Phonedig

RIM released their BlackBerry App World online. A boon to all BlackBerry users, this online version allows you to quickly browse through the applications and games available in the App World. You can’t purchase directly online but you can send a download link to your BlackBerry via e-mail. Very handy, indeed.

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The folks over at BGR seemingly uncovered the specs for RIM’s next BlackBerry, the 9700. Up to this point, no one knew it even existed so take it as you will. Ready to get your head blown off by the astounding specs of the new super, bionic BlackBerry? Here goes:

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• UMTS/HSDPA
• 480×360 resolution display
• Wi-Fi a,b,g
• OS 5.0
• QWERTY keyboard
• 3.2 megapixel AF camera
• Bluetooth

Yeah, I know, not exactly mind-blowing but the excitement is in the details, which will be uncovered. Soon. Hopefully.

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T-Mobile and RIM announced the BlackBerry Curve 8520, which was formerly known as the Gemini. Ho hum, just another BlackBerry, right? Well, this is the first to feature the highly praised optical trackpad in place of the trackball–that’s right, no more sticky trackball syndrome. Other features include:

• Tactile QWERTY keyboard
• Wi-Fi
• Quad-band GSM/EDGE (sadly, no 3G, what the heck??)
• 320×240 display
• 2MP camera
• Out of box Mac compatibility

Available from T-Mobile USA on August 5th in either black or frost.

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The folks at Crackberry got their hands on the Blackberry Storm 9559, aka Storm 2.  There doesn’t seem to be any massive changes to the smartphone and the device they had was very early stage and running the current Storm OS.  The most notable changes we can see right now is that the 4 buttons at the bottom of the device are now integrated into the screen, a slightly sleeker form factor (check the battery door), the screen doesn’t click when it’s not illuminated (why, I don’t know) and according to Kevin of Crackberry it’s much easier to type on than the first iteration, so much so he’d actually consider making it his every day device.

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Rejoice all you BlackBerry Mac owners who dare to be different–the BlackBerry Desktop Manager will be available to Mac owners this September. With the new BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac you’ll be able to:

• Sync your iTunes® playlists, calendars, contacts, notes and tasks
• Add/Remove applications
• Update your device when new software becomes available
• Backup and restore your device data with such features like automatically scheduled backups and optional encryption
• Manage multiple devices
• For Mac OS 10.5.5 and above

And who says there’s no love for Mac users…just takes a little more time. Look for it in September.

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Looks like BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 has been leaked on the web. The brand spankin’ new messenger purportedly works on BlackBerry OS 4.5 through OS 5.1. So what are you waiting for? Hit the link and give it a try. According to BGR, the new BBM 5.0 is much improved and features the following:

• Avatar support — set your own avatar using the Camera or saved photo on your device (this is displayed locally as well as shown next to your Messenger name on your friend’s buddy list)
• GPS location integration — you can now set permissions so friends can always see your location, have to request it each time, or never can see it
• Proximity sensor — we’re guessing this will let you know if you’re within a certain distance of friends (pending, of course, you’re both set to share locations freely with each other)
• Set conversation subjects — this will allow you to organize your convos on the main Messenger screen and label them with subjects to keep track of all your conversations
• Homescreen support — you can pin/sticky actual Messenger contacts directly to the homescreen for easy access!

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Today, Google announced the launch of their Google Voice app for BlackBerry and Android devices (but not *yet* for iPhones). So what’s the big deal and what exactly does Google Voice do for you?

Let me attempt to clarify. When you sign up, you’re given one Google Voice number. You then assign however many phone numbers you want to this service. The next time someone dials the Google Voice number, it rings all of the assigned numbers simultaneously. Not only that but you can assign which phone to ring according to time of day. So if someone calls the Google Voice number during your work hours, it’ll ring your work phone; during the evening it’ll ring your home phone. When you make calls or send SMS texts from your GV-enabled BlackBerry or Android phone, the other side will think it’s from your Google Voice number. Pretty snazzy, eh?

But wait, that’s not all, folks! Billy Mays says the Google Voice app will integrate with your phone’s native address book, will transcribe your voicemails to text, and will allow you to make cheap international calls. Check the vid after the ‘leap’.

…Continue reading: Google Voice App For BlackBerry And Android Released

Looks like Skyfire beta for BlackBerry has been released to beta testers. This release contains number of enhancements and bug fixes. It’s still not ready for general release but it looks like they’re making great strides into what may one of the better browsers for the BlackBerry. Check out the changes:

New features:

• New Keyboard Shortcuts:
  We mapped the keyboard shortcuts to be similar to the ones in the
  native BlackBerry browser to offer a more familiar user experience.
• Switch to Skyfire:
  Once Skyfire is installed, you’ll see a “Switch to Skyfire” option show
  up in the options menu of the original Blackberry browser. We added
  this feature to help when users click on links in email and SMS and end
  up launching the native browser instead of Skyfire or when you navigate
  to a web site that is better viewed in Skyfire.
• Text Entry in Thumbnail view:
  You now don’t have to zoom-in to enter text. We resolved that issue and
  now enter text directly in the thumbnail view of pages.
• Contextual zoom with camera corners:
  Similar to the other Skyfire platforms, we now support contextual zoom.
  Thus we detect areas of interest (say articles or images) and allow you
  to zoom-in to areas easily by fitting the area of interest to the
  screen dimensions.
• Faster zooming: You’ll see a great
  improvement in your ability to zoom. Unlike Alpha 2, the page displays
  text at all zoom levels, without any redrawing of the screen. Less
  checkerboards.

Known bugs:

• You cannot connect to Skyfire: We still have limited capacity
  for this Alpha. Thus if enough testers are already browsing at the
  moment, you might not be able to connect. Simply try again in a few
  minutes. This is a good reminder as well to NOT share this alpha with
  anyone (as per NDA), since this would limit capacity even further. The
  next release will address this.
• General hiccups when entering and exiting streaming mode, including: “An error occurred while playing media” error message when flash object is detected and “streaming” mode activated.
• Slow performance on 2.5G networks: We are still optimizing. You will get the best experience on 3G or WiFi networks for now.
• Error Messages: “An error occurred while playing media” error message in streaming mode.
• Volume Control bug: Sometimes you cannot control volume while in stream mode. This is a known BlackBerry bug.
• Refresh And Rendering Options: Stale tiles from the previously visited pages show up when scrolling up or down. We’re working on fixes to reduce checkerboards.

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A new image of the secretive BlackBerry 9020 aka Onyx has been leaked. The image shows a sleek new BlackBerry device with the much heralded optical trackpad. From the photo one can’t tell if it’s the retail unit but here’s hoping it’s the real deal. The Onyx is RIM’s up and coming device for AT&T, featuring an optical trackpad, 3G, GPS, Wi-Fi, and 480×360 screen.

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RIM’s VP Jeff McDowell announced that BlackBerry App World has reached 2,000 apps. This is a far cry from the whopping 50,000 apps found on Apple’s App Store but RIM is still “very happy” with the number. Dunno about you but this defeatist “yeah we’re way behind but still ok” attitude just doesn’t cut it for us BlackBerry users. C’mon RIM you can do better than that.

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