It’s been a while since Salomondrin leaked some unreleased device information but they’re back with some pictures and a video of the unreleased 3G BlackBerry Pearl 9100, aka the Stratus/Striker!

If you recall back in September I posted a photo of what appeared to be the Pearl 9100. Taking a look at Sal’s photos and video you can see that the photo was the real deal. I’ve included some of the photos after the jump.

Any Pearl fans out there planning on getting the 9100 when it comes out?

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The development of the WordPress Beta app for BlackBerry is definitely coming along nicely. WordPress has just released an updated version of the BlackBerry client that refreshes the user interface and adds some much needed features.

New in v0.9.0.169:

• Based on all the great feedback, we reworked much of the UI layout for the main view, blog view, and media view
• Ability to upload videos from your media library
• New option to set media file properties (filename, caption, title, and position)
• Created a new file browser that resembles the native BlackBerry file browser
• Big improvements in the speed at which you can view and manage comments
• Lots of optimizations for uploading photos and videos using base64 encoding
• Indonesian language support updated thanks to Kate of Pixel Insert
• Improved French language support thanks to Yann Nave of blog.onbebop.net

Download the latest version by going to blackberry.wordpress.org/install from your BlackBerry Browser or visit the main site for more info. If you already have this application installed it should automatically prompt you to update. Let me know how you like this new version in the comments!

I first told you about Best Buy Mobile’s new and free mIQ wireless syncing service a few weeks ago but totally forgot to follow up with the official launch on October 12th!

mIQ is an awesome app/service that I’m sure many of you will appreciate since you can do so much while on the run. About mIQ:

Mobile technology is pretty amazing, but getting the most out of it can sometimes be challenging. mIQ was created to make it easy for users to unleash the potential of their mobile phone.

mIQ from Best Buy Mobile helps users sync their contacts, text messages, calendar events, calls, photos, videos, and internet favorites from their mobile phones to their private web-based mIQ account. Once in sync, the user can backup and interact with their information, share their experiences with friends and social sites, discover the top solutions available for their phones, and restore their content when moving from one phone to the next.

The mIQ service keeps the phone and the web constantly connected, so that the stuff done on one automatically shows up on the other in just a few seconds, helping users access and share their stuff whether they’re on the go or in front of their computers – no cables or effort required!

For more info and to sign up head to miqlive.com from your desktop browser or m.miqlive.com from your BlackBerry Browser to download the app OTA.

Thanks George!

Earlier today @AtilaUno let me know that there was a rumor of a new Facebook version for BlackBerry getting released. It looks like this rumor turned out to be true because RIM has officially announced the new version!

New features in version 1.7:

• News Feed Support (Migration to the new News Feed API)
• News Feed Filters (Status, Photos, Links, News Feed)
• Caching Improvements
• Feed Pre-fetching
• View Profile Menu Option
• Default BB Menu item selection changes

Here are some helpful knowledge base articles to look through:

• How to control Facebook for BlackBerry smartphones organizer data access
• Add Facebook events to the Calendar application on the BlackBerry smartphone
• Link a Facebook friend to an existing contact on the BlackBerry smartphone
• How to specify the notification email address in Facebook for BlackBerry smartphones
• How to refresh the Friends list in Facebook for BlackBerry smartphones
• Access Facebook for BlackBerry smartphones using the Search application on the BlackBerry smartphone
• How to view or request a friend’s phone number in Facebook for BlackBerry smartphones
• Add Facebook Friends to the Contacts application on the BlackBerry smartphone

For more info or to download visit blackberry.com/facebook from your BlackBerry Browser. Let me know how you like this version in the comments!

Just got some fresh photos of a Verizon BlackBerry Storm2 dummy unit thanks to @Ackee_!

A few days ago I posted some promo flyers showing the Storm2 as being part of a buy-one-get-one free deal. At that time I said “I wouldn’t be surprised if it launched within a few days,” and it looks like I may have been onto something because, according to an article by the New York Times, Verizon and RIM might be launching the Storm2 this week!

This week, Verizon and R.I.M. are trying again with a Storm do-over, the Storm 2. Among its many improvements, the new phone gives the user the sensation of pushing a physical button when pressing a number on the glass touch screen.

Lowell C. McAdam, the chief executive of Verizon Wireless, has been carrying the revamped device for a few weeks, looking for any evidence that this time it will catch on. Mr. McAdam said that while he was recently visiting the Verizon store in New York’s SoHo district, he started talking to a couple of students from New York University who were shopping for cellphones.

“I let them play with the second-generation Storm device,” he said. “They came back and said ‘Oh, my gosh.’ They were very excited. This is what they hoped the original Storm should be.”

Vodafone Germany has the Storm 9520 listed as coming soon and Vodafone UK might also be launching the Storm2 this week, and since  Best Buy is already getting accessories for it, a launch some time this week is definitely a possibility! Let’s not hold our breath though…

I’ve included a shot of the Storm2 dummy unit from behind after the jump. Let me know what you think in the comments!

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Best Buy Mobile let me know about a new service they are launching on October 12th called mIQ. This service allows you to access, share and manage mobile data through a secure and personal Web portal, all done over the air!

Key Features

• Data backup & management: Upgrading to a new phone used to be a hassle. With mIQ, all content that lives on the mobile device — contacts, text messages, calendar events, calls, photos, videos, and voicemail messages — is automatically uploaded and safely backed-up on a personal Web-based mIQ account making it easy to sync, search, interact with, share it or transfer it from one phone to another. Since the mobile phone is constantly connected to the Web, mIQ automatically syncs any changes from the Web to the mobile device and vice-versa, instantly.
• Contacts: mIQ helps users easily manage and track the communication with all their contacts. Contacts from Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, and other sources can be imported into the mIQ account and synchronized with the mobile phone. Users can then add, edit, or delete contacts from the personal mIQ account – the changes will be instantly pushed to the mobile phone and backed up on the web. Additionally, mIQ enables users to easily view text messages and calls associated with each contact.
• Enhanced text messaging: The mIQ Web platform provides an instant message-like experience by organizing SMS text messages into a conversational format. mIQ automatically uploads text messages to an inbox in the personal mIQ account where they can be read, forwarded, or responded to from any computer. Unlike other Web messaging solutions that deliver texts from random phone numbers, mIQ sends the text messages through the user’s mobile phone, ensuring that the recipient will always know who the message is from.
• Calendar: Instant access to appointments and events is important whether sitting in front of a computer or on the go. mIQ automatically uploads appointments and events from the phone calendar to the Web. Users can then add, edit, or delete calendar entries from either the mobile phone or the mIQ account and changes are automatically synched between the two platforms.
• Photos and videos: mIQ enables users to do more with the memories captured with their smartphones. mIQ automatically uploads photos and videos from the mobile phone to the personal mIQ account – as soon as they are taken – making it easy to organize them by adding titles and descriptions, share them through email and text messages and post them to social networking sites.
• Social media connectivity: Social networking on mobile devices has taken connectivity to a whole new level. Updating friends on the latest happenings no longer requires a trip to the computer. mIQ features instant connectivity to popular social sites like Facebook, Flickr, FriendFeed and Twitter, helping users share their mobile experiences – status, photos and videos – directly from their smartphone, wherever they may be.

Pretty awesome and best of all…it’s FREE!

Right now you can sign up for an invite and take a tour of this service at miqlive.com. For more info check out the press release after the jump. Once the service launches don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments!

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A few days ago I mentioned that RIM is rumored to be working on an official BlackBerry Twitter client but at that time there weren’t too many details available as far as features or a launch date.

According to Salomondrin the BlackBerry Twitter client will be launching on November 16th of this year and it will be a VPL release through carriers. Sal says that this client will include “push” which will allow for automatic refreshes without having to manually refresh or set a refresh time. Here are some other features mentioned by the Polish BlackBerry site BBNews.pl:

• Notification of number of new tweets on the home screen with icon, like text messages
• Main app opens friends timeline
• Ability to view followers
• Follow/unfollow functions
• Create direct messages, replies and new tweets
• Keyword search and saved results
• Tweet photos directly from camera or memory card
• View photos from other tweets
• View trending topics
• Address book integration

Considering that RIM has total access to the BlackBerry interface like no other Twitter app, I’m really excited to see how deeply these features will be integrated. In addition to this Twitter client being available in the BB App World, word has it that it will eventually come pre-loaded on BlackBerry devices.

Now that you know some more details about this official BlackBerry Twitter client, will you stick to your current app or scrap it for this one? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

via IntoMobile

ÜberTwitter seems to be  making all the right moves, it’s no surprise they’re still the most popular BlackBerry Twitter app!

When it was first released, ÜberTwitter was pretty basic although already better than TwitterBerry. Being an open beta BlackBerry app, ÜberTwitter was able to benefit from worldwide feedback and quickly became the app it is today. A few of the major updates to ÜberTwitter include multiple accounts, save Twitter searches, auto-complete usernames (very useful), TwitVid integration, free/paid options, and now TweetPhoto integration!

“We chose TweetPhoto as our default photo service because we wanted to give our users the fastest, easiest and most reliable photo service available,” said Paul McDonald, founder of ÜberTwitter. “From a user-experience standpoint, TweetPhoto offers the richest experience to our users.   And from a developer’s perspective, TweetPhoto’s API is extensive, reliable, and extremely easy to integrate.”

According to Sean Callahan, “In supporting the development process of integrating TweetPhoto into ÜberTwitter we made available several new additions to our photo sharing platform specifically for BlackBerry and other mobile developers. Most notably chunked uploads which allows users to upload larger photos from their handsets.”

ÜberTwitter Beta 5 integrates TweetPhoto’s uploading, voting, favoriting, commenting and geo-tagging features, in addition to allowing users to view all photos they uploaded, comments posted on photos and more. TweetPhoto is an awesome Twitter photo sharing service, the only one I use.

The free version is ad-supported, the premium version (available for a yearly $4.99 fee) has no ads. For more info go to ubertwitter.com or for a direct OTA download visit ubertwitter.com/bb/download.php from your BlackBerry Browser.

Full press release after the jump.

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Just got an email tip about some new photos over at FeedBerry (translated via Google) of the BlackBerry Storm 2 (aka Odin) showing off OS 5.0.0.183!

According to FeedBerry this is the first sighting of the Storm 2 in Indonesia, and so far it looks like this one is running the latest known OS 5.0 version.

Head on over to FeedBerry for the rest of the photos or check out the Storm 2 Archives for some of the other photos and videos I’ve posted about.

The moment many of you have been waiting for is here…ÜberTwitter has been updated to v0.909 (Beta 4)!

This release deepens support for Twitter features and takes further advantage of the capablities available in your BlackBerry device and includes two important integrations with third party services; TwitVid for sending your Über videos embedded in tweets, and Bit.ly for shortening the links you might include in your tweets.

Here are some features planned for the next version:

• Notification icons on the homescreen! We have heard you loud and clear, we will be adding this.
• Integration of a high functionality third-party photo service – We are VERY excited about this as we believe that it will bring an extremely rich photo sharing experience to our users.
• Integration into the BlackBerry browser such that URLs can be included directly in a tweet from the browser menu.
• Saved searches – integrate the new Twitter saved search API. Searches saved via the Twitter web site will be useable on ÜberTwitter and vice versa
• Twitter name menu – Type ‘@’ and a list of your friends automatically pops up allowing selection

ÜberTwitter supports BlackBerry devices running OS 4.2.1, 4.3, 4.5, 4.6, and 4.7. You can download the new version OTA here or visit ÜberTwitter.com for more info.

Continue reading for the full changelog of this release.

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