So you’ve decided you want a new BlackBerry Smartphone? Let our buyers guide point you in the right direction!
The latest BlackBerry 7 line of smartphones from Research In Motion brings some great new devices to the market, but choosing one that is right for you can be a challenge. Each device caters to a particular set of users, but we’ll help shed some light on things so you can better decide which device is for you. The first thing is always checking with your carrier to see what devices are available to you. You’ll also need to know if you’re on a GSM carrier (AT&T, T-Mobile, Rogers and other global carriers) or a CDMA carrier (Verizon, Sprint and other North American carriers) before your new device as your next step as a BlackBerry user.
Today UberSocial has announced a rather huge BlackBerry update in which they added direct support for BlackBerry 7 and much more. UberSocial has always been a rather popular client on the BlackBerry platform, and they have continued to support and update the application while bringing as many new features as possible, and this time they come back with another huge update. Check out some of the changes:
Direct support for the latest OS 7 BlackBerry devices
For BlackBerry OS 6.0 and 7.0 devices we now support the home screen message notification bar so DMs, @replies/mentions and inner circle tweets will show up there for quick access from the device home screen. When you see the mini UberSocial icon, click the bar and the tweets/DMs that caused the notification will be displayed along with a snippet of the tweet. Clicking the tweet snippet will take you directly to it.
Fixed bug where mini-icon would sometimes have a zero next to it
Improved load times for the inner circle timeline
Added a ‘Theme’ menu itme so you can easily change themes from the home timeline without going into options
Changed the menu text of ‘My Timeline’ to ‘My Tweets’ to more accurately reflect the functionality
Support for new device screen sizes for installable themes
While you may think that is a lot, that isn’t all the changes, a full list of changes can be found on their site, along with download links.
Before BlackBerry OS 7, advanced Gmail features were only available in individual messages inboxes (not the combined Messages inbox) using the Enhanced Gmail plugin. The plugin added features such as Report Spam, Add Star, Apply Label and Archive. With BlackBerry 7 these features are brought to the combined messages inbox as well. This is a welcome addition to many BlackBerry users (myself included) that stick to using the combined messages inbox. Keep reading for a quick breakdown of all the advanced Gmail features available for messages.
Like most times when new devices arrive, there is typically a little bit of lag from when the devices release and apps get updated. Such is the case for Dropbox for BlackBerry. When the Bold 9900 and 9930 arrived on the scene Dropbox would load up but only to a blank screen. Now, a new forums build is available for BlackBerry 7 users and indeed does give you a working Dropbox for BlackBerry, plus adds some new features:
New features:
Security passcode
Save email attachments to Dropbox
This build resolves:
Issues on 9900 & 9930 devices (BB OS 7 support for other devices should be working fine)
Bug on thumbnails screen where only a few thumbnails were loaded
Performance issues (more work to be done here)
Various design tweaks
Known issues we’re working to resolve:
Passcode is not engaged when you hit the button to turn off the screen (only when you leave the app)
Cached files are re-downloaded unnecessarily
If you’ve been waiting for it, hit the link below to get a BlackBerry 7 compatible build of Dropbox for BlackBerry.
It’s been something of a long time coming, this emboldened Bold. We got our first glimpse of the thing in February, spent some quality time with it back in June, and since then have sat around eagerly awaiting its release. Now, here it is. From a distance, or at a quick glance, it looks little changed from 2008’s Bold 9000. But get closer, pick it up, and the difference is astonishing.
We knew this day was coming, so there are no surprises here. BlackBerry’s latest addition to its portrait QWERTY family, the Bold 9900, is on sale now at T-Mobile stores. The chrome trimmed, 14.4Mbps HSDPA capable handset’ll run you $350 (before a $50 mail-in rebate) with a two-year commitment, or you can always fork over the full $600 if you’d rather steer clear of the carrier’s contract chains. In case you were in need of a refresher, the phone packs a zippy 1.2GHz processor, 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen and runs BlackBerry 7 OS. Feeling like it’s time to update your crackberry habit? Then head to the source below to get your order on.
A friend of mine pointed out something interesting about the slide deck RIM put up during their BlackBerry 7 device launch in the UK and Canada. RIM kindly posted the slide deck on SlideShare and it really boils down RIM’s smartphone core values, strategy, and even ethos into two slides. The first highlights how “BlackBerry Just Works” and I think if you take those 5 examples RIM puts out of how it “Just Works” you clearly see how the BlackBerry 7 portfolio improves on it.
While RIM offers developers access to BlackBerry smartphone simulators, for some developers out there testing their apps on real devices offers a much better analysis. For this, Perfecto Mobile has launched MobileCloud for BlackBerry. A service that offers developers remote access to any number of BlackBerry 7 devices on different carriers for which they can test out BlackBerry 7 applications on.
“Real world testing can make all the difference for application developers. MobileCloud for BlackBerry will enable our application development community to quickly and easily test their apps on live BlackBerry 7 smartphones on different networks around the world from the convenience of their web browser,” said Tyler Lessard, Vice President of Global Alliances & Developer Relations, Research In Motion.
The service offers you a free 2 hour testing trial period, after that — it will cost $4 USD plus tax per hour. However, having your app work as expected when finally released is priceless compared the amount of time you’d spend on support emails and other issues that arise with having not test an app fully. If you’re interested in learning more, you’ll find the full press release past the break.
Mblware let us know that they have released an updated version of JeeoSuite for BlackBerry. The new app adds some nice new features but the headline update is the addition of JeeoPlayer which is a PlayBook app. The app lets you stream music off your smartphone and play it on your PlayBook. Here are the features of the free JeeoPlayer companion app which requires JeeoSuite on your Phone:
Stream media from your phone, to your PlayBook™
Tap and Hold files to create a running playlist
Twitter Integration
Currently supported MP3 / M4A
Video ( COMING SOON! )
JeeoSuite also had some additions with this new version including:
Stream media from JeeoSuite to your BlackBerry® PlayBook™ via JeeoPlayer
COLUMBIA, MD – August 29, 2011 – BoxTone, the leader in Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), today announced support for the BlackBerry® 7 operating system (OS), now running on new mobile devices including the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 and 9930 with touch display and keyboard, BlackBerry® Torch™ 9810 with touch display and slide-out keyboard, and the all-touch BlackBerry® Torch™ 9850 and 9860.
Night Hawk Computers Blackberry Alliance 