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How to Use FaceBook Chit Chat for BlackberryBy Chit Chat for Facebook - 2011-07-10 Information with illustrations and instructions showing how to use the ChitChat for Facebook application on a Blackberry cell phone. ChitChat for Facebook is one of the most widely used Facebook Instant Messaging (IM) applications available today. It is renowned for its functionality, reliability, and committed technical development. Until now, Blackberry users have had to cope with inefficient basic Facebook apps or use the unreliable Facebook site itself to IM in real-time with contacts. But this is about to change. A new mobile version of Chit Chat for Facebook has been developed and this will soon be available for Blackberry smart phones. The app is owned and operated by a UK-based private company, Athena IT Ltd. So has the transition from Windows-based app to mobile app gone smoothly? Has Chit Chat had to lose some of its many features to integrate with Blackberry technology? The only way to know is to take an in-depth look at the new Blackberry version of Chit Chat and find out if the mobile child has inherited its desktop parent's inspirational genes. Chit Chat for Facebook (Blackberry Version) Unveiled The Blackberry version of Chit Chat for Facebook is due to be launched on Blackberry Apps World soon and will be initially available for a limited-time offer of $1.99. Once the app has been installed, a Chit Chat logo appears in the Downloads folder. Select this to open Chit Chat. Once open, the first screen you see is the one pictured below.
Select your language and click next. This moves you on to the main Login screen.
Enter your Facebook login details and the Chit Chat will retrieve your Facebook contacts information.
Customizing Contacts and Conversations on Chit Chat The main contacts screen looks like this:
Contacts (referred to as a Buddy List in Chit Chat) who are online display a green Chit Chat symbol next to the name. An orange symbol indicates that a contact is offline or unavailable. To start a conversation with any of your online contacts, simply highlight the name and select. There is a multitude of customizable options available for the conversation screen. These include:
To access the Conversation Options screen. Click the Blackberry Menu button on the Contact screen. Then select Preference.
This opens up another menu. Choose Conversation from the available options.
This opens up the Conversation Preference Settings screen shown below.
You can customize any of the aforementioned conversation settings from this one screen.
One Screen Access to Contacts, Current Conversations, and Unread Messages From the Buddy List (Contacts) screen you can easily view who you are currently chatting with (Chit Chat allows multiple conversations) and any unread messages. There are 3 tabs on the main Buddy List screen.
The Buddy List tab tells you how many contacts are online.
In the Conversation tab, you can keep track of open conversations.
The Unread Messages tab informs you of messages you have yet not read.
You can use the Blackberry's Navigation button to highlight and click on the 3 tabs or there are some handy keyboard shortcuts available. These are:
Quick Access to Contacts: Chit Chat has the ability to search through contacts and list relevant names based on typed queries. This is the same system you find in the Blackberry address book menu. On the Contact screen, you simply begin typing in the name of the contact you wish to find using the Blackberry keyboard. As you type a character, Chit Chat will provide a list of contact names that begin with the letter you have typed. The more letters you type the more filtered the results will be. Anyone possessing hundreds of Facebook contacts will find this feature a real time saver. Altering General Settings In the Contact menu, use the Blackberry Menu key to bring up the sub-menu. Select Preference as you would for altering Conversation Settings. To go into the General Preference Settings menu, click on the General option.
Clicking General takes you to the General Preference Settings screen shown below.
On this screen you are able to change the options for:
Having a Conversation: Chatting with Facebook contacts is the main objective of Chit Chat so you would hope this aspect has been thoughtfully designed. You will be glad to know that Chit Chat does not disappoint. Anyone who has previously used the Chit Chat utility on a desktop will be aware of the many user-friendly shortcuts incorporated into the design. Those shortcuts are also present in the Blackberry version. Some examples of the many available keyboard shortcuts available on Chit Chat:
Below is a screenshot of an open conversation window. You can see in this example the sender/receiver names have been set to display different colours. The timestamp feature has also been utilised. But the best feature is the ability to create clearly distinguishable message separation by using the ‘Bubbles' feature in the Message Scheme section of the Conversation Preference Settings menu.
Emotions are a popular feature of IM messaging. Chit Chat makes inserting emotions into a message simple by including a graphical emotions box. To access this from a current conversation: Click the Blackberry Menu key and select Insert Smiley from the options that appear.
This then opens up the emotions box and you can choose a relevant emotion by using the Navigation button and clicking on your selected emotion.
Traditional character combinations can still be used in text instead of opening the emotion box. Chit Chat will automatically convert emotion-based character combinations into the relevant emotion graphics.
Do You Need Chit Chat for Facebook on Your Blackberry? The overall colour scheme for Chit Chat is lively and vibrant. This is a welcome change from the monotonous blue and white offering Facebook provides. Chit Chat's multicolour display means messages and sections are easily identifiable. This is very handy for a small Blackberry display. The ability to segregate received/ sent messages into self-contained ‘bubbles' is another welcome feature. Again, this makes it easy to keep track of conversations and quickly distinguish who said what. Add Chit Chat's ability to adjust font size and colour settings, plus the option to alter background colours and this new mobile version proves to be a very functional IM package. Chit Chat for Facebook offers Blackberry users the chance to converse quickly and effectively with Facebook contacts. There is no need to log in to the notoriously slow Facebook site and then zoom in to see if you have any messages or if any contacts are online. Chit Chat will save Blackberry user's serious time and annoyance by removing the need to scroll, zoom, and study the main Facebook site. The well designed menus and conversation screens means no more straining eyes to see what has been written. Not only does Chit Chat ensure you won't miss any messages from your Facebook contacts, it injects a welcomed sense of fun back into the IM experience. Chit Chat for Facebook is available through Mobihand for a limited time launch price of $1.99. System requirements: Blackberry OS - 4.2 to 6.00 Supported Blackberry models: 9780, 9700, 9650, 9520, 9550, 9530, 9500, 9000, 8530, 8520, 8900, 8800, 8820, 8330, 8320, 8330, 8320, 8220, 8100, 8110, 8120, 8130.
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