Change Outlook’s default appointment reminder

When you create a new appointment using Outlook’s calendar, by default, Outlook sets a 15 minute reminder. As you might expect, 15 minutes before the appointment is due to start, Outlook displays a reminder—popup style. If you attach a sound to the reminder, Outlook will sound the alarm 15 minutes before the appointment. Reminders are a convenient and easy way to stay on track.

If a 15 minute reminder prior to the start of the event isn’t enough time (or it’s too much time) you can change the reminder when you create the appointment. Simply change the default time, of 15 minutes, from the Reminder dropdown list.

Changing the reminder time isn’t a big deal, unless you have to do it every single time you create an appointment. If you find yourself changing the reminder time a lot, change the default instead, as follows:

1. From the Tools menu, choose Options
2. Click the Preferences tab.
3. In the Reminder section, select a new time from the Default Reminder option’s dropdown list. You can enter a custom time, just be sure to identify it as minutes, hours, days, or weeks.

   
   

4. Click OK.

When you create new appointments, the reminder time will reflect the default you chose in the Options dialog box. You can also disable the default reminder—simply uncheck it (step 3). Once disabled, Outlook will disable the reminder option in the appointment window.

By all means, use the appointment reminder feature if you find it helpful—but don’t work around the default setting. Use the default setting that’s most convenient and efficient for you!

Apple rumor twofer: Expose-like multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0, international iPad launch on April 24th

We’re not quite at the height of Apple frenzy, but looking at the bell curve, we’re only a standard deviation or two from its zenith (we imagine the fever pitch will be in tandem with Saturday’s iPad launch, if history and human nature tells us anything). Of course, that doesn’t stop the rumor mill from amping up production, and so on with the show! First on the docket, remember last month’s discovery of multitasking comments in the iPhone SDK 3.2 beta? Well, Apple Insider’s apparently got it on word from its network of sources that OS 4.0 will in fact include multitasking, with app switching purportedly done by pressing the double-tapping the home button and selecting the appropriate active app icon. If you ask us, that sounds similar in function to command / tab switching, but the people claiming to be in the know liken it more to Expose for OS X.

Taking a step back to focus on the actual hardware for a moment, iPad in Canada is hearing that local Apple store employees have been told April 24th is a “black out period,” meaning no one is allowed to take that day off. That usually coincides with major product launch, and we did hear the international iPad debut would be late April, but Apple’s yet to make its non-US plans concrete. It is the last Saturday of the month, however, and perhaps it’ll coincide with the other countries as well. As always, none of this is confirmed and shouldn’t be taken as gospel in any way, shape, or form. We can’t stop you from getting your hopes up, but don’t blame us if those dreams get shattered by a sucker punch of reality.

Apple rumor twofer: Expose-like multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0, international iPad launch on April 24th originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reports of webOS 1.4.1 update now coming in

Reports of webOS 1.4.1 update now coming in originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Droid mercifully gets a manual 2.1 update option

As is pleasantly often the case with Android devices, it turns out there’s already a quick, easy, nearly painless way to circumvent the phased rollout of Android 2.1 to Verizon’s Droids out in the field. Anyone who’s already been through this will feel right at home with the process: grab the binary straight from Google (so you know it’s legit, which is always nice), rename the file, transfer it to your microSD card, and reboot to the recovery mode screen. The rest is pretty self-evident, and when all is said and done, you’ll have a Droid equipped with the very latest and greatest that Google has to offer. Let us know how it goes, y’hear?

Droid mercifully gets a manual 2.1 update option originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First cut of MeeGo available today for N900 and Atom devices

While making it crystal clear that this is only intended for developers that want a mega-early look at the platform, Intel and Nokia’s MeeGo team has just announced that the very first cut of the melded Moblin / Maemo mobile platform is available for download. Specifically, users of N900s, Atom notebooks, and Atom-powered Moorestown MIDs have all been gifted with their own distributions, which will boot off a USB stick or directly on the devices themselves. Sadly, the MeeGo user experience — the good stuff, that is — isn’t included here, so if you flash your N900 you’re going to end up booting into a terminal console, but hey, some of you sickos are into that sort of thing, aren’t you? Next up for the team is a release billed 1.0 that will come in May, and we’re told details on the road to that version will be unveiled over the coming days. Take care of yourselves if you go for it, alright?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

First cut of MeeGo available today for N900 and Atom devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile says myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition now ‘making its final encore’

Greener pastures are likely on T-Mobile’s Android horizon, but let’s be real — this is probably the first, last, and only opportunity you’ll ever have to own a Fender-branded phone, which might just be enough of a draw to give you pause. T-Mobile’s official Twitter account just belted out a tweet saying that the most unusual version of HTC’s Magic to launch anywhere in the world, the myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition, is “making its final encore” right now in “limited quantities,” so interested parties probably want to high-tail it down to their local store — especially since it’s still showing out of stock online. Any takers?

T-Mobile says myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition now ‘making its final encore’ originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rockchip’s prototype RK2808-powered Android smartphone spotted… finally!

Continue reading Rockchip’s prototype RK2808-powered Android smartphone spotted… finally!

Rockchip’s prototype RK2808-powered Android smartphone spotted… finally! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy S Pro to come with a QWERTY keyboard in June, says Eldar Murtazin

Those whispers you might have heard of a Pro version of Samsung’s delectable Galaxy S have just turned into a booming roar, thanks to Eldar Murtazin apparently confirming the existence and prospective arrival of the rumored handset. According to the legendarily loquacious mobile reviewer, Samsung will be strapping a QWERTY keyboard onto the already potent Galaxy S hardware and upping the pricing ante with an extra €50 (about $67) charge. He also manages to give us a June launch date, but pictures of this device are predictably not yet available. We’ll just have to let our imagination do the work until Mr. Blurrycam gets on the case. Screenshot of the relevant tweet after the break.

Update: HDblog.it has thrown up a pretty realistic (though fake) render of the rumored model, and if the real thing is anything like this, Sammy might have a contender on its hands. Now we sit and wait for June, eh?

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy S Pro to come with a QWERTY keyboard in June, says Eldar Murtazin

Samsung Galaxy S Pro to come with a QWERTY keyboard in June, says Eldar Murtazin originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint Free Guarantee eliminates all traces of buyer’s remorse within 30 day trial

Sprint must be feeling pretty good about its chances against the big guys right now, because it’s on the cusp of deploying the most comprehensive money-back guarantee policy in the industry — a policy that erases every red cent you’ve spent to pick up service with them in the event you change your mind. Starting tomorrow, new customers will have 30 days to check out their Hero, Pre, Pixi, or whatever other device they happen to choose (no EVO 4G yet, sadly), and if they’re not happy, a return to the store will trigger a refund for everything, up to and including the service plan charges, taxes, and fees you’ve incurred so far. AT&T and Verizon come close to Sprint’s policy, but they stop short of refunding the plan itself and charge an activation fee if you take more than 3 days to return your goods, and T-Mobile — long regarded the customer service king in this biz — only gives you 20 days and won’t even pretend to refund your activation fee. Will this trigger a domino effect of changes across the Big Four? We certainly hope so.

Sprint Free Guarantee eliminates all traces of buyer’s remorse within 30 day trial originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New doubleTwist for Mac adds built-in Android Market functionality

The latest version of doubleTwist for the Mac (1.0b1b to be precise, available now) adds a whole new Android Market element to the application. Much akin to the iTunes Store for apps, doubleTwist lets you browse Android apps in a beautified, desktop interface, but the “twist” is that you can’t actually download and sync apps with your phone. Instead, the Android Market browser presents QR codes for scanning with your Android phone and directly downloading the apps on the handset like you do already. Sure, desktop app downloads, backup, and syncing would certainly be better, but this is a nice start at least. D-Twist (as we like to call it) is also getting audio playback on the Mac, as well as podcast search and playback, with podcast subscription and syncing coming next (it’s already on Windows). Meanwhile, Windows users will have to wait until the next major version for Android Market. Not to worry, you can do the exact same sort of app browsing at apps.doubletwist.com on any plain old browser. You can even check out the Engadget app right here.

Update: We’re trying to play around a bit with the app, but at the moment the search functionality is broken and most of the QR codes are handing us bad URLs for apps. Hang tight! Every once in a while we see a blip of non-brokenness, but we’re guessing there are some server hiccups at the moment holding us back from Android Market enlightenment.

New doubleTwist for Mac adds built-in Android Market functionality originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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