BlackberryOs
Latest
BlackBerry OS 4.5 on the way for Verizon's 8830
With the 9630 hopefully right around the corner, the BlackBerry 8830 should be gearing up to take its final curtain call -- but Verizon's not done supporting it just yet. Thankfully, we've been assured the device will be graced with an official upgrade to 4.5, up from the build of 4.2 that it's rocking right now. For what it's worth, Sprint has already released a 4.5 upgrade for its version of the 8830, so this should come as no big surprise -- they're just keeping up with the Joneses, as it were. Too bad they couldn't do it a little faster, though, eh?
Refurbished BlackBerry Bold free-on-contract at AT&T (today, anyway)
Not digging that $299.99 on contract pricing for RIM's BlackBerry Bold? If you're kosher with placing previously loved gadgets in your presence, you can score one today for the low, low price of absolutely free. Apparently the deal is only valid on AT&T's website and only for today, so you might want to pull the trigger now and think about it later.[Via Boy Genius Report]
SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry exits beta, iPhone version submitted to App Store
Get ready, BlackBerry users, because your days are officially about to become less productive (or, at the very least, your mass transit commutes). You too, iPhone types -- not to say you didn't already have enough time-wasting apps cluttering that 8 to 16GB wasteland you call "storage" in your pocket -- because SlingPlayer Mobile is destined for both of these platforms. BlackBerry's already had it since December in beta form, but they're now at a stable 1.0 release; and speaking of 1.0 releases, that iPhone version Sling's been talking up for a while now has now been submitted to Apple's App Store for approval, so we hope we'll be seeing that on the open market shortly. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have some Dora to watch on the Bold.[Via TUAW, thanks Digitac]Read - BlackBerryRead - iPhone
BlackBerry App World to launch April 1, says BusinessWeek
Mark your calendars, BlackBerry fans: BusinessWeek says RIM's going to launch the BlackBerry App World April 1 at CTIA. What's more, the company is apparently planning on going after Apple by courting developers with higher profit margins and the relative sophistication of the average corporate BlackBerry user, which explains that minimum $2.99 paid app price we saw a few weeks ago. An interesting move to position the new service, but we'll see if it takes hold with users -- anyone ready to blow their budget on 'berry software?[Via Boy Genius Report]
Major smartphone platforms emerge unscathed from Pwn2Own
Sure seems like your handheld is a lot more secure than your computer, at least in some sense -- although the desktop versions of IE 8, Safari, and Firefox were each almost instantly cracked on the first day of the Pwn2Own contest, no one claimed the $10,000 bounty placed on each of the major smartphone platforms. That's certainly reassuring, but it may not ultimately mean much: according to contest organizers Tipping Point, the bugs in Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile, and the iPhone and BlackBerry OSes are still there, but they're harder to exploit because of device, OS, and carrier variations. That makes any vulnerabilities even more valuable -- one of the contestants apparently had an iPhone exploit ready to go, but wasn't willing to part with it since he wanted more than $10K for it. Tipping Point says it'll try and nail down specs of each platform earlier next year to make it easier on hackers, but let's hope the results are similar.[Via Slashdot]
SocialScope for BlackBerry impressions (and invites!)
Twitter clients for the iPhone are pretty much a dime a dozen, but unfortunately, the same can't be said for the BlackBerry platform. Things are looking up for the Waterloo faithful, though, with a number of clients on the horizon -- and one of the best we've seen thus far is SocialScope from the guys at Ubiquitous Systems. The app has been around in the form of an invite-only alpha for a few months now, and with more recent releases the guns are coming out and it's really starting to develop into a fairly advanced app. Read on for more impressions and an exclusive hands-on with the latest build -- and oh, yeah, we've got loads of invites for you certifiable addicts as well!
Mobile OS shootout: iPhone OS 3.0 enters the fray
Now that we know what iPhone OS 3.0 holds, we wanted to circle back and take stock of all of the major mobile platforms. Who wins? Who loses? Who's in the penalty box? Head on over to Engadget for the in-depth look.
BlackBerry Gemini 8325 in the wild
Something tells us this isn't the most anticipated yet-to-be-announced BlackBerry at the moment, but RIM's all about choice -- and, yeah, it remains to be seen who's going to choose the Gemini 8325 when it ends up shipping. The supposed Curve 8300 successor (we thought that was the 8900, silly us) will mope along with the same EDGE data that powers the old model, suggesting that it'll hang out on the low end of the BlackBerry stable -- especially by the time it's actually released, whenever that happens to be. It's rumored to run BlackBerry OS 5.0 and feature a QVGA display, 802.11b / g / n (yes, n), and a meager 2 megapixel camera, so needless to say, the Bolds of the world can rest easy for a while longer that their dominance in the QWERTY GSM BlackBerry game isn't in question just yet.
Sprint's 2009 roadmap comes to light, packed with goodies
There aren't terribly many surprises in the latest roadmap docs leaked out of Sprint, but there are a couple -- and we finally have some target launch windows around a few of the more anticipates devices we've been expecting this year. Perhaps least surprisingly, the Palm P100 -- that's the Pre for you lay folk -- is still on track for the second quarter of the year, which could mean anything between April and June. Staying in the landscape QWERTY smartphone realm, we'll see the HTC Cedar (or Willow, depending on which slide you're looking at) and a new Samsung Ace -- creatively named the Ace II -- in the second and third quarters, respectively. The landscape HTC Rhodium will likely replace the Touch Pro in the third quarter, and the hotly (and we do mean hotly) anticipated BlackBerry Niagara will be hitting in the same three-month period.Things are getting interesting down in the dumbphone realm, too, with both the Instinct Mini and a true Instinct successor -- the Dash with an HVGA display -- in the pipe. The Sanyo 2700, dual-slide Samsung Cello, and the Samsung Chianti (which looks suspiciously like a Propel) will all follow the Rumor 2 down the text-centric path, and a handful of new ultra-basic devices will fill in the bottom of the range. For data, Sprint will be launching Novatel's totally awesome MiFi portable hotspot, which warms our hearts. What doesn't warm our hearts is the utter void of Android devices here -- but we can hold out hope, and as always, all of this is subject to change. Stay tuned![Via Boy Genius Report]
BlackBerry 9900 "Pluto" spotted in leaked Rogers documents?
What's this little gem? According to a confidential / potentially dubious Rogers document landed by CrackBerry, it might be the BlackBerry 9900 -- or Pluto for you codename-loving types. Interestingly enough, this devices happens to look just like a Storm / Bold / 8900 Franken-Berry that we first caught wind of in October, packing a full QWERTY and a SurePress touchscreen like the one found in the Storm. We can't say for sure this is anything more than a clever Photoshop -- and that little "see page 99" bit on the bottom seems a bit too convenient of a number for our tastes. The trackball's noticeably absent from the four main navigation buttons, so we're already getting a little afraid of having to retain our BrickBreaker skills, but if any of you RIM insiders want to send over photos, video, or even the device itself before the "Late Q3 2009" presumed release timeframe, we'd be mighty glad to be proven wrong.Update: Like they say, when it rains, it pours. CrackBerry just posted another purported shot, but the possibility of this being real is highly unlikely. Apparently, the mic hole in the original pic is a clear sign that this is just a 'shopped 8800 -- and now in this latest "leaked shot," it's gone. So, chalk another one up for those crazy jokesters that have a little too much time on their hands, because it looks like this one was a bit too good to be true. [Thanks, Boy Genius]
NHL-themed BlackBerry Storms should fix all the bugs
What's the only thing better than a carrier-endorsed firmware that fixes a plethora of the Storm's reported issues? An NHL-themed decal, of course! It looks like Bell is prepping to launch the 9530 in a special NHL package that'll include a skin for the hockey team of your choice (admittedly, we're kinda digging the striped front) and a storage card preloaded with NHL content and goodies. Altogether, you'll be paying $249.95 CAD on a three-year contract for the package, which represents a $50 premium over the plain-vanilla Storm; hopefully there's a mail-in rebate involved there somewhere, eh?
Gartner posts worldwide mobile OS numbers for 2008
This table pretty much speaks for itself as a snapshot of the year in smartphones that was 2008 (according to Gartner) -- a breakout year for the category particularly in the US. As you'd expect from the smartphone device tallies we saw yesterday, RIM and Apple have the momentum largely at the expense of Symbian's declining market share and the stagnation of Windows Mobile in an otherwise growing market segment. Palm's also a bit of a surprise showing 42.2% growth for the year. With any luck, Palm could turn this table upside down in 2009 with a successful global launch of WebOS. Regardless, you can bet that developers are paying particularly close attention to these numbers as they decide where to best align their resources for maximum financial gain.
BlackBerry Pearl 8230 comes to Telus
Alright, Telus, you can dial down the that envy-induced shade of green you've developed while pining for Bell's BlackBerry 8230. Actually, you can't -- green is a part of your color scheme -- so allows us to rephrase: the Pearl Flip is now available on both CDMA nationals in Canada. It'll run you $49.99 CAD on a three-year deal, which delivers the promise of the $50 KickStart we'd hoped for before the GSM version was originally announced; it's just a damn shame it's going to take a three-year contract to get down to that level (of course, the $449.99 contract-free option is always available, too). Grab it now in your choice of black or pink. [Via Howard Chui]
BlackBerry OS 4.7.0.114 breaks cover for Storm 9530
It's that magical time again -- that time where we get out our Storms, cross our fingers, and take that leap of faith hoping that RIM knows better than our carriers do (and let's be honest, that's not a terribly big leap of faith). Yet another firmware for the 9530 has leaked out of Waterloo without any endorsement -- thus far, anyway -- by any carriers offering the device, but this one's a little special in that it apparently implements that new copy / paste method we'd been hearing about. As always, upgraders are advised to use caution, but seriously, how many firmware builds can we go through before Verizon goes ahead and certifies one for the masses?
MetroPCS gets with the BlackBerry program, rolls out Curve 8330
Remember how MetroPCS' COO was spouting off about a BlackBerry in the product pipeline just last week? Well, turns out it's coming out the other end of that pipeline sooner than we thought. The regional carrier's own version of the BlackBerry 8330 will be hitting Best Buy this week and MetroPCS locations by the end of the month, but there's a catch -- AWS isn't supported, so if you're in an AWS-powered MetroPCS market, you're outta luck. That's a shame considering the steal of a plan: $50 buys you unlimited everything (add another $10 for BES), though you'll need to shell out $450 upfront for the privilege.[Via Phone Scoop]
Telus' BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 appears on site, launch imminent
So with Bell's 8230 launch out of the way, Telus has now stepped up and dropped this set on the web. While it's not talking specifics just yet, seeing the flippy thing heralded as "coming soon" should at least whet a few fan's appetites. We had heard the set's price was originally set at $99 on a three year, but Telus may have spiked that in favor of a more reasonable $50 or $449 off-contract price. While we wait for the official news out of Telus, feel free to peruse the tiny gallery we've cobbled together or hit the read link to learn a little bit more.[Thanks, RileyFreeman]%Gallery-46911%
RIM's BlackBerry 9630 World Edition finally strikes a pose
Finally, an honest to goodness picture of what may well be the sweetest BlackBerry RIM has pushed out to date. Featuring keyboard styling taken from its chubbier friend, the BlackBerry Bold, and the sleeker lines of the Curve 8900, this certainly looks like a recipe for success. If you're a BlackBerry user on Verizon, we'd say major celebration is in order if this wanders your way in the near future. We still only have the info we posted last week about it, but as the hype spins up, we expect the leaks will, too.
BlackBerry App World minimum paid price: $2.99
RIM's newly-named BlackBerry App World might be all set to compete with the other mobile app stores on the scene, but it's not going head-to-head on price: according to the developer docs, the first price tier above free is $2.99. That doesn't seem like much, but it's a little puzzling in light of how successful various less-expensive iPhone apps have been. Of course, RIM might just want its apps to seem more valuable to customers -- and maybe keep fart apps far from its business-oriented platform -- but we'll see how developers react when things go live. [Via CrackBerry]
RIM names its app store 'BlackBerry App World'
What's bigger than a store, a market, or a catalog? A whole frigging world, that's what. A sign-up page to be notified when the BlackBerry App World is available -- which we've linked -- will go live at 10PM tonight.
RIM canning BlackBerry Unite! and BPS?
If we have any readers you use BlackBerry Unite! or BlackBerry Professional Software, we'll feel like we've won the lottery -- but yeah, to the two of you: get ready to make other arrangements. Word on the street is that RIM is getting ready to deep-six two of its light-use management packages in the next few months, likely a result of a killer combination of poor planning, poor execution, and poor uptake. Unite! is geared strictly toward families looking to exchange photos and calendars with one another (you know, the kinds of families where 9-year-old Julie has the Bold and daddy has the hand-me-down 8800) -- a good idea in theory, but few carriers have elected to roll it out. BPS, meanwhile, is designed for small offices where full-fledged BES might be overkill, but RIM's tendency to let the package stagnate after a BES release probably sealed its fate. BerryReview claims that Unite! will reach end-of-life status in July, while BPS will get cut out of the picture just as soon as BES 5.0 hits the streets. So long, guys; we hardly knew ye.[Via BlackBerryNews]
