blackberry

If you've been waiting to dump your BlackBerry for an iPhone because you don't want to give up the free BlackBerry Messaging service that allows you to bypass carrier text messaging, then the wait is over.

Earlier this week, Apple announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco that its new iMessage feature that will be baked into the latest version of iOS software due later this year, will offer a similar messaging service that Research In Motion's BBM service offers.

In addition to seeing when and if messages have been received, just like BBM, iMessage … Read more

The Boy Genius Report has reported that the latest handset from RIM, the BlackBerry Bold 9900, will be delayed until September even though the initial launch was slated for summer of this year. We've yet to hear back from RIM to confirm this, however, so stay tuned for any updates.

The Bold 9900 has a similar design to the older Bolds, but with a sleeker and thinner form factor. The display is also now a capacitive touch screen, designed to take advantage of BlackBerry OS 7 that brings support for augmented reality apps via a built-in magnetometer.

It also … Read more

Microsoft announced today during a news event tied to a forthcoming Windows Phone 7 update that its Windows Phone Marketplace holds 18,000 apps.

While that's peanuts compared to Android Market's 200,000 apps and the iPhone App Store's estimated 500,000 titles, it appears that Windows Phone 7 may actually have a similar or larger haul than BlackBerry App World, depending on how you count.

RIM's online market hosts about 25,000 items, which is 7,000 more than the Marketplace. If we split hairs, 7,500 of those titles are visual themes and another … Read more

Stephane Richard knows a thing or two about the iPhone.

In addition to carrying one of Apple's iconic smartphones, Richard is also the CEO of France Telecom, whose networks carry traffic from more iPhones than any other carrier except AT&T. France Telecom, with its Orange brands, sells the iPhone in 15 countries.

"They just created smartphones with the iPhone," Richard said during an hour-long chat over breakfast at the W Hotel in San Francisco last week. "Everybody should be grateful to them to have put such a product in our market."

But, while … Read more

A mere two weeks after Twitter 2.0's arrival in BlackBerry Beta Zone, it looks like the newly refreshed client has emerged unscathed. Twitter 2.0 for Blackberry is official, and will be generally available in BlackBerry App World over the next 24 hours.

For those who weren't on the beta train, Twitter 2.0 boasts speedier and more streamlined Twitter Search via a single screen combining the Find People, Search, and Popular Topics functions, along with Trends and Saved Searches. For BlackBerry 6 users, Universal Search on your phone now pulls results from Twitter as well. And … Read more

Sony is firing up the PlayStation Network again and most of America should have access by now. But the Japanese government says it won't allow PSN back on in its country until Sony can ensure that it's triple-dog-super-secure. Which, uh ... I kind of want it to be that secure here, too, don't you? Plus, artists gets screwed by pirates AND the RIAA, the fascinating and potentially globally destabilizing bitcoin project, and the power of Prey gets back a man's laptop from hundreds of miles away. --Molly

BlackBerry users, your tweet game just stepped up a notch, as Twitter for BlackBerry version 2.0 is now available in BlackBerry Beta Zone. Thanks to a newly adopted "iterative development approach" at Research in Motion, this newest version comes to us less than a month after version 1.1 dropped.

The biggest improvement can be found in Twitter Search, which now combines the Find People, Search, and Popular Topics functions into a single unified search screen. Trends and Saved Searches are also tucked in there, making for a more streamlined search experience overall. And for BlackBerry 6 … Read more

While we weren't able to be there ourselves for BlackBerry World, Joseph Hanlon from CNET Australia flew all the way across the globe to be there in Orlando, Fla.. As any good journalist would, he immediately sought out the latest BlackBerry handset, the RIM BlackBerry 9900 (the 9930 is its dual-mode CDMA/GSM cousin), and gave it the hands-on treatment.

For a closer look at the latest in RIM's portfolio, check out his slideshow of the BlackBerry Bold 9900.… Read more

Twitter shines in another moment for citizen journalism and the internet. And then there's that guy who live-tweeted the whole raid, without knowing about it. Sony officially apologizes for the PSN outage and they're giving back to the users, but is it enough? And we "Like" what the BOL Menu is serving.