Category Archives: BBM

RIM files lawsuit against Kik for patent infringement

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Well folks, it doesn’t look like the Kik storm is about to die down. This morning, RIM filed a lawsuit against Kik, the popular cross-platform Instant Messaging client, for patent infringement. RIM pulling an application from App World doesn’t happen everyday. The first time I used Kik, I was using an Android device, and my first thought was, “This feels like BBM, a lot like BBM.”

I have no doubt in my mind that Kik’s ideas were inspired by RIM’s native messaging client, but whether it infringes on any patents will have to be determined by the courts. According to BerryReview, Ted Livingston, CEO of Kik, is a former RIM employee. This gives Livingston ample opportunity to have used RIM’s own technology to power what users have wanted for well over a year now, BBM for all. If he did in fact use RIM’s patented technology, Livingston will get more than a slap on the wrist. The current lawsuit was filed in Canada, but I’m sure we can expect on here in the States in a few days too. You can view the court filing here.

via: BerryReview

RIM to provide India with a final solution by January 2011

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India has agreed to give RIM an additional sixty days to comply with government regulations citing concerns over national security. India had threatened to ban corporate e-mail and messenger services by August if RIM did not come up with a way for the government to monitor the encrypted information. After the deadline was pushed to October by Indian regulators, RIM agreed to an interim (temporary) arrangement for lawful interception of BlackBerry messenger services and pledged to provide a final solution by January.

Reaserch In Motion said in a statement that “it is optimistic about reaching a final solution with Indian regulators” and ”it had not changed the security architecture for corporate e-mail, that it does not make special deals on access with individual countries.”

In related news, India is now asking all companies that provide encrypted communication to install servers in the country to make user data more accessible for the government to obtain. This would lead some to speculate that Gmail provider Google would be affected, as well as Internet phone company Skype SA.

Listen up, I am not going to start ranting about power hungry governments who have to know every little thing about what people are doing all the time. What I will say is that this is not just a RIM problem. This will eventually affect every single human being on this planet regardless of which phone provider you use, or the company you get your internet through. We should all be thankful of the fight RIM is engaged in on our behalf.

What’s your take on the subject? You see things differently, or do you agree with what RIM is doing? Sound off below.

via: MobileBurn

BlackBerry Messenger gets updated to version 5.0.1.41

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BlackBerry Messenger version 5.0.1.41 is now available for download from the BlackBerry App World webstore installer. The file size is 6MB if downloaded this way. However, if you choose to download BBM 5.0.1.41 through your phone, the file size shrinks to 3MB’s. There has been no proof of upgrades or bug fixes with this update, which leaves many of us scratching our head. Here is a list of highlights included with BBM v5.0.1.41.

• Bug fixes to improve the overall user experience
• Simplified sending of pictures and voice notes
• More user-friendly wording and organization in menus
• Support for a simpler, one line view of contact list
• Support for both deleting an unsent chat message (Shift-Del)   and escaping out of a chat while retaining an unsent chat message (Escape button)

Here is the link to download BlackBerry Messenger 5.0.1.41.

If you spot any additional features or fixes included in the new version , let us know about it in the comments below.

via: CrackBerry

Mysterious hidden image BBM avatars appearing in your friends list?

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This isn’t the first time we’ve found some easter eggs in RIM’s favorite, BBM. But this is a first that the easter eggs weren’t supplied by RIM itself. The new Avatars that have been popping up left and right are downright cool. Nobody really seems to know the true source of these, but each avatar looks basic and plain when unselected. When highlighted, a hidden image is revealed, one that turns your avatar from drab to potentially epic with anything from Superman to Zorro. To get your very own hidden image avatar, hit the source link and head on over to the CrackBerry forums.

Image courtesy of Ben Pike

via: BerryReview

Source: CrackBerry Forums

RIM announced BBM Social Network

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If you’re like me, you love BlackBerry Messenger. According to RIM, 28 million users work with BBM on a regular basis and that’s quite a lot.

At DEVCON 2010, Research in Motion announced a BlackBerry Messenger Social Platform which allows developers to integrate BBM into their applications. That sounded boring at first, but there’s quite a possibilities that could turn out to be awesome. With BBM integration, developers could make their applications transfer media or invite for game play.

It’s as simple as it sounds. A 3rd party app will be able to use your existing BBM contacts and initiate social interactions, for example game play.
Let me quote Aaron from our friends over at PhoneDog to give you a list of what developers can integrate with RIM’s BBM Social Platform:

* Contact list – allows users to choose from their BBM contacts from within another application in order to initiate social interactions such as chatting or initiating game play
* BBM user profile – an application can insert application status updates into the user’s BBM profile allowing it to be launched or downloaded from BBM by the user’s friends
* Application-specific communities – users can create BBM friend groups specific to an application
* Data Transfer – allows users to transfer pictures, audio, video and other content directly from an application to their BBM contacts or groups
* Invitations – allows users to invite new friends to BBM, invite their friends to interact within or download an application, and accept invitations, all from within an application

The BBM Social Platform will be coming to market in the spring of 2011, and additional information can be found at http://devblog.blackberry.com.

What do you think? Give us your thoughts in the comments below.

How Do You BBM video contest winner announced

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Well the BBM video contest has come to a close and the winner was a young man by the name of J. Reyez.  Not much can be said without spoiling it, so take a second to watch the video.  I personally didn’t enjoy the rap itself, as it’s not exactly my “thing”, but the video editing was definitely top-notch.  Congratulations to Reyez for being crowned winner of this contest.

via: CrackBerry

BlackBerry Messenger 5.0.1.39 available in Beta Zone

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Luck you, if you have access to the BlackBerry Beta Zone for I don’t (Germany is still not supported). Have a look and you will find an update for BlackBerry Messenger. Not that big of a leap from version 5.0.1.38 to version 5.0.1.39.

I’m not sure what’s new but if you have any findings, please let us know in the comments.

If you’re not yet a member of the Beta Zone, feel free to join here.
If you’re already a member and didn’t get your notification e-mail yet, click here to download.

via: BBLeaks

BlackBerry Messenger upgraded to 5.0.1.138

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BlackBerryMessenger

Mornin’ pups, we’re a little late to the party, and we apologize for the tarciness, but BlackBerry Messenger, a staple of the BlackBerry community, has just been updated. This time it’s version number 5.0.1.138, packaged with no changelog and I have noticed no  major differences, but this update could be purely focused on bug fixes.  If you’ve had problems or just like keeping up to date, I’d recommend downloading the update.  If you happen to stumble upon any changes, please let us know!

via: BerryReview

US Weekly offers celebrity news via BBM, nice concept

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USWeekly

I’ve never been one to give a rusty, dog fart about any celebrity or what they do in their spare time, but I know plenty of people who do and would love to follow a celebrity around for a living picking up the crumbs of food they drop when they eat, trash they throw away, etc. For those people, US Weekly has provided, in a way, for you do so all through BBM. I thought a long time ago that it would be a good idea for say, a local news station, a national news provider, or even worldwide news provider would offer news through BlackBerry Messenger. It’s instant  and can provide content to thousands of people, quickly, who will more than likely turn right around and regurgitate it on Twitter or Facebook. It’s an obvious way to spread news fast, but there is a drawback. CrackBerry has been the host of several BBM stress tests. BBM has its limits and either US Weekly is either unaware, or have a trick up their sleeve. Anyway, if celebrity news if your thing, scan the barcode and rock on.

You can learn more about the celebrity news provided, here.

via: CrackBerry

Source: US Weekly

BlackBerry Messenger hidden emoticons, part deux (updated 9/7)

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Ever since I posted about the large amount of hidden BBM emoticons that had been unearthed, we’ve been receiving comments galore to send them to everyone’s PIN. Rather than leaving everyone high and dry, what I’m going to do is open the flood gates. Everyone who wants these emoticons for BBM, simply reply to this post with your PIN. On Friday, I will make an attempt to send them to everyone who has requested them. If you have already asked for them in the original post, you don’t have to repost, I will get those as well.

Update (9/7/2010): As you all know the attempt to send out these emoticons was one large fail. I stopped because I had a lot of people asking how I got their PIN. I would repeatedly get error messages back for invalid PINs and lots of other chaos. So, instead what I’ve decided to do is put these in a thread in our Forums so you can go and get them there as you please. If you want the emoticons, click here. You will need to copy and paste the weird looking symbols onto your device. I recommend saving them into a memo and setting them as AutoText entries for ease of use.

Also, if you’re not interested in having to copy and paste them, or set them as AutoText, there is an alternative. There is a paid application called Picticons for BlackBerry, which can be found in BlackBerry App World for $2.99. You have two days to decide which road you want to take. Go!