There’s a cool contest going on right now with RIM and Verizon to promote the new BlackBerry Bold 9650. This weekend in NYC, contest administrators will be going around and taking video testimonials on a BlackBerry Bold 9650 from Verizon. Participants will answer the question, “How do you live your life bold?” The boldest video wins one of three bold adventures: an African safari, a diving trip to the Great Barrier Reef, or a Costa Rican rainforest trip. Be Bold has already been to Boston and gathered up some great bold testimonials. After NYC, they’ll be headed to Chicago, Atlanta and San Francisco.
AppCycle is an in-app support system for BlackBerry users. It has been used in both StudentDocket and Lister for quite some time now with considerable success and the developers are looking for Beta testers. If you register as a Beta tester, you will receive a free account for life in exchange for your help.
Developers are always in need of positive feedback and BlackBerryCool readers have always been there to provide it. AppCycle attempts to provide a system that allows developers to collect important data such as device and OS information, allowing developers to provide solutions more quickly and with less user hassle.
Caller ID apps are extremely fickle in that they often only work for certain carriers and in general, never work when you need them to. Privacy Star has a decent caller ID system but they tend to fall short when it comes to Verizon numbers. Adaffix has a free Caller ID app in App World that is worth a try although they seem to be very European centric. The app also instantly provides alternative merchants for a business that you have been unable to get through to. A 3G connection is required for the Caller ID feature and suppressed numbers cannot be identified.
Ford Sync is a factory-installed, in-car communications and entertainment system developed by Ford and Microsoft. It is based on the Microsoft Auto platform. The technology is currently being updated with some features that directly involve Research in Motion. Ford Sync has a text message readback feature that allows customers to hear text messages without having to take their eyes off the road. In addition to this service, Ford is has integrated the latest Bluetooth Message Access Profile (MAP) into SYNC for all MyFord Touch-equipped vehicles. The MAP standard outlines a set of features and procedures used to exchange email, SMS, and MMS messages between devices. With MAP technology, even more phones will work with SYNC to read aloud incoming texts.
In addition, Research In Motion is already working with Ford to implement MAP on BlackBerry smartphones and enable SYNC audible text messaging capability across their product line, in an effort to foster industry-wide adoption.
