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  • scott 12:37 am on January 24, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: android, android apps, droid, epic,   

    Top 15 Best Free Android Apps I Use Frequently 

    There are so many great free Android apps out there, but here are some of my personal favorites. I decided not include games for this post. For your convenience, I have included QR codes for quick downloading to your phone for most of the apps. Just get a QR code reader (such as Google Goggles, Barcode Scanner, ShopSavvy, etc.) and point it at the QR code.

    #15 – Secrets

    I know I have way too many username and password variations to remember for the countless web-based services, online bank accounts, etc., that I use. Hmmm… this password needs 5-7 characters, one uppercase, one special character… ugh. This Google-authored app has a master password that unlocks your list of usernames, passwords, and other custom data. All your secrets are encrypted and can be backed up to the memory card and restored if you wipe your phone or get a new one.

    #14 – GTasks

    I have tried a number of task management apps for my phone and web-based apps on my desktop. However, I’ve found that I am most likely to use a task system that is just naturally part of my normal routine. Since I already spend a lot of my time in GMail, the Google tasks widget has been my task system of choice. And the GTasks app for Android syncs pretty seamlessly with Google Tasks. It has task categories for separating work, personal, next things, someday tasks, etc. While it may not be as fully featured as apps like Astrid, Remember the Milk, or Things for Mac/iPhone, it works fine for me.

    #13 – ConnectBot

    For anyone who administers Linux servers for their websites, databases, etc., this app is a must. You’re out to dinner and get a call that the web server just ran out of storage space? No need to rush to the office, just pull out your phone and fix the problem before the food arrives. And yes, something like this has happened to me before ;-)

    #12 – BeyondPod

    My favorite app I’ve found for subscribing to, downloading, and streaming podcasts. This app has been a lifesaver during some long car rides when I had forgotten to sync my iPod beforehand. Listening to the latest episode of This Week in Startups is a great way to make the ride fly by!

    #11 – FlightView Free

    Keep track of your flight numbers and times and even get notified of delays and terminal changes while you’re at the airport.

    #10 – Amazon Kindle

    I love reading on my Kindle. My Android phone is certainly no replacement, but it is convenient to pull my phone out of my pocket (the Kindle doesn’t fit very well in my khakis) while I’m waiting in line somewhere and pick up right where I left off on my Kindle at home.

    #9 – Pandora

    Free streaming music that is catered to your likes. I love this app!

    #8 – WordPress

    Great for checking up on my blog and moderating comments while I’m away from the computer.

    #7 – Yelp

    Yelp is great for finding a place to eat when I am exploring a new town. It uses the phone’s GPS receiver to locate places nearby and provides ratings and reviews for each suggestion.

    #6 – Twitter

    What a great way to kill time reading tweets while you’re away from the computer.

    #5 – Facebook

    Contact synchronization and messaging capabilities are what I tend to use the Android app version of Facebook for the most. It is also great for looking at photo albums.

    #4 – Google Shopper

    Compare prices in the store with prices online by scanning the barcode or just taking a picture of the object. It did feel a little weird to scan the barcode of an Epson ink cartridge inside the store at Best Buy and complete my purchase at Buy.com while I walked down the store’s blu-ray aisle, but I saved over $20!

    #3 – Mint.com

    Mint does an outstanding job of pulling in all your various bank accounts, loans, investment accounts, and credit cards, and giving you a summary view of where your money is going. It breaks things down by expense type, details out your total assets, liabilities, and net worth, and even alerts you of things like ATM fees you may not have been expecting. The Android app is very well built, just like the website.

    #2 – Chase

    If you haven’t already seen the commercials on TV and Pandora, this will blow you away (at least it did me). You can deposit your checks from your phone. Really, right from your phone, no need to go the ATM at all. Just snap a photo of the front and back of the check with your built-in camera, verify some account and routing numbers, and you’re done. Plus do things like check balances, sign up for alerts, etc. This app is a major time saver!

    #1 – Evernote

    Evernote’s tagline is “remember everything.” What I love about Evernote is that it is available for pretty much every platform imaginable — Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry, web-based, Palm Pre, Windows Mobile. If used extensively, it can become your external memory by allowing you to take pictures with your camera phone, record voice memos, write text memos, take photos with you MacBook’s webcam, clip web pages, etc. It works seamlessly across devices, everything is stored in the cloud, and everything is automatically OCR’d and geo-tagged (if you want) so it can easily be retrieved later. One of my resolutions for this year is to integrate Evernote into more of my life.

    This list only scratches the surface of useful apps for Android. Please comment on this story with other Android apps you can’t live without.

     

  • scott 12:53 am on January 23, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: procpr IE6 programming design   

    Battling IE6 over PNG transparency and DIVs that won’t position themselves properly. Those 5.2% of users better be grateful! @procpr

     

  • scott 10:27 am on May 5, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: american academy of cpr and first aid, bing, , procpr, SEO, web spam, yahoo   

    Black Hat SEO Technique Works On Google & Yahoo, Encouraged by Bing 

    My company, ProCPR.org, provides online CPR training and certification. We have been in business since 2003 and have grown over the years to offer toll free customer support, an accredited hands-on option for our customers, and a compliance department dedicated to working with employers, hospitals, and state agencies to seek approval for our program. We have been a paid advertiser with Google, Yahoo, and MSN/Bing since the early days of our business. Over the years, the competition has become fierce. This is understandable and anticipated. Something that is not anticipated or acceptable is when the search engines sit back and refuse to intervene when a competitor website employs black hat tactics to artificially boost their website rankings.

    A few days ago, I was working with a colleague on search engine optimization and marketing when we discovered that one of our competitors was ranking on virtually every CPR related keyword, across every search engine, with a different domain name for each keyword. This immediately smelled like foul play to me, so I began investigating. Here is what I found.

    The American Academy of CPR and First Aid, Inc., is employing mirroring techniques to artificially boost their rank by purchasing 40+ keyword-rich domains. They then cross link all these sites, dynamically replacing a few keywords, title, and meta description on the homepage to trick the search engine into treating the content as different, and host each domain on a unique IP address so it appears to be a different site. They stuff keywords for the corresponding domain at the bottom of the page within the paragraph to make that version of the site more relevant to the search keyword.

    This tactic is getting great results for their network of domains. Here are some examples for each of the top three search engines.

    Google

    Perform a Google search on “free online cpr” you will see them listed #2 as http://www.cprrecertification.net, #4 as http://www.freeonlinecpr.com, #19 as http://www.cprrenewal.org, #23 as http://www.healthcareprovidercpr.org, and #24 as http://www.cprcertificate.org. Now search for “cpr recertification” and you will see them listed #1 as http://www.cprrecertification.net and #9 as http://www.freeonlinecpr.com. For a more extreme example of all the variations this site has been indexed under within Google, Search for “online cpr $14.99” and you will see that every search engine result belongs to the same website.

    Yahoo

    The Yahoo example is the most extreme and disturbing. Simply search for “online cpr recertification” and you will see that the first page of results contains organic search results for this company in 6 of the top 10 listings. Their website occupies positions 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, and 9 for this search term.

    Bing

    If you perform a Bing search on “free online cpr” you will see them listed #2 as http://www.freeonlinecpr.com. Now search for “cpr recertification” and you will see them listed #2 as http://www.cprrecertification.net. Now search “adult cpr” and you will see them listed #4 as http://www.adultcpr.org. Now search for “first aid certification” and you will see them listed #1 as http://www.firstaidcertification.org.

    So, what kind of response did I receive from the top three search engines when I reported this alarming abuse? Allow me to share.

    Google is still investigating the issue, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt.

    Yahoo wrote a very nice response back to me, but the problem persists in their search results.

    Hello Scott,

    Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Search.

    Thank you for submitting this abuse report. We have investigated the
    report and taken the appropriate action.

    Please understand that Yahoo! is unable to disclose specific actions
    taken with a third party. We are not able to make exceptions to this
    rule.

    Thank you again for taking the time to bring this issue to our
    attention.

    Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Search.

    Regards,

    Lars

    Yahoo! Customer Care

    71261606

    Bing’s response was probably the most upsetting. I will share what I originally got back from them by submitting the web form on Bing.com to report abuse. I later wrote this blog article and then messaged @bing on Twitter. This resulted in the Bing team taking my report seriously and escalating it internally to work on getting the problem fixed. So, this just shows that Twitter is your best bet to reach the best people at a given company.

    =======================================
    Initial Response:
    =======================================
    Hello Scott,

    Thank you for writing to Bing Technical Support. My name is Julius and I am writing in response to your report against Academy of CPR and FirstAid, Inc. for using spam techniques to their favor. I know how important it is to resolve your issue.

    Scott, I will now be escalating your email to our product specialists for further investigation. They will directly take action on your request and will be contacting you with an update soon. Thank you for providing all the details required.

    We appreciate your continued support as we strive to provide you with the highest quality service available. Thank you for using Bing.

    Sincerely,
    Julius
    Bing Technical Support

    =======================================
    Second Response
    =======================================
    Hello,

    Thank you for contacting Bing technical support.

    We do not automatically remove documents from our database because they offend someone. The database is a reflection of the content of the Internet and is built from billions of documents on millions of web sites around the world. Some of those documents will be personally, politically, or morally objectionable to some people, but others may find those same documents interesting and useful. We want the search database to represent the content of the web in as accurate and usable a form as possible.

    Bing.com does not control the content of these websites, nor does bing.com have any ability to remove the allegedly improper material from these sites.

    Furthermore, we will suppress pages from the search result if it contains illegal contents, presence of court-orders or similar legal proceedings, or direct request from the site owners.

    Accordingly, your complaints should be directed to the owners of these websites or web hosts who may have the ability to remove the allegedly improper content.

    Thank you and have a great day.

    Best regards,

    Carlo
    Microsoft Global Escalations

    =======================================
    My Response
    =======================================
    Dear Carlo and Julius,

    Julius read my email and understands that I am not asking you to change the content on this website, nor am I stating that the content offends me. Carlo, it appears that you did not read my original email. I implore you to please read my email rather than sending me a cookie-cutter response.

    This website is using mirroring hacks to trick the Bing search engine database into improperly indexing their website, giving them an unfair advantage against everyone else in your database. They are in violation of your terms of service which state that a prohibited use is a website that “attempts to manipulate the services, including ranking and reputation systems in the services, by violating any of the provisions of this Code of Conduct, colluding with others on voting or using multiple profiles.”

    They have 40+ keyword-filled domain names that all point to the same website with minor modifications to keywords on the page in order to artificially improve the site’s SEO. All their mirror domains cross-link among each other in order to artificially improve the page rank of each site. Additionally, the company has purchased a separate IP address for each of these mirror sites so they will appear to Bing as a unique website. This is not allowable and degrades the usability of your search engine.

    By ignoring my complaint, you are insinuating that this behavior is acceptable and encouraging me to employ the same black-hat SEO tactics. Please respond ASAP to let me know what action you are pursuing against this company.

    Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
    Sincerely,

    Scott Andersen

    =======================================
    Third Response
    =======================================
    Hi Scott,

    This is Steve from the Microsoft Global Escalations Team

    We are not ignoring your complaint. We have checked the sites and understand that each URL renders to a very similar website. Please understand that Microsoft does not remove sites/domains from the Bing search results page under this type of alleged allegation. Microsoft is not in a position to determine whether content posted on a website is truthful or accurate. We would encourage you to seek resolution of this matter directly with site/domain owners.

    I’m afraid that there is no action that we can do for this issue.

    Sincerely,

    Steve
    Microsoft Global Escalations Team

    So, what am I to take away from this experience? Yahoo does not care about search quality and continues to foster a culture of ignoring its customers. I have seen this over and over with my search advertising account at Yahoo as I am assigned an account manager, that account manager is transfered to a new department, and I am left on my own again.

    Domain Names and IP Addresses owned by American Academy of CPR and First Aid:

    http://www.aacfa.net 174.143.161.198

    http://www.freeonlinecpr.com               174.143.197.62

    http://www.cprrenewal.org                   174.143.197.158

    http://www.onlinecprcourse.org             174.143.197.159

    http://www.adultcpr.org                     174.143.197.160

    http://www.cprcertificate.org               174.143.197.161

    http://www.cprrecertification.net           174.143.197.162

    http://www.firstaidcertification.org       174.143.197.163

    http://www.onlinecprcertification.net       174.143.197.164

    http://www.onlinecprrecertification.net     174.143.197.165

    http://www.blshealthcareprovider.org 174.143.197.180

    http://www.blscpr.org                       174.143.197.242

    http://www.blsforhealthcareproviders.com   174.143.197.243

    http://www.onlinefirstaidcertification.com 67.192.240.192

    http://www.blsrecertification.info         67.192.240.196

    http://www.cprcertification.us             67.192.240.203

    http://www.cprfirstaid.org                 67.192.240.205

    http://www.cprtraining.biz 67.192.240.206

    http://www.firstaidclass.us 67.192.240.207

    http://www.firstaidcprcertification.org     67.192.240.208

    http://www.firstaidcprtraining.org         67.192.240.209

    http://www.firstaidtrainingcourses.org     67.192.240.210

    http://www.freecprtraining.org             67.192.240.211

    http://www.freefirstaidtraining.com         67.192.240.212

    http://www.freeonlinecprtraining.com       67.192.240.213

    http://www.healthcareprovidercpr.org       67.192.240.214

    http://www.onlineblscertification.com       67.192.240.215

    http://www.onlineblsrecertification.org     67.192.240.216

    http://www.onlinecprandfirstaid.com         67.192.240.217

    http://www.onlinecprcertificate.com         67.192.240.218

    http://www.onlinecprclasses.net             67.192.240.219

    http://www.onlinecpr.info                   67.192.240.220

    http://www.onlinefirstaidcourse.com         67.192.240.221

    http://www.onlinefirstaidtraining.org       67.192.240.222

    http://www.onlinefirstaid.us               67.192.240.223

    http://www.bloodbornepathogenstraining.info 67.192.240.236

    http://www.cprrenewalonline.com 67.192.240.238

    http://www.blscertification.com 98.129.228.178

    http://www.firstaidcourse.us 98.129.250.36

    http://www.bloodbornepathogens.info 67.192.240.201

    http://www.childcpr.info 67.192.240.202

     

    • Maile Ohye 12:18 am on August 31, 2010 Permalink

      Hi Scott, thanks for the heads-up. In our Webmaster Guidelines, we state “Don’t create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content.”

      A business with near-duplicate content on several domains may have those domains rank well for a given query in the short-term. However, we believe showing duplicative information in our search results creates a poor user experience.

      It’s likely that as we gain more information, only one of — not all of — the sites will appear for a given query.

      Our advice, (as always :) is to create unique and compelling content, and a great user experience that builds your business. Sounds like you’re already aware of all of this…

      Good luck and so nice meeting you at SES SF,
      Maile

    • rubenmajor 9:46 pm on October 18, 2010 Permalink

      Scott,

      I know this is strange for me to post this on your blog, but I have to tell you, that although we are competitors, I completely agree with your reply. The techniques they have utilized clearly violate TOS guidelines. I was surprised that they stayed as high in the search engines as long as they did.

      I have, however, seen a huge drop in rankings on Google. I’m hoping it will stay this way. But yes, it was very disheartening. I have to say that I do enjoy the fact that your company has a Paramedic at the helm. I like to think we have a unique perspective regarding the practice of CPR and First Aid, more favorable than most physicians. Maybe someday we can complement each other. I wish you and Roy the very best. :)

  • scott 10:13 pm on March 3, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: alltel storm evdo blackberry data 1x   

    EVDO working on Blackberry Storm on Alltel 

    For more information about activating a Blackberry Storm on Alltel, read this post detailing how to activate the Storm step by step. This guide for fixing EVDO is adapted from Labphoto’s comments on my original post.

    1. Locate and install a copy of QPST 2.7 Build 301.

    2. Open Blackberry Desktop Manager 4.7

    3. Open QPST. You will need to add the COM4 and COM5 ports. Once this is done, you should see a connection on either COM4 or COM5 with your storm.

    4. In QPST, start the client service programming.

    5. Click the button to read the phone’s contents.

    6. Click on the “PPP Config” tab.

    7. Open the “AN” tab.

    8. Locate the password field and fill it in with the ESN number of your phone. You can get this from the main QPST screen. Make sure to capitalize all characters.

    9. Click the button to write to the phone. The phone will reboot and once the signal comes online, you should have full 1XEV signal.

    One last thing, if you are not comfortable doing these changes with QPST, THEN DO NOT DO THEM. You can screw up the phone.

     

    • s.daniel 8:26 am on March 10, 2009 Permalink

      Have you hadv any problems since you solved the evdo problems?

    • s.daniel 4:31 pm on March 10, 2009 Permalink

      Where can i find the QPST 2.7 Build 301 download? Having problems finding it? Thanks

    • jimtanis 8:59 pm on March 18, 2009 Permalink

      My user id shows as phonenumber@@vzw3g.com . Should I change that to something different too?

    • nmdotcom 5:27 pm on April 8, 2009 Permalink

      has to change it to ur num@bb.alltel.net password is ur esn its top screen right next to me id

    • jimtanis 7:04 pm on April 12, 2009 Permalink

      I get an error when I try to do this.

      The box that pops up says NV Write errors

      Under NV Item is says NV_UE_IMEI_I amd under Status it says NV_READONLY_S

      Ideas?

      Thanks Jim

    • dontenucci 8:17 pm on April 13, 2009 Permalink

      jimtanis…

      I’m having the same error message… I’ve done it several times now… any help would be great relating to this issue…

    • dontenucci 9:43 pm on April 14, 2009 Permalink

      jimtanis.

      update… i did this again about 3 more times… the entire process in QPST and got the error message all 3 times… however after my last time, my phone showed up on com port 2 and although i still got the error, i am now running EVDO…. so, try a few more times even with the error and maybe it’ll work for you as well.!!

    • nmdotcom 12:21 pm on April 25, 2009 Permalink

      yes you will get that error its still writing to the phone however there is only one part that it cannot write too and thats why you get that error also make sure you set you password to be your ESN not your MEID and your user name should be your number @alltel.bb.net and you can find ur esn up top it shows ur meid and to the left it says esn or you can go to the programming menu ##000000 and should be the pesn hex if you have immediate questions im more than happy to expedite answers via my email nmdotcom@gmail.com
      thanks

    • dcn312 7:04 pm on April 27, 2009 Permalink

      THANKS SO MUCH, I added my 9530 to ALLTEL a few months ago and all that was lacking was the working EVDO. I did this and now it’s working 100 percent. GREAT write up

    • RAJ 5:46 pm on April 28, 2009 Permalink

      What is the advantage of having EVDO??? I have my Storm working on Alltel now and seem the have full funtionality… what will I gain with the EVDO?
      thanks and excuse my ignorance…

    • mandahlynn 2:24 pm on May 6, 2009 Permalink

      What if I can’t get it to show up on COM 4 or 5 and it shows up on 6 but it doesn’t seem to stick to evdo?

    • cmshore7 7:45 pm on May 17, 2009 Permalink

      So have you all actually been able to get the storm to work on alltel? The local alltel store keeps telling me its impossible.

    • RACK 7:13 pm on May 24, 2009 Permalink

      ON CRACKBERRY MYPDA (A CRACKBERRY USER) WROTE IN A FORUM IF YOU USE QPST WHERE YOU PUT IN YOUR ESN IN THE PASSWORD FIELD OF THE AN TAB AND ENTER younumber@bb.alltel.net THAT WOULD BE YOUR TEN DIGITS OF YOUR PHONE NUMBER YOU WILL GET THE EVDO TO STICK WE ARE STILL HAVE PROBLEMS GETTING THE PRL TO NOT REVERT BACK TO “1″ ON QUICK PULLS….HOPE THIS HELPS

    • RACK 7:14 pm on May 24, 2009 Permalink

      nmdotcom ALREADY HAS MADE MENTION TO THIS ABOVE

    • RACK 7:16 pm on May 24, 2009 Permalink

      RAJ EVDO LOADS FOUR TIMES FASTER THAN THE STANDARD 1X YOU ARE NOT GETTING YOUR MONEYS WORTH WITHOUT IT.

    • crookedeyebob 11:09 pm on June 30, 2009 Permalink

      SCOTTXP is right on the money just follow his steps and it all works but know you get music when you *22801 after the first time you can use *228. I got my phone lAST WEEK FOLLOWED THE STEPS WORKED FIRST TIME. has anyone fixed the problem about reverting back to one. my prl is 30042 but everything works. try manuley change prl did not work please help

    • rberscheid 10:53 pm on September 11, 2009 Permalink

      works great! And Alltel said it couldnt be done! Thanks guys!

    • nii5389 8:42 pm on November 9, 2010 Permalink

      hi, i just moved to morocco for a study program. i have an unlocked blackberry storm that i purchased from craigslist before travelling. the phone was originally from verizon . i bought a blackberry service from a telephone company here called inwi and they asked me to change my apn but i have not been able to connect to the internet. they had me download miniopera but all my web based applications cannot connect to the internet. i do not have bes/ bis so i do not know what to do. Also my email settings gives me only the option to use bes.i think that was a result of an accidental wipe.i tried reloading the service book but only my browser was restored.
      i will deeply appreciate any help you might offer.

    • scott 5:44 pm on November 10, 2010 Permalink

      I was just in Italy using my unlocked Verizon branded Blackberry Storm. I purchased a pre-paid Vodafone SIM card with BlackBerry data.

      In order to get it to work, first I had to wipe the APN settings (found under options >> advanced options >> tcp/ip). Then, all it took was removing the battery for a few seconds, replacing it, and powering the phone back on. After the phone powered back up, the service books began populating automatically and data worked fine. I’m not sure if this will work on inwi, but it worked great with Vodafone IT.

    • nii5389 2:10 pm on November 11, 2010 Permalink

      thanks scott, i tried it but it just wouldnt work. it keeps telling me that it cannot find the requested server. its so fustrating because it happens to be that they don’t have a technical team that works on blackberries since all of theirs are preconfigured. i really don’t know what else to do. thanks anyway.

  • scott 12:40 am on January 7, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: install hard drive macbook pro, macbook hard drive, macbook pro, macbook pro bootcamp, macbook pro hard drive, replace hard drive mac   

    Installing a New Hard Drive in my MacBook Pro 

    I decided the other day that the 120 GB hard drive in my MacBook Pro just wasn’t cutting it any more and purchased a new 500GB Samsung drive from Newegg. I run Leopard on my primary partition with Windows XP on a 30 GB BootCamp partition, so I couldn’t rely solely on Time Machine for my full machine backup and restore. So, here is how I transfered my files over to the new hard drive relatively painlessly.

    1. Perform one final backup of Leopard to my external drive using Time Machine.
    2. Replace the hard drive in my MBP with the shiny, new 500 GB drive.
    3. Restore my Leopard partition using the Time Machine backup and the Leopard OS disc.
    4. Plug the old drive into my spare Windows machine using standard SATA cables.
    5. Copy the entire Windows partition (including hidden and system files) to an external hard drive.
    6. Upon completion of restoring Leopard, setup a new BootCamp partition and install Windows XP.
    7. Boot into Leopard, delete all files from the BootCamp partition, and empty the trash.
    8. Copy all files from the external hard drive to the BootCamp partition.

    This worked for me. Now I am back up and running with plenty of space to spare!

     

  • scott 11:03 pm on December 13, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: alltel, blackberry, blackberry storm, blackberry storm alltel, storm, verizon   

    Blackberry Storm Working on Alltel 

    Well, I ordered a Blackberry Storm on eBay on Friday in hopes of being able to activate the phone on the Alltel network (the Storm has only been released on Verizon in the United States). This might seem unnecessary with the Verizon/Alltel purchase deal looming, but I prefer my Alltel plan to the Verizon plans available, especially with the My Circle feature.

    Now let’s just hope Verizon hasn’t locked down the programming menu of the phone too badly and I will be able to program in the Alltel network id and update the phone’s PRL to pick up Alltel’s towers. I will update this post with my progress in the coming days.

    UPDATE (12/29/08):

    My BlackBerry Storm is officially working on Alltel except for issues with EVDO (1x works fine). I will do my best to detail the steps I took to make the phone work:

    1. Enter the NAM programming menu by typing ##000000 SEND from the phone screen.
      • Mobile Directory Number (MDN) should be your 10-digit number
      • Home SID (check your current Alltel phone programming menu for this number)
      • BlackBerry Registration Id should be 144 for Alltel. To change this setting, press the BlackBerry menu button and choose “Edit BB Reg Id”
      • SIP User ID should be <your mobile number>@bb.alltel.net
      • SIP Password should be “alltel”
      • MIP User ID should be <your mobile number>@bb.alltel.net
      • Push the BlackBerry menu button and choose “Save”
    2. Now that your phone is programmed, you need to have the MEID hex added to Alltel’s system. You cannot use the web-based tool since this is a smart phone. Call Alltel from a different phone and have them add your phone to the system. You can check your MEID hex by typing #4357* SEND.
    3. You will also need a SmartChoice plan with the BlackBerry option added to your account.
    4. Dial *22801 to enter the Alltel OTA programming system and choose the option to activate your phone.
    5. After the phone is activated, dial *22801 again and choose the option to update your phone’s roaming service. This will update the PRL on the phone to Alltel’s latest version, overwriting the Verizon PRL.
    6. To provision the data services on the phone, go to options…advanced options…host routing table, press the BlackBerry menu key, and choose “Register Now”. This should replace your Verizon HRT entries with Alltel entries and you will receive a message from BlackBerry stating that the handheld has been registered with the wireless network.

    UPDATE (3/3/09) – Issues with EVDO have been solved by some members of the Crackberry forum. Read this step by step guide on fixing EVDO.

     

    • kemo 2:36 pm on December 25, 2008 Permalink

      Just wondering if you were able to update the prl for the storm. I got the programming part done with the reg id and all but am not able to get the prl updated everytime i call *228 it calls verizons activation.

    • scott 3:30 pm on December 25, 2008 Permalink

      Yes, I was able to update the PRL. Dial *22801 and the phone should dial Alltel’s activation rather than Verizon’s.

      When you do this, it is pulling down the 30033 PRL. It is connecting to 1x data fine for me, but I am having some difficulty getting EVDO working. I am going to try to manually update the phone to the 40036 PRL and see if that does any better.

    • Andrea 11:35 pm on January 3, 2009 Permalink

      I was just wondering the evdo/1x is? I am thinking of going to get the storm.

    • Andrea 11:38 pm on January 3, 2009 Permalink

      sorry was the phone you bought unlocked or locked

    • Andrea 4:20 pm on January 5, 2009 Permalink

      I was just wondering if you are having trouble with getting on the internet and also if you aren’t how do I get on the internet? Does it always show you are roaming too? IS that because it is a verizon phone?

    • scott 5:30 pm on January 5, 2009 Permalink

      Hi Andrea,

      1x is a CDMA technology for Internet access. It has a maximum speed of 144 Kbps and has the downside of not working while you are on a phone call (i.e. you can’t receive an e-mail while you are talking to someone).

      EV-DO is a newer CDMA technology for Internet access with maximum speeds as high as 2.4 Mbit/s or up to 3.1 Mbit/s with Rev. A. EV-DO is capable of working while a phone call is in progress.

      The Verizon Blackberry Storm supports both CDMA and GSM technologies, making it capable of running on virtually any cellular network. Verizon, Alltel, and Sprint are the three largest CDMA carriers in the United States. AT&T and T-Mobile are the largest GSM carriers. While the CDMA portion of the phone is unlocked, Verizon has locked the GSM portion of the phone. Because the GSM portion is locked, you will be unable to insert an AT&T SIM card into your Storm and use it on the AT&T network unless you manage to convince Verizon to unlock the phone for you (or pay someone to unlock it). Unlocking the phone is not necessary if you only plan to use the CDMA portion.

      To answer your question, the phone I purchased is still locked.

      As for the Internet — I am not having any trouble connecting to the 1x data network for Internet access, but EV-DO is not working properly for me. If your phone shows you as always roaming, it could be that your PRL was not properly updated. Try dialing *22801 SEND and pressing 2 to update your roaming list. You might also try *22801 SEND with option 3 to activate the phone. This will ensure that the MDN, SID, etc. are all input correctly.

    • Andrea 6:01 pm on January 5, 2009 Permalink

      I am sorry to be such a bother. I was wondering did you have trouble setting up your email with your blackberry? When I was trying it keep asking for a PIN number?

    • scott 6:16 pm on January 5, 2009 Permalink

      No problem at all. To setup your e-mail with Alltel, go to http://www.alltel.blackberry.com on your computer and create a new account. Your device PIN and ESN (or MEID in this case) can be found by going to Options…Status on the phone.

      Completing this form will register the phone with Alltel’s Blackberry system and begin pushing e-mail to your device.

      When I first setup my Storm, I inadvertently registered my phone with Verizon’s Blackberry server rather than Alltel’s server and ended up having to call Verizon support and convince them to remove my device’s PIN from their database before I was able to register my phone within Alltel’s system (that is why I would recommend doing it online rather than through the phone).

    • Andrea 6:32 pm on January 5, 2009 Permalink

      Did your phone have the solid triangle on it for roaming? When I called them yesterday they said I wasn’t roaming I was hitting an alltel tower. I didn’t know if that was because it was a verizon phone? Also do you have a browser icon or is that something I have to download?

    • scott 8:08 pm on January 5, 2009 Permalink

      No, I don’t have a solid roaming triangle. Which PRL version does your phone have? Dial #4357* (#HELP*) SEND. Mine is 30033 (we actually want 40038, but that’s a different matter).

      Yes, I do have the browser icon. Have you already setup your account on http://www.alltel.blackberry.com? If so, try logging into the website, click “Service Books,” then “Send Service Books.”

    • clayc_989 10:58 pm on January 7, 2009 Permalink

      Hey scott, I got my Storm working with Alltel and I’m pulling 1XEV….I had a discussion with tech support and I had to change two things that aren’t listed here in your write up, I thought I’d share them with you guys….

      When you type in ##000000 to edit all the stuff Scott details….try changing the IMSI_S to 5057486502….or call their tech support and see which number they give you.

      After that, I did the *228, not *22801 and I did reach Alltel. I updaded my PRL and I’m now running on 30034…

      I’m not going to try and manually update to 40038 unless it’s proven to pull 1XEV.

      Anyways, thought this would help you guys out. :)

    • Andrea 12:27 pm on January 8, 2009 Permalink

      Hello again! I tried to set up an account and it comes up as my device is on s different service plan? I tried to call verizon and they told me that there was no way they could take the pin number of their system. I didn’t know if I paid you and gave you the information if you would do it for me?

    • tyffani 1:28 am on January 11, 2009 Permalink

      Hello,
      I have found all of this information very helpful as I have alltel and would like to get the blackberry storm.
      I have one question that Im confused about. I have read that alltel does not support GSM unlocked phones, but since the blackberry storm has both CDMA and GSM capabilities, would it work if I bought an unlocked phone? If not, do I have to buy a locked one from verizon?
      Any advice would be great, thank you!

    • scott 1:29 am on January 12, 2009 Permalink

      Tyffani, what you have read regarding Alltel not supporting GSM unlocked phones is likely in reference to Alltel being a CDMA carrier and therefore a GSM-only phone being locked or unlocked has no bearing on whether it will work on the Alltel network.

      Since the CDMA portion of the Storm is not locked (hence typing ##000000 allows you to enter the programming menu), it will be programmable on Alltel whether it is locked or unlocked on the GSM side.

      The thing to watch out for is that you do not accidentally purchase a BlackBerry 9500 (GSM-only, aka BlackBerry Thunder) vs. the BlackBerry 9530 (GSM & CDMA, aka BlackBerry Storm).

    • dcn312 3:33 pm on January 12, 2009 Permalink

      Great post! I just ordered the 9530 on e-bay and I’ll give it a shot! Thanks so much for sharing the information.

      DC

    • ballencpa 9:26 pm on January 15, 2009 Permalink

      Thank you so much for all of this information…I have my Storm up and running successfully! One question; is anyone having significant issues with battery life? Mine is having trouble making it through the workday….is this because I am using on Alltel’s network or do you think it may just be a bad battery?

    • Gears13 10:20 am on January 16, 2009 Permalink

      What about the esn change? Did you have to go to an alltel store to change it? I am just asking as I seen that mentioned on the crackberry forums…thanks for listening!

    • Nawton 8:36 am on January 17, 2009 Permalink

      Hey Scott. I just got my Storm and I was going through the list and my BlackBerry Registration Id say it is 2004. Now I have tried to edit it but it wont do anything. Do you know of a way to get around this? The menu button should be the flag button if I am not mistaken but I just want to be sure.

    • dcn312 3:31 am on January 18, 2009 Permalink

      Got my BB Storm 9530 the other day, followed your directions and it seems to be working really well!

      Thanks

    • Nawton 9:03 am on January 18, 2009 Permalink

      the only problem I am having now is that when I call alltel they say they wont add the Hex key because it is a Verizon phone. They wont let me add the hex to my account… How did you guys get around that? They say that they can get in trouble.. Please help!!!

    • russb442 10:53 am on January 18, 2009 Permalink

      Hey I was just wondering if you figured out how to use the ev do. i was wanting this phone but scared not getting all the features to work. should i wait and let alltel obtain this phone?

    • Nawton 11:17 am on January 18, 2009 Permalink

      ok got it activated. Now I dont have internet. I have the 30033 but no luck. I really could use some help here.

    • JustinM 5:17 pm on January 19, 2009 Permalink

      dec312 is your Storm able to get on the internet and receive emails?

    • JustinM 5:18 pm on January 19, 2009 Permalink

      My question was for dcn…or has anyone been able to get it to work on Alltel with the data capabilities such as internet and email?

    • tommy 11:11 pm on January 19, 2009 Permalink

      i have done this too and this is an awesome tutorial. have you tried using qpst to load the 40038 prl? the 215 build of qpst allowed me to load the 30033 prl i have not tried the evdo roaming on spring prl 40038 yet but i will tomorrow and let you know if it loads right. also if you input your username as ##########@alltel.net you can still use the browser without having to pay for a bberry data plan. the internet browser will pop up but no e-mail. you can check your e-mail through the browser though but it is slow compared to rev-A.

    • tommy 11:12 pm on January 19, 2009 Permalink

      you still have to have the regular data plan though to use the browser

    • tommy 11:22 pm on January 19, 2009 Permalink

      andrea

      you have to call altel and have them reset your pin to get the email to work. do not tell them it is a verizon phone or they will not do it.

      nawton

      optons, advanced options, host routing table, bb menu send registration. also make sure you have the browser in your service books, you have to have a bb data plan or regular data plan for this to work.

    • clayc_989 12:00 am on January 20, 2009 Permalink

      Nawton…did you edit the Reg ID? You have to highlight it (don’t click it) and hit the BB key. You’ll see “Edit BB Reg ID”. Just add the 144 to the list and delete the 2004.

      Also, you may have to call their tech support and tell them you’re having technical difficulties. See if you can get them to give you the IMSI_S number, I had to change mine.

    • Nawton 10:32 am on January 20, 2009 Permalink

      Ok I dont have a browser Icon at all. I tried reloading it but no luck. I need help there. I have tried to do the optons, advanced options, host routing table, bb menu send registration but never got anything back. I do have a blackberry plan. Everything they have to offer but still no luck. wish someone could talk me through this..

    • labphoto 4:36 pm on January 21, 2009 Permalink

      So how do you convince alltel to add the ESN. I’ve tried three different times and they refuse to do so.

    • scott 4:51 pm on January 21, 2009 Permalink

      Labphoto… When they ask you the phone model, tell them it is a BlackBerry Pearl and they shouldn’t give you such a hassle. You also should not mention that it is a Verizon branded phone.

      You could be running into problems now that the Verizon/Alltel system integration has begun. Does customer support know the ESN belongs to Verizon equipment without asking you?

    • labphoto 4:54 pm on January 21, 2009 Permalink

      Nope, but they claim they when they try to put in the ESN, the system rejects it.

    • labphoto 4:54 pm on January 21, 2009 Permalink

      Is there any chance I have to call Verizon and get them to release the PIN?

    • labphoto 6:10 pm on January 21, 2009 Permalink

      Scott, got it to work! Your thoughts on telling them it was a Pearl worked. Last problem I have is when I dial *228, I get Verizon activation instead of Alltel. How do I fix that?

    • JustinM 11:14 pm on January 21, 2009 Permalink

      scott-

      Were you able to get the data/EVDO to work on the phone where you could surf the web on the phone?

    • scott 10:42 am on January 22, 2009 Permalink

      Labphoto… dial *22801 and you should get the Alltel activation instead of Verizon activation.

      JustinM… My Storm is still alternating between 1X data and EVDO data. When it reads 1X, the web works for me. When it reads 1XEV, the web does not work. 1X is slower than EVDO, but it works.

    • labphoto 10:48 am on January 22, 2009 Permalink

      Scott, I tried *22801 and still get Verizon. Did you do any other PRL changes?

    • desiguy 3:05 pm on January 22, 2009 Permalink

      i just installed .90 firmware and then i did *228 and i got 30035 prl
      but still connect 1x inplace of evdo so did anyone figure out yet

    • dcn312 11:16 pm on January 25, 2009 Permalink

      Hey Guys,
      Sorry I was slow on the reply, I was outta town. I did get the internet to work. I had an 8830 so I did a device transfer and it all seems to be working well. I live in an area that doesnt have alltel towers so when I drove to an area that did, I updated my PRL then via the *228 and that helped out.

    • dcn312 2:36 am on January 27, 2009 Permalink

      Also, if you do know how to update your prl manually, here is a link that has them. I believe the latest and greatest for alltel blackberries is 40038.

      Thanks

      Dan

    • dcn312 2:37 am on January 27, 2009 Permalink

    • Nawton 4:31 pm on January 29, 2009 Permalink

      I have my storm on alltel but no internet. I cannot get it to work. I dont have a browser icon on it and my PRL is the 30033. I dont know how manually change it but it seems like some of you do. I need some help here. I havent found anyone else that has done this so I need some help.

    • Curtis 10:52 pm on January 31, 2009 Permalink

      I just got the storm and everything on this forum helped me out entirely, Thanks Scott. But I am having the same problem as some others. It will only connect to the internet when it has a 1x connection and not EV. The bad thing is I have and EV signal 90% of the time. Anyone figure this out?

    • mrkawliga 7:21 pm on February 4, 2009 Permalink

      When I try to provision the blackberry services for my phone, it gives me this message: “The information you provided is not valid for this service provider”. Any ideas, please help!

    • labphoto 9:39 pm on February 4, 2009 Permalink

      I talked to great tech today at Alltel and I think he may have spilled the beans on why we’re losing data when the Storm switches to 1XEV. Apparently for 1XEV to work, the Storm authenticates with Alltel’s servers using the MIP user id and password. Well it’s easy enough to update the user id (##000000), but the password field is not accessible that way. What we need is software to gain access to it. I’v tried QPST 2.17 and oddly enough that panel is not even presented for the Storm. So if anyone know of any software that we can use, post the info here. All we need to do is get to the MIP password field and change it to “alltel” (without the quotes). Once this is done, we’ll have data on the 1XEV system.

    • kansas 1:27 pm on February 8, 2009 Permalink

      Hi everyone! I am trying to get my Storm working. It is working fine except for when I dial *228 I still get Verizon and when I dial *22801 it won’t even go through it just automatically says call failed. My only other problem is I can’t recieve picture messages.. I can send them, but they won’t retrieve once I’ve gotten them. Please let me know if anyone has any suggestions for me. I really appreciate it..

    • williamsck 4:30 pm on February 12, 2009 Permalink

      Has anyone found this fix yet? Just ordered my Storm and would like to try and resolve the MIP issue. Thanks

    • clayc_989 6:28 pm on February 14, 2009 Permalink

      If the MIP password is what we need for all data functions, that would be last bit of information I need to make this phone work completely.

      However, when I hit 1XEV, my browser seems to work fine, as do all other data services (save MMS). So if there’s a way out there to change it that would be sweet. I’ve looked at it with QPST 2.7 and have seen nothing, and I’m by no means sufficient enough with this program to dabble with the deeper things like memory tables and all that other crap….

      Food for thought, I suppose.
      -clay

    • williamsck 6:48 pm on February 14, 2009 Permalink

      Got my storm but cannot dial *228. I get US Cell. Tried *22801 and got a busy signal. I have tried everything but it just wont work? Any Idea?

    • williamsck 10:43 pm on February 14, 2009 Permalink

      Got it working but still No joy for 1EXV speed.

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