Extending the Blackberry - PocketGenie Home Screen

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What’s Available on the PocketGenie Home Screen

The PocketGenie Home screen provides you with a number of icons, organized in the same manner as the BlackBerry’s Home screen. Using the PocketGenie’s

Install PocketGenie

Follow these steps to install the PocketGenie on your BlackBerry device:

1. Double-click the PocketGenie package that you downloaded from the Internet. An installation window appears, as shown here. Click Next to continue.
   
   
   
2. The user license agreement appears. Read the agreement and click Next.
   
   
3. The program copies files to your computer, and a message appears telling you that the Desktop Manager must be run to install the software. Click Next.
   
   
4. The Desktop Manager program automatically opens. At this time, you need to perform a backup before installing the PocketGenie software. Double-click the Backup/Restore icon in Desktop Manager and perform a complete backup of your unit.
   
   
5. Once the backup is completed, you are ready to install the PocketGenie on the BlackBerry. Double-click Application Loader and click Next on the Welcome screen.
   
   
6. In the selection window that appears, place a check next to WolfeTech PocketGenie. Click Next.
   
   
7. In the next window, choose the radio button option Keep the Current Handheld Settings, and click Next.
   
   
8. Click Finish.

 

The PocketGenie is installed and its icon appears on your BlackBerry Home screen, as shown here.

Home screen, you can access a number of different PocketGenie features, all of which you will probably find helpful. The following sections review these features and give you quick steps and pointers to get you started.

My Menu

Let’s face it. Using the BlackBerry for Internet surfing is not as easy as using a computer. The keyboard is small, and moving around the Internet can be cumbersome. The PocketGenie does not live in the wireless clouds, so a feature called My Menu is included so that you can maneuver around the Internet more easily.  

Register the PocketGenie

Follow these steps to register the PocketGenie:

1. On the Home screen, click the PocketGenie icon.
   
   
2. A message appears, as shown here, telling you about WolfeTech and where to find the license agreement. To move forward, click the trackwheel and click Next on the menu that appears.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. In the Country screen, scroll to and click either Canada or the United States, click the trackwheel, and then click Next.
   
   
4. In the Welcome to the PocketGenie screen, enter your first name and middle initial and your last name on the lines provided, as shown next. Click the trackwheel and click Next when you’re done.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. In the Business contact information screen, shown here, enter the company and contact information as requested (and required), click the trackwheel, and click Next.
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. The Residential information window appears. You can enter the information here if you like, but you can also skip it by clicking the trackwheel and clicking Next.
   
   
7. A message appears asking if WolfeTech can notify you of upgrades. You should choose Yes so you’ll be aware of new products and upgrades as they become available.
   
   
8. A message appears asking if you accept the WolfeTech licensing agreement. You must click Yes in order to continue. At this time, your information is sent over the Internet and PocketGenie is ready to use. The PocketGenie Home screen appears, as shown in the following illustration.

The My Menu icon, found on the Home screen (sorry, there are no keyboard shortcuts for any of these icons), gives you access to the My Menu interface, which at first doesn’t provide you with anything since you haven’t created any menu items yet. You can add items to the My Menu area for quick access. For example, let’s say that you frequently use the News and Travel features of PocketGenie (explored later in the sections “News” and “Travel”). You can add those items to My Menu so that they reside in one easy-to-access place. To add an item within PocketGenie, just click the trackwheel to access the screen menu, and then click Add to My Menu.

As you add items to My Menu, you’ll be able to access single pages and get to the items you want quickly and easily without having to wade through a bunch of different screens.

This chapter is from How to Do Everything with Your Blackberry, by Curt Simmons (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0072255870). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.

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