Official: BlackBerry Torch 9810 OS 7.1.0.428 from Telstra (June,2012)

BlackBerry Torch 9810 users are getting an official OS update today. Telstra has officially released OS 7.1.0.428 for you to download. We’re not quite sure what’s new in this release so be sure to let us know.Download Torch 9810 OS 7.1.0.428 from TelstraDiscuss this in the forumsMake sure you join our community to share your thoughts on this!How to: load an OS on your BlackBerry

BlackBerry Native SDK 2.1 Beta Now Available (June,2012)

Developers, RIM has at last released the BlackBerry Native SDK 2.1 beta. Additionally, RIM has released updates to the WebWorks and Ripple emulator. Get the tools and start building those amazing BlackBerry 10 apps!Download Native SDK 2.1 betaDownload WebWorks and Ripple updates

RIM Releases BlackBerry PlayBook Extended Warranty App (June,2012)

Research In Motion has released a new app for information regarding a 2yr extended warranty for your BlackBerry PlayBook. The 2yr extended warranty is for $99. Here’s what the warranty is about:Enrollment is Time Sensitive â€" Must Enroll in the Program within the first 30 days of PlayBook activationIncludes Accidental Damage from Handling Protection such as Drops, Spills and Cracked ScreensExtends the Manufacturer’s Limited Warranty from 1 Year to 2 YearsExtends expert technical support from 90 days to 2 yearsNo Deductible or Hidden ChargesPrice is specific to PlayBook WiFi ModelsDownload this FREE Information App to learn more about the BlackBerry Extended Protection Plan, access frequently asked questions, and review the terms and conditions and privacy policy. There is no obligation to purchase based on this informational opportunity.Download this app for USADownload this app for Canada

Skype Attends BlackBerry 10 Jam Tour in California (June,2012)

As reported from Mikel Calderon, a developer attending the BlackBerry 10 Jam Tour in Santa Clara, California, someone from Skype was apparently attending too. The Skype developer gave the usual “We’re always looking to expand to other platforms”, but Mikel believes they’ll begin working on a BB10 Skype client after today.Microsoft and RIM have been somewhat friends in the best. Microsoft’s BING search engine has become the initial option when using a BlackBerry browser. Why haven’t we seen a Skype app yet? Some have given the conspiracy theory that Microsoft wants to leverage Skype over RIM so that Windows Phone can have an advantage. Regardless, Microsoft is missing out on the over 1 million PlayBook users and the potential influx of users once BlackBerry 10 is released.Nevertheless, we have to applaud the Skype developer (whoever he/she is) for taking the time to see what BlackBerry 10 is all about. Who knows, perhaps we just may see a Skype app once the first BlackBerry 10 device releases later this year.

16GB BlackBerry PlayBook Discontinued (June,2012)

The other day N4BB member chm985 posted a forum regarding rumors of the 16GB BlackBerry PlayBook being discontinued. We hadn’t heard anything about it ourselves and put it on the back-burner. Turns out, it looks to be true given an email sent from RIM to a consumer.Why would RIM cancel the 16GB PlayBook? The likely reason is there is barely any profit on every 16GB PlayBook sold. Given the price cuts putting the PlayBook to its relative production cost, RIM is just breaking even. Another reason is that for many media-hungry users, 16GB just isn’t enough space.This brings up an interesting question regarding a 16GB variant for a 4G PlayBook and BlackBerry 10 devices. Will this mean we’ll only see 32GB and 64GB variations of these devices?Discuss this in the forumsvia CB

IDC Says Windows Phone to Surpass BlackBerry by 2016 (June,2012)

Research firm IDC has issued a new projection for mobile marketshare by 2016. The primary reason the IDC believes Windows Phone will garner 19.2% of the overall marketshare is due to the penetration of Nokia’s Lumia 900.The IDC believes BlackBerry will remain relatively stagnant and drop from 6% to only 5.9% by 2016. “Underpinning the smartphone market is the constantly shifting OS landscape,” IDC analyst Ramon Llamas said in a statement. “Android will maintain leadership throughout our forecast, while others will gain more mobile operator partnerships (Apple) or currently find themselves in the midst of a major transition (BlackBerry and Windows Phone/Windows Mobile).”Microsoft is definitely doing all they can to bolster Windows Phone adoption. Do you think the IDC’s projections are correct? Will RIM’s BlackBerry be surpassed by Windows Phone?via CNET

Junk Call Blocker App for BlackBerry Gets Updated (June,2012)

S4BB Limited has updated their well known Junk Call Blocker application for BlackBerry Smartphones. This application will block any incoming junk calls. Besides blocking junk calls, the user can also add own numbers to the blacklist. It’s also possible to allow exceptions by adding numbers to the white list. Numbers can be freely moved from black list to white list.The new update allows the user to set a voice notification whenever a junk call was blocked. In case a more subtle notification is desired, the user can choose to set an LED or vibration notification.Junk Call Blocker is compatible with all BlackBerry Smartphones running OS 6.0 and higher and can be downloaded for FREE at BlackBerry App World.

Nicki Minaj to Perform Concert in Manila by Globe & BlackBerry to Reward Subscribers (June,2012)

Mark your calendars and be part of the biggest concert party this year as Globe Telecom, the leader in postpaid, and Research In Motion (RIM), the company behind BlackBerry®, mount another first by bringing international rapper and songwriter Nicki Minaj to Manila for a ‘one night-only’ concert at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on July 11, 2012, the only Southeast Asian leg of her Pink Friday Tour.Get up close and live with the global music icon that is Nicki Minaj who has captivated millions of fans across the globe with her hit song ‘Super Bass’ for free
when you purchase a new BlackBerry® Curve™ 9220 or BlackBerry® Curve™ 9320 smartphone from Globe with a Globe My Super Plan, a portfolio of the most flexible and
customizable postpaid plans that allow customers to design their postpaid service plan based on their choice of consumable monthly amounts, freebies, and add-ons.Globe subscribers availing of the new BlackBerry Curve smartphones are in for the biggest treat of their lives with a free and exclusive access to a night of great music as they move and groove to their favorite Nicki Minaj hits. Subscribers getting a new BlackBerry Curve 9220 are entitled to one (1) free ticket*, while those purchasing a new BlackBerry Curve 9320 get two free (2) tickets** to the concert party of the year. Existing subscribers outside their lock-up can opt to re-contract their account subscription and get the BlackBerry Curve 9220 or the BlackBerry Curve 9320 for the free tickets, while those within lock-up can either get a new postpaid line or purchase a prepaid phone kit.The BlackBerry Curve 9220 comes free with My Super Plan 499 plus a P99 unlimited BlackBerry Chat subscription while the BlackBerry Curve 9320 is free with My Super Plan BlackBerry Unli Surf Combo Plan 999. For as low as P598/month, Globe subscribers can get the BlackBerry Curve 9220 complete with a P499 monthly consumable amount for calls and texts, unlimited access to BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger) and 2 freebies, in addition to the one (1) free concert ticket. On the other hand, subscribers can enjoy the BlackBerry Curve 9320 for only P999/month with unlimited surfing, P400 monthly consumable for calls and texts, and 1 freebie, in addition to the two (2) free concert tickets.Nicki Minaj quickly became a global music phenomenon when she released her debut album ‘Pink Friday’ in November 2010. It became an instant hit, peaking at
number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and being certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) only a month after its release. She became the
first female solo artist to have seven singles on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. Her second single, “Your Love” reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, making Minaj the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002. Her second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded was released in April this year.“Socially-connected customers in the Philippines will love the new stylish BlackBerry Curve 9320 and 9220 smartphones,” said Hastings Singh, Managing Director, South Asia at RIM. “Our customers are important to us, so together with our partner Globe, we wanted to offer new My Super Plan customers who choose a BlackBerry
Curve 9320 or 9220 an amazing ‘thank you’ in the form of free tickets to see Nicki Minaj, one of the hottest music acts out there,” he added. “Globe is very excited to partner with BlackBerry in bringing Nicki Minaj up close and personal to her Filipino fans this July. Flying an international artist for an exclusive concert in the country as the only Southeast Asian destination is something we’ve never done before. As part of our continuing efforts to further grow our postpaid business, we are making Nicki Minaj’s concert party as our biggest freebie ever, making it exclusive to subscribers getting the new BlackBerry Curve 9220 or BlackBerry Curve 9320. With these two new BlackBerry smartphones, users can join the conversation and share a great concert party experience with each other, only from Globe and BlackBerry,” said
Martha Sazon, Head of Globe Postpaid.Get the newest BlackBerry Curve smartphones from Globe now by visiting www.globe.com.ph/blackberrycurve, going to the Globe Store nearest you, or calling
730-1010 and become boom-ified with the Pink Friday gal herself, Nicki Minaj.

QNX Shows Car 2 Infotainment System in New Jeep (Photos) (June,2012)

QNX is diligently working hard to make their car infotainment the best in the industry. We’ve already seen the amazing work they’ve done to a Porsche 911 at CES and a Police Cruiser during BlackBerry World. The QNX team is now showing complete photos of a new Jeep reference vehicle they’ve built.Paul Leroux from QNX says in a blog post he envisions the future of infotainment systems to be so advanced “you can sit behind the wheel and watch your car’s instrument cluster automatically reconfigure itself according to your personal preferences. And imagine if the cluster could do the same for everyone else who uses the car.”Here’s an excerpt from QNX’s post showing the new Jeep:The vehicle
Up to now, we’ve only released teaser images of the reference vehicle, with just enough detail to get people guessing as to what it might be. But enough with the mystery. Here’s a full-on shot of the vehicle â€" a Jeep Wrangler Sahara â€" in all its off-road glory:
Yes, it’s a Jeep By the way, if you were one of the first 25 people in Canada or the US to guess it was a Jeep during our recent teaser campaign, congratulations! We’ll identify the winners shortly. The cluster
Once you get behind the wheel, the first thing you’ll see is the digital instrument cluster. Let’s zoom in so you can get a good look: The cluster is implemented entirely in software and can reconfigure itself on the fly to display various types of information. Better yet, you can re-skin the cluster at the tap of a touchscreen button, like so: As you can see, the cluster communicates with the head unit’s navigation system to display turn-by-turn directions. Nice touch. The head unit
Now look to your right, and you’ll see the head unit. It supports a whack of functions (note my deft use of technical language), including one-touch pairing with Bluetooth smartphones, hybrid navigation, text-to-speech, natural speech recognition, streaming Internet radio, weather reporting, parking search, and too many other things to mention here. In this photo, the head unit displays one of my favorite applications, the virtual mechanic. Intrigued? Check out my description of an early version of this app. You know what else is cool? The unit’s media player can post Facebook updates that list the song currently playing â€" but only when you tell it to, using voice commands. (Personal control over technology. I like that.) To view these updates later today and tomorrow while the Jeep is at Telematics Detroit, check out the QNX Facebook page. Here’s another photo of the head unit, showing its app tray: The radio
What car would be complete without a radio? Mind you, in this case, “radio” includes support for streaming Internet radio from Pandora and TuneIn. And keeping in tune with the personalized listening experience these services offer you, the head unit’s radio gives you a choice of skins: In fact, almost every aspect of the head unit can be easily re-skinned. What’s more, the underlying code remains the same: only the user interface, created in HTML5, changes from one skin to another. Which means automotive developers can create a single code base and re-use it across multiple vehicle lines. Doing more with less â€" what could be bad?Thanks Ben!

QNX Demonstrates Facebook Integration in New Reference Vehicle (June,2012)

Road trip? Tell your car to share your playlist on Facebook. New reference vehicle demonstrates how social media framework will allow automotive apps to become ‘social by design’. DETROIT, Telematics Detroit Conference, June 6, 2012 â€" QNX Software Systems Limited, a global leader in software platforms for the in-car infotainment and telematics market, will demonstrate today how tomorrow’s vehicles can become an online extension of their owners, allowing them to stay connected â€" hands-free â€" with their social-media communities while on the road.The company’s new reference vehicle, a Jeep® Wrangler® Sahara outfitted with an infotainment system based on the upcoming QNX CARâ„¢ 2 application platform, can post Facebook updates that list the title and artist of the song that the system is currently playing. To control when the infotainment system posts these updates, car occupants use simple voice commands.To view live updates issued by the reference vehicle while it is at Telematics Detroit, from June 6 to 7, visit facebook.com/QNXSoftwareSystems.“It’s time that car infotainment becomes ‘social by design’, but for that to happen, app developers and automotive manufacturers need tools to integrate social media easily, and in a way that’s appropriate to the driving experience,” said Andy Gryc, automotive product marketing manager, QNX Software Systems. “We are planning to offer an automotive social media framework that will simplify this task for our customers and partners, and this demo is but an example of the many use cases that such a framework will enable.”QNX Software Systems created the reference vehicle to showcase the capabilities of the company’s QNX CAR 2 application platform, a pre-integrated software stack designed to reduce the time and effort of creating highly sophisticated and personalizeable in-car infotainment systems. The platform, which won a Best of CES 2012 award, is now being evaluated by select automakers and tier one automotive suppliers.Other features of the QNX reference vehicle include an auto-centric HTML5 framework for leveraging the mobile ecosystem; one-touch Bluetooth® pairing with smartphones using NFC; ultra HD hands-free communication and natural language voice recognition; advanced personalization options for drivers, OEMs, and developers; integration with a variety of popular smartphones; DLNA support for phone and home -based media; tablet-based rear-seat entertainment; and a reconfigurable digital instrument cluster. The vehicle also integrates a variety of partner technologies for hybrid navigation, natural speech recognition, streaming Internet radio, integrated weather reporting, parking search, Twitter® access, FOTA (Firmware Over-The-Air) software updates, and integrated Bluetooth profiles.QNX Software Systems has licensed its software technology for use in millions of in-vehicle systems worldwide, including digital instrument clusters, hands-free systems, multimedia head units, connectivity modules, and 3D navigation systems.About QNX Software SystemsQNX Software Systems Limited, a subsidiary of Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM; TSX:RIM), is a leading vendor of operating systems, middleware, development tools, and professional services for the embedded systems market. Global leaders such as Audi, Cisco, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, and Siemens depend on QNX technology for vehicle telematics units, network routers, medical devices, industrial control systems, security and defense systems, and other mission- or life-critical applications. Founded in 1980, QNX Software Systems Limited is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada; its products are distributed in over 100 countries worldwide. Visit www.qnx.com and facebook.com/QNXSoftwareSystems. For more information on QNX Software Systems’ automotive work follow @QNX_Auto on Twitter or visit http://qnxauto.blogspot.com/.

New BlackBerry Enterprising Minds Video Shows Awesome Concepts (June,2012)

In this BlackBerry Enterprising Minds demo video, it shows the future of retail. A young woman uses mobile technology to find her wedding outfit, buy and communicate with online and offline retailers. Additionally, dealers can use mobile technology to work together more easily and more quickly respond to trends and customer requirements. Check out the video below and let us know what you think.Thanks Georg!

How to Earn Badges, Points, & Prizes in N4BB Forums (June,2012)

This week we introduced a brand new forums system and community. We have implemented a community in which honors your activity by awarding you badges and points. To take it a step further, we’ve decided to give out apps and/or accessories to those who sit in the weekly leader-board. We even have a special badge called the Prestige Award. You’ll receive this honorable award by reaching 100,00 points. In which case, we’ll buy you a BlackBerry of your choice! Wondering how to earn badges and points? Here’s a quick rundown of the system:Badges

Shown above, there is roughly the entire list of possible badges you can receive. You can receive these badges based on a whole slew of variables. In addition to getting points from doing what you can to get the badges, once you receive the badges you also accumulate more points. As shown at the bottom of the list, the Prestige Award is currently the highest badge to receive. You can view all of the badges you’ve received on your profile page, shown here:You can see the badges piling up. Of course, I tweaked mine just a bit to show what it looks like with multiple badges. No fear, I will not be cheating and will resolve back to what I originally had. But, now you get a glimpse of what it can look like for you badge-hungry users. As you gain more points you will rank up in the leader-board. There is an all-time leader-board and a weekly leader-board.Leader-boardAs the points start piling up you just might see yourself shown here for the whole community to see. Yes, it currently shows me with over 100,000 points, but it is just for demonstration. I will be reverting my account to normal. However, those who earn many points (the honest way) will receive prizes. Each week we will look at the top 5 users listed in the weekly leader-board. Those users will be eligible to free apps and/or accessories.Give & Get PointsThe only way to gain badges is through points (unless we otherwise deem you worthy). The way you can gain additional points is when users give you likes, agrees, etc., as shown above. This means you can also give points to other users too. This system is a really great way for those who help the community in a positive way to garner recognition. This system also has a community-based spam, abuse, and troll system too. If you feel a user is abusing our system in some way, you can report it via the flag button. In addition, the troll button works well at silencing those meddling trolls. Enough troll votes will bury the trolling user’s comment from the rest of the community.We’re very excited to see what you can do in the new N4BB community! Thus far it appears to be a huge success and users are deeply engaging in discussions. We hope you take the time to join the N4BB forums. For those who already have, we greatly thank you. Now get going and earn those badges, points, and prizes! Check out the forums here.

RIM Announces More BlackBerry 10 Jam World Tour Cities (June,2012)

RIM has been getting overwhelmed with the demand for seats at locations for the BlackBerry 10 Jam World Tour. As such, RIM has listened and added more cities to its stop. The new cities include:Bangalore, India â€" July 2ndMontreal, Quebec â€" July 11thDubai, United Arab Emirates â€" July TBACape Town, South Africa â€" July TBASao Paulo, Brazil â€" August TBARegistration for these locations will become available soon. We will update you as they become available to register.

Should RIM Utilize This Technology with Appearing & Disappearing Keys? (June,2012)

Tactus Technology showed off today at SID Display Week 2012 an Android tablet prototype with a haptic feedback user interface that can appear and disappear. What this means is that, when the user wants, the keys can rise out from the screen making it feel like actual keys are in place. The “keys” can go back into the screen as if they weren’t even there.This awesome technology is based on “microfluidics”, under the touchscreen is a fluid, a special type of oil. This oil is pumped and sent through a number of channels to form the shape of the keys. For now Tactus Technology only has a predefined pattern for the keys, which is a QWERTY keyboard, but the idea is that in the future even apps can take advantage of this technology.This is definitely one big step forward, but is this something RIM should consider? We all know RIM for making amazing QWERTY keyboards, and there are probably many of you out there who wouldn’t give up on that for nothing. Would you as a BlackBerry user choose this over a regular touchscreen or QWERTY keyboard? Check out the video below and let us know your thoughts in the comments! via The Verge

Official: BlackBerry Curve 8520 OS 5.0.0.1096 from Redington (June,2012)

If you thought the Curve 8520 was dead, think twice. A new official OS has been released from Redington. We don’t know what’s new in OS 5.0.0.1096, probably just some bug fixes and improvements. Let us know in the comments or forum (which is pretty awesome) if you find anything.Download Curve 8520 OS 5.0.0.1096 from RedingtonMake sure you join our community to share your thoughts on this!How to: load an OS on your BlackBerry

Twitter for BlackBerry Version 3.1.0.11 Now Available in Beta Zone (June,2012)

A new version of Twitter for BlackBerry has been released in the Beta Zone. Version 3.1.0.11 is now available for download and has included a couple of new features, as well as some important fixes. Here’s the change log:Updated Tweet Details ScreenUndo RetweetRight to Left Language SupportAdditional Languages – Finnish, Arabic & HebrewCannot press ‘L’ to reply to all in Tweet details screen (BZ report)“Sorry you are not authorized to see this status” error popup on Tweet details screen (BZ report)Seeing duplicate Replies in Tweet details page (BZ report)View Pictures are not full sized and cropped off in new Tweet details (BZ report)Undo Retweet failsRight to Left – Scrolling in timeline jumps over links, @mentions and #hashtags to Retweeted by user linkIf you’re already a member of the Beta Zone then head over here to download Twitter 3.1.0.11, but if you’re not yet a member just sign up at blackberry.com/beta

Twimbow Chooses BlackBerry 10 as their First Mobile Platform (June,2012)

Twimbow has announced that they are currently developing their BlackBerry 10 app and will be the first mobile platform to get the app. For those of you who don’t know, Twimbow is popular social media hub currently available for Chrome browser. The team said that BlackBerry 10 is the most open OS for smartphones and the HTML5 performance (like we said before) is far superior than any other platform. You should expect Twimbow to be available for BlackBerry 10 the same day the first smartphone is launched.
via Twimbow Blog

BlackBerry 10 to Rule HTLM5, Ahead in Compatibility Tests (June,2012)

The upcoming BlackBerry OS just keeps getting better and better as HTML5 browser tests show that BlackBerry 10 is ahead of all the others. The test shows BlackBerry 10 with a score of 447, that’s 78 more than #1 Opera Mobile. This might be a huge deal for developers who are looking to build HTLM5 content to be viewed on mobile browser. So far BlackBerry 10 looks promising, we can’t wait to get our hands on it! What do you guys think? Check out the results here.via MobileSyrup

Sebastien Marineau-Mes, Senior VP of BlackBerry OS, is 2012 Top Embedded Innovator (June,2012)

Embedded Computing Design has named Sebastien Marineau-Mes as 2012 Top Embedded Innovator. Marineau-Mes is the senior VP for the BlackBerry OS, but he has also been an important contributor to other projects such as QNX technology, he led the team that created QNX Momentics Tool Suite. Marineau-Mes worked with Cisco Systems to optimize QNX Neutrino Real-Time OS for the highest capacity routers. He was also the first project lead for Eclipse C/C++ Development tools. Read ECD interview here.

Cricket Introduces BlackBerry Curve 9350 for $199.99 (June,2012)

Looking to get the BlackBerry Curve 9350 on popular low-cost carrier Cricket? No worries as the company has announced its availability as its second BlackBerry choice for $199.99. “The introduction of the BlackBerry Curve 9350 smartphone is another step in our ongoing effort to bring our customers a diverse selection of operating systems and phones from which to choose,” said Matt Stoiber, senior vice president, devices for Cricket. “The BlackBerry Curve 9350 has what customers need to keep up, including a powerful processor, fast browser and a 5 MP camera with flash.” The Curve 9350 will be available on Cricket’s unlimited plan for $55 per month. Check out the press release below for more details.Press ReleaseSAN DIEGO, June 4, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Cricket Communications, Inc., a leading provider of innovative and value-driven wireless services, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leap Wireless International, Inc. LEAP +0.20% , announced today the introduction of the BlackBerry® Curve(TM) 9350 smartphone to the dynamic and varied Cricket smartphone line-up.Powered by the new BlackBerry® 7 OS, the slim and stylish BlackBerry Curve 9350 is a premium model in the Curve series of smartphones. It is ergonomically designed with a comfortable and iconic keyboard for fast, accurate typing and an optical trackpad for easy, one-handed navigation. GPS, NFC (Near Field Communication) and Wi-Fi® support are included, as well as a 5MP camera with flash and video recording, plus a microSD card slot for up to 32 GB of additional storage. The new Curve 9350 is Cricket’s second BlackBerry smartphone and delivers the world-renowned BlackBerry email and messaging services, including BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM(TM)), along with social apps and access to thousands of apps on BlackBerry App World(TM). The BlackBerry Curve 9350 is available now at $199.99 (MSRP).The BlackBerry Curve 9350 is Cricket’s first CMAS (Commercial Mobile Alert System) commercially available device, which means that customers will be able to receive “Critical Alerts” (i.e. Amber and Presidential type Alerts) via a SMS message to their phone.“The introduction of the BlackBerry Curve 9350 smartphone is another step in our ongoing effort to bring our customers a diverse selection of operating systems and phones from which to choose,” said Matt Stoiber, senior vice president, devices for Cricket. “The BlackBerry Curve 9350 has what customers need to keep up, including a powerful processor, fast browser and a 5 MP camera with flash.”Cricket’s No-Contract Smartphone Rate Plan for BlackBerry Curve 9350 The Blackberry Curve 9350 is available with a $55 a month Cricket rate plan with unlimited talk, text and data and no monthly contract. Cricket’s service plans feature all-inclusive pricing and easy-to-understand pricing packages with no service fees and no overage charges. For customers, that means a bill that doesn’t fluctuate based upon monthly usage – at a value-packed price point that fits into a tight budget.Cricket’s $55 per month, all-inclusive smartphone service plan includes:Voice:Talk (unlimited)Long distance (unlimited)Caller IDVoicemailCall waiting3-way callingCall forwardingMessaging:Text (unlimited)Picture (unlimited)Video (unlimited)International text (unlimited)International picture (unlimited)Data:Unlimited 3G mobile dataFor more information about Cricket’s dynamic service and newest device lineup and to check for availability, visit www.mycricket.com . To follow Cricket’s latest news and updates online, visit Facebook at www.facebook.com/cricketwireless and Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cricketnation .About Cricket Cricket is the pioneer and leader in delivering innovative value-rich prepaid wireless services with no long-term contracts serving 6.2 million customers. Cricket offers wireless voice and mobile data services over the latest, high-quality, all-digital 4G (LTE) and 3G CDMA wireless networks. In 2011, Cricket launched its award-winning Muve Music® product, the first music service designed for a wireless phone that now has more than 600,000 customers. Cricket’s innovative products and services are available at Cricket branded retail stores, dealers, national retailers and at www.mycricket.com . For more information about Cricket, please visit www.mycricket.com .The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.

Airtel Ghana’s Value Plans Help Increase BlackBerry Subscribers (June,2012)

After the introduction of their value plans, Airtel Ghana has reported that there has been an increase in the number of BlackBerry subscribers. The new absolute, complete and social plans allow users to pick a plan that will fit their needs and let them use BlackBerry Messenger, Email, App World, social networks and more at different prices. The result has been a very welcome response with a increasing number of BlackBerry subscribers that can finally find a plan that will fit their lifestyle.via Wireless Federation

How Much is BlackBerry Maker RIM Worth? (June,2012)

Research In Motion has been getting hammered lately. Their stock is currently in the single digits, giving them a market value of roughly $5.6 Billion. RIM is no longer Canada’s wealthiest tech company. RIM was surpassed by IT firm CGI, who ranks in at $6.2 Billion.RIM recently hired banks J.P. Morgan and RBC Capital Markets to evaluate ‘strategic options’ for the company. Many have wondered the outcome and if RIM would be interested in selling parts or all of the company. Josh Rubin from TheStar breaks down RIM’s valuation:ManufacturingNada. Zilch. Zippo. A big fat goose-egg. That’s how much value there is in RIM’s manufacturing arm, which makes BlackBerry smartphones and PlayBook tablet computers. With pressure on prices from lower-cost smartphones running Google’s Android operating system and a backlog of unsold phones and tablets that may have to be written down, the manufacturing arm doesn’t make a dime, and in fact is likely losing money.PatentsAlmost every day comes news of a new patent infringement lawsuit in the technology industry. With all those suits, patents must be worth a pretty penny, right? And RIM has lots of patentsâ€"heck, they’re practically swimming in the things. Yippee! Er, not so fast. While there’s still plenty of value in RIM’s patent portfolio, it’s unclear just how much. That’s because many of them are co-owned by other firms, after RIM was part of a consortium which bought the patents held by defunct telecom equipment make Nortel.“Why would you buy that if you were Apple or Microsoft?” said Peter Misek, a technology analyst at Jefferies and Company. Misek believes if RIM held all its patents on its own, they’d be worth between $3 billion and $5 billion. In their current state, he pegs their value at $1 billion to $3 billion.Michael Walkley of Canaccord Genuity believes RIM’s intellectual property portfolio is worth $2.5 billion, and says it would be worth another $778 million if some of the patents weren’t co-owned.ServicesRIM’s services division includes the company’s own networks and servers through which every single bit of BlackBerry traffic in the world runs. Much of RIM’s profit in the services division comes from a monthly fee paid by telecommunications carriers to access the network. That fee is paid per subscriber (RIM says it has 78 million). Telecommunications companies have been pushing back for a while on how much they pay. It used to be a given that it was $5 per subscriber, but Misek believes that’s now down to $4. Walkley, on the other hand, suggests that it’s only the key corporate customers who would hold any value for a potential buyer. He estimates there are roughly 20 million of them, which bring in roughly $6.50 a month each. That base would be worth a total of $2.75 billion to a buyer, Walkley believes.Misek’s range for the worth of the services division is even wider, ranging from $1 billion to $5 billion. That’s because of uncertainty of how much money per customer they’ll be able to bring in, and the potential for their subscriber base to shrink.The pile of cashSurely money’s worth something, right? Yes, as long as it’s still around. RIM currently has roughly $2.1 billion in cash (and investments which can easily be converted into cash). While Heins has suggested RIM’s cash pile will grow slightly when the next quarterly results are announced June 28, that may well be the last boost for a while. Given the company already has an operating loss, it’s likely already starting to burn through the cash. Tack on the costs of restructuring the company, including paying severance packages to employees being shown the door, and the money won’t last long, analysts agree.“I don’t include the cash in my valuation for RIM, because it’s not going to be there,” said Misek.“We assign zero value to RIM’s cash in our sum-of-parts analysis because 1) RIM’s core business is running at an operating loss and will likely start burning cash and 2) we believe future severance payments needed to downsize the business following an acquisition could use the majority of RIM’s cash,” wrote Walkley. 

You’re Going to Want to JOIN the Brand New N4BB Community! (June,2012)

Hello N4BB readers and Team BlackBerry. We hope you had a great weekend and have rested up enough to battle your way through the wretched Monday. Good thing we have a little something to take your mind off of things. We’d like to introduce to you the new N4BB community!We’ll start by telling you the bad news. Anyone who previously had registered for an N4BB account, unfortunately no longer has one. We know, we know When we went to the new platform for our community, we had the daunting notion knowing that everyone would have to register again. However, we truly believe you’ll love the new kickass features enough to dismiss the mere 2min it may take to register at http://n4bb.com/forum/#/entry/register.Let’s take a look at some of the new features:New ForumsWe have a completely new forum system that we’re really excited about. It’s super easy to find the latest discussed topics. If you’re looking for something older, you can still look for it based on its category (like you’d see in a traditional forum layout). The new forums are lightweight, but very feature rich. We believe you’ll find the new N4BB forums to be pretty awesome.Badge systemDo you like Foursquare? Why not try to earn N4BB badges! That’s right, as you comment, make posts, and get a lot of accolades you’ll earn badges. You can even earn the N4BB Prestige badge, which will allow you to get a free BlackBerry device of your choice! Get rewarded for what you do at the N4BB community and show it off. Visiting your profile lets yourself and others in the community see your stats.Activity feedSimilar to how our old system was setup, there is an activity feed to show what has been going on in the community. You can add a status update and view the leader-board of top N4BB members. Make new threads, comment on others and more on a daily basis and you’ll quickly climb the charts! Those who can keep top titles will earn special gifted apps and accessories from us for just being so awesome.Polls and moreCreating new threads isn’t the only thing you can do. The new N4BB community allows you to start polls too. This is a great way to get feedback from the community on virtually anything. Start a discussion just around a question you might have about “which BlackBerry should I buy next?”The new N4BB community is simply amazing. We hope you’ll find it as cool as we do. There are many, many more features, but these are just a few we thought you should know first. To begin your journey as an N4BB member, we’d be honored if you signed up at http://n4bb.com/forum/#/entry/register. We thank each and every one of you for being a reader and hope you thoroughly enjoy your stay!

Alec Saunders Interviewed on BlackBerry 10 at MobileMonday in Indonesia (June,2012)

Alec Saunders, the VP of developer relations for Research In Motion, was on hand at the MobileMonday event in Kuningan, South Jakarta. Saunders was there to attract more Indonesian developers to build mobile apps for BlackBerry 10. Indonesia is the third-largest community of BlackBerry developers after India and China, said Saunders.Here’s the interview of Alec Saunders from Jakarta Globe:How would you describe BlackBerry 10? We’re trying to take things that people love about BlackBerry and modernize that experience. BlackBerry 10 devices are about sharing and [being] social. The keyboard learns how you type and adapts to the way you work. The device can be used with one hand. You’re sitting at a meeting, your phone buzzes and you can check it casu ally.What’s your strategy for rolling it out? You can look back at what we have been doing over the last nine months. We started by telling developers to build apps for PlayBook [RIM’s tablet device], because apps for PlayBook are going to be apps that we run eventually. We gave developers PlayBook devices to get working with. We are repeating that strategy all over again with BlackBerry 10, by giving out a large number of BlackBerry 10 alpha devices [to developers]. It’s a third of the size of a PlayBook and a very similar device. Our goal is to have tens of thousands of apps.Are you going to reach out to Android developers as well? We already are. About a third of the apps in the PlayBook store today are Android apps. It literally takes 10 minutes to take Android apps and put them for sale in the BlackBerry store.Can we run BlackBerry 10 on other devices by RIM? Eventually, everything that runs PlayBook 2.0 today will run BlackBerry 10. Our intention is to release BlackBerry 10 on handsets and tablet devices as well. It won’t work on our old devices. BlackBerry 10 needs a dual-core processor for its sophisticated graphics; it’s a completely new operating system that takes much more memory than old BlackBerry devices.With so many sophisticated operating systems out there, will you be a little late with BlackBerry 10? If you rush an operating system to market, it’s a bad idea. … I don’t think too much of the Android and the iOS devices at this point. I think iOS is designed for five years ago. … It was designed with the idea that Steve Jobs had, that it would be a media consumption device. And that’s not what a BlackBerry is. It’s not for sitting on the train and watching TV.And Android, there are now 3,977 different Android devices out there in the marketplace. For developers, it’s a nightmare. It’s impossible to test them all. So developers now are getting to the phase of, ‘Hey, maybe there are some things better than Android.’Another thing about Android is â€" and Google even admitted it â€" it’s a rip-off of an Apple experience. So Apple is a five-year-old experience, Android is a clone of that five-year-old experience. We’re a new way of thinking about what a smartphone is. We’re going to take the smartphone back to a communication device, not something you sit around and watch movies with.The PlayBook wasn’t very successful when it went to market. Your thoughts? I wasn’t with the company when the PlayBook launched, and I’m just going to leave it at that. I think there were many different things that could have been done to make the PlayBook launch more successful than it was, and we’re doing those things now. Not only am I optimistic about BlackBerry 10, I think I have the most exciting job in the world. I get to go and talk to developers every day about what we can do with these products.

N4BB Audio Show – Episode 7: We Talk BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha, Jam Tour, & More with RIM’s Patrick Mollins (June,2012)

Subscribe to N4BB Audio Show podcast RSS Feed directly or in iTunesPatrick Mollins, a BlackBerry Evangelist for Research In Motion, took the time to speak with us again. In this podcast we discuss the successes of the initial BlackBerry 10 Jam event in Orland, Florida and the new Jam World Tour.Additionally, we discuss the benefits and overall feedback of the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha devices. Patrick tells us how RIM is working closely with developers and how they’re morale within the company is higher than ever. Take a listen to this edition of the N4BB Audio Show and let us know your thoughts.