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Feeling overloaded with BlackBerry news and rumors? We know the feeling. We hear new things almost every day, and it can be tough to keep up with it all. that’s why we’re bringing you BlackBerry News from the Wire every Thursday.
We’ll catch you up on everything ‘Berry that happened over the course of the week. Not only that, but we’ll rank ‘em by importance, so you can more easily skim the items and read the ones of most significance. If you only have time to read one article, for instance, you might want to head down to our 5-star section. It’s All the BlackBerry News Fit to Geek.
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BlackBerry Bold hitting AT&T on November 4
Okay, so anyone not living under a rock knows this by now, but AT&T announced that the BlackBerry Bold will go on sale November 4. The best part of this announcement is that we know there will be no more delays. Phew. Now we can just wait in anticipation for the date to roll around. Strangely enough, AT&T has already released OS 4.6.0167 for the Bold, despite the device’s current unavailability.
BlackBerry Storm pushed back to November 13th with Verizon?
We’re not talking delays of Bold proportions here, but according to some information received by CrackBerry.com, we could see the Storm coming on November 13. The previous rumor had the Storm at November 4, which would have been pretty funny. The Bold and the Storm on the same day? Previously, the rumor had been November 9th, so once again the delay isn’t that bad. Boy Genius Report has some screenshots showing a November 16th release from Best Buy. So will the Storm be coming a few days late to them, or should we be preparing for an all-out November 16th launch?
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BlackBerry IM applications causing memory leak?
If you’re experiencing memory leak on your BlackBerry, it very well may have to do with RIM’s suite of instant messaging applications. Thankfully, it appears that RIM has fixed the problem. That’s nice. There’s little more frustrating than seeing your File Free at zero and having no idea how it got there. It is recommended that you go to the BlackBerry website and download the newest versions of these applications. That should fix the problem.
Tips for creating BlackBerry applications
This week was the BlackBerry Developers conference (the boys at BlackBerry Cool were all over it). In celebration, RIM’s CTO David Yach shares 10 tips for creating BlackBerry applications. Number 5 is particularly important: “Preserves Battery Life.” Nothing worse than an application that sucks the life out of your battery in eight hours or less. Unfortunately, though, it appears that RIM won’t be offering open source versions of the BlackBerry code anytime soon. They are, however, teaming with Device Anywhere for application testing.
BlackBerry Application Store gets official
Sometimes, you can just look at a press release and say: “Big deal. I knew about that months ago.” Yet, that doesn’t make it any less important. This week, RIM officially announced their application store. As expected, it will launch in March 2009, with developers having the ability to start submitting apps this December. The on-device app store should be a huge selling point for the Storm.
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BlackBerry Jupiter to be the 9300
Two weeks ago on News From The Wire, we learned that RIM is planning a CDMA Javelin/Curve model. We now learn that RIM is planning to call it the 9300. That makes sense, given the parallel to the 8300 series. But will it be the 8330, with the final 30 signifying the CDMA network? Who knows at this point. It as well will likely be dubbed the Curve. As we learned from the Financial Post this week, RIM never uses the internal name as the official release of a device.
Pearl 8220 not selling so well?
RIM had high hopes for the BlackBerry Pearl 8220 flip phone, and for good reason. It has appeal with the younger crowd, which is something the company should be targeting in some way. However, it appears that the Pearl isn’t selling so well. This is not good news for RIM, which is used to being atop the American phone sales charts. Eric Zeman of InformationWeek speculates that RIM’s other upcoming models, the Bold and Storm, might have people tentative to get the 8220. Also, the $150 price tag might have something to do with it. Just another reason to drop it to $50.
Storm passes through the FCC
There’s still no official release date, but at least we know that the Storm won’t be facing any delays from the FCC.
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Deleting BlackBerry Maps. Plenty of people are using TeleNav or Google Maps on their BlackBerry at this point, so it makes sense to delete the default Maps application to free up some memory. This isn’t to say the default app is poor. Rather, it’s because Google Maps is so good.
Want a free BlackBerry Storm? CrackBerry is running quite a crazy contest. You’ve got about a week to go to enter, and Kevin says that the current entries are pretty nutty. Check it out.
Mix your own drinks with Mobile Bartender. We’re pulling out some of our software review archives. If you’re heading out this weekend, you can might want to check out Mobile Bartender if you’re tired of the same old Gin and Tonic.
NowMessage voicemail replacement. So I said something in passing comparing this to YouMail, and I got killed in the comments. Still, this is a simple alternative to your carrier’s sometimes-infuriating voicemail engine.
Record phone calls on your BlackBerry. This is a tough subject because of varying state laws involving call recording. It’s no fun for those of us who need such software to record phone interviews. Still, there are a few ways to do it. Unfortunately, most of it costs money.
Stay on task with StudenDocket. It’s mid-term season. While it might be a little late to scramble and get an A in that class, you can still take this time to get organized and still pull a solid B. Unless you’re already a good student and just want to stay at peak efficiency. Either way, you might want to check out StudentDocket.
Change the default email on your BlackBerry. Sick of changing the Send From field in every email you compose? Just switch the default and you’re all good.
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