Selasa, 11 Oktober 2011

BerryReview.com Giving Back to the BlackBerry Community

BerryReview.com Giving Back to the BlackBerry Community

Devs: RIM Provides Detailed Explanation of NFC BlackBerry Features & Implementation

Posted: 10 Oct 2011 02:53 PM PDT

BlackBerry NFC Stack

I have been looking for some good documentation on the NFC features RIM introduced with BlackBerry OS 7 and the Bold 9900/9930 along with the Curve 9350/9360/9370. Alec Saunders, RIM's new VP of Developer Relations, pointed out a great "NFC Primer for Developers" posted by Martin Woolley and John Murray of RIM's Developer Relations team that does a great job of explaining what is possible. The primer is geared towards developers but if you are like me and like learning the basic concepts and capabilities you may want to check it out. It will give you a great idea of what is possible with NFC on BlackBerrys and why this is a big move for RIM.

Check out RIM's "NFC Primer for BlackBerry Developers" in their forums. Now if only they could have baked NFC into ALL of the BlackBerry 7 devices and the PlayBook…

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Posted by the BerryReview Team for ©BerryReview, October 10, 2011, 5:53 pm. | Devs: RIM Provides Detailed Explanation of NFC BlackBerry Features & Implementation | 5 comments |


BlackBerry PlayBook Price Discounts Start ending in the US – Canadians Have Until Thursday

Posted: 10 Oct 2011 12:40 PM PDT

UPDATE: cjterminator pointed out that Staples in the US is still selling the device for $299. Sorry for the mix up!

RIM clearly confirmed before that the BlackBerry PlayBook price drops at certain retailers was a holiday promotion and not a price reduction. Mac over @PocketBerry noticed that RIM's words are now starting to come true. Best Buy and Staples in the USA have all brought their prices back to $499 for the 16GB model and upwards. Office Depot in the US is still holding true with their $299 price point that goes until October 15th. I am not sure why they decided to raise the price back up now but that is not the case yet up north.

If you live in Canada you can still get the PlayBook on sale starting at $299 from Future Shop and Best Buy Canada. Both of them clearly state that the sale ends on October 13th so get cracking!

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Posted by the BerryReview Team for ©BerryReview, October 10, 2011, 3:40 pm. | BlackBerry PlayBook Price Discounts Start ending in the US – Canadians Have Until Thursday | 3 comments |


BBM 6.0.1 & App World 3.0.1 Maintenance Releases Coming Tomorrow?

Posted: 10 Oct 2011 11:09 AM PDT

BBM BlackBerry Cupcakes

We just heard from a solid source that RIM is planning on rolling out maintenance releases for both BlackBerry Messenger and BlackBerry App World tomorrow (October 11th). App World v3.0.1 is supposed to include general performance enhancements to application response time with no new features. BlackBerry Messenger v6.0.1 is going to be available for OS 5.0+ devices and includes Social Platform API changes and general performance enhancements with no new features.

When they go live we will let you know along with the full change log. Keep an eye out for them and let us know!

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, October 10, 2011, 2:09 pm. | BBM 6.0.1 & App World 3.0.1 Maintenance Releases Coming Tomorrow? | 5 comments |


Latest EA Games for PlayBook Created with Marmalade SDK

Posted: 10 Oct 2011 07:33 AM PDT

EA Games made with Marmamalde Tweet

When RIM let us know they were helping Marmalade port their Marmalade SDK to the BlackBerry PlayBook we were unsure what the result would be. It turns out that it means lots of games that are easily portable to the BlackBerry PlayBook and QNX platform! Marmalade let us know that those three PlayBook games we told you about from EA Games were all made and ported using the Marmalade SDK for the PlayBook. That includes Bejeweled 2, SimCity Deluxe, and The Game of Life.

We know that RIM is also working with Unity to bring their 3D gaming engine to the PlayBook and I have to say I am excited for the results. Marmalade has been doing a sweet job of helping these devs bring their games to the PlayBook. In Marmalade's own words:

Marmalade Easy Porting Tweet

Marmalade is promising some more big announcements at DevCon from devs bringing games and apps. Anybody else excited?

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Posted by the BerryReview Team for ©BerryReview, October 10, 2011, 10:33 am. | Latest EA Games for PlayBook Created with Marmalade SDK | 3 comments |


Free Foodspotting BlackBerry App Helps You Find Food Near You

Posted: 10 Oct 2011 06:57 AM PDT

foodspotting2 foodspotting3

Foodspotting is a pretty popular service that has finally come to BlackBerry after some success on iPhone and Android. Jen let me know that Foodspotting has released a BlackBerry client this weekend and it actually looks pretty sharp and has all the expected features. The problem is that the app is relatively buggy, sluggish, and crashes/freezes regularly even on my relatively fast Bold 9930. I am not sure why it is bugging out but hopefully Foodspotting fixes the issues pronto. The app also suspiciously asks for "Advanced Permissions" which seems a bit extreme for a food finding app…

foodspotting4 foodspotting

Either way you can check out Foodspotting on your BlackBerry by picking it up in App World

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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, October 10, 2011, 9:57 am. | Free Foodspotting BlackBerry App Helps You Find Food Near You | Leave a comment |


BlackBerry BIS Outage in EMEA Region?

Posted: 10 Oct 2011 06:43 AM PDT

 BIS Outage Tweet

We have been hearing reports this morning from users in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) region that they are having BIS issues. We are not sure if this has to do with the recent BIS 4.1 update but it looks like that. Lucas over @N4BB spotted a confirmation by UAE carrier Du confirming that RIM has a service degradation in the area. Service does not seem to be totally out but degraded for ~50% of customers which is a huge deal.

You can watch Du's updates on Twitter here. Here is what they have had to say so far:

  • We’re fully aware of the ongoing degradation with BlackBerry services. We’re working with RIM to rectify the outage soonest.
  • We received updates from RIM confirming BB services in Europe, ME & Africa are affected starting 09:19 GMT today & degradation is ongoing.
  • The level of impact is gradually improving, and as we speak, approximately 50% subscribers are effected in those regions.
  • Subscribers may experience delays in sending or receiving messages, roaming, or using other services such as Internet browsing or IM.

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Posted by the BerryReview Team for ©BerryReview, October 10, 2011, 9:43 am. | BlackBerry BIS Outage in EMEA Region? | 6 comments |


BlackBerry Bold 9780 OS 6.0.0.668 Found Online

Posted: 10 Oct 2011 06:37 AM PDT

imageFor those of you carrying around a BlackBerry Bold 9780 we have some OS update news for you. The N4BB team snagged OS 6.0.0.668 for the device though we have not heard of any big OS issues that need fixing. Either way let us know what you find!

Warning: This OS will not install on any other BlackBerry besides the one mentioned above and is not an official release.If you do not know how to upgrade your BlackBerry OS please start by reading this step by step guide.Don't forget to delete the vendor.xml file located in c:program files>common files>research in motion>apploader to install it on a different carriers device. Don't forget our usual warnings: do not download and install these updates if you don't know what you're doing. Incorrect procedure or just bad luck could render your BlackBerry inoperative or unstable.

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Posted by the BerryReview Team for ©BerryReview, October 10, 2011, 9:37 am. | BlackBerry Bold 9780 OS 6.0.0.668 Found Online | One comment |


EA Games Releases Bejeweled 2, SimCity Deluxe, & The Game of Life for the BlackBerry PlayBook

Posted: 10 Oct 2011 06:31 AM PDT

The game of life Bejeweled simcity deluxe

EA Games is on a roll with BlackBerry PlayBook games this weekend. Three new games from EA showed up in App World's latest items this weekend with some heavy hitters. The games include:

The games are available in the US, Canada, and Japan though hopefully that will expand to other countries. The odd thing is that all three games are in App World twice with everything duplicated except for the support email address and vendor being slightly different. I am not sure what the deal is with that but I would advise going with the main link.

Check out all of EA Games products in App World

PS: Does The Game of Life and SimCity bring back nostalgic memories for anybody else?

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

Posted by the BerryReview Team for ©BerryReview, October 10, 2011, 9:31 am. | EA Games Releases Bejeweled 2, SimCity Deluxe, & The Game of Life for the BlackBerry PlayBook | One comment |


Fonware Releases NFCLauncher App With ShortcutMe Macro Integration

Posted: 10 Oct 2011 05:55 AM PDT

NFCLauncher NFCLauncher2 

The developers of the popular ShortcutMe app, Fonware, let us know about their latest app called NFCLauncher. The app lets you launch apps and shortcuts just by tapping your NFC capable BlackBerry against the tag. For example, you can tap the NFC tag by your house to turn on Wi-Fi or Bluetooth in your car. You can also make it turn off your cellphone radio and similar actions. Check out a video of it below:


Desktop Video Link | Mobile Video Link

The coolest part is that they added integration with their ShortcutMe app that lets you create a macro like emailing or sending an SMS based on a tag. Practically anything you can think of. These are some of the really cool uses NFC can be used for beyond payments.

If you have an NFC capable BlackBerry like the Bold 9900, 9930 or Curve 9350, 9360, 9370, 9790 you can pick up NFCLauncher for $2.99 in App World. You will also need to pick up some NFC cards. Thankfully ReadWriteWeb put together a list of NFC card shops a bit ago:

  • Tagage: This Finland-based store ships NFC stickers worldwide to many countries. U.S. shipments take about 5-7 days.
  • Sparkfun: For U.S. customers, Sparkfun sells laminated U.S. tags.
  • Touchtag: Also U.S.-only, Touchtag sells various starter kits of 25 or 500 tags.
  • CoreRFID: In Europe, this U.K.-based RFID shop sells different types of tags, like these sticker discs and more.
  • BuySmartCard: Serving the Asian market, this store sells tags that ship from Hong Kong.

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, October 10, 2011, 8:55 am. | Fonware Releases NFCLauncher App With ShortcutMe Macro Integration | 2 comments |


RIM Announces BlackBerry Tag NFC Features Coming Soon

Posted: 10 Oct 2011 04:58 AM PDT

verizon-bold-9930-nfc

We know that RIM has things planned for the NFC technology built into the latest BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 and Curve 9350/9360/9370 and now it has a name. RIM announced that they are calling it BlackBerry Tag and its coming soon to BlackBerrys. They claim it will let BBM friends add each other by simply tapping phones.  It will also let you share contact information, documents, URLs, photos, and multimedia easily.

Here is what Jim Balsillie had to say about it:

"BlackBerry Tag is an exciting and innovative feature that makes sharing contact information and multimedia content effortless and seamless," said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at Research In Motion. "BlackBerry Tag opens a new dimension to the BlackBerry platform that is powerful, simple and intuitive and we think it will be welcomed by both users and developers."

Check out the press release below:

RIM Unveils BlackBerry Tag-Coming Soon to BlackBerry Smartphones

- BlackBerry Tag enables effortless ‘tap to share’ exchanges of multimedia content and contact info between friends
- Friends can also add each other as BBM contacts with a simple ‘tap’

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES–(Marketwire – Oct. 10, 2011) – GITEX – During his keynote presentation at the GITEX conference in Dubai, Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) Co-CEO Jim Balsillie today unveiled a new way for BlackBerry(R) smartphone users to connect with one another and share multimedia content.
BlackBerry(R) Tag, which will be incorporated in the next BlackBerry(R) 7 OS update(i), will allow users to share contact information, documents, URLs, photos and other multimedia content by simply tapping their BlackBerry smartphones together. BlackBerry Tag will also enable friends to instantly add one another as contacts on BBM(TM) (BlackBerry(R) Messenger).
"BlackBerry Tag is an exciting and innovative feature that makes sharing contact information and multimedia content effortless and seamless," said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at Research In Motion. "BlackBerry Tag opens a new dimension to the BlackBerry platform that is powerful, simple and intuitive and we think it will be welcomed by both users and developers."
BlackBerry Tag takes advantage of Near Field Communications (NFC) technology included in the recently launched BlackBerry(R) Bold(TM) 9900/9930 and BlackBerry(R) Curve(TM) 9350/9360/9370 smartphones, and these are the first BlackBerry smartphones that will support BlackBerry Tag.
RIM also announced plans to expose BlackBerry Tag through APIs on the BlackBerry platform, allowing software developers to take advantage of "tap to share" functionality from within their own applications.
(i) Subject to network operator certifications. Check with your local operator for availability.

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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, October 10, 2011, 7:58 am. | RIM Announces BlackBerry Tag NFC Features Coming Soon | 3 comments |


Groupon HD App Released for the BlackBerry PlayBook

Posted: 10 Oct 2011 04:49 AM PDT

Groupon HD Groupon HD 2

The apps are starting to roll in for the PlayBook just before RIM drops their OS 2.0 update. The latest is an official Groupon HD app from the Groupon folks. It gives you access to the latest deals from 200+ cities in the US and Canada.

From the app you can find:

  • Find unbeatable deals near you and view them on a map
  • Purchase deals directly from your phone
  • Find your new favorite places instantly with Groupon Now. Right where you are. Right now.
  • Keep track of all your purchased Groupons by location and expiration date
  • Redeem deals from your pone, save time and trees and never print another Groupon!

Groupon HD 3 Groupon HD 4

You can pick up Groupon HD for the PlayBook in App World free. Thanks Papped for the tip!

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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, October 10, 2011, 7:49 am. | Groupon HD App Released for the BlackBerry PlayBook | Leave a comment |


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