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For the most part, our emails have remained sacred as advertising has spread across the internet. We see publishers trying all types of ways to monetize traffic, from display ads to text ads to, as you can see on this site, in-line text ads. What would happen, though, if the concept of in-line text ads extended to email? What if RIM implemented this on your BlackBerry? Via BlackBerry Cool, RIM has filed patents relating to advertising within messages. We know that RIM, through BlackBerry Advertising Service, planned to help developers implement ad network content into their apps, and these patents appear to be it. Will it change how we handle email?

Read the rest of Could monetized messages mean cheaper apps?…

If you ask a sample of random BlackBerry users about their biggest problem with the device’s software, and I bet you find a large majority answer the browser. RIM has made some serious improvements since the abomination that was the OS 4.2 browser, but it’s still lacking enough that I often find myself visiting certain sites from third party browsers (like the recently updated BOLT browser). About nine months ago we learned about Skyfire, which was supposed to revolutionize browsing on a BlackBerry. We haven’t heard much about it lately, though, because RIM has been busy creating a Webkit-based browser. This week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, we got a preview of what’s to come.

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Contactless payment systems are on the rise, and their success might not be connected to credit and debit cards, but rather to mobile phones. At every mobile conference I’ve been to in the past few years, there has been someone presenting information about how your mobile phone will soon allow you to pay for everyday things. Via IntoMobile, we learn that the future is coming soon. MasterCard Canada is introducing its PayPass system for the BlackBerry. You slap a sticker on the back of your device, and it works wirelessly to process payment (and it works with your BlackBerry, so you can just stick any PayPass sticker on any device). It’s a four-month pilot program, which will hopefully expand soon.

The launch of OS 5.0 appears to be nearing, so you might be wondering if your device is eligible for an upgrade. RIM won’t release the OS for every device, but it will offer upgrades for all of its latest generation handsets, plus one older model — and for that one I’m grateful. After the jump, a list of the eligible devices, plus a hint of when we can expect OS 5.0 to become officially available.

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In the contest of the greatest all-time time-waster, it’s a toss-up between Wikipedia and YouTube. Wikipedia has the advantage of seemingly infinite links, allowing you to hop among subjects for hours on end. YouTube provides cheap, free entertainment that doesn’t involve that whole reading thing. Via BlackBerry Rocks we learn about the official BlackBerry YouTube channel. It’s full of how-to videos, which is great if you have the dual need of wasting time and fixing your BlackBerry. Of course, it’s just a rip-off of the BBGeeks YouTube channel, which was set up nearly three years ago. Y’know, just saying…

If the success of Netflix has proven anything, it’s that people still want to rent movies. Sure, there are some out there who want to own their media, but some of us just want to kick back and enjoy a movie without having to fork over the purchase price. Even with Netflix, customers have to subscribe. What if you just want to rent a movie every once in a while? Blockbuster isn’t doing too great, and in any case if you want to rent from there you have to make at rip. Pay per use rentals is an inevitability, and thanks to mSpot, it’s coming to your BlackBerry. They’ve introduced Mobile Movies for many platforms, and thankfully the Berry is on there. Now you can pay for single rentals and watch them anywhere.

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It’s the headline we’ve all been waiting for. Caught this on Berry Review, and they found it in the BlackBerry Connection Newsletter (lots of good stuff in there). In talking about the Enhanced Gmail plugin, they dropped the bomb: “two-way synchronization is expected to be implemented in the near future.” With the two-way sync and the enhanced plugin running, the debate between the Gmail plugin and IMAP/POP retrieval. I encourage woo-hoos in the comments.

We’ve known for a while that RIM has been working on a new version of the BlackBerry Operating System. Early impressions were not that glowing — not that it’s bad, but just that it’s not that much of an upgrade over the current iterations. Now you can be your own judge, though I would not recommend it. The files leaked onto the BlackBerryOS message board, in its complete, unsanctioned entirety. If you were so inclined, you could head over there and install it on your device. However, BBGeeks does not recommend you install this software. It’s not an official release, so it could be buggy and cause your device to malfunction. Plus, as they note on the message board, it’s a pain to downgrade to your original OS. Thankfully for the curious, someone else loaded it up on his own BlackBerry.

Read the rest of Take a look at BlackBerry OS 5.0…

Update: It looks like RIM hasn’t fully released this yet. Why they would tell everyone that it will be available Tuesday night and then not make it available I don’t know. But they did.

In case you hadn’t heard, RIM has been preparing a social networking service for a good while now. It was invite-only, as many test runs are, but as of a few hours ago, it’s live to the public, so regular schmoes like you and me can join the cool kids’ club. The outlet, as described through words and screen shots, is more of a hub than a social network, though there are plenty of networking opportunities. The focus, though, will be on tips & tricks and applications. Hmmm…sounds kind of like the focus of a certain site I know…

Read the rest of Check out the just-launched MyBlackBerry…

Well here’s a welcome change. We’re so used to hearing the word “delayed” that it sometimes feels like nothing gets done on schedule. We could be seeing a couple of BlackBerry models, though, before we anticipated. First up is the Storm. No, it doesn’t sound like it’s coming out any earlier — November 1 is the current favorite — but we should hear some news on it sometime today. A Verizon internal email makes it seem like big news, probably the device announcement, is coming. Clearly, we’ll update this further as the information becomes available. It should prove an exciting day for the world of BlackBerry Geekdom.

Read the rest of Info on BlackBerry Storm, Bold coming sooner than we think?…