I love accessories. Period! It doesn’t really matter if we’re talking shoes, watches, curtains, throw pillows, or garden gnomes, I love them all and my technology is no exception. I’ve recently started using a BlackBerry Q10 and I have really enjoyed choosing my accessories. I get the feeling everyone else does too. The accessory booth is hopping here at BlackBerry Live with people itching to get their hands on this incredible line up of accessories that have been designed specifically for the BlackBerry Q10 smartphone.

Don’t worry if you weren’t able to join us this year. Head over to www.BlackBerry.com/Q10accessories or your local retailer to pick up these awesome accessories.

What’s the first accessory you’d buy for your BlackBerry Q10?

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

Head over to ShopBlackBerry.com or hit your local retailer to get a hold of these awesome accessories, and share your favorite in the comments below!

For our BlackBerry® business customers in the U.S. and Canada (excluding Quebec): From now until December 31st 2011, you have the opportunity to receive one BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet free whenyou purchase two BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablets from an authorized Value Added Reseller. Additionally, you’ll have the choice of three qualifying accessories to go with each BlackBerry PlayBook tablet (you must choose the same accessory for all three tablets) as a bonus. To take advantage of this offer, head over to an authorized Value Added Reseller and read on for more details. (Terms and conditions apply.)

The Accessories

No BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is complete without its friends – and by friends, I mean a black leather sleeve, charging pod, and a 6 foot high-speed HDMI cable. As mentioned above, when you take advantage of this offer, you’ll have the choice of a single accessory to accompany all three of your new BlackBerry PlayBook tablets, free of charge.

Next Steps

Head over to the appropriate regional site to check out all of the details, to read the terms and conditions, and to see a list of vendors that you can order from. You can also use the VAR locator tool to find a BlackBerry reseller near you (view the North American VAR Locator).

• See the details: United States
• See the details: Canada (excluding Quebec)

Once you’ve got them…

Download some apps! And of course, don’t forget enterprise web apps that can be accessed through the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet browser.

If you’ve read the previous post – and if you follow me on Twitter® (@LivingLifeBB) – you know that I travel with just a BlackBerry® smartphone and a BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet. That’s right, no laptop!

When it comes to presenting on the road, for the longest time I used the BlackBerry® Presenter and it worked great. Now with my BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, I can do my normal Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentations and much more. This post will cover all of the hardware and software that you will need to be successful in presenting from the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

Hardware

The best presenters can narrow their success down to one key word: “preparation.” You have to be ready for any scenario that you may be dropped into. At an absolute minimum you will need an HDMI cable, and if you are lucky enough to always get an HDMI-enabled projector or monitor, that’s all you will need. But in an effort to be prepared, I suggest two other items: an HDMI to VGA connector, and an HDMI coupler so you can present to conventional and popular VGA ports. Optionally you can include a DVI to HDMI converter in your kit, but I’ve never run across a projector that didn’t have both VGA and DVI inputs. Lastly, I always bring my portable stand to keep the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet upright so that it is easy to change slides.

Software

You now have the hardware you need for just about any projector or monitor scenario. However, we want to stay away from just doing a simple PowerPoint presentation. I have a few apps that I would recommend you use to add a little more to a presentation. Besides Slideshow To Go®, SketchBook is a heavily used app in presentations, with my primary use for it being white-boarding. What makes this great for presentations is the ability to place a picture in the background and write overtop. This has been particularly helpful in architecture discussions.

I also use the Video application in my presentation as a way to show recorded demos and product videos. It has come in handy on several occasions when people want to see a more detailed perspective.

Extras

The point of this blog post series (and past series) is “no laptops allowed,” and I sure don’t want you to replace a laptop with five pounds of accessories. Besides the three items for presenting, I always carry around the following items: BlackBerry PlayBook tablet charger (doubles as a rapid charger for your BlackBerry smartphone), small USB charger, USB cable, headphones, tablet pen, portable stand, and the BlackBerry Presenter. I know that some of you will ask, “Why would you carry the BlackBerry Presenter when you can present from the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet?” As I said, it’s all about preparation, and you just never know. This is a lot of small loose items to be carrying around, but all of this fits in an easy to carry “Gear Pouch”.

Would you find presenting from the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet more useful than using your laptop? Share your thoughts on ‘mobile presenting’ in the comments below!

For the last several months during my first “challenge”, I talked about traveling with just a BlackBerry® smartphone and a BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet. But what about extending this concept to the home office? Over the next few months, that is exactly what I’ll be discussing, starting with setting up your work space at home. (Oh, and before you ask, writing this entire post plus the images were all done on my BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and/or BlackBerry® Torch™ 9800 smartphone!)

Let’s approach this post as a suggestion on what you can use to have a proper, modern home office setup. I’m a big fan of the onscreen keyboard on both the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and my BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphone, but when I’m in my home office I need a physical keyboard. You can pair up a native Bluetooth® keyboard (this doesn’t require a USB dongle) and mouse for full control of your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Next, I found a great portable stand, which keeps the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet upright so I’m able to use the screen when necessary. It also keeps it at the perfect angle to do video chats (we will discuss video chat in a later post).

I wouldn’t categorize a monitor as a “necessity” but it is nice to have, and with the HDMI port from my BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, I’m able to plug directly in to the monitor and get a very nice look and feel. That HDMI cable is going to be your go-to companion in your home office and on the road.

A few other items that round out the mobile office setup would be these nice foldable BlackBerry stands, a USB splitter to charge both my device, and a headset.

Do you have a similar setup? Share your personal favorite home office equipment in the comments!

I’m back with part two of my no-laptop challenge (have a look at the No Laptops Allowed Challenge Part 1, in which I introduce my personal challenge to work solely from my BlackBerry® Torch™ 9800 smartphone), and this time, it’s all about the hardware I’d recommend you have on hand to most easily succeed with just your BlackBerry® smartphone for your day-to-day tasks.

First, let me thank everyone who responded to the first post! Not only was it motivating to hear about your experiences, but it was also nice to see some additional challenges thrown my way. In part three, I’ll cover application essentials; but here in part two, we’re going to talk about the hardware that is essential to this challenge. You’ll be able to find all these items at the Official RIM BlackBerry Accessories Store, so be sure to stop by and order a few of these handy items for yourself!

BlackBerry USB Charger x 2: One charger should be dedicated to the BlackBerry® Presenter (as it doesn’t run on a battery), and the other can be used for various charging purposes. I would also highly recommend the smaller plug for size consideration when it comes to packing your bags.
BlackBerry Presenter: You can read the blog post about BlackBerry Presenter to find out more details of this product, but I’ve been finding this piece really helpful while travelling. I’m always presenting different material, from Microsoft® PowerPoint® to sections of PDF files, and this is a must-have in my bag.
Bluetooth® Headset: Another must have for two key reasons: 1. In some states and several provinces in Canada, it is against the law to drive and talk on your phone (unless it is hands-free). 2. Hands-free is great because it enables you to talk while taking notes or listen while watching a Cisco WebEx®. Also, for more Bluetooth tips, check out this recent post from the Inside BlackBerry Help Blog about how to pair your Bluetooth-enabled headset with a BlackBerry smartphone. Note: If you prefer, a wired headset is fine. You could also choose high performance ear buds and save a little room in your bag.
Extra Battery: Having an extra battery for those extra-long days is handy. This came in handy last week at Lotusphere when my day started at 6 AM and ended around midnight with no time to charge. (Again, the Inside BlackBerry Help Blog has got a great post about battery-saving tips)
BlackBerry® Leather Swivel Holster or BlackBerry® Leather Pocket: The magnet in the case does wonders for overall battery life.
USB Splitter Cable: I would list this as an optional item, but I did find it useful when charging my BlackBerry smartphone and Bluetooth headset at the same time.
microSD Card: I would recommend getting the largest one possible to carry your files, music and movies. I have at least 10GB of space dedicated to corporate files.
Performance Ear Buds: For music, video and even podcast a good pair of in ear buds are great, especially for those noisy flights!
BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet (coming soon): There were several comments on the first post regarding the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and how it would fall into my challenge. I’ve started to travel with one now, so look for a future post on how it was used.

That wraps up what I use from a hardware perspective. Did I miss anything you use for essential hardware? Post a comment and let me know!