Daniel Garcia is a web developer/software architect by day, rebellious tech-punk twenty-something by night. He is a contributing writer to BlackBerry Rocks! who reviews applications for BlackBerry devices, as well as shares the occasional tip for fellow Rockers. He has a BlackBerry Storm 9530, soon to be 9550. If you would like to know more about him, you can follow his Twitter account: @buzzedword.

Earlier this month, Verizon pushed out Bing for Mobile to all Storm handsets, as well as preloaded the software onto all new Storm 2 units. If you haven’t already heard, Bing is the new kid on the block to the search market, going toe to toe with the big dog: Google. Why should you be using Bing, instead of Google? Can’t say. I’m here to rock the BlackBerry, not worry about petty search wars.

Read the full review after the break.

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Blackboard is something I use on a day-to-day basis as a university student so I was excited to find out that they are rolling out support for BlackBerry devices with Blackboard Mobile.

The online Blackboard Academic Suite allows university faculty and students to connect and share course schedules, assignments, links, videos, contact information, grades, rosters, university updates and more. According to Blackboard’s press release, the BlackBerry client will offer similar functions:

The BlackBerry smartphone application enables many more users to enjoy an enhanced experience while navigating course catalogs and campus maps, e-mailing professors and classmates and receiving real time updates on course schedules, campus events, news and sports with Mobile Central (formerly MobilEdu((TM))), Blackboard Mobile’s flagship suite of applications.

…

With Mobile Central, users have access to course catalogs, directories and maps, they can identify exact campus locations with GPS and they can check campus news, schedules, and real-time scores for athletic teams. In addition, open APIs for Blackboard Mobile enable institutions to extend the platform’s offerings to fully customize and personalize the school’s iPhone, BlackBerry and mobile Web interfaces.

There is no public download and according to a rep I spoke with the Blackboard Mobile client will be made available through individual service providers. I checked the T-Mobile mobile website for the client and could not find it there (or anywhere) so if anyone happens to find it please let me know in the comments. Chances are the client will be made available through individual Blackboard sites if there is no public download.

For more info about Blackboard Mobile visit blackboard.com/mobile or check out the press release after the jump.

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WorldMate Inc. today announced the release of WorldMate Live v3.0 for BlackBerry.

WorldMate is known as an industry leader in mobile travel services with over 3 million active customers worldwide. With a reputation like that, this app has to rock! Here are the updates/changes in version 3.0:

• Yelp Local Search Services
  Find restaurants, shopping, night-clubs and other businesses wherever you go. Make the most of your time while traveling. Use Yelp to provide you information and reviews for hundreds of thousands of businesses in North America and the UK. Click-thru to reserve a restaurant table, get a map to the shopping mall or compare reviews for night-clubs.
• Calendar Sync Changes
  WorldMate synchronizes your travel itinerary with your calendar. Get your flights in Outlook / Notes. Get your meetings in the itinerary at the correct time-zone – automatically!
• Hotel Booking Improvements (Smart Hotel Search)
  WorldMate’s Hotel booking service was already available for both free and Gold users. In the improved version, hotels now appear in a list layout with thumbnail images and include special offer notifications. The hotel list is arranged according to the WorldMate optimization engine, which takes into consideration all of the user’s preferences, as well as the distance from the selected landmarks. The user can also sort hotels by specific criteria: Price, distance, star rating.
• Rail Support in Automatic Itinerary Generation
  WorldMate’s parsing system now supports rail booking confirmations. Users can forward confirmation emails from Amtrak, Eurostar, TheTrainLine and others and have these bookings automatically integrated in their itineraries – just like flight, hotels and car rentals.
• Map & Directions
  The “Map & Directions” feature opens the BB map service instead of a static map.

WorldMate Live is available for free at m.worldmate.com or as a premium Gold version available in the store for a yearly subscription of $99.95 with a free trial available.

The Gold version includes everything the free version has plus customized flight-update alerts, flight status, flight schedules, a travel directory and eligibility for customer support.

Today is day 5 of BlackBerry Tour week and it’s Friday, which means a special Deal-of-the-Day for everyone!

Today’s Deal-of-the-Day is for the SmrtGuard (Yearly Service) application for BlackBerry, an app that allows you to protect your data by remotely backing up, restoring, wiping and more!

Here’s a full feature list:

• Remote OTA Backup (manual or scheduled) PIMs, Call logs, Emails
• Remote OTA Restore PIMs, Call logs, Emails
• Remote Data Wipe (including microSD)
• Remote Tracking (lowjack) and Locating – see it on our companion website that comes with the account
• Remote Listen – Listen to your thief or be a spy
• Remote Lock
• Remote Audio Ping (to help you find the device)
• Personal Guardian (send out distress call with push of a button)
• SIMCard Guardian – alert send out when unauthorized SIM is used (GSM based phone only)
• Loved-one Tracking – Great for couples and families with smartphones to track each other

If you’re looking for security for yourself or for your family, this is a great application to have. Cell phones get stolen every day, especially smartphones because of their known value. An app like this would give you options if your BlackBerry was stolen rather than just sitting around worrying about your private data being accessed by a stranger.

SmrtGuard is normally priced at $44.99 per year, but for today only you can get it at 50% off for $22.49 a year. This app will work on any BlackBerry running OS 4.2 and higher.

Don’t forget to download the on-device Mobile App Store to get these great deals right on your BlackBerry!

OpenTable has just released a free BlackBerry application available only through the BlackBerry App World.

With OpenTable for BlackBerry you can make free, instantly confirmed restaurant reservations at over 10,000 restaurants. Plus, OpenTable members earn valuable Dining Rewards Points redeemable for Dining Cheques good at any OpenTable restaurant.

Features:

• Search by address or use your GPS to find restaurants closest to your current location (GPS depends on carrier and device capability)
• Refine restaurant list by cuisine, price or availability
• Invite fellow diners via email
• Manage upcoming reservations

OpenTable is available for all BlackBerry devices running OS 4.5 and higher. You can find this application in the BlackBerry App World by searching for “OpenTable.”

By the way, if you’re ever in NYC I highly recommend checking out Rosa Mexicano if you like Mexican food, or if you want to try it for the first time. A little on the pricey side but well worth it.

Morrison Stepp Jr (aka @Moestepp) put together a great overview video of OS 5.0.0.130 running on a BlackBerry Curve 8900.

What’s covered in this video:

• boot-up screen (1 min 45 sec in this video)
• about page (shows OS)
• applications screen
• send/share image
• image resizing
  • Original: 1024×768
  • Medium: 800×600
  • Small: 640×480
• invite attendee via calendar
• forward calendar of events
• folders
• camera
• browser (including Google Gears)
• explore and memory use under media application
  • shows detailed information about memory usage
• file explorer

Great video to watch if you’re interested in learning about some of the new features on OS 5.0.

The free WHERE application has been launched for the BlackBerry Tour 9630!

WHERE on the BlackBerry Tour functions very similarly to our versions for the BlackBerry Storm & BlackBerry Bold. WHERE on the Tour features an at-a-glance homescreen layout, for easy access to your favorite local information. WHERE comes pre-packed with some of our most popular GPS based widgets including, News, Weather, Gas Station Locator, Yelp & Eventful, plus many more. WHERE’s newest social networking venue, the WHERE Wall is also available on the BlackBerry Tour.

I just want to point out that WHERE’s Gas Prices has helped me find cheap gas on more than one occasion. This and the other features are very useful.

To download it visit WHERE.com from your BlackBerry Browser or from your desktop computer for more info.

Bellshare GmbH has started a public Beta of the new BerryWeather v1.5.41.

Version 1.5.41 (June 12th, 18:41 CET)

• Fixed update issues (i.e. continues updates when no GPS lock)

This is only the beginning of the Beta so I’m sure we’ll be seeing some more fixes and features soon enough.

• Download BerryWeather:
  • OS 4.2.1 and higher: OTA
  • OS 4.7: OTA
  • How To: Install applications and themes via OTA with or without using data

Check out the features of the released version of BerryWeather after the jump or visit the Bellshare forums for more info.

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WHERE has been updated to v1.3.0.1 for the BlackBerry Curve 8900, Bold and Storm!

Not sure what WHERE is?

WHERE is a mobile app that provides you with information about the people, places and things around you. Local content available through WHERE includes everything from the weather, news, and restaurant reviews, to the cheapest gas, movie show times, and the ability to connect with other users through Buddy Beacon™ and the WHERE Wall™. WHERE also helps you reach your destination with easy to use maps and directions.

Not to mention it’s FREE! Check out the updates and enhancements in the new version:

• New Gas Features – The WHERE Gas widget got a total redesign in this update. All gas grade prices are now available on main screen. Gas station amenities are now also included on the station detail page.
• Improvements to WHERE Wall – In this latest update you will notice larger gravatar images, auto re-fresh mechanism, the ability to add links into posts, and a new Sports wall.
• Changes to the way location is handled
• Other minor bug fixes.

You can download WHERE by going to where.com from your BlackBerry Browser, or from your desktop computer to have the download link sent to you via SMS.

PinPoints let me know that they have just released their free BlackBerry application.

PinPoints lets you find and transmit a location, address or business to your BlackBerry as an instant landmark . It uses Google Maps as the focal point for the web search. There is also a desktop browser plugin for PinPoints that allows you to search and send addresses right from your email client or web browser.

Features:

• Store PinPoints
• Organize PinPoints
• Works with Google Maps & BlackBerry Maps
• Geotag yourself
• Send your buddies saved PinPoints or your location

The PinPoints BlackBerry client works on the Pearl, Curve, Bold and Storm, to name a few.

Register for PinPoints at yourpinpoints.com and download the BlackBerry app. Once downloaded all you have to do is select an address and press ‘Send as PinPoint’.

Don’t forget to let me know how this works for you in the comments!

See some examples of how the desktop browser plugin works after the jump.

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