and choose the plan that suits you the most! One more thing, have you ever thought of upgrading your Bold 2 to the new BlackBerry 7.0 OS? If you have ever thought of that then read my post on Can I Upgrade my Bold 2 to the new BlackBerry 7.0 OS?

Cheers!

Simple Tricks To Find Anything On Your Computer Using Windows Search

Most of the articles I write on this blog are inspired by an action(s) I performed or tried to perform. Whenever any of them works, I immediately sell the idea to you by publishing it. This morning, I tried using the Windows built-in desktop search tool to search for some hidden files on my computer, but to my surprise none was coming up and I needed to do a total clean up on my computer hard disk. If you had faced this challenge before, I have discovered some working tricks to help you find just about anything on your computer using Windows search tool.

By default, the Windows Desktop Search (WDS) does not predict your search queries in advance, however, it can help you find relevant documents, e-mails, programs and other files almost as fast as you can type characters in the search box.

Where can I find Windows Search on my Computer?

There are couple of places on your computer where you can find the Windows search tool, they include:

1. The Windows Start Menu, 
2. Windows Explorer (for shortcut press the Windows key + F button)

When using Option 1, it offers you hints as you type and can help narrow your search down to complex search queries with knowing the exact syntax.Option 2 on the other hand opens only a standalone search window where you perform a search but with no direct hint. So if you ask me, I thinkOption 1 is the most preferred.

Windows Desktop Search Tips and Tricks

Now let's go to the main thing! Using some keyword tricks or operators (the ones you will see below) on Windows Search tool, you can easily get some hidden files on your computer discovered within seconds. Let's see some real-world examples:

Search Trick #1: Finding documents that were created or modified "at Anytime"

By "at Anytime" I mean documents you created today, yesterday, last week, this week, this month, last month, last year or even long long time ago. Type the following in your Windows Search box to search files or documents:

• ext:doc date:this week {for other file types, replace doc with xls, ppt, etc. }
• date:13-09-2010..24-09-2010 {this operator helps find files added /modified in this date range}
• kind:pictures date:>23-09-2010 {this operator helps you find all photographs that were captured after this day}

Search Trick #2: Finding Presentation Files (ppt) that contains a particular word

If you had at one time created a power-point file or a presentation, you can find these files easily with a designated keyword or operator if you know a particular word on the file.

• ext:ppt marketing {this operator helps you search for the word “marketing” in file names as well the content of documents}The word "marketing" can be any word depending on what you are searching.
• ext:ppt filename:marketing {this operator helps you search only file names, without you looking inside he content of documents}

Search Trick #3: Finding files that are taking lot of space on your computer.

This was the main thing that caused me to write this post. I love watching movies a lot (brilliant ones) which is why I copy movies most times to my computer. Most times I forget to delete the movies after a long time. Funny enough these video files are nothing below 600MB larger enough to occupy precious space on my hard disk. The trick or operator to use here is "gigantic" which goes for size and then "video" for file type or kind.

• size:gigantic kind:video {this operator helps you find large video files like mp4, mov, wmv, avi, etc.}
• size:>500MB {this operator helps you find all files that are larger than.5 GB}
• size:500MB..800Mb {this operator helps you find files that are in this particular size range}
• size:empty {this operator helps you find all the files that are 0 KB in size}

Search Trick #4: Finding files within a specific folder

You can equally run a search of specific folders using Windows Desktop Search. By default, WDS will help you find files across all folders that have been added to the search index. Most times, your search results can be cluttered due to this, to find the desired folders use the following word operator examples:

• todo folder:documents {this operator helps you search your "My Documents" folders}
• folder:desktop ext:pdf date:today {this operator helps you find PDF documents that you saved today}You can equally change "today" to yesterday, this month, last week etc.
• adobe setup.ini folder:c:\program files {search a file in Adobe’s installation folders}

Before you go, you might want to read some of the Most Important Windows XP Shortcuts. So far, I hope these tricks were of help to you? Let me know how the search goes when you implement any of them in comments...