Despite what you think, we’re all friends in this business.  That’s why when CrackBerry approached me last week at WES 2010 and wanted to snag my thoughts on BlackBerry 6, I was happy to oblige.  The video provides individual thoughts on the new OS and captures several tech personalities, including Eric Zeman from PhoneScoop, Will Park from IntoMobile, Chris Ziegler from Engadget Mobile, and yours truly.

Check it out and hit the comments with your thoughts on BlackBerry 6!

Via CrackBerry

Regardless of whether you’re a fan of BlackBerry devices or not (I would hope you were, if you’re reading this article), the BlackBerry Pearl 3G advertising campaign is shaping up to be a good one.  Instead of touting the device’s capabilities, the ad centers around integration into your lifestyle.

Check out the advertisement below!

If you can look past the obnoxious dancing people in the background, RIM’s “sneak peek” video offers a neat little glimpse into the future of the BlackBerry OS.  Complete with new visual elements, it will be available next quarter. Stay tuned, as I’m sure we’ll hear more about it as WES 2010 continues!

If you’re looking at the SIM card slot in the Pearl 9100 hands-on video at PhoneDog and thinking to yourself “hmm, that looks different,” you’re spot on.  In a new move for RIM, the SIM card slot is actually under the microSD card slot (note the diagram on the device).  To take it out, simply push the orange tab down.

Stay tuned for more BlackBerry coverage on BBerryDog.com!

Good news!  After staying in the OS 5.0 category for some time, OS 7.0.0.236 has finally leaked out for the BlackBerry Bold 9700.  It’s definitely buggy, but I’ve been using it for a few weeks and absolutely love the features.

• 12 second boot time
• New ringtones installed: “I’m Bossy” by Kelis, “Money, Money, Money” by ABBA, “Material Girl,” by Madonna, “She Works Hard for the Money,” by Donna Summer, and “Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems” by Notorious B.I.G.
• “Theme song mode” – Allows you to select a “theme song,” which automatically plays whenever you walk into the office, conference room, and other pre-determined areas.  (During testing, I had mine set to “Hypnotize” by Notorious B.I.G)
• Wardrobez – A new program which allows you to take a picture of your daily outfit prior to leaving the house.  If the wardrobe isn’t stylish, your phone will emit a siren until you change.

Click here to download, and let us know how it performs on your device!

After years of speculation regarding potential brand name changes, RIM has made it official – BlackBerry’s consumer line of devices will be re-branded to “BlueBerry” at the end of the year.

“Motivated by popular song lyrics like Jay-Z’s ‘out the country but my BlueBerry still connects’ line in the hit single Encore, we’ve decided to change the name to increase consumer awareness,” said Rick Tecquie, chief spokesman for RIM.  “We continue to analyze market conditions, and have even considered a ‘RAZBerry’ device line to appeal to children in the 3-12 demographic.  Needless to say, we’re ‘berry’ excited about the future at RIM.”

RIM will host a special meeting at WES next month to detail the new devices.  Click here for more information on the name change.

Available today in the BlackBerry App World, Bccthis allows users to send private messages along with their e-mails.  If you’ve ever needed to send out a mass e-mail, but wanted to send personal messages to specific people, this is the application for you.  I can send an e-mail to the entire BBerryDog team, but send individual private messages to Taylor, Josh, and John.

The application can be downloaded for free at http://www.bccthis.com, or in the BlackBerry App World.  We’ll have additional coverage in the coming days, along with a review.  In the meantime, click through for the full press release, and get your download on!

Read the full story

Want to help out at BBerryDog.com?  Here’s your chance!

BBerryDog is seeking part-time writers and forum moderators to contribute to the website. Applicants must be well-versed in BlackBerry products and services, and must be able to write well.  The positions are not paid.  For the writing positions, we need coverage for the following:

• Apps
• General News
• Rumors

If you’re interested in covering one of the topics above, please send two related sample posts of your choosing to aaron[at]bberrydog.com (note: these are not for use on the website).  Thanks, and good luck!

Sick of dealing with paper tickets?  Fandango has a solution, and it involves your BlackBerry device.  The popular movie giant is rolling out a program whereby users will be sent 2D barcodes when attending the movies.

The program is available in the following theaters:

• New York: City Cinemas 1, 2 & 3, Angelika Film Center, East 86th Street Cinemas, Village East Cinema, Beekman Theatre, The Paris Theatre.
• New Jersey: Manville 12 Plex.
• Houston: Angelika Film Center.
• Dallas/Plano: Angelika Dallas; Angelika Plano.
• San Diego: La Mesa Grossmont Center, Clairemont Town Square Stadium.
• Bakersfield: Valley Plaza 16.
• Sonoma County: Rohnert Park 16.
• Hawaii: Ward Stadium, Kahala Theater, Kapolei 16, Mililani Stadium.

Here’s to hoping that the program is successful, and expanded as a result.

Via CrackBerry

Good news for Nimbuzz users running OS 5.0, as the popular software has been updated to support devices running the new OS.  Rest assured, we’ll be testing it to make sure it works well, but in the meantime, how do you like it?  Any issues to report thus far?  Sound off in the comments!

Thanks to the great folks at OtterBox, we’re giving away yet another case!  The best part?  OtterBox is letting you choose which case you want (with a limit of up to $50)!  I’ve always been impressed with their cases, and I’m happy that we’re able to give one away on BBerryDog!  Special thanks to the great folks at OtterBox for sponsoring the contest.

For more information on their cases, check out my review of the Commuter Case for the BlackBerry Tour, and Taylor’s review of the Commuter Case for the BlackBerry Bold 9700.

Here are the rules:

• You must reside in the United States of America.
• You must be following me on Twitter (@PhoneDog_Aaron).
• You must be registered in the forums, and have posted at least three times.
• Find the six digit code, buried somewhere in the website.  It’s in a harder place this time, and it’s not dates…the code will be in bold, and underlined).  It could be located anywhere – in posts, the forums, or various pages of the site.
• Send an e-mail to contests[at]bberrydog.com with your name, Twitter username, BBerryDog forums username , and the code.  Failure to include all of these will disqualify your entry.
• The contest ends on March 5th.

Good luck!

Interesting developments this morning in regards to the BlackBerry Tour 9650…or should I say Bold 9650.  According to the guys over at Mobilitysite, a friend at RIM confirmed that the device will be added to the Bold family as the “Bold 9650.”  The full e-mail is below:

“Some Verizon stores did get the 9650. They were sent back for “updates”. Verizon won’t release the 9650 until the official OS 5.0 arrives for the Tour 9630. The Sprint 9650’s are having WiFi issues and Sprint is working that out. It won’t be called the Tour 2. It’s the Bold 9650.”

My take?  I don’t think that the Tour/Bold 9650 (or 9630, for that matter) fit into the design category of the Bold series. I think that characterizing this device as a “Bold” diminishes the reputation of the existing series.  What say you? Tour, Bold, or another name altogether?

Via BlackBerryCool

Are you kidding me? In this Jeopardy clip, the contestant incorrectly says “BlackBerry” as the answer, and receives the points.  It’s RIM people….RIM makes the BlackBerry.  BlackBerry is a brand, not a company…

Via CrackBerry

Thanks to the great folks at OtterBox, we’re giving away another case!  The best part?  OtterBox is letting you choose which case you want (with a limit of up to $50)!  I’ve always been impressed with their cases, and I’m happy that we’re able to give one away on BBerryDog!

For more information on their cases, check out my review of the Commuter Case for the BlackBerry Tour, and Taylor’s review of the Commuter Case for the BlackBerry Bold 9700.

Here are the rules:

• You must reside in the United States of America.
• You must be following me on Twitter (@PhoneDog_Aaron).
• You must be registered in the forums, and have posted at least once.
• Find the six digit code, buried somewhere in the website.  It’s in a harder place this time, and it’s not dates…the code will be in bold, and underlined).  It could be located anywhere – in posts, the forums, or various pages of the site.
• Send an e-mail to contests[at]bberrydog.com with your name, Twitter username, BBerryDog forums username, and the code.  Failure to include all of these will disqualify your entry.
• The contest ends on February 5th.

Good luck!

Though the company has since pulled it off of their official Facebook page, the leak is a good indicator that the BlackBerry Tour 9650 isn’t far away.  Note that they referred to it as the Tour and not the Tour2…perhaps the “2″ will be omitted in the retail name?

Via IntoMobile

Alltel (or rather, the mini-company that remains branded as Alltel) has launched the BlackBerry Curve 8530.  The good news?  It costs $39.99 – cheaper than the competition, and a better deal since Alltel offers one-year agreements.  The bad news?  There’s a $100 mail-in rebate involved.

Via Engadget Mobile

Chalk it up as a rumor for now, but you may be looking at RIM’s official Twitter client for BlackBerry.  Said to launch in February, the client was mentioned at a BlackBerry 9700 launch party in Mexico.

The rumored Twitter application features include:

• Notification of number of new tweets on the home screen with icon, like text messages
• Main app opens friends timeline
• Ability to view followers
• Follow/unfollow functions
• Create direct messages, replies and new tweets
• Keyword search and saved results
• Tweet photos directly from camera or memory card
• View photos from other tweets
• View trending topics
• Address book integration

Anyone excited, or does UberTwitter/TwitterBerry/etc. fill your Twitter needs?  Sound off in the comments!

Via BlackBerry Rocks!

According to a tip sent to BGR, Verizon Wireless plans to release a build of OS 5.0 to the BlackBerry Tour sometime in late February or early March.  Given the timetable of the potential OS release, I’m guessing that it will coincide with a Tour2 9650 launch.  Hit the comments section with your speculation!

Via BGR

Otterbox officially launched the Defender case for the BlackBerry Bold 9700 this weekend, offering top-notch protection for your shiny new ‘Berry.  For those that drop their phone on a regular basis (myself included), it’s worth a look.  Featuring three layers of protection, the case can be had for $49.95.

Check it out here.

According to the good folks at CrackBerry.com and a few random reports in my inbox, it looks like Sunday was another day of random BlackBerry outages.  Though my tips seem to be across the board in regards to wireless carriers affected, Rogers and T-Mobile both came out and said RIM was having an outage.  Not sure what caused it as of yet, but it appears that everything was solved early this morning.

For those that were having issues, are you back up and running?  Give us a shout in the comments section!