Well the long-awaited PlayBook OS 2.0 launch is only hours away (well, that’s what rumors tell us) and we would like to know, are you staying up? Most of us here at TheBerryFix.com will be squinting as we grow tired into the night. But we know what awaits us on the other side, an all new Playbook experience. So sound off in the comments below, are you staying up with us? Remember the rumors are saying that the OS will launch at 4:01 AM, probably eastern time.

While we always hope that an OS update for our PlayBook means some exciting new feature, that’s just not always the case.  RIM has posted that there’s an important update to fix a security issue with Adobe Flash.  See the specific details below.

A new version of the BlackBerry® Tablet OS is now available to all BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet users. BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.07.3312 contains an updated version of Adobe® Flash® Player. This free update can be downloaded over-the-air from your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

On September 21st, Adobe issued an update for Adobe Flash Player, as noted in Adobe Security Bulletins APSB-11-26, which addresses issues that can potentially affect any PC, tablet, or other device with an operating system that supports Adobe Flash.

While there are no known reports of any BlackBerry PlayBook tablet users being affected by these Adobe Flash issues, we (as always) encourage all BlackBerry PlayBook users to update to the newest version of the BlackBerry Tablet OS.

How to update your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet

Existing BlackBerry PlayBook tablet users will automatically receive a software update notification on the BlackBerry PlayBook status ribbon, or they can check for the software update at any time in the settings menu under Software Updates. Users who purchase and activate a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet on or after Thursday October 6th will automatically be updated to 1.07.3312 or later as part of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet setup process.

For users who are already running BlackBerry PlayBook v1.0.7.2942 or higher, the update to this new version (v1.07.3312) will include only the Adobe Flash update and is expected to take only a few minutes to install.

Xobni has been one of the most successful contact management solutions for many platforms, starting with the Microsoft Outlook plugin and then advancing into the mobile sphere with the Super Address Book application for BlackBerry.  Xobni’s  incredible ability to index contacts has since embedded itself alongside apps like QuickLaunch as a must have productivity tool.

As you would expect from any product experiencing this kind of success the folks at Xobni have expanded their services to both Gmail and Android under the Smartr^TM brand.  I have been using the Gmail add on for quite a while now and I’m quite sure that those choosing to adopt these new products will be just as excited as the BlackBerry world has been about their increased productivity.

Find all the available supported platforms at http://www.xobni.com/

Official statement from Xobni after the break

(more…)

• Users will have to download the new standalone BlackBerry music app from App World
• Once installed, there *should* be a free trial (may vary by country/carrier – but expect a month free)
• Once the free trial expires, the service will cost $5/mo.
• With the app installed, you can choose up to 50 songs of your choice. Apparently the catalog selection is pretty good!
• From there, you invite your contacts via BBM, etc. to also download the app if they don’t have it and join your music sharing network (invited contacts must pay the $5/mo. also to take part and remain part of the service).
• From there, you can listen to not only the 50 songs you’ve selected), but any of the 50 songs from your music sharing network. So if you have 20 contacts, you’ll have access to 1,000 other songs in addition to your 50. We’re not sure yet if there’s a limit to how many people you can share with, but essentially the more people in your music sharing group the more music you’ll have access to.

[To view this video on your BlackBerry, Click Here]

I think the majority of us would probably say that the game selection for the BlackBerry PlayBook reeks of the new platform’s barren app library.  The best games available are easily the free ones provided by RIM in collaboration with EA using the currently unavailable native SDK.  At least in regards to graphical quality and depth of game play that is.  There are some excellent games to be had but not much at the level that’s on par with the hardware’s capabilities.  Well my friends, it appears that there’s hope on the horizon because EA has just launched a game to get excited about, a first person shooter called Dead Space.  The game comes with a hefty price tag of $9.99 but from the looks of it your purchase won’t come with buyers remorse.  I have bought the game as I’m typing this out so you can expect a more in depth follow-up to evaluate the game if you’re hesitant to jump on the early adopters band wagon.

• Get Dead Space in App World

This story is one that I think we’ll all be watching in order to see how it plays out.  RIM recently made a public statement that they’d be assisting the UK government in any way possible to pursue those responsible for London riots.  This reaction was in response to the reports that rioters used BlackBerry Messenger to organize and coordinate their activities.  A group calling themselves TeaMp0isoN hacked the Official BlackBerry Blog and has threatened to release personal information on RIM employees  if they proceed with assisting the UK government.  I seriously doubt this attack will dissuade RIM from following through with the course of action they had already decided on and suspect that they’ve just drawn attention to themselves.  That being said it’s an interesting topic, I suspect many consumers are under the impression that their BBM conversations are secure(even for criminal activities).  This should serve as a reminder that if you’d like true security on your conversations and email that you need to be on a private BES server.

This hack is a response to this statement by RIM:

“We feel for those impacted by this weekend’s riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can. As in all markets around the world Where BlackBerry is available, we cooperate with local telecommunications operators, law enforcement and regulatory officials. Similar to other technology providers in the UK we comply with The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and co-operate fully with the Home Office and UK police forces.”

Dear Rim;

You Will _NOT_ assist the UK Police because if u do innocent members of the public who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and owned a blackberry will get charged for no reason at all, the Police are looking to arrest as many people as possible to save themselves from embarrassment…. if you do assist the police by giving them chat logs, gps locations, customer information & access to peoples BlackBerryMessengers you will regret it, we have access to your database which includes your employees information; e.g – Addresses, Names, Phone Numbers etc. – now if u assist the police, we _WILL_ make this information public and pass it onto rioters…. do you really want a bunch of angry youths on your employees doorsteps? Think about it…. and don’t think that the police will protect your employees, the police can’t protect themselves let alone protect others….. if you make the wrong choice your database will be made public, save yourself the embarrassment and make the right choice. don’t be a puppet..

p.s – we do not condone in innocent people being attacked in these riots nor do we condone in small businesses being looted, but we are all for the rioters that are engaging in attacks on the police and government…. and before anyone says “the blackberry employees are innocent” no they are not! They are the ones that would be assisting the police

Source: CIO.com

Nissan has announced the release of a BlackBerry application for their LEAF electric automobile, this is an exciting announcement to me simply because previous auto manufacturers have frequently left the BlackBerry platform out when creating smartphone applications to interact with vehicles.

Following suit with the mission of all Nissan products, the app provides bold and innovative technology for Nissan LEAF owners to manage and control many frequently used vehicle features directly from their smartphone.

The application is available to anyone with a Nissan LEAF, an active CARWINGS subscription, or an interest in better understanding the Nissan LEAF as a pioneer in electric vehicles. With the application, also available on the iPhone since the car’s release in December 2010, users can access critical information points for their Nissan LEAF, such as charging, pre-cooling and heating, and monitoring the status of their vehicle. Specifically, users are able to:

–  Check the state of the battery charge
–  Begin charging
–  Check when battery charge is complete
–  See estimated driving range
–  Turn the climate control system on or off
“Nissan understands that telematics and other communication services are important for consumers,” said Trisha Jung, director, Vehicle Connected Services, Nissan North America. “By providing accessibility and functionality to the Nissan LEAF through all major smartphone platforms, we are truly delivering ‘Innovation for All.’”

Nissan was recognized in Detroit at the 2011 International Telematics Update Awards as the “2010-2011 Industry Newcomer” for its CARWINGS telematics service, which includes the smartphone app. For more information on CARWINGS and the Nissan LEAF application, visit www.NissanUSA.com.

To view this video on your BlackBerry, Click Here

The enterprise world has been the focal point of RIM’s BlackBerry innovations for a long time now and while they are starting to try and hone in on the consumer desires, lets not forget that the security of the BlackBerry platform makes it the sole solution for government operations along with the deep integration that can be provided for applications deployed in an enterprise environment (Which lets be honest some of the best applications in the world are on corporate devices developed with specific internal purposes) .

The folks over at Mobile Innovations have put out this demonstration of a software solution for Police Officers utilizing the BlackBerry PlayBook that would enable an extremely efficient multi tasking and portable environment for an officers in vehicle operations.  The demonstration shows off everything from controlling vehicle hardware, searching person or vehicle information, map search(Google Maps, but future addition of CAD maps was mentioned), and even integration with the vehicles cameras.  Quite an impressive demonstration, can’t wait to see more high level applications come out for the BlackBerry PlayBook.

• View more on Mobile Innovations

Source: CrackBerry

RIM let us know this morning that BlackBerry® WebWorks™ SDK v 2.1 for BlackBerry Smartphones is available.  It seems that they have been updating the development SDK’s more often lately which strikes me as a good sign that RIM is more aggressively updating their developer tools.

This update comes shortly after the introduction of the BlackBerry® WebWorks™ SDK v 2.1 for Tablet OS and brings similar functionality and APIs to the BlackBerry® Smartphone OS.  The new capabilities that WebWorks developers can now leverage include NTML & BASIC Authentication support, Camera API, Top Banner Indicator API, Enhanced Push APIs and improved rendering speeds for some applications. The APIs enable web developers to deeply integrate with the BlackBerry Smartphone OS and thereby build feature rich apps that offer more immersive and interactive end user experiences. Other benefits developers can derive from the new application functionality and APIs are better app monetization, diversified development approaches, support for standardized security and better integration with the widely popular BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) Social Platform. 

• Learn more about the new APIs at and can download the latest WebWorks SDK for BlackBerry Smartphones
  

• Visit the BlackBerry Webworks home page

I’ve always been quite picky about the kind of BlackBerry themes that I keep on my Torch, of course I test lots of them out but only a few stay on my device as regular daily use themes.  Captivated is the newest release by Vision Mobility and I have to say that I am quite impressed and will be keeping this one around for a long time.  The first thing I noticed about Captivated is that it’s been meticulously designed to be incredibly crisp and clean.  While packing in a ton of features it never feels crowded or cluttered, on top of that the developer let me know that this theme has been completely hand coded and it shows in the responsiveness on my phone.  Efficient coding is a big deal to me on BlackBerry Torch Themes due to the fact that too much code can very quickly make the Torch quite laggy and slow.

• Get Captivated in TheBerryFix Store for $5.99

Read the rest of the review after the break (more…)

There has been talk of a 10″ variant of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet coming out in the future but the folks over at N4BB have apparently heard that the forward movement on the 10″ version has been stopped in favor of focusing on(and hopefully speeding up the release date) the QNX powered handset.  RIM has openly admitted recently that they had to analyze and adapt their development strategy and realign projects mid cycle, I find news like this to be a positive sign that Mike and Jim are tapping into the industry pulse in order to stifle the constant media gripes about my beloved platform being behind the times.

Speculated Specifications of the QNX Smartphone are:

• Single-core 1.2GHz processor (same as Bold 9900), word has it that the same dual-core processor in PlayBook is a huge battery killer, but a dual-core processor is still a possibility
• 900+ screen resolution
• 4.3″ touchscreen

The speculated device does not appear to have a designated code name yet, hopefully we will have some public confirmation from RIM in the near future that this is the case and see some official specs on the device.

Source: N4BB

Best Buy is pushing tablets hard for the summer season, and why not(I have felt for a long time that the portability of tablets makes them a much better travel companion than  a cumbersome laptop).  This Best Buy Ad is pretty basic but I did notice they threw in a clever little bit of BlackBerry Bridge by showing a picture taken on a BlackBerry and then showing up on the PlayBook screen.  BlackBerry products had almost no ad campaign support from either RIM or 3rd party companies for so long it’s nice to see the products getting some media face time these days.

I have picked up quite a few games for my BlackBerry PlayBook, a few paid ones and a whole bunch of free ones.  There have been a few that have drug me in for a day or two but then the new wore off and I was bored again looking for something new.  I bought Qrossfire 2 weeks ago and I don’t think I have gone a day without playing it yet, so as the title of this article mentions beware of addiction.

Qrossfire can be found in App World for a mere $0.99 and in my opinion would easily be worth $3-5 without question.  The graphics are nothing spectacular but there’s an obvious attention to detail that you can notice in little things like the icon(crappy icons are a particular pet peeve of mine).  Looking at the images above you might think this is just a typical puzzle or bubble popper type of game but it’s actually very unique in the way the rows move.  It reminds me of a Rubik’s Cube, you can only move the blocks vertically or horizontally in their row but you may move them either one space or all the way to the other side.  Getting a 4 block combination will reward you with a little bomb, and getting a 5 block combination will reward you with a little flame that torches a both the vertical and horizontal row it’s in.  There’s even more depth to it than that but you’ll have to get it and see for yourself.

The last thing that I’ll mention is that this game has one thing that every mobile game should have and that’s a global scoreboard.  This is something that definitely keeps me more interested in a game because I can see how my achievements pair up against the rest of the world.  Qrossfire tracks daily and all time scores for each of the 3 difficulty levels, so hopefully I’ll be seeing you on the scoreboard soon(Good luck on the “insane” difficulty level).

• Get Qrossfire in BlackBerry App World

The BlackBerry PlayBook was due to launch in the UK on June 16th but Phones 4U has announced that they are carrying the new tablet in 2 physical stores today, giving eager BlackBerry fans a chance to get their hands on it a bit early.  Both stores are located in London so if that’s where you are and you don’t feel like waiting until tomorrow to meet your tech craving for this hot piece of glass then you are in luck.

Source: engadget

As follow-up to RIM’s BlackBerry World announcement in May of this year about plans to make BlackBerry® Mobile Voice System 5 (BlackBerry MVS 5) with voice over Wi-Fi® calling available for more corporate phone systems (see press release at http://press.rim.com/release.jsp?id=5016), we are pleased to let you know that BlackBerry MVS 5 is now available in North America and the UK for Avaya phone systems.
The list of phone systems that work with BlackBerry MVS now includes:

• Avaya Aura 6.1
• Avaya Communications Manager
• Avaya CS1000 Communication Server
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager
• Mitel Communications Director

BlackBerry MVS 5 brings together the desk phone and smartphone to enable employees to securely and cost effectively make and take desk phone calls practically anywhere in the world on their BlackBerry® smartphones. Calls can be made over cellular or Wi-Fi networks with automatic, prompted or manual handoff between these networks based on employee or administrator preferences.
Employees use the same phone interface on their BlackBerry smartphones that they use for cellular calls and enjoy the convenience of single number reach, extension dialing and ad hoc conferencing.
Companies benefit by having smartphone calls managed and controlled by BlackBerry MVS 5 and routed through the company’s phone system for potential savings on long distance and international roaming charges, and adherence to company policies and regulatory compliance requirements.

Voice over Wi-Fi calling with BlackBerry MVS 5 also makes BlackBerry smartphones cost-effective desk phone alternatives, particularly for highly mobile workers, telecommuters, and workers who are on-campus but often away from their desks.

For more information visit: us.blackberry.com/apps-software/business/blackberry_mvs/