Your search for customizing the BlackBerry with Tweaks, Secret Codes and Hidden Keys is over! Many of these codes can be activated by pressing and holding the ALT key. Others however, don’t require the ALT key: to activate them you must type a combination of letters while you are in a certain menu. Note that there’s nothing magical about these secret codes. All they do is unlock menus or show stats that most people don’t know about and that can be useful in various contexts.

ALT Codes

To activate the following codes press and hold ALT:

- ALT+CNFG – Settings for Enterprise Activation
- ALT+VIEW Inside any Calendar item Show extra info for a Calendar event (including message ID – handy for BES log troubleshooting)
- ALT+NMLL – This will change the display of the signal meter from bars to decibels. To get back the bars enter the code again.
- ALT+LGLG – Displays the Java™ event log.
- ALT+RBVS – When used while browsing a website it displays the source code of the page that appears on the screen. You’ll find this code especially useful if you’re a developer.
- Alt+SHIFT+DEL – Resets the device without formatting. It’s basically a quick reboot. Since it doesn’t do a full reset to factory settings you can use this whenever your BlackBerry stops responding or simply gets stuck.
- ALT+SMON – Use this to turn on the simulated WLAN wizard.
- ALT+SMOF – Use this to turn off the simulated WLAN wizard.
- ALT+LSHIFT+H – Useful whenever you need technical info about your device. You’re likely to need if you must ask for technical support.
- ALT+VALD – Use it while you’re in the address book for validation.
- ALT+RBLD – A code to rebuild the address book.
- ALT+THMN – Use this code whenever you’re in the themes menu and would like to disable a theme.
- ALT+THMD – When used in the theme menu this code makes the device revert to the default theme.
- ALT+LEFTCAPS – Use this code whenever you wish to change the language on your device. It shows the language selection screen.

Message Box Codes

The following codes are typed in the message box and provide information about the user or the device.

- LD – Type this for the local date to be displayed.
- LT – Type this for the local time to be displayed.
- MYPIN – Use this in order to make the PIN of your device appear on the screen.
- MYSIQ – This will display information about the owner of the device (you!).

SIM Card Menu Codes

The next codes don’t require you to press and hold ALT. Just enter them when you’re in the SIM Card menu found under Options>Advanced.

- MEP1 – This enables or disables SIM personalization.
- MEP2 – Enter this to enable or disable network personalization.
- MEP4 – Use this code whenever you want to turn on or off service provider personalization.
- MEP5 – Works just like MEP4 but it enables or disables instead corporate personalization.

Extra Codes

- BUYR – If you enter this code at the status screen voice and data usage will be displayed.
- TEST – Use this code whenever you would like to quickly test your device. It will perform a full test. To work, it must only be entered when at the status screen.
- LOLO – When used while you’re on the date or time screen this code makes the network date and time appear on the screen.

Guest Author: This is a guest article by Nitin Aggarwal, the man behind Offshore Ally. His company has a big team of smart and competent virtual assistant and link builders. Nitin has a love for gadgets and a passion for Internet marketing. Connect with him via Twitter.

“When Steve Jobs personally closed the front door with a curt two-word email stating: ‘No Interest,’ we were left with no alternative but to climb through the Cydia window to let iPhone users see and lower their exposure to cellphone radiation,” wrote Tawkon CEO Gil Friedlander in a blog post.

Apple’s reason for rejecting the Takwon app was that it used private APIs.  However, if Tawkon’s claims are to be believed then “Death Grip” increases levels of radiation emitted by smartphones (e.g. Apple iPhone 4) in addition to attenuated signals. And we wonder if this is the actual reason why Apple wouldn’t approve it in their app store!

Here is some quick information on the technology used by the Tawkon app — “Tawkon is based on the patent-pending RRITM (Real-time Radiation Indication) technology that collects and analyzes RF-related data extracted from the mobile device. Complex algorithms considering environmental and personal usage factors help determine actual radiation exposure levels. Results are calibrated in an RF lab to ensure radiation levels are accurately monitored and that actions taken actually helped lower the user’s exposure to radiation.”

In more simple words – The Tawkon radiation detection app analyzes the cellular radiation your iPhone emits at any given moment, at any given location, whether in standby mode, or within a call. However, this condition is also known about on Android phones and the company even has a Blackberry app that can measure the radiation, so its not just a problem with Apple’s phone.

To be honest, this app is only giving a prediction because you’d need expensive equipment to truly measure radiation, but if the algorithm is correctly programed, it should be a great indicator of how much radiation the device is emitting.

As this video demonstrates, the Death Grip antennagate problem, which is fortunately (for Apple and all iPhone 4 users) not exclusive to the iPhone 4, not only affects reception and call drops but radiation levels too. However, the video also shows that the iPhone 4 actually emits significantly less radiation than other front-line smartphones like Nexus One and BlackBerry 9700. Hmm…

Death Grip Video Demo on iPhone, Android, BlackBerry

Interestingly, Tawkon feel so strongly that users should be made aware of what levels of radiation they are being exposed to that they have filed a public petition to force Apple to make their app appear in iTunes. Interesting battle in store ahead. In the meantime, if you’ve got a non-jailbroken iPhone and are still afraid of cell phone radiation, then consider using a protective case for your Apple phone. It’s perhaps safer than getting advice from an app, anyway.

The Canadian phone manufacturer rebuffed a report by the Economic Times Of India, which said that the company would give Indian authorities full access to all data sent with BlackBerrys. According to the company, it is impossible to give access to e-mails sent by the phones because each user has a personal encryption key.

The report conveys the impression as if it is “somehow enabling access to data” transmitted through its business server system, RIM told the Canadian Press. “This is both false and technologically infeasible,” it said.

India has been seeking access to all encrypted communications as the terr0rists involved the 2008 Mumbai attack communicated with their handlers by using sophisticated technology. It wants the Canadian company to install a server in India to monitor this service.

This so-called “network data analysis system” is just a tool required to allow carriers in India to provide lawful access to its consumer services, including its instant messaging service, RIM was quoted as saying.

India has given RIM until Jan. 31 to provide access to all communications, or face being expelled from the country, which has an estimated 1 million Blackberry users. However, RIM, which has got two reprieves since August and assured a solution by Jan 31, is not willing to compromise on the privacy of this encrypted service which has made its smart phones a darling of businesses.

The company says it will give access to chat messages send by BlackBerry phones, according to the Guardian. India, along with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt say encrypted data sent from BlackBerry phones poses a security threat. The Indian government is particularly concerned about the use of encrypted services by militants, since security agencies cannot monitor the messages.

According to RIM, India’s demand for installing servers in the country is meaningless as all data remain encrypted at all times through all points of transfer between the BlackBerry enterprise server and client smartphones. The company said it was working with Indian authorities for allowing them access to its consumer services, including the highly popular BlackBerry messenger service.

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Starting with BlackBerry Storm’s review, this is probably the best competitor Apple could get. With touch screen, wide screen, storm also features a better camera, better navigation and better email connection when compared to iPhone (Beware, Steve! RIM has done it for Blackberry again).

Design:

Storm, as the name suggests the design is stormy and striking. Yeah no exaggeration, it’s of course a striking device with a lot of care and crafting done to its seducing body. 90% of the front panel constitutes the display. A real large one of 3.25 inch (480 x 360) display with touch screen and a silver bezel which runs around the sides, top and bottom of the gadget (typical Blackberry design). Searching for the familiar Blackberry keys, huh? They’re there too. Below the screen are the four keys (Phone, Menu, Back and End/Power). Go to the left side and you can find the convenience key and a micro USB port. Right side has the gem. Oh yeah! One 3.5mm headphone jack, volume rocker and a convenience key. Turn around the device and the battery cover is made up of brushed aluminum. The top of the handset has a single LED to the right with the lock and mute keys on either side of the casing ,which makes the handset look yet beautiful.

However, there is flip side to the design too. Backlight leaking through the sides of the case is not something one would expect from manufacturers like RIM.

Touchscreen:

The touch screen is clearly the attention grabber in the device. Leaving behind the competitors like iPhone, Storm utilizes a new technology of clicking functionality called SurePress. This technology helps the user to click on the screen just like we click with mouse. This facility helps the user to hover anywhere on the screen without selecting it.

Talking about the software, it’s all old. The same one what they had for BlackBerry Bold; OS 4.6. Now, Why am making a big deal about the software? OS 4.6 was designed for all those handsets having QWERTY keyboards with a trackball for navigation. For a touchscreen enabled gadget there are OS like 4.7, which could have been used in it. So what does it suggest? The UI of storm is obviously not custom built for touchscreen – navigation of touch was added later. The sensors for the touchscreen are sensitive to its core, but it’s really important how the OS behaves with the touches made on the screen. Without the cooperation of the OS/Software you can’t feel the effect of touch as felt in iPhone.

Coming to the part for which Blackberry is renowned of; the E-mail and Web. The click option really adds a lot in browsing the web or typing a mail. The blue color around the buttons when clicked is really beautiful. But, is it enough to become a User Friendly device? I guess not. A slow paced OS and the difficulty in typing as you have to release the finger to confirm the click can be awful. There are good implementations too – copying and pasting. With elegant multi touch functionality the functions are like gem to the device. Just grab the part you want to copy and drag it to where you want to paste. Job done! But honestly speaking, this has to go a long way to compete with iPhone for virtual keyboard domination. If speed is not a concern, then this phone is manageable.

Battery:

Though the battery is not a beast like that of Blackberry Bold, it’s respectable. And, you need not carry your charger along with you. There won’t be a huge problem of battery dying.

Camera:

Camera is nothing incredible with 3.2MP and some additional things like photo editing features and a dedicated flash. Although it’s 3.2MP, it’s still noisy like most cell phone cameras.

Apps:

You are welcome to download some RIM’s pre-approved applications like Google Talk, AOL instant messenger, FaceBook, Flickr and a lot more. This is where you should look out for your software. But, stop daydreaming guys. The store is yet to come. Till then, be busy downloading your apps from internet like those old days.

The bottomline is, there are a lot more things to be done to this gadget to make it a perfect competitor for iPhone. Unless you’re a diehard fan of Blackberry, this is not the phone you were dreaming from RIM. iPhone still owns the Emperor’s chair! What do you think about Blackberry Storm? Can it be an iPhone killer?

Microsoft has already announced that the first Windows phones, identified by the fact that they are running Windows Mobile 6.5, will be made available at retail stores worldwide on October 6, 2009. Microsoft is underlining that version 6.5 of its mobile operating system brings an improved user interface and that the Internet Explorer Mobile browser includes a new engine as well as built-in Adobe Flash Lite support.

Google’s Android 1.6 Donut has support for CDMA radios, QVGA and WVGA resolutions. Android 1.6 also brings Quick Search Box for Android which is fundamentally universal search that searches locally on your phone and through the internet at the same time, new text-to-speech APIs, and the beautiful new Android Market. The camera’s interface has also been updated with improvement to the camera’s loading time (approx. 39% faster), and a neat battery usage indicator that details which applications are using the most power. One of the most striking advancements is the introduction of CDMA support in the telephony stack which will open the door for Android phones to launch on Verizon and Sprint. Under the hood, Android’s Linux kernel has undergone a boost from version 2.6.27 to version 2.6.29, the most important smartphone-related change being the introduction of Intel’s open source WiMAX stack and drivers.

On the other hand, Palm has also launched a new update, version 1.2 of WebOS. One of the most remarkable advancements in this update is support for LinkedIn in the Palm Synergy synchronization service. Palm has also added the ability for users to input a credit card number in the App Catalog program, indicating that commercial software could be ariving soon. Quick Search, like Google Android 1.6 Search, isn’t something iPhone supports at the moment, but is something we hope Apple must be looking into if they need a way to survive the competition. Palm announced the release in an entry on the company’s official blog. A more detailed overview of the enhancements can be found in the release notes.

Being a smartphone user, which OS would you prefer? Google Android Donut 1.6, Palm WebOS 1.2, Windows Mobile 6.5 or the mighty iPhone?