The voice of the BlackBerry community.
The BlackBerry Instant Messaging & Social Network clients have been updated. Some of the updates include Facebook up to 1.6.0.21, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk and others were bumped up to 2.1.48. As usual, there’s no documentation detailing the updates, so please let us know if you notice any changes in the comments. You can get the updates on your BlackBerry via http://www.blackberry.com/instantmessaging Thanks to Dave Peckens for the heads up!
XING is very much akin to the social network for enterprise, LinkedIn. The site has a similar look and feel while clearly targeting the same demographic.
The site has launched a free piece of software that keeps track of all the user’s contacts, and makes phone numbers and email addresses available online. Your contacts are automatically updated online by the members themselves.
XING has done a great job of recognizing their target market are on BlackBerry, while I still haven’t seen a BlackBerry app for LinkedIn. This app is sure to please XING users, and ideally help them better network in their industry.
To download the free app, visit XING.com from your BlackBerry Browser.
The XING app requires an Internet-enabled BlackBerry smartphone running OS Version 4.2.1 or later with at least 64 MB internal memory and 170 KB of available memory.
Tumblr is a great platform for the casual, personal style blog and they’ve got a BlackBerry app. This isn’t breaking news or anything but we haven’t written about them yet.
Hippocamp developed the Tumblr app which allows you to create, edit and post direct to your Tumblr blog all from your BlackBerry. The application is free and regularly updated.
Be sure to keep an eye on this app, because video and audio uploading are coming in soon to be released versions.
Download the Tumblr client for your BlackBerry.
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To date, the Gmail experience on BlackBerry hasn’t met the standards that most users expect. According to a few screenshots leaked on BlackBerryForum(de), RIM is going to be improving the experience with an upcoming Enhanced Gmail Plugin. As you can see above, it includes:
* See your Gmail based emails in Conversation View for simple topic management
* Add and remove labels and stars to emails to keep inbox organized
* Archive and report as spam actions for mailbox management on the go
* Search your entire Gmail inbox
You’ll need BIS 2.7 for the plugin, and feel free to try and get in the beta program. If you do get in the beta program, let us know what you think.
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A recent survey of 2,300 Japanese retail stores conducted by the market research company BCN in Japan revealed that the BlackBerry Bold is number 6 on the top 10 smartphones list. The BCN ranking is a weekly top 10 list of bestselling cellphones (not just smartphones) for the June 22 to 28 period.
The iPhone dominated the upper ranks of the list but the survey is a little misleading. The survey was conducted during the launch of the iPhone 3Gs and therefore the hype surrounding the device skews the numbers.
According to TG Daily, Apple has sold 1 million iPhones since July 2008 through Softbank, its exclusive Japanese carrier. Number 3 in the BCN survey is the NTT DoCoMo Aquos SH-04A, designed by Sharp.
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The BlackBerry Partners Fund have announced the first four Finalists in the 2009 BlackBerry Developer Challenge. The four Finalists are Fierce Towers (by Nickel Buddy), Astraware Solitare (by Handmark), Expense Manager (by Total Wireless Solutions), and Vision for YouTube (by Metova). Finalists were selected by a panel of judges based on the following criteria: compelling product or service; clearly defined value proposition; viable business model; and technical execution.
Each Finalist will receive a prize package that includes one week on the BlackBerry App World Featured Application Carousel; one BlackBerry Developers Conference pass; one BlackBerry smartphone; and, guaranteed participation in the BlackBerry Sweet 16 Demo Event at the 2009 BlackBerry Developers Conference.
Four additional Finalists will be selected and announced at the end of July, August and September respectively. Over the course of the four-month challenge, a total of 16 Finalists will qualify for the BlackBerry Sweet 16 Demo Event. Entries for the BlackBerry Developer Challenge will be accepted until September 25, 2009 at 11:59pm EDT.
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