BlackBerry Messenger just keeps getting better! The latest update to BBM is now available in the BlackBerry Beta Zone as version 6.2.0.24. This release brings a bunch of new features and fixes like additional animated avatars, better voicenotes, BlackBerry Tag enhancements and more. Here’s the full changelog:

• Animated display pictures
  More animated display pictures are now built into BBM. Change your picture to suit your mood.
• Change your name or message inline
  You can quickly change your name or status message without leaving your contact list by clicking the text at the top of the screen. To exit inline editing, just scroll down. You can still access your profile screen by clicking your display picture.
• Streamlined voice notes
  When your convenience key set to open BlackBerry Messenger, if you highlight a contact in BBM and press the convenience key, you can start recording a voice note. Once you’re done, pressing the convenience key again will send the voice note.
• BlackBerry Tag enhancements
  Adding contacts has never been easier. If your BlackBerry smartphone supports NFC technology, you can turn on the Allow Automatic Invitations by Tapping option. Then, as long as you or someone else has BBM open, you can add each other as contacts by aligning the backs of your smartphones. This feature requires that you both have the latest version of BBM installed on smartphones that support NFC technology. (Please note: NFC is only available with OS 7.1 and is not available on the Torch series of 7.x devices: 9810, 9850 or 9860.)
• Improved search
  When typing the name of a contact or group, the search ignores special characters and emoticons to make it easier to find what you’re looking for.
• Resend a message
  If a message didn’t send (for example, if your smartphone was outside of a wireless coverage area), you can highlight the message and select Resend from the menu.

For more info and to download the latest BBM beta sign up or log in at blackberry.com/beta.

RIM is definitely working hard on their beta apps. The latest app to receive an update in the BlackBerry Beta Zone is BlackBerry Messenger with version 6.2.0.15 available for download for those who received an invite, although most Beta Zone members should now have access. Here’s what’s new in this beta release:

• Animated display pictures
  More animated display pictures are now built into BBM. Change your picture to suit your mood.
• Change your name or message inline
  You can quickly change your name or status message without leaving your contact list by clicking the text at the top of the screen. To exit inline editing, just scroll down. You can still access your profile screen by clicking your display picture.
• Streamlined voice notes
  When your convenience key set to open BlackBerry Messenger, if you highlight a contact in BBM and press the convenience key, you can start recording a voice note. Once you’re done, pressing the convenience key again will send the voice note.
• BlackBerry Tag enhancements
  Adding contacts has never been easier. If your BlackBerry smartphone supports NFC technology, you can turn on the Allow Automatic Invitations by Tapping option. Then, as long as you or someone else has BBM open, you can add each other as contacts by aligning the backs of your smartphones. This feature requires that you both have the latest version of BBM installed on smartphones that support NFC technology.
• Improved search
  When typing the name of a contact or group, the search ignores special characters and emoticons to make it easier to find what you’re looking for.
• Resend a message
  If a message didn’t send (for example, if your smartphone was outside of a wireless coverage area), you can highlight the message and select Resend from the menu.

For more info and to get BBM beta version 6.2.0.15 go to blackberry.com/beta and check to see if you received an invite. If you haven’t, keep checking back since I’m sure it will open up to all Beta Zone members soon or just go official!

RIM today announced the official rollout of the BlackBerry 7.1 OS. According to the Inside BlackBerry blog post, this OS “has been built to make discovering new things – and sharing those discoveries with friends, family, and colleagues – easier than ever before”. Here are the new features and app updates in OS 7.1:

• Mobile Hotspot: Turn your BlackBerry 7.1 OS device into a Wi-Fi® router anywhere, anytime! The new OS seamlessly provides Internet access for up to five Wi-Fi devices, including laptops and tablets.
• Universal Search: For this new release, we wanted to focus on the intelligence of our system and our apps – in other words, we wanted to create an intuitive experience that does the thinking for you. For example, Universal Search now has a new auto-suggest feature that that intelligently filters Bing® search results to offer you a variety of relevant Web sites based on your search terms.
• BlackBerry® Tag: Share contacts, media and files, and even invite friends to BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM) through a simple touch. BlackBerry Tag unlocks near field communication (NFC) capabilities for everyday use and makes sharing a lot faster and much more personal.
• Wi-Fi® Calling (where available): With BlackBerry 7.1 OS, you’ll be able to make Wi-Fi calls using your carrier’s Wi-Fi calling service (aka UMA-lite or GAN-lite). Wi-Fi calling allows you to save your talk time minutes and make phone calls over any Wi-Fi network. Not all carriers offer such a service so check with your carrier for availability.
• FM Radio: The BlackBerry 7.1 OS update will let BlackBerry® Curve™ 9360 and 9380 smartphone customers enjoy FM radio. The Curve models include a built-in FM radio so you can tune in to local FM radio stations. Simply plug in your headset to boost the reception (it acts as the antenna). Plus, no data usage or data plan required!
• BlackBerry® Maps: When you launch the new BlackBerry Maps you’ll be able to discover special offers, coupons and discounts from nearby vendors – and, of course, you can act instantly by calling about the deal, finding the best route to get there, or grabbing the coupon code.

Along with these app updates RIM is also updating BBM to version 6.1 which includes BlackBerry Tag integration, along with updates to BlackBerry Travel and BlackBerry Traffic. The rollout for this update begins today and continues over the next few weeks. For full details on what’s available in BlackBerry 7.1 check out RIM’s blog post here and feel free to let us know when it’s available for you in the comments or in the forums!

Last month RIM officially announced BlackBerry Tag, a new way for BlackBerry smartphone users with supported devices to connect with one another and share multimedia content. BlackBerry smartphones with NFC will also be able to issue payments (like a credit card) but Tag is meant to allow sharing of content between users. From IntoMobile:

After checking out their new smartphones, RIM gave us a sneak peek at BlackBerry Tag, which will really start putting near-field communications to work. Just as described, BlackBerry tag will allow users to quickly and easily share content between BlackBerry devices; by putting them butt-to-butt, you’ll be able to transfer ringtones, voice notes, contacts, images, videos, calendar items, documents, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, browser links, and whatever else third part developers chose to support. It seems like the NFC itself is mostly just used to initiate a Bluetooth transfer, but that’s still pretty great considering how much of a pain it can be to pair up devices.

Very cool and very useful. Besides for being able to share documents and multimedia content, I’m sure developers will come up with creative ways to take advantage of BlackBerry Tag in apps and games. If you’re a developer you can check out this blog post at the Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog for more info.

via IntoMobile

RIM today announced BlackBerry Tag, a new way for BlackBerry smartphone users to connect and share things using a supported device’s NFC capabilities. This feature will be available to the recently launched BlackBerry Curve and Bold smartphones in a BlackBerry 7 OS update. Here’s some info on BlackBerry Tag:

BlackBerry® Tag, which will be incorporated in the next BlackBerry® 7 OS update*, will allow users to share contact information, documents, URLs, photos and other multimedia content by simply tapping their BlackBerry smartphones together. BlackBerry Tag will also enable friends to instantly add one another as contacts on BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger).

RIM didn’t mention when this feature or OS update will be available but seeing them mention APIs and developers in the press release makes me think they’ll say something about it at DevCon Americas 2011. Stay tuned and check out the full press release below for more info!

FULL PRESS RELEASE!