If you are looking to install an official update for the BlackBerry Storm 2, Inland Cellular has released OS 5.0.0.983. The good folks over at CrackBerry have been getting mostly positive feedback on this release, and that’s a good thing. Don’t forget to backup your data before installation. We also have How-To Guides available if you find yourself needing a little help. Check out our How-To Backup your data guide, and our How-To Upgrade  your OS guide for assistance. Click on the link below to download OS 5.0.0.983.

Here is the link for the official OS 5.0.0.983 from Inland Cellular.

Let us know how you like OS 5.0.0.983, and any new features you run across. Leave your comments below.

via: CrackBerry

For anyone looking to install an official update for the BlackBerry Storm 2, Vodafone UK has released OS 5.0.0.973. I’ve always preferred the official version to the leaks just for the simple fact less could go wrong. Don’t forget to backup your data before installation. We also have How-To Guides available if you find yourself needing a little help. Check out our How-To Backup your data guide, and our How-To Upgrade your OS guide for assistance. Click on the link below to download OS 5.0.0.973.

Here is the link for the official OS 5.0.0.973 from Vodafone UK.

If you download the OS be sure to return here and let us know how you like or dislike it. Post your comments below.

via: CrackBerry

To continue the love that the BlackBerry community has been receiving with official and leaked operating systems, we have the a leaked 5.0.0.973 for the Storm 2.  The download links can be found here.  As with all leaked OS’s, there is no changelog.  Make sure to comment below and tell us any changes or enhancements that you find!

Also, as always, please remember not to do this if you do not know what you’re doing.  BBerryDog and it’s affiliates are not responsible for any damage incurred while using or loading a leaked OS. Also, feel free to check out our How-To Guides for information on backing up your device and loading an OS.

via: BBLeaks

If anyone has read Alex’s Monday article on the possible Storm 3 (seen here), we still have no further information on that.  Regardless, a photo was leaked showing a 9570 BlackBerry with a touchscreen running BlackBerry 6.  Now, we know that the most recent storm was the 9550, so what we’re seeing here is not necessarily the Storm 3.  What we’re seeing is most likely the Odin Refresh, which is basically a Storm 2 with the 512MB of RAM necessary for BlackBerry 6.

Whether or not we will see this in the near future is up to speculation, but if this is merely the Odin Refresh, I’m still more excited for the Storm 3.  If the picture we saw in Alex’s article (linked above) were the real deal, then the Storm 3 will no doubt be one heck of a phone.  As excited as I am to possibly see BlackBerry 6 ship out on it’s first Verizon device, I’m really hoping that we see something along the lines of the Torch come to Verizon in the near future.  We all need some wow-factor to hit BlackBerry, and soon.

So what do you say pups?  Will you buy the Refresh or wait for the Storm 3 to hit shelves?  Also, what do you think we’re looking at here, Storm 3 or Odin Refresh?

via: PhoneDog

Nike+ was a sort of pioneering on Apple’s part that combined the iPhone, iPod Touch, and Nano with a pedometer that tracked your runs (or walks).  Now, BlackBerry has an app for that, no special adapters or special shoes necessary.  TreadIt, which sells for $4.99 regularly (currently on sale for $2.99 here) uses the accelerometer in your BlackBerry Storm or Torch as a pedometer in this program.  It has several cool features, some of which include results being emailed to you, automatic shut-off, and working in and out of holster.

Be warned, this app is not a GPS logger.  It is your basic pedometer (meaning it should use less battery than a GPS logger).  If you have used or plan on using this software, tell us why you think it’s right for you!  Also, if you find any caveats, make sure to list them below.

via: BerryReview

With the new Webkit browser many users are interested in how well the browser actually does. While Kevin from Crackberry compared it to its other competitors, the guys from bbleaks compared it directly to a Storm2 and put both through an Acid3 test. Check out their video and notice the massive improvement this browser is going to bring. I’m actually really excited to try it out myself. On the one hand it looks like RIM definitely made a big leap forward here, on the other hand though RIM still can’t compete against most Android devices or the iPhone 4. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

via: BBleaks

As many of you have probably noticed, we’ve been pretty inactive for the past two days, and for that I offer our sincerest apologies. I won’t rehash details, but needless to say we experienced something of a “perfect storm” of non-work issues that left several of us indisposed. As a way of apologizing, here is a roundup of all the major news we missed!

- BlackBerry 6 Home Screen Evolution: The official BlackBerry blog, Inside BlackBerry, posted an excellent piece on the evolution of the Home Screen in BlackBerry 6. Our favorite excerpt:

If there was one thing you want our readers to know about the Home Screen redesign, what would it be?

I’d say that the redesign of the Home Screen in BlackBerry 6 is fresh, but familiar. When you look at it, it still looks like a BlackBerry Home Screen (for example, wallpaper selection continues to be a key attribute of the visual design), but it’s been updated – much like a home renovation still ‘feels’ like home, but is actually new.

With BlackBerry 6, we are introducing a host of new features in the design, evolving the look and feel and enabling the user to really customize the Home Screen. Overall, the visuals are cleaner and sleeker, and movement between and within the applications is more fluid, allowing users to navigate their BlackBerry smartphone in a much more intuitive and interactive way.

-Bold 9800 slider and BlackBerry 6 now supported in App World: This one doesn’t come as a huge shock, but this means developers can begin submitting BlackBerry 6 applications to the App World!

-Analyst claims 4G BlackBerry Triton coming to Verizon in December: For the time being, we’re going to be pretty skeptical on this one. Analysts have a tendency to be…inaccurate, and until we see some hard evidence for the devices existence we’re going to file this one away in the “Baseless Rumor” drawer. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see a 4G BlackBerry (Storm 3?) help launch Verizon’s LTE network, and it would certainly go a long way toward helping RIM regain some ground in the Android-dominated Verizon lineup; we just prefer more facts before espousing the epicness of vaporware.

-The Bold 9780, a refresh of a refresh: The most underwhelming device to come out of Waterloo since the Curve 9300…oh wait. Continuing a disturbingly bad habit, the 9780 is a token refresh of the 9700, itself a refinement of the Bold 9000. To say we’re disappointed would be a massive understatement. RIM is competing against the likes of the Droid X, Galaxy S, iPhone 4, Evo 4G, and soon to be Windows Phone 7 running on super-solid hardware. If they want to stay relevant, we need to see some radically different hardware (like the 9800) that makes us say “Wow, I really want that”.

-Photos of  Bold 9650 running BlackBerry 6: Thank goodness! Now we know at least one current BlackBerry device will see an official update to the BlackBerry 6 OS. With the Storm 2 and Bold 9700 all but written off for OS upgrades (at least official ones), we’re glad recent 9650 owners won’t be burned three months after buying their device. Of course this continues to highlight RIM’s need to upgrade the application memory to something in the gigabyte range.

-RIM purchases “BlackPad.com”: This is the best evidence yet for the existence of the fabled BlackBerry tablet. Awful name aside, we’re not very big fans of the tablet idea here at BBerryDog (or at least this editor isn’t). The BlackBerry OS has never exactly been known as a multimedia or creative powerhouse, which happens to be the primary function of most tablets to-date. We’re not entirely opposed to the concept, but we need to see a concept before we’ll think about believing.

-The case of the mysterious AT&T monoliths: There is a lot of speculation about what these mystery monoliths contain within their glowing bowels, and so far nobody has any real idea. Most speculation points to one of three options: the Bold 9800 (which would coincide with the upcoming AT&T and BlackBerry event), an unknown Android device, or a Windows Phone 7 device (if it turns out to be some silly messaging phone, we’re quitting AT&T). We’d love for it to be the Bold 9800, but given the number of leaks, we’re wondering if it might be a Windows Phone 7 propaganda tool.

That’s all we have for now! Again, we offer our sincere apologies for the news gap and we’ll be back in action next week at full strength. For now, let us know what you think of these news developments in the comments!

]]> http://www.bberrydog.com/2010/07/friday-news-roundup/feed/ 0 http://www.bberrydog.com/2010/07/verizon-to-eol-curve-8530-and-storm-9550/ http://www.bberrydog.com/2010/07/verizon-to-eol-curve-8530-and-storm-9550/#comments Wed, 28 Jul 2010 04:39:52 +0000 Alex Hosefelder http://www.bberrydog.com/?p=4708 Continue reading →]]>

Remember when the Storm2 9550 and the Curve 8530 were released? It was not that long ago, was it? Yet Verizon seems to be giving those two an End of Life after not even a year. It would only seem logical to EOL these two if there were some replacements on the way. The Curve 9300 series should replace the 8530, and the Storm2 is getting a refresh for OS 6 (maybe this is the Odin refresh we read about?).
The exact details of the EOL notices are the following:

BlackBerry Curve 8530:
The Curve2 is end of life – Final Shipments August
Refer to the “Stock Check” tool in POS for on hand availability
Device will retire on 8/1, replacement coming in Q3/Q4

BlackBerry Storm2 (9550):
The Storm2 is end of life – Final Shipments August
Refer to the “Stock Check” tool in POS for on hand availability
Device will retire on 8/15, replacement coming in Q3/Q4

When I first read this I was speechles. Since the Storm2 hit the German market, I wanted to have one and now that I have one, it will be replaced? I was so excited when I heard that OS 6 is finally on its way to the users and now – looking at my “old” Storm2 – my excitement just hit the basement and is hiding far beyond zero. It’s cool to have an Odin Refresh, really, yet I don’t want to spend so much money, just so I can have a Storm2 “refresh” that is capable of running OS 6.

Do you think it’s worth it? Feel free to express your thoughts in the comments.

via: BlackBerryCool

This rumor, while it may not be true, is quite saddening. You may recall a few weeks back when we reported a rumor going around saying which devices were slated to get BlackBerry 6 or not. One of the devices listed was the 9550 Storm2. Now the rumor mill is churning out stories that the Storm2 won’t get BlackBerry 6. I knew something didn’t match up when they said the device minimum requirements would be 512MB internal storage and the Storm2′s internal is 256MB. Either way, I’m still sad. I’ve been trying to get my hands on a Storm2 so I can have some of that sweet, sweet BlackBerry 6 on my Verizon line when it drops. Looks like I’ll have to come up with another plan. So, with that being said, who has a Storm2 and was hoping you had the device that was going to slide by with the exception to the 512MB rule?

via: BBLeaks