Big news for those of you waiting for RIM’s answer to the iPhone application store. RIM has sent out a message to all registered BlackBerry developers that they are now accepting application submissions for the BlackBerry Application Storefront. Note that this doesn’t mean the Application Storefront is right around the corner, but that RIM is planning to launch it with a large mass of software.
Developers can hit the link below to learn about the submission process and sign up. As you’re submitting your applications for the BlackBerry Application Storefront, please post a comment and let us know how it stacks up to Apple’s notoriously painful process. Do you like the setup? How long does it take to get approved? Whatever you have to say, we want to know.
The BlackBerry Cool staff made a resolution that 2009 would be a year of giving back to the BlackBerry community. So just because we’ve given away 2500+ free beta trials of the new BOLT browser in the past two days, don’t expect us to stop. Today we have BlackBerry Cool 15 presenter Ubiquitous Systems, with 200 closed beta invites for their SocialScope application. SocialScope is a social networking application that allows you interact with your Facebook and Twitter accounts at once. Interested? I thought so.
To sign up for the closed beta (I wouldn’t right now if you’re a BlackBerry Storm user), simply follow the link below and hope you’re one of the first 200 people (we’ll work SocialScope for more invites). If you missed out, worry not: our hands on impressions, a list of new feature additions (yep, SocialScope hooked us up with the newest build) and a gallery of screenshots are after the jump.
UPDATE: WOW, just got word from Bitstream that you guys brought down their servers! They’re upgrading them now for higher capacity, so if you received an error when trying to sign up, wait a while and try again!
When we wrangled the BlackBerry Nation 500 invites for the BOLT BlackBerry Browser private beta yesterday, we weren’t sure how interested you’d be. It turns out that you were very interested — Bitstream, makers of BOLT had quadrupled our invites to 2000, and that still wasn’t enough! So after a little bit of negotiating, we’ve gotten them to give us some more invites.
To get your copy of the BOLT beta, you must head on over to their download page and use the following referral code: ‘berrycool’. Do this even if you had already sent a request previously. Bitstream has now automated the request process, meaning you should get an email with the download link much quicker now.
While you’re waiting to get your dirty little mitts on that email, don’t forget to check out our hands-on BOLT browser impressions. Get to it!
We’re pleased to tell you that, as of today, New York Times Crosswords is now available for all BlackBerry gamers. The game is subscription based, costing you a measly $2.99 per month to have access to daily puzzles from The New York Times. I wonder if David Pogue has it on his BlackBerry?
Didiom announced today the expansion of its mobile media service public beta to include the BlackBerry Pearl today (the beta also supports the BlackBerry Curve and BlackBerry 88xx series). Didiom allows BlackBerry users to access their home computer’s iTunes library remotely and buy over 1.5 million high-quality MP3 songs while on the go. Didiom is unique in that it utilizes a bartering system, allowing users to name their own price for MP3 songs and download them to their BlackBerry or PC. In addition, throughout the beta period Didiom is implementing a cash bonus program to reward prepaid users who purchase MP3 songs.
I downloaded Didiom, which requires you to use both a client on your computer (PC only for now) and my BlackBerry Curve 8330 running OS 4.5. While I was able to listen to the songs available from their library, I couldn’t get my DRM-free iTunes music to stream (Didiom has a DRM-free licensing deal with EPM). While this may not be a big deal for most users, about 99% of my music is DRM-free, meaning the service doesn’t really work for me. Anyone else have more luck?
A lot of BlackBerry Storm users are still waiting for Storm versions of their favorite BlackBerry software, and TeleNav GPS Navigator is no exception. Nan Palmero spent some time with the fine folks at TeleNav during CES 2009 checking out their new version for the BlackBerry Storm. In addition to the video above, TeleNav’s Mary Beth Lowell goes deeper into GPS Navigator’s functionality after the jump. Check out both videos and tell us what you think!
