Thanks to @themes4bb I’ve got some great news for developers working with the BlackBerry platform!

At the 2009 BlackBerry Developer Converence in San Francisco (currently in session), RIM has announced a new services platform for developers that will enable them to streamline business processes and build highly responsive, location-away, revenue-generating apps. Among the new services will be a BlackBerry Advertising Service, Payment Service and new Location Services.

BlackBerry Payment Service to Enable In-Application Transactions and Streamlined Payment Processes

A new BlackBerry® Payment Service from RIM will present BlackBerry developers with new opportunities to monetize applications by selling digital content such as premium content, monthly or annual subscriptions, and additional levels or upgrades for games and other entertainment applications from within their applications. The BlackBerry Payment Service will also incorporate merchant services, including customer billing.

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BlackBerry Push Service for Delivering Content and Alerts to Applications to Become Generally Available

BlackBerry® Push Service, which was first made exclusively available to BlackBerry® Alliance Program members earlier this year, will be made generally available to registered developers in the first half of 2010. BlackBerry Push Service allows developers and content providers to deliver time-sensitive alerts and up to 8 KB of data to applications.

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New Location Services to Advance Location-Aware BlackBerry Applications

Adding to the GPS capabilities already supported on the BlackBerry Application Platform today, RIM will introduce three new location-based services for developers to build highly responsive, location-aware applications for BlackBerry smartphones. The three new location-based services include cell site geolocation, reverse geocoding and travel time.

I’m glad RIM is opening up more opportunities for better integration and development of the BlackBerry platform. This is only one of the announcements made at the Developer Conference so far, I’m sure we’ll be hearing some more great news soon!

For more info visit blackberry.com/developers or check out the press release after the jump.

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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

It’s been a while since the BeejiveIM beta application for BlackBerry has been updated but Jim let me know that they have just released a new version!

New in BeejiveIM v1.9.6:

• file transfers via link, you can now transfer files to buddies on all IM accounts.
• push when app running in background (see preferences in app).
• send voice notes
• send GPS location (if supported by phone)
• new chat styles & background images
• new buddy list layouts
• improved battery life
• overall UI redesign
• various other bug fixes & enhancements

As always with beta applications install at your own risk and make sure you have a recent backup available! Before installing this version you must uninstall your current version and do a battery pull. This beta is not for the Storm or any BlackBerry running an OS below 4.2.1. A new beta version for the Storm will be available soon.

• Over the air (direct download to BB)
  
  • http://www.beejive.com/otabeta4.6_vga (4.6 OS and higher, VGA screen: Bold, Tour, 8900 Curve)
    
  • http://www.beejive.com/otabeta4.6 (4.6 OS and higher, NON-VGA screen: 8220 Pearl Flip, 8350 Curve)
    
  • http://www.beejive.com/otabeta4.3 (4.3 OS and higher)
    
  • http://www.beejive.com/otabeta4.2.1 (4.2.1 OS and higher)
• Desktop Install
  
  • http://www.beejive.com/beta4.6_vga (4.6 OS and higher, VGA screen: Bold, Tour, 8900 Curve)
    
  • http://www.beejive.com/beta4.6 (4.6 OS and higher, NON-VGA screen: 8220 Pearl Flip, 8350 Curve)
    
  • http://www.beejive.com/beta4.3 (4.3 OS and higher)
    
  • http://www.beejive.com/beta4.2.1 (4.2.1 OS and higher)

For more info and to submit feedback be sure to visit the BeejiveIM beta forums. Feel free to also leave some feedback in the comments.

The BeejiveIM Beta for the BlackBerry Storm has been updated to version 1.9.5. Version 1.9.4 was mostly a bug fix release with no new features added and version 1.9.5 comes with the following additions:

• file transfers via link, you can now transfer files to buddies on all IM accounts.
• updated push when idle settings, you can now choose an email to use for push notifications.
• clock fixed
• option to use color blind status icons
• various other bug fixes & enhancements

This is not a production release and may have bugs and defects. Install at your own risk! You must fully uninstall and restart your Storm before installing the new Beta. If you’re not sure how to uninstall the previous version click here.

You can download the latest BeejiveIM Beta for your Storm OTA at beejive.com/stormbeta. Be sure to report any issues and bugs to Beejive in their support forums. For help on how to install applications via OTA click here.

The BeejiveIM Beta for the BlackBerry Storm has been updated to version 1.9.3 with the following fixes and additions:

• Push solution to help save battery life (see below for setup instructions)
• Voice notes (only AMR files are supported at this time, we are looking into conversion to mp3/wav format)
• Ability to send your current GPS location
• Update file transfer UI
• Updated floating chat input UI
• Chat logs added back in
• Group chats added back in
• Chat background wallpapers
• Various bug fixes

The new Beta also brings “Battery Save Mode,” which requires a BIS email account to work. To use Battery Save Mode make sure that the “Battery Save Mode When Idle” option is checked in the preferences screen.

This is not a production release and may have bugs and defects. Install at your own risk! You must fully uninstall and restart your Storm before installing the new Beta. If you’re not sure how to uninstall the previous version click here.

• Download OTA: BeejiveIM Storm Beta
• Info: BeejiveIM Storm Beta v1.9.3 forum
• How To: Install applications and themes via OTA with or without using data

Calling all developers! The BlackBerry Java Development Environment (JDE) v5.0 Beta is now available for download. This is great news because that means OS 5.0 is that much closer to being released!

The latest release of the BlackBerry® Java® Development Environment (BlackBerry JDE) provides an end-to-end set of tools for easily developing robust wireless applications:

• New APIs and enhanced capabilities
• Simplified wireless connectivity to the Internet or corporate intranets
• Easy to customize user interfaces
• Client-side logic
• Support for push content
• Local integration with email, Personal Information Management (PIM), multimedia and BlackBerry® smartphone applications
• Location-based services

Develop Superior Wireless Applications

The new BlackBerry JDE v5.0 beta:

• Increases developer productivity
• Simplifies application development
• Provides end-to-end tools and enhanced Java® APIs
• Communicates with most programming languages, protocols and data formats

If you’re a developer who wants to share your applications, themes or games send me a message. Should you create some apps with the BlackBerry JDE v5.0 Beta and are in need of some beta testers, we’ll work something out for that too .

• Info: BlackBerry Java Development Environment (BlackBerry JDE) v5.0 Beta Release

Some highlights from the press release:

• Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today announced the availability of a new BlackBerry push API (application programming interface) that will enable developers to push real-time content to BlackBerry® smartphones.
• RIM is extending its existing, well-proven push technology from the enterprise into the consumer space, allowing developers to leverage push technology for BlackBerry® applications targeted at consumers. Push technology provides a proactive mechanism for developers to deliver data to BlackBerry smartphones as it becomes available.
• The new BlackBerry push API allows developers to push content, as well as alerts, to BlackBerry smartphone users.
• The BlackBerry push API is ideal for mobile applications that deliver value by providing real-time content and updates, including news, weather, banking, medical, IT services applications and games.
• The BlackBerry push API is available exclusively to BlackBerry® Alliance Program members. For more information about the BlackBerry Alliance Program, visit www.blackberry.com/go/alliances.
• For more information about BlackBerry push APIs, visit www.blackberry.com/developers/pushapi.

Read the full press release after the jump.

CONTINUE READING »