BlackBerry 10 is near and developers like Kisai Labs have rolled out an app to help us countdown the days to the launch date. We are done with faith articles and tech blogs have basically run out of recycled posts to bash RIM with. To the faithful, its about that time to get ready to move, new devices are coming January 30.
We have all read tech blogs encouraging us (forcefully at times with mockery) to switch to an Android or iOS device. Some were not strong enough, some experimented and came back while most of us remained true fan boys (and girls). Now the major concern with switching phones is usually moving contacts, emails, texts, browser bookmarks, wifi profiles and other preferential settings in core apps. No worries, RIM has worked hard to ensure switching devices is as easy as just rebooting your phone.
What you will need:
- BlackBerry device (obviously)
- BlackBerry ID
- BlackBerry Protect
- BBM 7
- Your most active email address
- BlackBerry Desktop Manager
BlackBerry ID
BlackBerry ID is essentially your identification in the BlackBerry universe. Every now and then we all change devices and that means new BBM pins, but one thing that will remain constant through all the BlackBerry smartphones you may wish to change will be your BlackBerry ID. Sounds new to you? No problem, sign up for a BlackBerry ID here.
BlackBerry Protect
If you don’t already have it, download BlackBerry Protect here.
BlackBerry Protect is a free application designed to help find your lost BlackBerry smartphone, and keep the information on it secure. It can also offer peace of mind for small businesses and families, with the ability to protect multiple smartphones. Its features include:
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Backing up your contacts, text messages, calendar and bookmarks wirelessly. It’s done automatically, and as often as you choose (daily, weekly or monthly).
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BlackBerry Protect makes it easy to restore the device settings, contacts and calendar items you had backed up on your last device.
Read more about BlackBerry Protect here.
BBM 7 (OS6 and later) or email address (OS5 or earlier)
RIM recently revamped their flagship app BlackBerry Messenger adding voice calling and automatic contact backup and restore for devices running OS6 or later (BBM7 for earlier OS’s coming later). For those running OS5 or earlier, while you can’t enjoy BBM7 for now, you can still backup contacts to your device or to your email address (I recommend backing up to your most active email address). If you haven’t updated to BBM7, your device is supported and you haven’t received an update notification, try refreshing your BlackBerry App World application.
Read more about BBM7 here.
BlackBerry Desktop Manager
You will need the desktop manager to backup data like pictures and music to your computer and then when you move to a BlackBerry 10 device you simply restore to your new device.
If you don’t already have the desktop manager, download for either PC or MAC here.
Having backed up all your important data there is only one step left. Maybe you wanna pass your old device to someone else or you wanna sell it. Whatever the case BlackBerry has an inbuilt function (under security in your options menu) that wipes your device clean and leaves it brand new – a favorite of mine when I wanna refresh my device without re-installing the OS.
Switching to a BlackBerry 10 device won’t take more than a couple of minutes. All you will have to do is log into BlackBerry ID on your device and the rest will run in the background. This process can also be used if you are changing to already existing devices. Join us here on BBE, in the forums or follow @BBerryEmpire on twitter to receive updates as we all count down to the anticipated January 30, 2013.