Posted by Mauricio on Sep 28, 2009 at 7:00 AM | Comments
It seems like everyone wants to throw their hat into the Twitter application ring these days. We’ve seen SocialScope, UberTwitter, TwitterBerry and a few others, and now RIM is rumored to be working on an official BlackBerry client!
According to CrackBerry Kevin, RIM has been working on a Twitter client codenamed Project Banshee.
It’ll be a BIS-B Push based handheld client leveraging RIM’s past app experiences and making use of the new components being developed within MySpace projects. It will feature core BlackBerry application integration, and be tied in to the address book, browser and device setup wizard. You can expect the user interface to be along the same lines as other RIM-built social networking apps and offer a similar experience. As for features, it’ll have everything you’d expect a twitter app these days to have, including trending topics.
With RIM possibly releasing their own BlackBerry Twitter client, this could be a concern for current Twitter app devs that have been working hard to make sure their own apps are the best.
Knowing this, how many of you would switch from your current Twitter app to the official BlackBerry app? Let me know what you think in the comments!
Posted by Mauricio on Sep 25, 2009 at 3:02 PM | Comments
I’ve seen some pretty expensive devices/accessories but none as expensive as this diamond encrusted BlackBerry Curve 8900, worth $240k and made by Alexander Amosu.
Amosu et al apparently spent 350 hours building the custom Curve, and it’s made of solid 18-carat yellow gold and encrusted with 4,459 brilliant cut diamonds (weighing 28.43 carats), according to the company.
Included in the price is device personalization with your name or company logo, as well as 24 hour global concierge service focused on “accessing the inaccessible,” whatever that means.
These diamond encrusted Curve 8900s are part of a limited edition of which only three will be available for purchase, one already sold to a “mysterious client in the Middle East”!
If you could actually afford this, would you buy one? If so you better be quick since there are only two left!
Head on over to CIO.com to check out some more hi-res images.
Posted by Mauricio on Sep 24, 2009 at 4:32 PM | Comments
We’ve seen a press image of a T-Mobile branded BlackBerry Bold 9700 and even some videos (most of them taken down), but we haven’t really seen any AT&T Bold 9700 images.
A friend of mine sent me a link to some images that BBOS forums member bestncheap posted of what appears to be an AT&T Bold 9700. He (and a few others) thinks it is an AT&T Bold 9700, but I wasn’t too sure. Check out my observations below…
Why this might not be an AT&T Bold 9700:
This device does not seem to be physically branded with an AT&T logo
XL is an Indonesian wireless service provider to my knowledge (seen as carrier in photo)
the AT&T background could just be a wallpaper
Why this might be an AT&T Bold 9700:
bestncheap’s “friends” could have received the device before it was branded
the AT&T background
Does any of this matter? Not really. We already know that AT&T (and a few others) will be launching the BlackBerry Bold 9700 before the end of the year so it’s only a matter of time before we see a physically branded AT&T Bold 9700. Until then you can read up on this device by checking out the 9700 Archives.
Posted by Mauricio on Sep 23, 2009 at 5:23 PM | Comments
Andrey over at Inside BlackBerry posted up a great in-depth walkthrough of BlackBerry Desktop Software (BBDS) for Mac. According to the walkthrough, “Desktop Software” is what it will be known as and not “Desktop Manager”.
Here is what Andrey’s walkthrough covers:
The Welcome Sheet
Summary Screen and Device Options
Synchronizing
Updating Device Software
Installing and Removing Applications
Backup and Restore
According to Andrey the release of BBDS for Mac is “just around the corner”.
There are plenty of screenshots for visual aide so head on over to Inside BlackBerry and check out the detailed walkthrough. Don’t forget to sign up at blackberry.com/mac for more info and to be notified about its release, or just keep an eye on BBRocks! since I’ll be posting about it as soon as it’s available .
Posted by Mauricio on Sep 23, 2009 at 9:27 AM | Comments
Yesterday BlackBerry data services were down/lagging (again) across North America and it looks like BlackBerry users in Europe will soon be able to share in the fun! (No, it’s not actually fun.)
The following notice was sent to Dataoutages News by a UK carrier:
“There is a planned outage within the European BlackBerry network scheduled for the 26th September within the time window of 0200 and 0600 BST. RIM expect the duration of the outage to be no more than 2 hours.
This outage will result in the loss of BlackBerry data services, and end users may be unable to send and receive BlackBerry messages
If you have any queries relating to this fault, please contact the BlackBerry support team by replying to this email or calling on the usual telephone number, quoting Case Reference 5424003.”
The outage in North America lasted longer than two hours so consider yourselves lucky if it’s “no more than 2 hours”.
If you’re a European BlackBerry user and experience an outage on September 26th feel free to leave your carrier and general location information in the comments.
Posted by Mauricio on Sep 23, 2009 at 12:49 AM | Comments
I’m being told that the Facebook and IM clients for BlackBerry have been updated to support OS 5.0!
The IM clients were updated to version 2.5.27 from 2.1.48 and the Facebook app was updated to version 1.6.0.22 from 1.6.0.21. Up till now none of these apps were working with OS 5.0. I checked to see if these updates were available to everyone and so far it looks like only the IM client update is. The Facebook update seems to only be available to those running OS 5.0 on their BlackBerry.
All these apps are available for download at mobile.blackberry.com, or if you’d prefer more direct links you can get the Facebook app at blackberry.com/facebook or click here for the IM clients from your BlackBerry Browser.
Let me know in the comments if you can update your Facebook or IM clients and whether you notice any changes besides OS 5.0 compatibility (features, bug fixes, etc). If you’d like to try OS 5.0 check the BlackBerry OS page to see if it’s available for your device.
Posted by Mauricio on Sep 22, 2009 at 2:42 PM | Comments
According to some chatter on Twitter and Data Outage News, BlackBerry Internet Service appears to be either down or experiencing some serious lag time with delivering emails.
This happened almost two weeks ago with the same deal, except at that time we had a notice detailing info about the outage and that technicians were working on the issue. Today (so far) there is no notice.
You can easily find out whether or not this outage is affecting you by checking if you are receiving your emails or by trying to send one from your BlackBerry.
According to Audit and some of their comments this outage appears to be affecting T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon so far. I’m in Central New Jersey and I can confirm that my emails are coming in groups (instead of one-at-a-time) and I’m on T-Mobile.
Is this outage affecting you? Let me know what your carrier is and your general location in the comments!
Posted by Mauricio on Sep 21, 2009 at 7:00 AM | Comments
@Salomondrin is adding more fuel to the rumor fire by “confirming” some release info mentioned last week about the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and the Storm 2, along with bringing the Magnum back from the dead which is now known as the Dakota.
Storm 2: Mid October, but don’t be fooled, Verizon won’t be the first one releasing this berry, Vodafone will. Although Verizon is working really hard in order to get almost the same release as Vodafone my guess would be a week apart from each other, and then Canada will see the release soon after Verizon, if not at the same time.
Bold 2: Since RIM decided to push the Storm 2 first, they want to give the second generation Storm a little air in order for it to sell as much as possible. This leads the Bold 2 – 9700 to release Mid November to almost the first days of December. Although, lucky people from the UK, here is some good news for you: T-Mobile UK is planning on releasing on October too.
Dakota (formerly known as the Magnum) info:
Name: Dakota
Size: Bold size
full QWERTY keyboard
GSM 3G speeds
Has a trackpad <— yes, you read correctly
Has a touchscreen (this is where the angels start singing)
Its development is AHEAD of the Blackberry Essex. Yep, we are going to see this bad boy really soon.
Posted by Mauricio on Sep 17, 2009 at 5:12 PM | Comments
We’ve seen videos, pictures and even leaked press information about the BlackBerry Bold 9700 (aka Onyx), but up till now a specific release date was not available.
BGR has gotten a tip from one of their ninjas that T-Mobile will be releasing the Bold 9700 on November 11th, this being only a tentative launch date that could change. If it does change, hope for an earlier than later release.
Besides for T-Mobile, AT&T will possibly launch the Bold 9700 around the same time, with Rogers (also possibly) launching it before them some time in mid to late October.
Late October and early November is better than “before the end of the year” or even early 2010 right? Let’s hope these tentative dates don’t get pushed back…
Posted by Mauricio on Sep 17, 2009 at 12:04 PM | Comments
Just when you thought the Twitter universe couldn’t get anymore creative JAJAH@Call pops up.
JAJAH@Call basically allows you to make free two-minute phone calls to any Twitter user who is also signed up for the service.
JAJAH gives short messages a voice. With the new JAJAH application, Twitter users can make free phone calls on their favorite microblogging service. Now in Beta, JAJAH@Call allows you to make a free two minute call (the verbal equivalent of a tweet) to other JAJAH@Call users. It’s free, it’s easy and works no matter how you use Twitter, whether it’s on your cellphone, via Seesmic, TweetDeck, or any other way.
The Beta is available to selected users. To check if you’re one of them, log in to your account. Under “My Services” in “My Account” page you will see “Twitter Calls.” If this doesn’t appear, and you would like an invitation, send an email to twitter@jajah.com
Seems like an interesting idea, but I’m wondering how many people will actually use this service? Consider that it might use your minutes unless it’s one number you can add to something like T-Mobile’s myFaves.
The advantage of being a BlackBerry user versus having to use the web would be that you can make these calls anywhere through apps like SocialScope, ÜberTwitter and TwiXtreme.
Would you use this service?
Visit the JAJAH@Call page for more info or check out the press release after the jump.
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