BlackBerry App World is the source for most of the apps that I download, finding myself scanning through looking for new applications that might prove useful.

There is a lot more trust in downloading from here, rather than browsing the internet and downloading from less trusted locations. It allows you to manage any of the paid for or free apps you have downloaded.

WordPress for BlackBerry allows me to quickly check the numerous blogs that I contribute to. It makes it easy to manage new comments or even start writing a new post (as I am doing this very minute by writing this).

This means I can manage most aspects of my blog whilst on the move and still have available a lot of the functionality of the browser based version.

The Internet Browser is something I often use to browse twitter more than anything. I still haven’t managed to find a client that functions well like they do on the iPhone.

Depending on the context of what I’m looking for I sometimes switch to using Opera Mini instead due to it’s improved rendering of graphical web pages with full CSS support and ability to view video content.

BlackBerry Messenger is a more recent addition to my collection, with the majority of my friends and contacts opting for the iPhone over the BlackBerry I’ve only recently started communicating through it.

It allows me to send and even broadcast free messages to the people on my contacts list. It’s a bit more subtle than MSN messenger as it can quite happily sit running in the background.

Google Mail reinforces the fact that I can’t get away from what I do in life, allowing me to be contacted via email, even when I’m not sat in front of my laptop.

It provides all the basic functionality of your standard web client and the browser based control panel. As far as I’m aware, this application, along with all the others from Google are only available directly from Google.

Google Maps id the last on my list and although isn’t used as frequently as the others is just as useful, especially if you’re in a situation where don’t have satellite navigation.

It makes available most of the features found on the web based version, including driving directions and geolocation. The introduction of Google Latitude also allows me to browse my list of friends and see where they are in the world – creepy!

So there you have it, my list of frequently used applications. If you would like to recommend any similar ones or use any of the above I’d be interested to hear what you have to say .

I was unable to find any additional debugging information on the error, which was also preventing the SMS and MMS application from displaying or even functioning. Any messages that were sent to me didn’t appear to be reaching me, even read receipts were stating that the message had been delivered.

In an attempt to salvage things I attempted to delete the last installed application – no luck. I then attempted a hard reset by pulling off the battery, leaving it for a minute and then replacing it and turning the phone back on – still no luck.

I then decided that it might be a good idea to carry out a factory reset…

Factory Reset Instructions:

I recommend starting the process by backing up any existing data – contacts, photos etc – using the Desktop Manager software.  Now we can move on to the actual reset process.

1. Press the menu key, the button to left of trackball, select the “Options” folder.
2. Scroll down and select “Security Options” then “General Settings“.
3. Press the menu key and select “Wipe Handheld“. A warning box will then appear to tell you that all application data will be lost. Select “Include third party applications” and then “Continue“.
4. Another box will appear asking you to enter the word “blackberry” to confirm the wipe. Doing this will restore the Bold to the factory settings.

If you decided to make a backup earlier, you may want to restore your data at this point.

You can now continue to use your Blackberry as before, without any additional applications installed. Some functionality may however have been lost, for example when trying to use the web browser you may get the error “This is a wi-fi service. Please ensure your device has an active wi-fi connection and try again.“.

This can be resolved by carrying out the following action:

Options > advanced > host routing table > menu (button left of trackball) > click on “Register Now.”

If at this point it is still not working, you should ensure that the default browser is set to “Internet Browser“:

Options > advanced > Browser > Default browser configuration > set to “Internet Browser”.

This process appears to have got everything back on track for me – relief.