Research in Motion announced recently that its next-generation BlackBerry phones and tablets would run the same software, and it would be called BBX rather than BlackBerry OS or BlackBerry Tablet OS. There’s just one problem: A company called Basis International owns the trademarket for BBX.

This week Basis announced that it’s won a temporary restraining order against RIM’s use of the BBX name, and at the same time RIM has announced a new name for its upcoming operating system: BlackBerry 10.

Like the BlackBerry Tablet OS which runs on the company’s PlayBook tablet, BlackBerry 10 will be based on QNX software. But it will be the first version to run on phone-sized devices, which means developers will be able to write apps for both phones and tablets and phone users won’t have to get used to a whole new OS when adding a tablet to their collection, or vice versa.

via Reuters and Engadget

So long BBX, future RIM phones and tablets to run “BlackBerry 10″ is a post from: mobiputing

Research in Motion is starting to look beyond the BlackBerry smartphone. For years the company’s mobile phones had dominated corporate settings, but Android and iOS devices have been chipping away at BlackBerry’s enterprise market. But RIM isn’t just a phone maker, and today the company introduced a forward-looking product that could help the company survive even if nobody ever buys a BlackBerry phone or tablet again.

It’s called BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, and it’s software that IT departments can use to manage a number of different mobile devices. It supports BlackBerry OS, iOS, and Android and gives IT managers a single console they can use to manage each device and platform.

BlackBerry Mobile Fusion supports the built-in features offered by each operating system. So if your phone doesn’t, for instance, support remote wipe capabilities, Mobile Fusion can’t help.

But the move will make it possible for businesses, government institutions, or other organizations that issue BlackBerry, iOS, and Android phones to staff to manage devices. It will offer the ability to activate devices, reset passwords, remotely lock or wipe a phone, or even push software or apps over the air.

Basically, it brings some of the features that had only been available in BlackBerry Enterprise to other platforms.

The new software should be available early in 2012. Obviously RIM still hopes customers buy BlackBerry OS devices, but it’s interesting to see the company push a product designed for the modern, multi-platform reality.

RIM’s BlackBerry Mobile Fusion lets IT managers support iOS, Android, BlackBerry is a post from: mobiputing

Adobe has released the last major update to Flash Player for mobile devices. Flash Player 11.1 is now available for download for Android devices and for the BlackBerry PlayBook. The update promises better performance and security and stability improvements.

From here on out, Adobe is only promising to fix bugs and provide security updates. We won’t see any major performance improvements or new features… and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Adobe abandon even those minor updates in another year or two.

A few days ago Adobe announced it would cease development of Flash for mobile devices. Instead the company will focus on supporting HTML5 and offer Flash developers tools to create native apps for Android, BlackBerry and other platforms by using Adobe AIR, which is basically a platform for turning Flash apps into apps that don’t need a web browser to run.

Part of the nail in mobile Flash’s coffin was probably delivered by Apple. The company has never allowed Flash to run on iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad models — and since those devices are kind of popular, the move has helped spur the growth of alternatives to Flash including HTML5 and other web technologies that allow for rich media on the web without the use of browser plugins.

Adobe will continue to develop and support Flash Player for desktop operating systems.

Adobe cranks it up to 11.1 for last mobile Flash update is a post from: mobiputing

Next year Research in Motion will start producing smartphones that essentially look like smaller versions of the company’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. The PlayBook has a 7 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display and runs PlayBook OS software based on the QNX operating system. The new phones will be smaller, but they’ll still have 1024 x 600 pixel screens and they’ll run the new BBX operating system based on QNX.

In an interview with PC Magazine, RIM VP Alec Saunders says that if a developer writes an app today that will run on the PlayBook, it will also work on future phones running BBX.

The move sounds a lot like the one Apple made when developing the iPad. The company had a mobile operating system called iPhone OS which also needed to run on the larger, tablet-sized iPad. So Apple started calling the software iOS instead of iPhone OS. Sure, iPad users get some different features and support for higher resolution apps, but they’re basically the same operating system.

Since BBX phones and tablets will have the same screen resolution, it sounds like there may be few differences between software designed to run for a device that fits in your pocket or one that’s meant to slip into a bag.

Saunders also confirmed that BBX phones will include support for BlackBerry Enterprise Server and ship with native contact, email, and calendar apps — something that won’t be available for the PlayBook until early next year. The first BBX phones aren’t expected to ship until later in 2012.

First RIM BBX phones will have 1024 x 600 pixel screens, BES support is a post from: mobiputing

Opera launched new versions of its mobile web browsers for pretty much every mobile operating system imaginable today… except Android. And that’s only because the Android apps received the same update a few weeks ago.

But if you’re using iOS, BlackBerry, S60, or J2ME you can grab Opera Mini 6.5 for your device. Opera Mobile 11.5 is also available for S60. And MeeGo users can check out a new Opera Mobile Labs 11.5 release for tablets and netbooks.

The key difference between Opera Mobile and Mini is that Opera Mini relies on remote servers to compress data before sending web pages and other content to your device, while Opera Mobile uses your device’s hardware to render web content (although you can turn on Opera Turbo mode to enable the same sort of compression).

The biggest change in the new versions is a tool that helps you visualize how much data you’ve used — and how much data you’ve saved by using Opera’s compression technology. Opera has also made it easier to bookmark a website quickly by tapping a star in the URL bar. Sure, that feature is pretty common in desktop web browsers, but you don’t see it on many mobile browsers yet.

Opera web browsers updated for iOS, BlackBerry, S60, and even MeeGo is a post from: mobiputing

Research in Motion is launching its new social music service, BBM Music for BlackBerry. Like competing services from Spotify, Rdio, Rhapsody, or MOG, BBM Music charges customers a monthly fee for the ability to stream music on demand.

But there’s a huge twist with RIM’s model. First, the service costs just $5 per month, which is about half the price of competing services.

Second — you only get to choose 50 songs initially. That’s about four of five albums worth of music. But remember how I said BBM Music was social? If you want to listen to more than 50 songs, all you have to do is add friends. Then you can listen to their music collections at no additional cost.

If you have 1 friend, that means your streaming music collection jumps to 100 songs. Add 20 friends, and it’s 1050. Of course, you might want to coordinate with your friends to make sure you don’t have the same 50 songs in each of your collections. My guess is if you actually want to listen to your friends’ music, it’s probably because you share tastes.

Each month you can swap out 25 songs from you collection for new tracks.

RIM has signed deals with music labels allowing the company to offer access to millions of songs — but you have to work a lot harder to access that music than you would if you paid $10 per month for Rdio or Spotify.

BBM Music should be available for download from the BlackBerry App World today in the US, Canada, and Australia. Users can sign up for a free trial for up to 2 months. There’s also a “free subscription” option which lets you play 30 second samples of songs instead of full tracks.

The service has been in beta since August, but today it officially launches in select regions.

BBM Music launches for BlackBerry phones is a post from: mobiputing

There’s a new beta version of the official Twitter app for BlackBerry, and it adds support for multiple Twitter accounts. Now if you have a personal account and one for work, you can login to both from your BlackBerry smartphone using Twitter 2.1 beta.

The app is available as a free download from the BlackBerry Beta Zone.

Twitter 2.1 beta supports up to 4 Twitter accounts at once. The name of your current profile will show up in the header so you won’t forget which account you’re using. You can also cross-post Tweets between accounts.

In addition to multi-account support, the new Twitter app also makes it easier to edit your Profile data thanks to an edit link on the Profile page.

Twitter’s mobile apps for Android and iOS already support multiple accounts.

Twitter for BlackBerry adds multiple account support is a post from: mobiputing

The Android Market is riddled with themes for Android devices that can change the look and feel (or at least the colors) of your phone’s operating system. To install them you’ll need an app that supports themes, such as ADW, Launcher Pro, or the T-Mobile Theme Chooser (which is built into CyanogenMod 7 and some other custom ROMs for Android devices).

But you’ll also need a bit of patience because hunting through the Android Market for themes can be a pain in the behind. Fortunately there’s a faster way. The developers at Bentotbox have put together an app called the N3xGen Theme Manager which rounds up some of the top themes in one place.

N3xGen Theme Manager provides a one-stop shop for ADW, ADW Ex, Launcher Pro, Launcher Pro Plus, and T-Mobile Theme Chooser themes. Just select the icon at the bottom of the theme manager for the type of theme you’re looking for and a list will appear. You can tap any theme for details and pictures showing what the theme looks like. You can also scroll left or right to switch between free themes, paid themes, or sort themes by category or developer.

When you actually click the download button, N3xGen Theme Manager will dump you out into the theme download page in the Android Market — so if your device doesn’t support the Android Market you can’t use N3xGen Theme Manager to circumvent it. But the free app does make finding themes for your phone a lot simpler.

via Droid-Life

N3xGen Theme Manager is an app store for Android themes is a post from: mobiputing

Update: There’s reason to believe these screenshots could be fake.

Earlier this year a rumor started making the rounds that Research in Motion was preparing to launch BlackBerry Messenger apps for Android and iOS. On the one hand, this would open up the company’s popular instant messaging service to a much larger audience. On the other hand, it could hurt BlackBerry smartphone sales since right now BBM is pretty much a BlackBerry exclusive — if you want to chat with your friends on the service you need a BlackBerry device.

Now TechRadar received some leaked photos that give the rumor a little more credibility. They show BlackBerry Messenger on an Android phone.

The photos reportedly come from a RIM employee who says the app is still in testing, but that it could launch next year.

Research in Motion has been dealing with sluggish BlackBerry Tablet sales and declining smartphone sales as Android, iOS and Windows Phone 7 pick up steam. The company still makes solid communications devices, but BlackBerry is still a brand that’s most often associated with business users, while the smartphone and tablet market is largely catering to consumers these days.

While the company has made some strides in adding social features, a new touch-friendly interface, and powerful multimedia capabilities to its recent devices, most people don’t think of BlackBerry products as “fun.”

So perhaps porting BBM to Android and iOS makes good business sense: Maybe RIM’s days as a hardware vendor are limited. But if the company can port some of its more popular software applications to run on other platforms, there could be a market for RIM’s communication and business-oriented services on Android, iOS, and other mobile operating systems.

BlackBerry Messenger for Android on the way? is a post from: mobiputing

BlackBerry App World 3.0 is now available for download. It was expected to launch in August, but I suppose it’s better a little later than a lot late.

The new app store for BlackBerry applications supports BlackBerry OS 5.0 and up and offers a quick way to find, purchase, and install apps for BlackBerry phones and tablets.

The latest version brings a number of improvements, including

• A redesigned home screen with banners that rotate to show more highlighted apps
• New channels for apps, games, and themes
• Social sharing, allowing you to share apps from the details screen with your contacts on BBM, Facebook, Twitter, email, or SMS
• Manage your BlackBerry ID and payment information on your device
• Manage subscription content and receive notifications when a renewal payment is due

via @BlackBerry

BlackBerry App World 3.0 is now available is a post from: mobiputing

Despite many BlackBerry devices launching with RIM’s latest operating system, there are still a number of high profile apps that don’t support OS 7. Fortunately now you can cross Dropbox off that list. Dropbox is a cloud-based storage service that lets you store files online and access them from a computer or mobile device.

Now, courtesy of the Crackberry forums, a new build of the popular cloud service will function properly on your BlackBerry’s OS 7.

The Dropbox build also packs some added features, while resolving issues on the new Bold and Curve devices, as well as bugs on the thumbnails screen (where only a few thumbs previously loaded.) The new features include a security passcode, enhanced speed (performance), and various design tweaks.

You can also save email attachments to Dropbox in this build, which is especially convenient if you’re used to receiving files via email.

To download Dropbox for BlackBerry OS 7, hit this link to get a free compatibile version of the app.

Dropbox now running on BlackBerry 7 devices is a post from: mobiputing

Popular location-sharing network Foursquare has updated its app for BlackBerry to version 3.2.1, packing a host of new features and a redesigned UI.

The most notable feature is the overhaul of the Venue and Check-in screen, while the entire layout is now amended to take into account devices with high-res screens. Also, many users were having issues connecting to BBM servers, so Foursquare responded by improving the handling and performance of connecting to BBM terminals. However, the app still lacks the ability to set keyboard shortcuts for non-touchscreen phones, a popular feature found in the Twitter app.

Other new features include major technical improvements to the GPS/location-based services, which were notoriously inaccurate on the BlackBerry platform. You’ll also find several bug-fixes and tweaks for battery-life optimization, which is certainly helpful for an app that utilizes your device’s built-in GPS.

The update to Foursquare v3.2.1 is available in BlackBerry App World for free, and is available for any device running OS 4.2+.

via Crackberry

Foursquare for BlackBerry updated, adds new design and features is a post from: mobiputing

Samsung has unveiled its answer to BlackBerry Messenger, iMessage, and pretty much every other messaging service for mobile devices. It’s called ChatON, and the app will be available soon for Samsung phones running Bada OS or Android, as well as for devices running iOS, or BlackBerry OS.

In fact, ChatON won’t even require a smartphone, a simpler version will also be available for feature phones. There will also be a web app that you can use to send and receive messages from a PC.

ChatON lets users engage in text-based chats as well as group chats with larger groups of contacts. Users can share pictures or movies with contacts, as well as location information. There’s also support for non-real-time communication: you can leave comments on a friend’s profile or leave comments on pictures or videos shared in a chat room.

Another neat feature is something Samsung calls Interaction Rank. You can see stats showing who you talk to the most.

Samsung unveils ChatON smartphone messaging service is a post from: mobiputing

Research in Motion has launched a new subscription-based music service called BBM Music. The good news is that at $5 per month it’s one of the cheapest music subscription services available for any mobile device, and there’s a strong social element that allows you to hear the songs your friends are listening to. The bad news is that if you don’t have many friends you can’t listen to much music.

Here’s how it works: You pay up your money and BBM Music gives you access to 50 songs that you can stream over the internet or cache on your device for offline playback. If you want to change songs, you can only change 25 per month. When you compare this to services such as Spotify, Rhapsody, MOG, or Rdio, which offer unlimited access to music it sounds like a ripoff.

But here’s the innovative feature: BBM Music is a social app. If your other BlackBerry Messenger contacts are using BBM Music you can access any of the 50 songs on their devices. This way you can discover new music and expand your library… by convincing your friends to pony up $5 per month too.

From RIM’s standpoint, BBM Music could be an excellent way to lock users into the BBM service. After all, if you have a few hundred friends and a few thousand songs, you may be a little less likely to replace your BlackBerry phone with an iPhone. From a user standpoint… yeah, I’d probably rather just use a non-social music app. But maybe that’s just me.

RIM launches BBM Music: $5 per month social music service is a post from: mobiputing

RIM is expected to give the BlackBerry Playbook and future BlackBerry smartphones the ability to run Android apps as well as native BlackBerry applications.

The ability to run Android software will come through an “App Player” released directly by RIM to select devices, only one of which is currently on the market (the Playbook.) While the PlayBook will get the App Player through a software update, (and an early version has already been leaked to the public), Bloomberg reports that smartphones running QNX may come with the software preloaded.

It’s not clear that all QNX devices will be able to run Android apps. While it’s beginning to seem likely that RIM will eventually base its entire mobile offering on QNX software, the lower end models like the Pearl and the Curve may be limited to just BlackBerry App World, which has just a sixth of the amount of apps in the Android Market, while higher end devices get access to Android apps.

via Bloomberg

QNX powered BlackBerry phones may run Android apps is a post from: mobiputing

GroupMe is a group messaging service that lets you create groups from the contacts on your smartphone and start conversations involving everyone in the group. The company offers clients for iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 and also works over SMS.

Today Skype announced that it’s acquiring GroupMe — which actually means Microsoft is buying GroupMe, since Microsoft acquired Skype recently.

Skype offers voice, video, and text chat services for PC, Mac, Linux, and mobile devices. Earlier this year the company also acquired Qik, a service for recording and sharing short videos.

In a press release, Skype says the GroupMe acquisition will bring the company’s expertise in “text-based communications,” location sharing, and photo sharing to Skype. In other words, we could see group messaging capabilities coming soon to Skype’s mobile apps — as well as some of the company’s SMS features which allow you to engage in group communications with non-smartphones.

Skype acquires group messaging service GroupMe is a post from: mobiputing

Research in Motion has been beta testing an updated app store for BlackBerry devices for a few months. On Monday, August 22nd it will go public.

BlackBerry App World 3.0 features a number of improvements designed to make it easier to find new apps and manage the apps already installed on your device.

The home screen now features spotlighted apps and links to popular categories including Themes, Games, and Apps. The search bar is also more prominently displayed and you can sort results to see free apps, paid apps, recently updated apps or new apps.

RIM has also refined the detail pages for apps so that you can swipe from one screen to the next to read a description, see user reviews, or look at screenshots.

Users can also share apps using BBM, email, Twitter, or other services.

The new App World also includes a My World section that shows apps you’ve already purchased but which aren’t currently installed on your device. This makes it easy to re-download apps. That’s a feature Apple recently added to its App Store for iOS devices.

via n4bb

BlackBerry App World 3.0 to go live next week is a post from: mobiputing

Google released a Google Docs app for Android a few months ago letting you view, create, and edit documents in your Docs account from an Android phone or tablet. But it only works when you have an internet connection, since the mobile app is pretty much just the mobile Google Docs website in app form.

But if you’re looking for a mobile app that lets you create notes while you’re offline and then synchronize them with your Google Docs account when you’re back online, NoteSync might fit the bill.

This 99 cent app lets you jot notes on your phone and sync them with Google Docs — or view your Google Docs files on your phone. All you have to do is add the NoteSync label to any documents you want to view on your phone or tablet.

Unfortunately NoteSync is really meant for quick notes only. It doesn’t support spreadsheets or presentations, and won’t preserve rich text formatting in documents imported from your Google account. There’s also no way to italicize, bold, or underline text, use bullet points, or compose notes with any other rich text formatting tools.

via reddit

NoteSync for Android syncs your notes with Google Docs is a post from: mobiputing

Announced last month and released by Verizon today, the new BlackBerry Bold 9930 is both a major hardware upgrade to the BlackBerry lineup and a revision to the classic Bold 9000 released in 2008.

But if you have a BlackBerry running the recently-launched OS 6, is the jump to RIM’s latest software offering OS 7 worth the device upgrade?

As we’ve previously reported, OS 7 will only be available on new phones, so it’s one of the Bold 9930′s key selling points. If you’re sporting a Bold 9650 or a BlackBerry Torch, you’re stuck with OS 6.

The major upgrade that OS 7 packs is a high-powered, modernized web browser. OS 6 brought the webkit browser to the BlackBerry platform, which was significant, but the browsing capabilities were still far behind much of RIM’s competition. The upgraded browser includes a new Java engine, liquid graphics (better zooming and panning), HTML5 video, enhanced gesture support and speedier HTML rendering.

Despite RIM’s claims that the entire “BlackBerry experience” has been enhanced with liquid graphics, the OS 7 interface looks extremely similar to what you find on OS 6. The colors and icons look sharper, and general movements are likely to be speedier, but many 3rd party apps still need to be upgraded to take advantage of this. Furthermore, much of the speed improvements and removal of lag should likely be attributed to the Bold 9900/9930′s inclusion of a 1.2 GHz processor.

Aside from some minimal aesthetic improvements and a browser that arguably puts the BlackBerry web experience in contention with some of its rivals, OS 7 will bring you an expanded voice-activated search function and BlackBerry Balance. Balance is a business tool designed to allow enterprise users to divide work and private schedules more easily by connecting to the BlackBerry Administrative Service.

The argument to upgrade to the latest BlackBerry Bold devices solely for OS 7 would be far easier to make if you were moving from OS 5. If you’re making the switch from OS 6, the latest software offering alone might not be enough to justify a new 2-year deal on AT&T or Verizon.

Verizon launches BlackBerry Bold 9930 with OS 7, is it worth the upgrade? is a post from: mobiputing

Online storage service Box.net already offers mobile apps for iOS and Android phones and the iPad. Today the company rolled out new apps for Android tablets and the BlackBerry PlayBook which let users upload documents from a tablet or view items stored on Box.net on the go.

The Android app has been designed for tablets running Honeycomb, with a two-panel view and pop-up menus. You can also use Box.net for Android tablets to locate documents and then use other Android apps to open them.

The BlackBerry PlayBook app also has a two-panel view and supports swipe gestures.

The company has also rolled out a new mobile website built with HTML5, CSS3 and JqueryMobile, allowing you to access many Box.net features without installing a native app at all.

Using the web app you can now conduct full-text searches, view comments and leave a response, and manage files and folders. The page also loads more quickly and automatically refreshes as you scroll.

Box.net offers users 5GB of online storage for free. If you need additional space subscription pans start at $9.99 per month.

Box.net launches tablet apps for Android, BlackBerry is a post from: mobiputing

Research in Motion’s BlackBerry operating system has been powering smartphones since Apple and Google were only known for making computers and search engines. But over the past few years Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android have come to dominate the smartphone space, and while I think a lot of people forget just how many BlackBerry phones are still sold every year, RIM is losing market share to the hipper/newer platforms.

While RIM launched BlackBerry OS 7 recently, giving the mobile operating system a visual refresh, expanded support for voice search, and better HTML5 support, the OS update still feels like a band-aid.

On the other hand, the company’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet uses a completely different operating system, based on QNX. It’s designed from the ground up to support touch input, includes an on-screen keyboard, and one of the best systems I’ve seen for multitasking on a mobile device (although admittedly, the multitasking features appear to have been ripped off from webOS).

RIM has already said that it would eventually launch phones using similar QNX-based software. Now the folks at BGR have received word that the first QNX phone could launch during hte first quarter of 2012.

The phone will reportedly have a 1 GHz single core processor and at launch it won’t work with BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Instead it will use Microsoft ActiveSync for Exchange services including push email. That’s because the company is still re-writing BES to work with QNX.

In other words, while the new phone will have a radically redesigned user interface so that it will function more like a modern smartphone and less like a BlackBerry device designed half a decade ago, it might not initially have all of the business-friendly features that really help set BlackBerry phones apart from the competition. After all, if you’re going to use ActiveSync, you might as well just use a Windows Phone 7 device.

First BlackBerry QNX phone could launch in early 2012 is a post from: mobiputing

Want to start using the next version of the app store for BlackBerry phones? Just head on over the the BlackBerry Beta Zone and download BlackBerry App World 3.0. While Research in Motion isn’t ready to take the beta label off just yet, the new app store is available for anyone with a supported device to use starting today.

So what’s new in version 3.0? There’s a new home screen that features a prominent search bar, spotlight banners which take you to featured apps in certain categories, and icons for the most popular categories including Games, Apps and Themes. You can sort search results or category listings by free, paid, recently updated, or new.

The detail pages for apps also allow you to swipe between different views so you can quickly move from a summary description to screenshots or user reviews.

BlackBerry App World 3.0 also allows you to share apps via BlackBerry Messenger, Twitter, or other social apps, manage your app subscriptions, and manage your payment options.

BlackBerry App World 3.0 beta now available is a post from: mobiputing

While the BlackBerry PlayBook is fairly solid from a hardware standpoint, it lags behind the iPad and Android tablets when it comes to app selection. RIM has a pretty crafty workaround for that up its sleeve, however: a virtual machine that enables Android apps to run on the PlayBook.

The company demoed the Android Player for PlayBook earlier this year, and an early version was even discovered hiding out on RIM’s website. Both helped generate a good deal of anticipation, especially since RIM’s original launch target of Summer 2011 was in full swing.

Today, however, there’s a bit of news from the folks in Waterloo that puts a damper on things. A “reliable source” has told Engadget that the Android Player for PlayBook has now been delayed until the Fall, which will almost certainly compound its tablet market woes.

RIM executives admitted at the company’s 2011 annual general meeting that they didn’t quite know what to do with their first product launched via retail channels. Any further delays in key pieces of promised functionality could well seal the fate of the PlayBook — which would be a shame, since it has so much potential.

Still, potential isn’t always a good way to make consumers open their wallets, especially if it remains untapped for too long.

BlackBerry PlayBook Android App support delayed until fall is a post from: mobiputing

App store GetJar has announced that it’s garnered over 2 billion total downloads. GetJar sports a large catalog of free applications for pretty much every smartphone platform except iOS, including BlackBerry, webOS, Android, Symbian, and even HTML5 web apps.

GetJar offers more than 150,000 apps in total, and the company has managed to score a few Android exclusives. The company’s app store was the first to offer Angry Birds or Cut the Rope before they were offered in the Android Market and other stores — although that hasn’t always worked out well. GetJar couldn’t handle all the traffic from the Angry Birds launch and developers Rovio made a version of the game available in the Android Market the same day.

Facebook is GetJar’s top app, with over 100 million downloads reported.

To put GetJar’s success in the context of the major application incorporated offerings, Apple’s App Store surpassed 15 billion downloads in late June. The Android Market topped 4.5 billion earlier this month. For a small, totally free, alternative application store, GetJar has been reasonably successful. The company credits its growth to its “open approach to the app marketplace” and giving developers for all platforms “a free space to distribute their applications.”

via IntoMobile

GetJar free app store surpasses 2 billion total downloads is a post from: mobiputing

Google just made it a little bit easier to get around in London without a car. The company has added public transportation directions for London to all of its Google Maps products.

That means if you’re using Google Maps for Android, iOS, or BlackBerry or Google Maps in a web browser you can get step by step directions for getting from one place to another by bus, tube, or foot.

Android users can also fire up the Google Maps app to use the recently launched transit navigation beta feature which will let you know when it’s time to exit the vehicle or catch a transfer.

All told, Google offers transit directions for 447 cities including a number of locations in the US, Canada, and Europe

Google Maps adds transit directions for London is a post from: mobiputing

Research in Motion has officially launched BlackBerry Messenger 6. You can download it today from the BlackBerry App World. The latest version of BBM includes a number of improvements including battery location services and easier contact searching. But the biggest change is support for BBM connected apps.

BBM 6 allows third party developers to incorporate BlackBerry Messenger features into their apps. This makes a couple of things possible:

• When you use a BBM connected app it can update your BBM status. For instance, your earned Foursquare badges can show up in your BBM profile, or your high scores in a game.
• You can suggest apps or games that your BBM contacts might want to download, or invite your contacts to join you in a multiplayer game.
• Third party app developers can enable support for BBM chats within the app — so you can start chatting with your contacts without first launching BlackBerry Messenger.

At launch it looks like there are nearly two dozen apps which include BBM connected features. They’ll be marked in the App World with a “BBM connected” icon to make them easier to find.

BlackBerry Messenger 6 brings BBM to third party apps is a post from: mobiputing

Verizon has added a number of new features to its VZ Navigator application and changed the name to “Verizon Navigator VX.” Customers can try out the new app for free for 30 days.

The update includes the addition of real-time traffic “Smart Routes,” which are updated every 60 seconds with real-time traffic conditions. Instead of just letting you know when traffic is ahead, the app will now map a new route to avoid traffic. Verizon Navigator VX now also offers multitasking support for turn-by-turn voice directions, which means you can still hear directions even when other apps are running.

Other features include location sharing via Facebook (but no Foursquare support, unfortunately,) as well as 3D virtual city driving graphics and a local search functionality powered by Bing. You can ‘favorite’ specific locations that you like, and even find real-time weather, gas prices, movie times and other local information within the app.

The 30 day free trail is available exclusively for new VZ Navigator subscribers, and you can find out if your device is compatible with the service on its official website. Verizon Navigator VX is normally priced at $9.99 per device per month, with weekly and daily prices also available.

Verizon Navigator VX now reroutes to avoid traffic is a post from: mobiputing

While RIM hasn’t clearly spelled out what it hopes to do with JayCut, it looks like the goal is to create some sort of service for editing videos recording on BlackBerry devices such as the BlackBerry PlayBook.

In a blog post on the topic, RIM points out that PlayBook tablet has HD video cameras and HDMI output for recording and displaying high resolution videos. The company may be looking to use JayCut’s expertise to create a video editing app for the PlayBook — or a cloud-based video editing app that you can use to edit videos created on the PlayBook or other BlackBerry devices including smartphones.

I’ve never been entirely sold on the idea of cloud-based multimedia editors. It can take you a half hour to upload a video before you can even start editing it. Or you can use video editing software on your PC or mobile device to alter your video first and then upload the finished product to YouTube or other websites. The latter option is typically much faster since you can cut out portions you don’t need and compress the video before uploading it, so the file you’re sharing with the world is much smaller than the original video and you can upload it in a fraction of the time.

So while it’s certainly possible that RIM acquired JayCut to create a cloud-based video editor for BlackBerry, I kind of hope the goal is just to take the company’s video editors offline so that you can use them as native apps on the PlayBook or other BlackBerry products.

Cloud-based video editing coming to BlackBerry? is a post from: mobiputing

Research in Motion has been promising to launch an app soon that would allow anyone with the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to run Android apps as well as native apps designed for the BlackBerry Tablet operating system. The company has yet to release the Android App Player to the public… but that hasn’t stopped someone from digging around the RIM servers and finding a download link.

Right now the Android App Player is still clearly a work in progress. There’s no “back” button, for instance, which is a big problem since many Android apps rely on this button for key functions. The folks at n4bb also report that performance is still rather slow as well.

Update: You can swipe left on the bezel on the bottom of the tablet to simulate a tap on the back button. You can also use the Android menu function by swiping down from the top. The App Player doesn’t just let you install Android apps on your tablet — it also provides an emulated Android environment. You an use the Android web browser, calendar, contact manager, and other built-in apps as well as any third party apps you install.

Since this is pre-release software there’s always a chance you could break something by trying it out. And don’t expect any support from Research in Motion if something goes wrong. But if you’ve been staring at your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet for the last few months wishing you could run Words With Friends on it, this may be the answer.

Or you know, maybe you should just wait until the Android App Player is officially released.

You can download the Android App Player directly from RIM’s servers and then side-load it on your tablet. If that link stops working you can also try these mirrors.

The folks at IntoMobile have posted a video showing how the Android App Player beta works on the tablet. You can check it out below:

Update: RIM has removed the original download link and advises people to wait for the official App Player to be released this later this summer.

Leaked Android App Player brings Android apps to the BlackBerry PlayBook is a post from: mobiputing

Update: RIM has temporarily pulled the update after users reported issues with the BlackBerry Bridge app. A new update will be available later this week to address those issues.

Nearly a month after the the last software update for the Blackberry PlayBook tablet, RIM has bumped BlackBerry Tablet OS for the PlayBook to version 1.07. While those of you who took the plunge and picked up a PlayBook are liking hoping “this will be the one!” that finally brings Android app support to the platform, I’m sorry to disappoint. The Android VM has not come along for the ride this time.

BlackBerry Tablet OS 1.07 does add a few improvements to BlackBerry Bridge — the software that allows you to pair your BlackBerry phone with the tablet for enhanced functionality. That includes the ability to save email attachments to your phone’s internal memory or SD card, and .ZIP files are now supported.

The Pictures app has been tweaked, and finally has the ability to view images in portrait mode, and pinch to zoom has been added to the Videos app.

That’s about it as far as additional functionality goes — though RIM has added support for more than a dozen new languages, including Russian, Swedish, and Czech.

BlackBerry PlayBook OS 1.07 update improves Bridge apps, language support is a post from: mobiputing

Research in Motion may be preparing to launch a new software keyboard with BlackBerry OS 7. According to leaked screenshots from the upcoming BlackBerry Torch 2 smartphone, RIM will be giving the keyboard a bit of an overhaul.

Both the 9810 (Torch 2) and 9850 (a BlackBerry Storm variation) are expected to benefit from the reformed design, which includes rectangular keys, a more pronounced spacebar, vibrant colors, and an overall cleaner look. The reduction of the keys from rounded corners to 90 degree angles somewhat resembles the Android keyboard.

Interestingly, the design changes don’t seem to be that different, but the enhancements in OS 7′s keyboard make it look strikingly similar to that of the BlackBerry Playbook. Perhaps more OS changes will be taking place in the future that line up the two software product lines.

via Pocketnow

BlackBerry OS 7 bringing new keyboard to the Torch 2 is a post from: mobiputing

Research in Motion is opening up some new tools for developers, namely BBM Social SDK 1.0 for BlackBery Java and BBM Social SDK 1.0 for BlackBerry WebWorks.

The new software developer kits give developers access to new API’s (application programming interface) so they can deeply integrate BBM’s new social features in their apps.

That means you’ll soon be able to access and update fields in your BBM profile such as your status, avatar and personal message when using certain third party apps. Developers can also add further BBM functionality, like BBM chat initiations, and the ability to transfer app info to others in your contacts list.

Foursquare’s upcoming update to its app for BlackBerry is expected to take advantage of the integration features that RIM is providing. Hopefully, they will start allowing users to create their own custom areas within the user’s BBM profile for promoting recent application activity or storing trophies and achievements.

You can download the final version of the BBM Social Platform SDK 1.0 for BlackBerry Java from the Developer Zone. BBM 6 will support applications that utilize the new BBM Social Platform.

via Crackberry

RIM announces new dev tools: BlackBerry apps to get even more BBM integration is a post from: mobiputing

Ever wish you could automatically silence your phone’s ringer, change the ringtone, or use vibration instead of an audible ringtone for notifications when you leave your home or office? Llama is a free app that lets you make those adjustments automatically.

Here’s how it works. The first time you launch Llama it will ask you to set up areas. You can create home and work areas, or other areas for places you regularly visit. Just long-press on any area and click the start learning button and Llama will search for nearby cell towers. That way any time you enter or leave the area, Llama can make adjustments to your profile without asking you first.

Once you have some areas set up, you can visit the Profiles tab where you can customize different actions such as ringtone and notification volume, media volume, alarm volume, or in-call volume. You can even have the Llama icon in your notification bar change colors when you switch profiles.

Finally you can go to the Events tab where Llama lets you create a set of conditions for switching from one profile to another. For instance, you can mute your phone when you leave home, or switch to a quiet profile after 10:00 at night.

Llama doesn’t give you as many options as AutomateIt or Tasker. For instance, it doesn’t let you disable WiFi when you leave your house. But Tasker costs about $6.38, and while AutoMateIt is free, it’s a bit more confusing to operate than Llama.

Update: It appears I missed some of Llama’s additional functions. From the Event editing menu you can add a number of additional actions such as toggling the GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, or Google account synchronization. You can also adjust the screen brightness, screen timeout length and other settings. I’m actually quite impressed with the number of options you get from this free app — although I’m surprised many of these options show up in the Event screen rather than the Profiles screen.

Llama for Android automatically changes your profile based on time, location is a post from: mobiputing

Online storage lockers which provide streaming access to your music collection across multiple devices are all the rage these days. Amazon‘s doing it. Google‘s doing it. Apple‘s sort of kind of doing it. Now Best Buy is too.

Best Buy has introduced a new service called Music Cloud which allows users to upload their songs to a web-based service and listen from any computer or from mobile apps for Android, BlackBerry, or iOS.

Right now the service is linked to iTunes. Music Cloud will grab music from your playlists. If you’re not an iTunes user, you’re out of luck (although you can install the app for free if you really want to use Best Buy’s service instead of any of the nearly identical services from a competitor.

There are free and premium options available, with the premium service running $3.99 per month.

I can’t really think of any reason to use Music Cloud instead of Amazon or Google’s offering… but that’s probably not the point. It’s likely that Best Buy will stick a big Music Cloud button on computers sold through its stores trying to convince customers who might not be aware of other options to sign up.

via Slashdot and Yahoo News

Best Buy launches Music Cloud service for Android, iOS, BlackBerry is a post from: mobiputing

Popular social networking service Seesmic allows users to interact with your Twitter and Facebook accounts across a number of platforms. There’s a web app, desktop apps for Windows or Mac, and a line of mobile apps for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone 7. There’s also a BlackBerry app, but Seesmic has announced that it will drop support for that platform soon.

While Research in Motion’s BlackBerry platform is certainly struggling to keep up with the rapid growth of iOS and Android, there are still a lot of Blackberry users out there, so Seesmic’s advice that “those effected [sic] by this change” try out Seesmic for other mobile platforms seems a bit… silly. I doubt many people will trade in their BlackBerry for an Android phone just to keep using Seesmic.

That said, it seems clear that plenty of people are trading in their Blackberries for other devices which is probably part of the reason Seesmic has decided to focus on other platforms where the app is more popular.

via Mobilize

Seesmic social networking app drops support for BlackBerry is a post from: mobiputing

The app supports both text entry and speech input, and it’s fairly good at recognizing spoken words. I say “fairly” because when I asked iSpeech to sort out “Would you help me sell my child to the gypsies,” it jotted down “digit sees” at the end of the sentence. The translations aren’t always bang-on either, but they’re certainly good enough to get you out of a jam when you’re trying to communicate with locals whose language you don’t speak. iSpeech shows you a printed translation and will read it aloud as well, and both the Spanish and French examples I threw at sounded pretty darn accurate.

Translations do take a bit of time to process (shorter phrases are faster, obviously), and you’ll need an active data connection since the app is cloud-powered. Despite its shortcomings, iSpeech can be quite useful — and it’s certainly a massive step up from talking more loudly in your native tongue when people don’t understand.

iSpeech runs on pretty well every BlackBerry in existence, requiring only OS 1.0 or better and it’s carrier-agnostic to boot.

via Crackberry

iSpeech Translator is a BlackBerry-toting tourist’s friend is a post from: mobiputing

SugarSync doesn’t seem to generate the same amount of buzz as DropBox amongst the cool kids, the service offers a very strong (and enterprise-friendly) synchronization and backup platform. The company has just outed a new enhancement which makes SugarSync an even better option for power users who like extra control measures: mobile device management.

In the SugarSync web interface, the devices section now lets you view all the files and folders which are currently synced to your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Transferring files has gotten easier as well, as SugarSync’s desktop app now offers direct uploading to iOS devices — and support for Android and BlackBerry will be arriving in the near future.  When new files are uploaded to your cloud storage, SugarSync will send a push notification to your device to let you know that they’re available for syncing. For a look at how the new mobile device management features work, have a look at screencast embedded below.

The company has also updated its BlackBerry app recently to bring it up to date with the SugarSync apps for Android and iOS.

via CrunchGear

SugarSync web interface improves mobile sync capabilities for iOS is a post from: mobiputing

If you’re a BlackBerry user that needs constant updates on your stock portfolio, BerryBlowApps has developed an app for you: Stocks+.

Stocks+ is different than other finance-based apps for BlackBerry, as it comes with the ability to display your stocks on your home screen. As the app updates in the background, the stock information on your wallpaper changes, so you always have up-to-date information right in front of you.

You can specify pop-up, sound, LED, and vibration alerts for a change in stock value, the difference between average of the day and current value, and the difference between 52 week average and current value (as a percentage). You can also backup and restore your stocks and alerts settings.

The app was recently updated to version 1.3, which brought company-related news and updates. It also came with the ability to sort the order of your stocks, set your background photo within the app, and backup to an SDCard.

You can download Stocks+ for $4.99 or try it out the free demo version first.

via CrackBerry

Stay up to date on your investments with Stocks+ for BlackBerry is a post from: mobiputing

If your newly-launched tablet is struggling to compete against the likes of the iPad, it’s probably a good idea to make sure that any first-party apps you release really show off its potential. RIM feels differently — at least that’s the impression I’m left with after playing around with the company’s new BlackBerry News app for the PlayBook.

News comes pre-loaded with several popular RSS feeds from traditional content providers such as AP and Reuters, as well as online favorites like Engadget and Mashable. Articles are grouped by categories: headlines, business, travel, technology, science, arts & entertainment, and sport. Wait, my bad — there’s no sports section, so you’ll have to add all that content yourself.

But there’s good news on that front — BlackBerry News lets you add items by searching for site names or URLs and you can also browse through its News Library, a collection of feeds from additional sites which didn’t warrant display when you tap a main category icon for one reason or another. Here you will find sports feeds (SI, ESPN, USA Today, etc.), but each custom subscription gets its own icon. There’s no way to group them as of yet, and more often than not BlackBerry News slaps the default RSS icon on the feed instead of a site’s favicon or logo. You can’t even tap-and-drag items on the My News page to reorganize them.

BlackBerry News does present items in a reasonably nice way, with its “virtual newspaper” layout. But when you tap through, the experience is a roll of the dice. Some items link to the article on source’s website. Some display a nice, clean RSS item in its entirety. Others load a truncated RSS item with no link to continue reading the rest of the content.

I was really hoping BlackBerry News would blow me away, but it’s a halfhearted effort at best. For now, I’ll be sticking with Glimpse on my PlayBook.

BlackBerry News app for PlayBook is another disappointment from RIM is a post from: mobiputing

SugarSync, a popular file backup & sharing service recently updated its app for BlackBerry to version 2.0.

In addition to increasing the performance and reliability, SugarSync revamped the user interface with an improved layout and created tabs for easier navigation. Sharing was also made easier by integrating your native email account for file and folder sharing. Users will also have the ability to copy public links and paste them into any application or email message.

SugarSync’s fans are pretty dedicated, despite it being a paid service, whereas much of its competition is free. Prior to this update, however, its BlackBerry-using fans were quite disappointed with the BlackBerry app. But with version 2.0′s improved UI that’s more sleek and intuitive, it looks like the BlackBerry app is no longer behind (or as far behind) its Android and iOS counterparts.

You can download SugarSync’s 30 day free trial or check out other pricing plans starting at $9.99/month on its SugarSync.com.

via N4BB and Crackberry

SugarSync app for BlackBerry updated to v2.0 is a post from: mobiputing