If you’re like me, you own a Blackberry because you want to be able to complete as many work tasks on the go as possible. Making calls, sending emails, and accessing social media are high on my agenda since I’m in the publicity game.
I really enjoy Blackberry, but sometimes I wonder if they know who their customers are. When RIM introduced the Blackberry, folks accepted that extra data fee so that they could enjoy the benefits of push email. That should have been a signal to them that folks who are extremely interested in staying in touch is a key demo. How many of those folks who have to stay connected are on LinkedIn? I don’t know the stats, but I would guess that LinkedIn is important to the majority of Blackberry users. But when does the LinkedIn app come to the phone? Spring 2010! Wow.
Google Sync is a wonderful idea. But how many people with large address books have ever consistently synced their contacts? I think I may have done it successfully once in the last couple of years. Major fail. If you keep your address book on GMail, how many steps does it take to send your contacts through Blackberry Desktop Manager to the phone? Too many. I’m going to guess that I’m not the only GMail user on Blackberry. I will also guess that I’m not the only person who would love to have his “2500+ contacts” address book on the phone updated regularly…wired or wirelessly. Let me add that the calendar option of Google Sync works like a charm for me.
While you can put a SD card in your Blackberry (I have an older Curve 8330), you cannot put your big address book on the card, unless you do it one entry at a time (!!!). So having a big address book on the phone’s hard drive really clogs the memory. And that’s memory that you will need to access Facebook, IM, and Twitter apps. Unfortunately, I end up resetting my Curve on a regular basis. And I know I’m not the only one. I’m tired of it. Older Curves (96 MB) have less memory than the new models, and I have 7 months left to take advantage of my “new every two” Verizon upgrade. I have to do something in the interim.
Again, don’t get me wrong, I am a Blackberry fan. Which is why I scour the forums for solutions. The stuff I saw didn’t appeal to me, but I came up with something that I hope can be a long-term option.
Here’s the scenario again: My 2500+ contacts address book hogs up lots of memory. But I need the address book to be available to me. And with more memory, I could have more apps work smoothly on my phone. Almost every Twitter app eventually forces me to reset, and Facebook is a nightmare.
The solution: Download Mobile Google Apps. Again, I run my company email address through GMail, so I can find all my emails in that Google cloud. Delete the current address book, (make sure you backup on Blackberry Desktop Manager). Put together a new address book with 200 or so of your most contacted names. That will give the memory a big break. Now that you have GMail on your phone courtesy of Google Apps, you can easily access your GMail contacts. Depending on the size of your contacts, it will be slower than accessing the Blackberry address book, but it’s worth it. Plus, it’s updated constantly. If you have to call or email someone who is not in the address book, but is in your GMail contacts, it is very easy to copy and paste.
If you have other options that have worked for you, please share. I’m primarily concerned with free services and apps, but if there is a reasonably priced option that makes the most sense…I would definitely have to consider.
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