Have you ever wanted to have a battery on your belt, RIM has! The patent details how RIM is planing to use flexible batteries in their holsters that will give you that extra charge for your berry on the go. It doesn’t stop there as the holster is said to house it’s own speakers allowing for notifications and ringtone’s to be heard with ease.

The Porsche Design P’9981 smartphone by Blackberry has just been awarded “Smartphone of the Year 2012” by a distinguished jury at the renowned Plus X Award. The sleek one-of-a-kind device includes a typical straight-line and “puristic”design by Porsche Design and innovative technologies from BlackBerry.

The Plus X Award is awarded in the categories technology, sport and lifestyle paying particular attention on innovative and future-oriented products that distinguish themselves from others by an aptly named Plus X Factor.

Axel Kettenring, Managing Director RIM Germany, says: “We are very proud to receive this seal of quality. Receiving the Plus X Award for the Porsche Design P’9981 smartphone confirms we are operating at the cutting edge with our demand for design and quality.”

Monday morning update! A new version of BlackBerry Bridge was released today. This is a smaller update but does include a fix for issues around Bridge being disabled after a Blackberry OS 7.1 upgrade. If your feeling the itch to download the latest version of Blackberry Bridge check out the link below.

• Click here to Download Blackberry Bridge 2.0.0.31

As mentioned before RIM has been very faithful to their physical keyboard in the past and it doesn’t look like that is going to change either. A patent back from ’09 for an “Angular keyboard” has had some life breathed back into it, as RIM continues to try out all kinds of different keyboards this one is said to be more for the chubby fingered individuals out there. As you can tell in the picture above, the angled keys would make texting and emailing a little easier for our chubby fingered friends.

Today RIM officially launched the new 9320 Curve, you may have heard about this device and that it will be coming with its own dedicated BBM button for all you non-stop messengers, very cool! No word on pricing or who will be carrying the new device but we will keep you posted, as for the OS it will be hitting the streets with Blackberry OS 7.1.

For those of you who like it official, click the link below to check out the press release from RIM.

Curve 9320 Press Release.

For those that blog, this is an especially relevant update. WordPress for the BlackBerry PlayBook has been updated this morning to v2.1. Since PlayBook apps don’t yet have change logs enabled, we’re not exactly sure what has changed or been added in this release. Since it has made the jump from 2.0 to 2.1, we can assume there are some significant new features or fixes in this release. If you’re a PlayBook WordPress user, grab the update form the link below and let us know what you find.

• Download WordPress for BlackBerry PlayBook

Today Thorsten Heins made clear the speculation that RIM is NOT abandoning the physical keyboard that so many of us have grown to love. During a Q & A session he said “We want the typing experience on BlackBerry to be the best in the World… both touchscreen and physical keyboard”. So unless he is just toying with us we can expect to see some type BB 10 device with a physical keyboard in the future, one with a killer keyboard by the sounds of it.

The Blackberry Playbook is rumoured to be getting an update to OS 2.1 in the coming months. Thanks to some lucky people attending the shindig down in Orlando, it has been reported that the Playbook will be releasing a developers build by the end of the month and should be releasing it to the rest of us sometime around the beginning of the summer!

It looks as though this could be a rather hefty update, check out some of the new features  listed below.

• Portrait Email, Calendar, and Contacts
• App World Carrier Shelf
• Bridge Texting and WiFi Transport Support
• Android Multi-Tasking
• Camera API and In-app Payments for developers
• Over-the-air activation with Mobile fusion
• Personal Encryption

As we all know by now, RIM is giving out a limited number of BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha Developer phones to attendees of the BlackBerry 10 JAM this week. We’ve seen tons of photos of the device in the past few days, so now we’re going to take a look at the actual device specs and content.

The Dev Alpha looks exactly like a mini-PlayBook tablet. It has the same feel as the PlayBook but with a slightly different configuration. The Dev Alpha’s cameras have been shifted so that the device functions primarily in portrait mode. The device is running the core OS of BlackBerry 10, meaning the speed, functionality, and usability of BlackBerry 10 is all there. The one thing you’ll notice; however, is that the Dev Alpha OS doesn’t look like what we saw Thorsten Heins present at the keynote. That’s because this unit is running BlackBerry 10 skinned over with the PlayBook UI. Head past the break for more on the Dev Alpha, including the full specs.

BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha Specs

• OS: BlackBerry 10 Developer Preview V 10.0.4.197
• Display: 4.2-inch 1280×768 HD LCD (356dpi) touch screen
• Storage: 16GB Internal
• Network: Quad Band HSPA+, No LTE support enabled. microSIM
• Connectivity: Bluetooth, NFC
• Cameras: Front Facing with no flash. Rear Camera with Flash
• Ports: 3.5MM Headphone Jack, microHDMI, microUSB
• Battery: Non-Removable

The device comes loaded with a browser and camera app, and nothing else. This is because RIM has plans to roll out additional features and apps as they become ready throughout the remainder of the year. Another thing to notice is the front-facing camera. This is the first time we have seen a BlackBerry phone with this feature and it’s really about time! I’m really looking forward to seeing the progress as RIM rolls out more updates and apps to the Dev Alphas, so stay tuned to TheBerryFix for all the latest.

Via: CrackBerry

The team at Kisai Labs has updated their popular Twitter app, Blaq for the BlackBerry PlayBook, to v1.8. This new version addresses some common issues while also adding some new features. As usual with Blaq updates, the change log is massive! The biggest new feature that they have added in this release is the threaded messages view. This allows you to see your Twitter conversations in an easy-to-read, threaded format. You can view the full change log for this update past the break. If you want to download Blaq for your PlayBook, it’ll run you $1.99 and can be had at the link below.

• Download Blaq for BlackBerry PlayBook

New Features

• Threaded direct messages – See messages in the convo format you’re used to
• Muting - Mute users, clients (e.g. GetGlue, twitterfeed) and hashtags
• Tweet from multiple accounts at once – tap the avatar next to the compose area to select accounts to tweet from
• Go to user (Swipe down, blue dude)
• Adjustable font size for tweet compose
• Portrait list view
• Portrait search view
• Shows if user is following current user on the tweet card
• Hashtags are automatically appended to replies
• Tweet card hides compose after tweet is sent
• “Tweet from @user” when copying tweet
• Change the location of trending topics

Bug Fixes

• Unwanted retweets show for users which this is disabled for
• Tweets on tweet card show for retweeter and not original tweeter
• Can’t click on links in lists
• Links, hashtags and user mentions are not clickable in tweet on top of the tweet card
• DM icon shows as new when new DM is sent
• Twitter photos streaming in do not open in-line
• When in search mode, top compose bar doesn’t collapse when tweet card is thrown away
• Placeholder avatar loads when avatar cannot load
• Search list overlaps options menu
• Search results always show “Moments ago” instead of true time
• Profile doesn’t show when there is no convo or link
• Tweet card issues
• Search UI bugs

RIM CEO Thorsten Heins just showed off an amazing video preview of the coming BlackBerry 10 phones. Even if you weren’t at BlackBerry World 2012, you too can now check out this awesome video. Just hit play or click the link above to check it out!

RIM has made the first Beta version of Cascades for BlackBerry 10 OS available. The Cascades site, which is linked to below, offers application samples, code framework examples, and downloads of the Cascades SDK. If you’re a developer working towards BlackBerry 10, this is one SDK you MUST have. Grab it at the link below and get started developing today!

• Download the Cascades SDK for BlackBerry 10

Here’s the first image of the new BlackBerry 10 User Interface. The keynote is happening now so there is more to come! This new UI is absolutely beautiful and is going to revolutionize the mobile space!

RIM has officially released the first BlackBerry 10 Native Development Kit to developers. Here’s the press release:

Press Release

Developers get powerful tools in advance to build apps that deliver highly engaging mobile experiences for users

BlackBerry World 2012 / BlackBerry 10 Jam – Orlando, FL – - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today unveiled its vision for the BlackBerry® 10 platform at the BlackBerry World™ conference in Orlando, Florida and released the initial developer toolkit for native and HTML5 software development. The toolkit is available in beta as a free download from http://developer.blackberry.com.

“BlackBerry 10 builds upon the core values and exceptional user experiences that have attracted more than 77 million BlackBerry customers around the world today,” said Alec Saunders, Vice President, Developer Relations and Ecosystems Development. “Developers building for BlackBerry 10 will be able to easily create the kind of cutting-edge apps that deliver truly engaging experiences and ‘wow’ customers, whether through integration with native features and other apps like BBM or by leveraging the new signature design elements of this new and powerful mobile computing platform.”

“There is tremendous interest, anticipation and momentum building toward the launch of BlackBerry 10 devices, and today we’re extremely excited to release the BlackBerry 10 developer beta tools for general use,” said Christopher Smith, Vice President, Handheld Application Platform and Tools at Research In Motion. “Developers can use this first beta of the tools to get started building apps for BlackBerry 10 and as the tools evolve over the coming months, developers will have access to a rich API set that will allow them to build even more integrated apps. The toolkit we are delivering today also meets developers on their own terms. Whether using the powerful Cascades framework, writing direct native code or developing in HTML5, BlackBerry 10 will empower developers to create attractive and compelling apps that excite customers.”

The toolkit includes the BlackBerry® 10 Native SDK with Cascades, which allows developers to create graphically rich, high performance native applications in C/C++ using Qt. The Native SDK for BlackBerry 10 has a rich set of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) that give developers access to core device features and a range of BlackBerry application services, such as Push and Payment services. Cascades is a powerful native application development toolset that allows developers to easily build visually stunning applications without having to write complex, low-level graphics code.

More details about the NDK for BlackBerry 10 are posted on http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/04/blackberry-10-native-sdk and for Cascades at http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/04/blackberry-10-cascades-available-now.

The toolkit also includes support for HTML5 application developers with the BlackBerry 10 WebWorks™ SDK, allowing them to create native-like applications using common web programming technologies. The BlackBerry 10 WebWorks SDK allows developers to use HTML5 and CSS for building apps and provides JavaScript bindings to native device APIs along with RIM’s open source UI toolkit, bbUI.js, to create applications with native-like capabilities. In this initial release of the BlackBerry 10 WebWorks SDK, developers have access to a core subset of the full WebWorks APIs, including Identity, Application and App events, System and system events. More details about the BlackBerry 10 WebWorks SDK are posted on http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/04/blackberry-10-webworks-sdk.

Applications created with any of the BlackBerry 10 tools will run on BlackBerry 10 smartphones as well as BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablets when the new platform becomes available for the PlayBook. All of the SDKs will be updated to give developers access to more of the BlackBerry 10 unique capabilities over the coming months.

To further help developers get started on the BlackBerry 10 platform, BlackBerry 10 Jam attendees are being provided a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device. This testing unit is a further commitment from RIM to provide the developer community with the tools they need to build successful applications for BlackBerry 10 devices, so that they are ready when the first BlackBerry 10 devices are expected to launch in the latter part of 2012

The NDK for BlackBerry 10, including Cascades, is available for download at http://developer.blackberry.com/native/download.

The BlackBerry 10 WebWorks SDK is available at http://developer.blackberry.com/html5/download.

Additional Useful Links for Developers:

BlackBerry Jam Zone: http://developer.blackberry.com

@BlackBerryDev: http://www.twitter.com/blackberrydev

Developer Success Stories: https://bdsc.webapps.blackberry.com/devzone/whyblackberry/stories