BlackBerry Hacks is a great guide to various facets of The BlackBerry Solution for a decidedly technical audience. The smartphone, the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), and basic BlackBerry development are all addressed in bite size pieces, handy for the geek on the go.
The BlackBerry Smartphone
The first section of BlackBerry Hacks contains detailed information on how to get started, including choosing the data plan, shortcuts, using the smartphone as a modem, creating ringtones, and storing photos. Additionally, details on upgrading handheld software could be very helpful since new devices have just been released, which means that upgrades to the handheld software for many existing devices are going to be in high demand.
Chapter 2 covers hacks for email, including advice on searching the inbox and filtering messages by type. Directions on how to get mail from multiple accounts are also included.
Chapter 3 addresses games, and Chapter 4 gives advice on the internet. Topics covered include remotely controlling another computer, telneting into servers, instant messaging, and GPS. Chapter 5 covers free applications that can be installed on the handheld, and Chapter 6 covers third party applications, many of which are available for a small fee.
The BES
BlackBerry Hacks covers a topic that Hacking BlackBerry neglected completely: administering the BES. Topics addressed include adding large numbers of users to the BES at once, locking down the BlackBerry, SRP issues, creating alerts, moving the attachment service, and monitoring attachment usage.
In Chapter 8, MDS is addressed. Information useful to BES Admins, such as how to control access to certain sites and how to track MDS HTTP Requests is reviewed. For web developers, tips on how to make websites friendly to BlackBerry users are included.
BlackBerry Development
For the novice developer, a BlackBerry push application can be a simple starting place. Information on how to get started with push applications is included, along with code examples. Details on how to push applications over the air to the device is reviewed.
More in depth details for developers are covered in Chapter 9, including creating HTTP connections, a sample stock quoting application, integrating the browser into a Java application, and signing COD files. It is worth noting, though, that this is is not an in-depth developer's handbook. A treatment of MDS Application development, useful for extending corporate applications to the handheld, is also missing.
For tech-minded users, BES Admins, and novice developers, BlackBerry Hacks is a good choice. For more detail on BlackBerry development and administration, see the BlackBerry site. To purchase BlackBerry Hacks, see Amazon.com.
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