Electric Pocket let me know that they have just released a new BlackBerry application called MailTones. For those of you that don’t know, Electric Pocket are the developers of best-selling BlackBerry apps like txtForward, FlipSide MP3 Player and PhoneFace Photo Speed Dialer.

With MailTones you can set different tones for all your emails, a group of contacts, each contact or subjects. It comes pre-loaded with a set of professional and attention-grabbing tones, use your own tones or “download sounds” from the web. MailTones also adds a menu item so you can select a message from your inbox and quickly set a “Mail Tone” for it. For those times that you want a break from your email messages you can turn on the “Do Not Disturb” option to not be interrupted during certain periods.

MailTones is available in the store for $2.99 with a free trial available and will work with all BlackBerry devices running OS 4.2.1 or higher. Check it out and let me know what you think in the comments!

Throughout this week (until Nov 4th) there are going to be some awesome DOTDs in the store that you’ll definitely want to take advantage of. Today’s deal of the day is for Bellshare GmbH’s email and SMS preview application BerryPopup.

When you get a message BerryPopup will show you a preview of it with a “preview window” allowing you to reply, forward, mark as read or delete it without having to switch to the messaging application.

Features:

• Preview incoming e-mails/alerts
• Open inbox, reply, forward, mark as read and delete e-mails right from the popup
• Open inbox, reply and forward SMS right from the popup
• Disable popups until backlight dims or for a certain time right from the popup
• Customize order of messages (Oldest first, Newest first)
• Only show popups for messages from contacts you have in your phonebook
• Customize positioning of the popup (”System Default”, “Bottom of screen” or “Stretch to the borders of the screen”)
• Customize position of the button bar (left, right, top, bottom)
• Automatically turn on backlight when a message comes in
• Auto-dismiss popup after specified time
• Disable popups while in the messaging application
• Disable while device is locked so you will not be flooded with popups after unlocking
• Disable popups while backlight is on
• Show contact photo and customize its size
• Customize font sizes
• Integrates with SmartAlerts for absolute control which messages trigger popups and which don’t

Until 12AM CST tonight you can get BerryPopup for only $3.47, after today it will go back up to $6.95. This app will work with all BlackBerry devices running OS 4.2.1 and higher.

For a while now there have been rumors about a “BlackBerry watch” being developed by RIM. Back in May BGR was able to sit down and talk to Antoine Boucher, Vice President of Accessories Integration, about some upcoming BlackBerry accessories. During this chat Boucher indirectly mentioned the possibility of a BlackBerry Bluetooth watch being in the works.

Today CrackBerry Kevin broke the news that yes, RIM is working on a Bluetooth watch and it will be announced soon! Along with this news Kevin has provided renderings of the actual watch and some key features:

• it has been designed specifically for BlackBerry from the ground up – developed by a new BlackBerry-dedicated accessory company
• it features an OLED screen that we hear is “big, bright and beautiful” and optimized for displaying text clearly, and thanks to OLED has solid battery life
• it’s designed to show you notifications and previews of messages arriving on your BlackBerry
• judging by the filename of the photos as they were sent in to us, we’re thinking it’s going to branded the inPulse smartwatch

These renderings look a lot better than a possible early prototype found by a commenter over at CB. As always with leaked info you can consider this a rumor until RIM officially announces it which, according to Kevin, should be soon.

Would you buy and wear the “inPulse smartwatch”?

Elecite let me know that they have just released an awesome new HTC Sense UI Hero theme for BlackBerry!

Features:

• 5-6 customizable icons
• Profiles/manage connections buttons
• Today page with hidden today items for phone log, messages and calendar icons
• Media page with quick access buttons to music, media and pictures, and finally
• Dedicated menu for quick access to your options, contacts and more

For the majority of the past few months I’ve been using Elecite’s Noble theme but I think I’ve found a replacement .

The Hero theme is available for $6.99 at Elecite.com and will work on the BlackBerry Curve 8900, Bold, Storm and Tour. I’ve included a video that shows the Hero theme in action after the jump.

CONTINUE READING »

Earlier this week I started a contest for a chance to win 25 free copies of the Textender application. Here are the winners of that contest!

• Stephanie
• Kevin Allen
• lelesworld
• markladams
• Michelle Pontrelli Stewart
• nfldberryguy
• thenig
• skyclever
• KCarey
• luis101
• shockaholic
• jaywathorne
• Gordon Morgolese
• beri
• Marie-Claire
• PoppaButch
• Quenfis
• Shades
• jay916
• JoeUser99
• Raz Garcia
• MaryD
• ewanjrc
• mog386
• naillady_1

Congrats to the winners! You can expect an email from me by the end of the weekend with info on how to get your free copy. For those that missed this contest, Textender is currently on sale for $1.49 until October 31st in case you still wanted this application. Be sure to follow me on Twitter or subscribe to the feed so you don’t miss future contests and giveaways!

Just wanted to remind everyone to get their comments in before 12AM tonight for a chance to win a free copy of Textender.

Recap of the features:

• Send messages
  

  beyond 140/160 characters

• Send to up to 6 recipients at any given time
• Can be accessed while composing a text/sms
• Stand alone app which can be assigned to a convenience key
• Displays a message count so the user is aware how many messages they are sending
• Sent messages will be saved as one whole message in native message app on the BlackBerry
• **Please Note: Your carrier will still charge you for the total number of messages sent, not for one message each time Textender is used**

For more info and to leave your comment head to the original contest post. Contest winners will be announced tomorrow afternoon.

@FabianMH let me know about a new and free app he released called LaterFlag.

LaterFlag is an application that let’s you flag your emails.

You can either flag it as high priority or low priority or just leave it normal! Through this you won’t forget if you already have replied to emails or not. It’s free, you’re gonna love it!

Select a Message and click the Menu and then Flag Mail. If you click the Menu a few times it toggles between the Flags. There is no icon for the app, it’s just on your device in the Messages Menu.

It’s so simple yet it’s a very useful application that I’m sure many of you will appreciate.

LaterFlag is available as a free download in the store for all BlackBerry devices running OS 4.5 and higher. Fabian also has a bunch of other applications (both free and premium) that you should definitely check out.

I came across this app in the store called DriveSafe.ly that is supposed to help increase your driving safety by reading your text and email messages out loud, in real-time so you don’t have to look at your BlackBerry while driving. Apps like these are very useful, especially since using a mobile phone while driving is against the law in many regions.

In some cases you don’t even need to be driving to use these apps. You can use them if you have your hands full or just don’t feel like reading .

Features:

• It is free to use DriveSafe.ly
• Automatically plays incoming text SMS and email messages
• Play messages on demand through menu
• No complicated software to install easy to use
• Small footprint lightweight app does not slow down your phone
• Customizable auto-response and timeout duration
• Human sounding text to speech powered by iSpeech.org

DriveSafe.ly is available as a free download in the store and will work with all BlackBerry devices running OS 4.5 and higher. If you give this app a try and feel it helped you while driving (or during other activities) let me know in the comments!

Elecite never fails to impress when it comes to their BlackBerry themes. New from Elecite is Spear and Archaic, both great themes with unique features.

Spear is an ultra-detailed green and black theme, fully customized with 8 customizable icons and an over-sized  digital clock for your homescreen.

Archaic is an ultra-clean theme that looks great, is wallpaper friendly and slides horizontally between four pages giving you an app icon dock, calendar list, message list, and media page.

The Spear theme is available for the Curve 8350i, 8500 and 8900 series, Bold 9000 and Tour; the Archaic theme is available for the same models plus the Storm. Both themes go for $6.99.

For more info, to purchase or for additional screenshots, check out Spear and Archaic at Elecite.com.

@cipriani15 let me know about a new BlackBerry application he just released called Textender.

Textender basically extends the SMS character limit beyond the standard 140/160, allowing you to send longer SMS messages at once. This app will work for BlackBerry devices on CDMA networks including Verizon, Sprint, Alltel, U.S. Cellular, Bell, Telus, Cricket, and MetroPCS.

Features:

• Send messages beyond 140/160 characters
• Send to up to 6 recipients at any given time
• Can be accessed while composing a text/sms
• Stand alone app which can be assigned to a convenience key
• Displays a message count so the user is aware how many messages they are sending
• Sent messages will be saved as one whole message in native message app on the BlackBerry
• **Please Note: Your carrier will still charge you for the total number of messages sent, not for one message each time Textender is used**

Textender is available for $1.49 until October 31st, after that it will go up to $2.99. This app will work on all BlackBerry devices running OS 4.5 and higher.

CONTEST: I have 25 free copies of Textender to give away! Simply leave a comment on this post before Friday October 2nd at 12AM ET for a chance to win a copy. Good luck! *