Photo from CrackBerry

Are you one of the many eagerly waiting for RIM to FINALLY release their Twitter for BlackBerry and LinkedIn applications to the public? According to RIM’s newsletter, the “Two Popular Business Apps Are Almost Here!” This is enough for you guys to get excited about! I’m excited to see if and what changes they have made to the Twitter app.

I’m still curious to see what you guys want to see in the official release of Twitter for BlackBerry, sound off in the comments!

via: CrackBerry | BerryReview

Here’s another leak for the Bold 9700. These OS leaks are coming more and more frequently, and I don’t quite know what to make of it. I can’t keep up with them at this rate. About the time I get my phone updated and just the way I like it, they leak another OS and I repeat the process.

Download OS 5.0.0.545

Enjoy!

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!

Amongst all of this talk of BIS updates, it seems that there has been sparse claims of BIS outages. I have been experiencing it personally today and a few friends of mine as well. Others claim their data has been working fine. There do seem to be some reported outages for some carriers…if we hear anything official we will let you know.

This is becoming an all to common experience for us BlackBerry users. I figure it may have something to do with BIS upgrades coming soon, or just a common technical issue. Either way, I hope they get everything squared away soon. I hate it when my emails and BBM’s come in on random spurts.

EDIT: Here’s the update folks, over 24 hours later and I’m still having intermittent BIS problems on the AT&T side of things. I’m still getting BBM’s and emails in random spurts every few hours. Some friends of mine on Verizon are reporting issues, other are not. So this apparently isn’t affecting everyone, but this is truly ridiculous.  I have been disconnected for almost 48 hours now, and all I can do is sit and wait.

Also, if you have any outages to report, leave them in the comments!

(Photo from BlackBerryCool)

According to BerryReview, BIS is scheduled to be upgrade to 3.0 on March 14th, or next Sunday. This is only scheduled for EMEA, which is Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Soon thereafter (March 21st) North America should follow. With this upgrade to BIS 3.0 comes two-way Gmail syncing. This is great news for all of us, and it is a greatly anticipated update. Part of the email can be read after the break.

Along with the upgrade to BIS 3.0 comes some additional updates like, the Enhanced Google Mail plug-in will have an update, OpenOffice support, and WMA (Windows Media Audio) support. Here is part of the announcement as stated byBlackBerryRocks.

BlackBerry Internet Service v2.8 upgrade to BlackBerry Internet Service v3.0 – EMEA – 14 March

BBCHG45911 (Update) S1 Severity Maintenance for BlackBerry Internet Service (v2.x) Email service for subscribers of *EMEA BIS (MULT)

This message is to inform you of scheduled network maintenance.

Maintenance Summary: BlackBerry Internet Service v2.8 upgrade to BlackBerry Internet Service v3.0

Impact: BlackBerry Internet Service subscribers may be unable to send or receive messages, use the BlackBerry Internet Service web site, or perform activities such as creating new accounts, accessing their Internet mailbox, integrating third-party email accounts, or viewing email attachments during the maintenance.

Wireless service providers and device resellers may be unable to use BlackBerry administration web sites or perform activities such as creating subscriber accounts or provisioning services for subscribers during the maintenance. [0214]

Ticket Number: BBCHG45911
Change Window Start Date and Time: 14 March 2010 02:00:00 (GMT)
Change Window End Date and Time: 14 March 2010 06:00:00 (GMT)
Estimated Duration of Service Impact: 4 hour(s) and 0 minute(s)
% of Subscribers Affected: 100.00 (estimated)

EST =   GMT – 5 hours
EDT =   GMT – 4 hours
AEST = GMT + 10 hours

Hopefully with this upgrade they will have fixed the contact sync as well, the current BIS contact sync has seriously messed up my address book. I tried to use it once with my 9700 backing up my contacts to my Gmail account through BIS. Somehow, the process was interrupted or something went wrong during the process and all of my contacts first names were replaced with “Insurance”. That was a headache to fix. Not only did the first names get replaced, but some peoples last names got flip-flopped as well, numbers randomly migrated from one entry to multiple entries, and thus there was pure address book chaos.

Since none of the dogs here for BBerryDog are from any of the scheduled EMEA areas, when the upgrade comes feel free to let us all know.

via: BerryReview | BlackBerryRocks

Some peculiar news has surfaced over the last few days about the next generation Blackberry Pearl 9100. Al Sacco over at Cio.com has uncovered the above image of a QWERTY keyboard from the parts supplier TrueSuplier titled “OEM Blackberry Pearl 9100 Keyboard Keypad Black.” If this replacement part is in fact for the new Pearl it appears as if one may have the option of a QWERTY keyboard in the fun-sized Pearl body. All of the images that have surfaced of the new Pearl 9100 have featured the device’s signature SureType keyboard. The specs of the new Pearl are impressive, perhaps this QWERTY option will allow the device to function as a mini-Bold.

Via: Cio.com

So, you’ve figured out your BlackBerry for the most part and are ready to venture past the “just-out-of-the-box” functionality of the phone, but you’re not quirt sure how? No worries, it’s very easy. Click the link to continue reading and to learn how to add third party applications to your phone.

First things first, it is best to download BlackBerry App World. This can be found by going to BlackBerry’s mobile website for BlackBerry devices at mobile.blackberry.com. One of the first links visible once this page loads it a link to the download page for BlackBerry App World. Click this link and you will go through a few pages asking for your language and asking to accept the terms of use. When you finish going through these pages you will be at a download that looks like the one below. This is the generic BlackBerry Browser download page. When you click the “Download” button at the bottom of the page, the application will begin to download and install itself. If you have a device running 4.6 or greater your application will install and the icon can be located in your designated default download folder. For operating system versions prior to 4.6 the icon will simply be placed at the very bottom of your Application screen.

BlackBerry Default Download Page

Find this App World icon and click it. After the application loads you will be at the home page which has some tabs at the bottom of the screen and a scrollable featured applications list. To download and install a free application simply locate the application and click the download link. For paid applications, you will need a PayPal account, and depending on where you live you may or may not be charged taxes on the application. When you use App World, unlike downloading an application straight from the browser, you have peace of mind in security (you know the app is coming from a reliable source), and you will also get an archive so if you delete the application later on you can reinstall it in a much easier fashion.

The other way to install a third party application is to go through the BlackBerry Browser and go to the application developer’s website and find the download link. This will pull up a web page much like the above with the “Download” or “Cancel” options at the bottom of the screen. Also, there are application catalogs like the Mobihand App Store which usually provides different ways to install the applications you get through them. In most cases it will give you an OTA (Over The Air) download link and will take you through the above process. In other cases you may want to download the .zip file provided and install through your computer.

When choosing to download the .zip file, you will need to use Desktop Manager to install the application. You first need to extract the files from the .zip file. Run Desktop Manager, plug your phone into the computer, and click the “Application Loader” tab, then click “Add/Remove Applications” tab. You will then see a list of all the previously added applications and some system files installed on your BlackBerry. At the bottom of the window you will see a button that will allow you to browse the files on your computer. What you must do is locate the .alx file from the .zip file you downloaded and extracted. Once located, click next and Desktop Manager will finish the process. Using Desktop Manager is usually the easiest and quickest way to install/uninstall multiple applications. If you are only installing or uninstalling one application from the BlackBerry, I would stick to doing everything from the phone.

The last way to install an application is to save the .jad and .cod files to your microSD card and install directly from the phone. This is a little more advanced and I typically use this when I’m creating themes and testing them out. Any other time I use one of the previous methods. To do this, first save the files stated to the microSD card. On your BlackBerry go to Media, press the menu key, and select “Explore”. Locate the .jad file and click it. This will load the default download page in the BlackBerry Browser and will locally install the file. Only do this if you’re moderately versed with BlackBerry’s and you know what you’re doing. Otherwise, I would stick to the easier methods.

If you have any more questions about how to install a third party application feel free to email me at taylor[at]bberrydog[dot]com.

Are you on Sprint and looking at buying a new BlackBerry Curve 8530 but not really digging plum or black? Well rumor has it that a red version of the 8530 is coming to Sprint in the very near future. The red 8330 was one of the coolest BlackBerry’s of its day, and I know I always wanted to get my hands on one. I’m sure many people are going to feel the same way about this one. The plum is a very bold color, and the black can be bland at times. Red will be the perfect addition to the 8530 series on Sprint to fill that in-between void. No official release date has been posted, but GizmoFusion is claiming as soon as March 14. Sit tight pups, we’ll let you know when it’s official!

via: CrackBerry | BerryAndroid | BlackBerrySync

LouiV over at bbleaks.com seems to have got his hands on two snapshots of the rumored BlackBerry slider prototype, or Storm3. This doesn’t confirm anything for sure, but it definitely shows that RIM is working on a slider phone. I don’t quite know what to think of this just yet. When I saw the post about there being a vertical sliding BlackBerry I just laughed at the idea. RIM falling in line behind Palm took me by surprise. I like BlackBerry’s Storm series, and I love BlackBerry’s keyboards, but I’m not quite sure that these mesh well. From what I can tell in the picture, the device is huge! The 9500 series is large and heavy to begin with, adding a keyboard will only make it bigger, and heavier.

Hit the link for other picture.

via: BBLeaks

I don’t know whether I like the way RIM is headed with this device. It’s neither innovative or practical. Either way, this is only a leaked photo. Nothing is official just yet. Sound off your thoughts in the comments below! Click here for the original post.

I’ve been waiting around for the longest time for Facebook Chat support on my BlackBerry, and I’m just too stingy to pay $39.95 for an application to only use it for that purpose. Luckily, SHAPE Services released a lite version of IM+ for free. While the application is free, it still retains many of the full version features along with some ads. This is not a bad substitute at all for an IM client if you want an all-in-one experience. I’ve been using IM+ Lite all day, and I must say, I love it. It seems to be a little on the sensitive side with the trackpad, but I can deal with it. It has been working perfectly for me. Here is a link to the original post by Adam Zeis of CrackBerry.

Click here to download and to learn more about IM+ Lite.

via: CrackBerry