BlackBerry has teamed up with an application developer named Blippar to help iOS and Android users get a quick taste of BlackBerry 10 using their current device of choice. How is this accomplished, you might ask? Users can download the Blippar app and then point their camera at a screen displaying the BBTakeOver.me website. Once the app recognizes the website, you’ll get a beautiful preview of BlackBerry 10, featuring some of the great apps and gestures, right on your iOS or Android device.

• Download the Blippar app for iOS
• Download Blippar app for Android
• Scan This Website for the BlackBerry 10 Takeover Experience

Source : CrackBerry

BlackBerry has released a new version of BBM, version 7.0.1.16, into the BlackBerry Beta Zone for users running OS 7.1 and older. This update features lots of bug fixes and speed improvements, but very little in the way of new features. If you’re one that likes to have the latest and greatest apps running, this is definitely an update you’ll want to grab. Just log into the BlackBerry Beta Zone and grab the download.

• Visit the BlackBerry Beta Zone

BlackBerry has just confirmed and released a knowledge base article concerning a recently exposed hack. This hack involves BlackBerry Enterprise Server software and is related to TIFF image access. BlackBerry has released an update to BES that patches this hole; however, many companies may not have applied this update yet and could still be at risk. If you’re involved with managing or administrating a BES server, hit the link below for all the information on this latest vulnerability.

• BlackBerry Knowledge Base Article on BES TIFF Vulnerability

BlackBerry has just released an update to the software for BlackBerry PlayBooks. While it’s not a full BlackBerry 10 update, the 133MB PlayBook update brings some great changes and lays the groundwork for bringing BlackBerry 10 to the device. The changes that come with this update include:

• Browser Improvements
• Audio Boost
• BlackBerry World Storefront rebranding
• SMS over Bridge
• And much more

You can download this update immediately on your PlayBook. If it’s not showing up automatically, just check for a new update in the settings menu to trigger the download. Keep in mind that this update will be available immediately for WiFi PlayBook owners and it will rollout to 4G PlayBooks with carrier approval.

A new report from the trade-in company, SellCell, is showing some great news for BlackBerry. Trade-ins of Samsung and Apple devices spiked during and after the BlackBerry 10 launch event. Samsung trade-ins spiked nearly 275% on BB10 launch day and Apple trade-ins jumped about 50%. Meanwhile, stats on BlackBerry trade-ins dropped about 50%. This is good news for BlackBerry and the Z10 as it rolls out around the world. Check out the full Press Release below.

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BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins has released a statement on the wild success of the BlackBerry Z10 in both Canada and the UK. This device release set new sales records for the company in both locations and BlackBerry fully expects to see more records shattered as the weeks go on. Here’s the statement:

“In Canada, yesterday was the best day ever for the first day of a launch of a new BlackBerry smartphone.  In fact, it was more than 50% better than any other launch day in our history in Canada,” said Thorsten Heins, President & CEO of BlackBerry.  “In the UK, we have seen close to three times our best performance ever for the first week of sales for a BlackBerry smartphone.”

This is absolutely huge news for a company that was on the “brink of collapse” and had all their hopes pinned on the release of BlackBerry 10. Worldwide releases will continue in the coming weeks and months, with the US release coming in mid- to late-March. There is hope that this release will also break BlackBerry sales records when it arrives.

It’s been confirmed that T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon all plan to launch the BlackBerry Z10, we just haven’t gotten a firm date for the launch yet. That is, until now. Internal documentation from T-Mobile has revealed that the Z10 will be available on March 27th. There’s still no confirmation from other US carriers as to a launch date, however, I wouldn’t recommend expecting the release before the second half of March.

Source : TMoNews

BLACKBERRY’S SUPER BOWL DEBUT

February 3, 2013 – Tonight, BlackBerry made its Super Bowl debut in New Orleans as part of the launch and global rollout of the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 on the new BlackBerry 10 mobile computing platform.

“In our debut appearance at the Super Bowl we knew that it wasn’t feasible to communicate the rich experience of BlackBerry 10. We decided to use the light hearted spirit of Super Bowl ads to showcase what BlackBerry 10 can’t do,” said Frank Boulben, Chief Marketing Officer, BlackBerry. “We wanted to let people know that BlackBerry is back and that BlackBerry 10 is worth checking out. People can find out for themselves the amazing things that the totally re-designed, re-engineered and re-invented BlackBerry 10 can do at www.blackberry.com.”

Here are the details about BlackBerry’s first Super Bowl commercial:

• Creative Agency: The BlackBerry 10 Super Bowl spot was created by AMV BBDO
• Production: The commercial was shot on a back lot in Los Angeles over the course of three days, capturing as much in-camera content as possible. This includes the jack-knifing truck and puff of smoke. Special effects also played a large role, particularly in the elephant legs, flames and duckies scenes.
• Direction: Peter Thwaites served as Director for the commercial
• Music: ”Who Knows” by Marion Black

BlackBerry will continue to engage with consumers, fans and followers through additional post-game digital and social activities designed to encourage visits to BlackBerry.com for more information on what BlackBerry 10 can do: http://us.blackberry.com/smartphones/blackberry-z10.html

Electronic Arts, an award-winning mobile game developer, is bringing an impressive lineup of games to the new BlackBerry® 10 platform. Gamers and EA aficionados alike will now be able to enjoy stunning visuals and engaging gameplay with fan-favorites  including  The Sims FreePlay, Tetris,World Series of Poker, Monopoly Millionaire, Mass Effect Infiltrator and Dead Space, along with PopCap’s Plants vs. Zombies and Bejeweled 2.

The BlackBerry® World™ storefront for the newly re-designed and re-invented BlackBerry 10 platform, allows users to browse, read reviews and purchase EA games. BlackBerry 10 launched on January 30^th at multiple events around the world. To learn more about game titles and gaming on BlackBerry 10 please visit http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/.

For more information about EA Mobile, please visit www.EAMobile.com, join them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/EAMobile or follow them on Twitter at www.twitter.com/EAMobile.

BlackBerry has been working hard to bring not only the best OS experience, but also the best application catalog, to BlackBerry 10. They have done a superb job of this, announcing that they have partnerships with over 1000 of the top app partners worldwide. From Amazon’s Kindle Reader, to Skype, and even Angry Birds, BlackBerry 10 will have all the top applications for smartphone owners. Check out the full Press Release below for more information on these 1000+ top app partners.

Press Release

BlackBerry 10 Customers Will Have a Great Selection of Top Apps in Every Category

BlackBerry welcomes more than 1000 of the top app partners with relevant, local content from every region of the globe

WATERLOO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Jan. 31, 2013) – A phenomenal lineup of top brands and applications have committed to the BlackBerry(R) 10 platform, giving the new platform the strongest content offering of any first generation mobile platform at launch. Yesterday at the BlackBerry 10 launch event in New York, BlackBerry(R) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) announced that 1,000 of the top app partners will be making their applications available on the BlackBerry(R) World(TM) storefront. The partners range from leaders in social media to the top games, sports, productivity, lifestyle apps, and more.

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BlackBerry, known as RIM when they originally announced this news, announced last week that they would be running the company’s first ever Super Bowl commercial this year. The 30 second spot is set to show off all the features of BlackBerry 10, along with the beauty of the BlackBerry Z10. They have sent over the image above as a little teaser before the big game.

BlackBerry hopes to engage Millions of potential BlackBerry 10 customers with their first big budget advertisement. During the Super Bowl, and before and after, you can interact with BlackBerry via their Twitter and Facebook pages. So check out the still image above and get ready for BlackBerry’s big ad this Sunday during Super Bowl XLVII.

Desktop Manager was always a great solution for backing up your BlackBerry to your computer; however, as the native BlackBerry OS grew old, so did Desktop Manager. Now, BlackBerry has replaced Desktop Manager with something more appropriate for BlackBerry 10, BlackBerry Link. This is the link between your BlackBerry device and all your content on your computer. This software only works for BlackBerry 10 devices, so you’ll need to keep Desktop Manager if you’re still using BlackBerry OS 7. Downloads are available for both PC and Mac users, just by clicking the link below.

In case you hadn’t heard, BlackBerry officially launched the first BlackBerry 10 device, the Z10, this morning. It is a beautiful device, sleek and slim with no physical buttons on the face of the device. The Z10 has all the bells and whistles you would expect from a modern flagship smartphone, NFC, LTE, 2GB of RAM, and dual cameras. The display on the Z10 is absolutely amazing, coming in at 4.2″ and 1280 x 768 resolution. In addition to these specs, there’s a full list of all the BlackBerry Z10′s vital statistics past the break.

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The New York Times has announced, just on the heels of BlackBerry 10′s unveiling, that their news application has been optimized and is now available for BlackBerry 10 devices. The app will offer all the NTY content optimized especially for BlackBerry 10. There will also be news alerts, social media integration, and direct sharing via BBM. Check out the full Press Release past the break for more information and download the app in BlackBerry World using the link below.

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BlackBerry has announced the official release dates for the BlackBerry Z10 around the world. Here are the dates:

• Tomorrow, January 31st, in the United Kingdom
• February 5th in Canada
• March in the United States

Pricing will be between $199 and $149 on contract, depending on your carrier. The Q10 will begin launching worldwide in April and pricing will likely be the same as the Z10.