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Back when I had a consumer phone, I used to text message my fair share. I remember the parental blowup when the heavy texting started…who thought 10 cents a message could add up so fast? But really, messaging goes further back than that. Before I could even imagine everyone having a cell phone, I — and nearly all my friends — were AIM junkies. Cell phones just allowed us to take that computer-based messaging and move it to a mobile platform. No, we couldn’t have endless conversations via text at 3 a.m. — though we certainly tried. But with the introduction of the smartphone, complete with full QWERTY keyboard — the game changed again.
Read the rest of The ins and outs of BlackBerry messaging…

Yay. Just what I want to talk about this morning: Another BIS outage. This one didn’t seem to be as widespread as the one from last week. This one, though, didn’t get to the corporate users, who have an Enterprise server backing them up. So clearly there’s a bit less of an outrage. Still, even a small outage is not good news for RIM right now, who is still trying to stave off the slew of media-posed questions regarding the company’s reliability. And it doesn’t help that they claimed that it was the result of maintenance.
Read the rest of Problems reported with BIS on Wednesday…

The talk around BlackBerry and smartphone circles lately has been the shift from a business-centric device to a consumer device. While BlackBerry’s success was once on the business side, they’re seeing more and more consumers adopt their phones, and other smartphones. Why? Because they’re all-in-one devices that provide superior entertainment capabilities. In fact, 90 percent of the over 3,000 respondents to this survey said that they wouldn’t switch back to a traditional handset after using a smartphone for a period of time.
Read the rest of Survey says: BlackBerry users crave entertainment…

A short while ago I posted a list of 170+ FREE BlackBerry Games in an attempt to help you find quality content to fill up your microSD cards. There was a very positive response to that article, so I have decided to scour the internet once again. This time out I am bringing you FREE BlackBerry Themes. Thats right folks, no longer do you have to walk around with your BlackBerry looking exactly like everyone else’s.
Read the rest of Hundreds and Hundreds of FREE BlackBerry Themes…

I know I promised I would notify the winners of the BBGeeks FREE BlackBerry Giveaway yesterday, but as luck may have it, the powers that be where I live have decided that February 18th is a new holiday. I therefore took the day to enjoy some much needed family time.

I would like to thank those of you who entered the contest for your patience. I now present the winners of our contest, who submitted written entries telling us why they are the “Worlds Biggest BlackBerry Geek”.
Read the rest of BBGeeks FREE BlackBerry Giveaway Contest Winners…

A while back, I linked up to a PocketGPSWorld review of the Carcomm Mobile PDA Cradle. I have since gotten my hands on one, so I can share a bit more personal an experience. It’s a really neat device: A mounting system for your car, complete with a gooseneck setup and swivel capabilities. It’s pretty straightforward, actually, so I’ll get right to the review — and pictures, of course.
Read the rest of Review of the Carcomm Mobile PDA Cradle…

I always have to think these kinds of lawsuits are kind of suspect. The BlackBerry has been out for how long now? Since 2000, 2001. And it’s been a smash hit since 2003. And Motorola decides they’re going to file a patent infringement suit now? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be unfairly biased against Motorola right from the get-go. But it’s simply hard to believe a lawsuit like this when it’s filed so far after the fact…and on the heels of speculation that Motorola might not be too happy with it’s mobile phone division.
Read the rest of Motorola sues RIM, RIM returns the favor…

Just a rumor I thought I’d direct you to, courtesy of our friends at The Boy Genius Report. They’re saying that “OS 4.6.0 has un-officially graduated from internal development at RIM and has been moved on into the official builds and carrier certification process.” So this could mean they’re readying it for launch with a new line of BlackBerrys. Or it might not. That’s why it’s a rumor. But in any case, BGR does note that RIM might be facing a typical issue related to newer technologies: Battery drain. This is because of Wi-Fi, GPS, and 3G capabilities. However, the move of 4.6.0 to the carrier certification process might indicate that they’ve figured a workaround. Of course, all this means is that we’re just going to have to wait around a bit longer.

Just a quick plug: I appeared on the BlackBerry Cool Podcast last Friday, which you can listen to here. Host Simon Sage and I discussed social networking, a remote stereo system, a number of BlackBerry Pearl launches, and of course the CDMA Curve. Give it a listen.

Welcome everybody to the BBGeeks.com BlackBerry Feed Reader Awards. Over the past ten weeks we have been profiling and reviewing various feed readers available for your BlackBerry. Each week a new feed reader was discussed and added to the list. It is now time to take a broad look at all of these available feed readers and decide which one is the best of bunch.
Read the rest of BBGeeks BlackBerry Feed Reader Awards…