Yesterday, RIM announced that they would be giving a free PlayBook tablet to all Android developers who submit an app into App World before February 13th. Today, Alec Saunders, RIMs VP of Media Relations, has announced that ANY developer that submits a PlayBook app by that date is eligible for a free PlayBook. This offer is open to all developers in any country. Hit the link below for all the details and then get to coding!

• Learn more about the Free PlayBook offer

Starting today, Telus stores have officially dropped the retail price of the 16 & 32GB BlackBerry PlayBook models. The biggest question that’s been floating around the web is, why? Well, we don’t know exactly why, but could be due to the impeding launch of the HSPA+ enabled model. And the latest news pushes even more in the wind of an impending launch as Telus has placed the PlayBook into EOL (End Of Life).

This means they will sell all their current stock and will not replenish with the same model. I guess only time will tell, and with BlackBerry Devcon Europe starting and BlackBerry World in a few months, we will know sooner than later.

RIM has rolled out the BlackBerry Music Store for BlackBerry Smartphones, which is sponsored and run by 7Digital, to Berry users in Canada and Australia. This is Smartphone version of the store that has run on the PlayBook since launch. There’s no word on when this will be made available in the US or UK, but hopefully support for additional countries will come soon. Some of the features of the BlackBerry Music Store include:

• Browse the catalog by what’s new, top songs, top albums and genres
• Store your music in the cloud via your 7Digital Music Locker easy portability across devices (BB Smartphone and PlayBook)
• Preview a 30-second sample before buying
• Download over the wireless network or Wi-Fi®
• Let friends know what you’re checking out via BlackBerry Messenger, Email, Text Messaging, Socials Feeds, Facebook and more…
• Download directly to your BlackBerry music library

If you’re in Canada or Australia, be sure to grab the BlackBerry Music Store today, especially if you’ve already been using the service on your PlayBook. Like we said before, we hope to see US and UK support sometime soon. Let us know if you’re liking the new store and if you plan to start getting your music from there!

• Download the BlackBerry Music Store

While it’s no six months like Rogers customers are getting, Telus and Bell subscribers are able to receive a free BBM music trial themselves. Telus and Bell are offering up a 4 months premium subscription to their customers when they download BBM Music but it’s only for a limited time. The offer is valid until the end of February 2012.

The only downside is, if you’ve downloaded the app already you aren’t able to get in on the free months. If you haven’t downloaded the app, what are you waiting for. Hit up the link below to get a 4 month BBM Music subscription for free.

• Download BBM Music from BlackBerry App World 

If you’re a hockey fan than this app for BlackBerry is right up your ally. he Liam Maguire Ultimate Hockey Experience App is available for BlackBerry smartphones and gives you a new way to test you brain on all that is hockey, also gives you a chance to win some cool stuff.

“The Liam Maguire Ultimate Hockey Experience App is a new concept app that combines, news, trivia, chat, video and Wayne Gretzky Authentic Sponsored memorabilia prizes.”

Key Features:

• Chat with other hockey fans and join Liam once a week for his unique insite of the week that was in the NHL.
• Wayne Gretzky has sponsored the Trivia Contest area by  offering up WG Authentic Memorabilia.

“Liam Maguire is a hockey trivia expert, author and has appeared on Hockey Night in Canada and various radio and TV shows. With the Liam Maguire Ultimate Hockey Experience app, users can play a trivia game and if opt to “Ask The Expert” for insider information and trivia directly from Liam Maguire’s personal vault of facts and stories. During the trivia games, users have the opportunity to win NHL memorabilia provided by Wayne Gretzky Authentic. The app also gives you direct access to Liam as once a week fans will be able to hear Liam’s unique perspective on what transpired in hockey during that week.”

So if you’re looking for a way to kill time and are down for some free memorabilia then grab the link below to BlackBerry app world. Let us know what you think of the app, and what apps you’re playing yourself.

• Download the Liam Maguire Ultimate Hockey Experience app from App World

RIM is trying hard to get as many apps as possible onto the BlackBerry PlayBook before OS 2.0 launches. Their latest venture is aimed at Android developers and hopes to entice them with a free PlayBook. All you have to do is submit your repackaged Android application to App World by February 13th and you’ll get yourself a free PlayBook. RIM has made it incredibly easy to repackage your Android apps for the PlayBook, and with the growing number of units out there every day, you’re sure to make some easy money. Hit the link below to get all the details on submitting your Android app to App World.

• Check out BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps

Telus is hosting a promotion on the BlackBerry PlayBook from February 3rd through 9th. The 16GB and 32GB versions of the PlayBook will be on sale for just $149.99. Yes, you heard that right, $149.99. This is a huge sale that those in Canada should definitely check out, especially if you’re thinking about making the jump to the PlayBook. Word has it that the 64GB version will remain $299.99, which is still a great deal when considering MSRP.  Be sure to head in to your local Telus location on these days to grab yourself a new PlayBook at this low price!

Rogers has snuck a little treat into App World for their BlackBerry customers. The wireless carrier has teamed up with RIM to provide 6 months of BBM Music to their subscribers for free. All you have to do is download BBM Music to your BlackBerry any time between now and March 30th and Rogers will foot the bill for your first 6 months. There are; however, a few restrictions. The free 6 month offer is only available to Rogers customers and you must either be a new or trial member, if you’re already paying for BBM Music, you’re not eligible for the free 6 month trial. This looks like an attempt by both RIM and Rogers to drum up interest in BBM Music, and it wouldn’t surprise us here at TheBerryFix if other carriers jumped on with similar offers.

• Download BBM Music in App World

RIM has launched a new lineup of BlackBerry “Be Bold” commercials featuring the BlackBerry Bold 9900. These new commercials show everyday people using their BlackBerry Bolds for their everyday tasks and jobs. Along with RIMs new tagline for 2012, “Be Bold,” the commercials introduce two new lines: “I’m about action, not distraction” and “We need tools, not toys.” Take a look at the commercial above and those past the break and let us know what you think. I, for one, hear RIM saying “Be Bold” but airing the same commercials and same marketing as always. Hopefully the new CEO has some new marketing tricks up his sleeve that we will be seeing soon.

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

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

RIM has let us know that BlackBerry OS 7.0 and 7.1 devices are now officially certified for  use by both the US and Canadian Governments. BlackBerry 7 has received FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) 140-2 Certification from the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). This top-level certification is required for secure communications by both the US and Canadian Governments and their agencies. This is more good news for RIM, as the security certifications for their BlackBerry 7 and QNX devices begin to pile up.

Just last week the BlackBerry world was shaken up by the announcement that Jim and Mike, RIMs Co-CEOs, would be stepping down from the world they created. But today we’ve got another little shake-up happening.

CrackBerry.com was able to get images of what appears to be one of the two BlackBerry 10 devices to launch this year. There isn’t too much known about this guy, other than it will run a 1.5 GHz Dual Core CPU, which is similar to the new PlayBook that should be launching this year, as well. We also know that the device will pack LTE in addition to HSPA+ for those not yet setup with the new, blazing-fast connection. So what do you think? Good, bad, or amazing!?! Let us know in the comments below.

Last year, RIMs BlackBerry was crowned the number one best selling smartphone in the United Kingdom. This year, RIM has done it again. BlackBerry is the number one best selling Smartphone in the UK for the second year running. BlackBerry averaged 26.7% of all Smartphone sales in the UK for 2011.  The numbers come courtesy of GfK, a UK firm that is dedicated to information aggregation and market research.

News like this helps people to see the big picture for RIM, and not just the North American negativity that we are typically seeing. Sure, BlackBerry use may be on the decline in the USA, but that doesn’t mean sales aren’t strong everywhere else. The BlackBerry is the number one Smartphone in Canada and sales are very strong everywhere else in the world. BlackBerry 7 has been a transition point for RIM, and considering the only market they are losing in is the US market, 2012 and BlackBerry 10 is looking great for the company.

Press Release

Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced general availability of BlackBerry® Business Cloud Services for Microsoft Office 365 – a new service for business and government organizations that extends Microsoft Exchange Online to BlackBerry® smartphones and allows customers to manage their BlackBerry deployments in the cloud. The service is available at no additional charge to current medium-sized or enterprise subscribers of the Office 365 suite or standalone Exchange Online and works with BlackBerry smartphones on business or consumer data plans.

“RIM is pleased to launch BlackBerry Business Cloud Services for Microsoft Office 365. This new cloud-based option allows customers to cost-effectively support mobility across their organizations and easily manage and secure their BlackBerry deployments,” said Alan Panezic, Vice President, Enterprise Product Management and Marketing at Research In Motion. “We continue to build upon the end-to-end BlackBerry solution for our business and government customers with both on-premise and cloud-based solutions, a range of technical support options to suit any size organization, and a growing ecosystem of apps and services for users.”

“Microsoft’s partnership with RIM exemplifies our commitment to providing customers with the best productivity experience across the PC, browser and phone,” said Julia White, Senior Director of Microsoft’s Exchange Product Management Group. “The availability of BlackBerry Business Cloud Services is great news for Office 365 and BlackBerry customers who want to get the maximum benefit from these two business collaboration services.”

BlackBerry Business Cloud Services offers advanced administration and flexible smartphone self-service features to support an organization’s BlackBerry deployment in the cloud. Key features include:

• Wireless synchronization with Microsoft Exchange Online email, calendar and organizer data from a BlackBerry smartphone
• BlackBerry® Balance™ technology, which presents a unified view of work and personal content on a BlackBerry smartphone while keeping the content separate and secure
• An intuitive web-based console for IT administrators to provision, manage and secure BlackBerry smartphones from anywhere
• Online access to employee self-service smartphone security functions, allowing users to easily reset a device password or remotely lock or wipe a device in the event of loss or theft

Managed service providers, systems integrators, carriers, resellers and other partners can also use the cloud service to manage BlackBerry deployments on behalf of their customers.

The service is available today in over 50 countries. Customers can go to www.blackberry.com/cloudservices to get started.

In an interview with CrackBerry, RIM’s new CEO, Thorsten Heins, was asked was asked about licensure of both the BlackBerry Operating System and BlackBerry Messenger. His response may surprise some of the BlackBerry faithful who know Mike and Jim’s stance on licensing the BlackBerry OS. Here’s what Heins had to say:

“You should never rule this out; business is very very dynamic. It’s dynamic on the device side as well as on the software side. So never say no to anything. We’re constantly exploring our room to maneuver and our room to explore other businesses so I wouldn’t say categorically no to it. There is a time where this might make sense, and I have a team looking into this. I’m not saying I won’t license. People are again putting this in a black and white spot. I’m open for licensing if it makes sense. But it’s not what I was hired for; I was not hired to build a licensing company. I was hired to take BlackBerry to new heights. And that’s what I will do with my team.”

So far, I’m liking everything that the new CEO has to say. His initial response is that yes, if there was a profitable licensure request, RIM very well may go ahead with the process. I also like what he has to say about BBM. I personally think that moving BBM cross platform would allow for more people to experience the power of the service and get BlackBerry on their minds. Then when BlackBerry 10 launches, the BBM licensure may draw new customers. That is however, only my opinion. Heins makes sure to close out this answer by saying he wants to “take BlackBerry to new heights” and “not just build a licensing company.”

We have been hearing from RIM for quite some time that PlayBook OS 2.0 would be ready and launching in February. They never gave us a specific date in February, but I have always thought it would be mid to late in the month. It’s looking like I may be right, according to Best Buy. According to BBOS, employees at Best Buy locations all around the US and Canada are being told to prepare for the rollout of the OS for PlayBook on February 21st. I have even personally called and visited a few Best Buys and gotten either late February or the exact date for February 21 as the date from employees.

We must take this with a grain of salt, especially since we all know how carrier and tech store employees tend to carry on rumors over facts. However, with PlayBook OS 2.0 being such a big launch for the company, the employees may need to be let in on it a little earlier to get prepared. This launch will be highly publicized and marketed, something we have already seen from RIM in the first month of 2012. Now, I know most were skeptical at the launch date, especially considering RIM’s less than stellar track record of product release announcements followed by delays. It looks like this time, February may be correct and RIM my hit a specified launch date for the first time in a long time. All of this combines gives us great hope in RIM and the BlackBerry for 2012. They are finally living up to customer expectations, as well as their new slogan, #BeBold.