Back at BlackBerry DEVCON 2011 RIM announced plans to introduce the BlackBerry Messenger Social Platform, and as of today, it is now in beta form.  BlackBerry dev’s can now add social super app (RIM’s words, not ours) features to their existing 3rd party app’s.  The first beta release includes these features:

• access and update fields in the user’s profile such as status, avatar and personal message;
• create their own custom areas within the user’s profile for promoting recent application activity or storing trophies and achievements;
• initiate and embed chats with friends;
• initiate application-to-application background communication through BBM for sending and receiving application instructions, such as moves in a game or any other application state changes;
• initiate file transfers;
• the ability to share applications virally with friends in their contact list.

Simulators for OS5 and OS6 are included with the beta that allow for simulation of BBM communication between two instances of the simulator.  The next beta, expected in April 2011, will include even more features. (more…)

What could be the savior of RIM’s touchscreen BlackBerry platform, the Storm3 (or whatever they decide to call it) looks to be launching with a nice update for you folks waiting on any news regarding the device.  We reported a while ago that the Storm3 would be launching with OS6, but in fact according to the newest report we received it looks like OS6.1 will be on your device come launch day.  This is good news, as OS6.1, although not a large upgrade from 6, incorporates quite a few under the cover features, fixes, and updates.

As most of you know by now RIM is hard at work on recreating their brand. You can talk about handset sales all you want, but when corporate can get a BlackBerry for free or an Android device for say $99 to $199 each, and Android devices are still selling like hotcakes, they see the trouble they can find themselves in quickly.

RIM’s big push this year will be OS6.1. The update to last years OS6 brings with it only minor visual differences but a lot under the hood. What all that is will be in another article another time but I’m sure most of you would like to know who is getting 6.1.

We can tell you with certainty that both ATT and T-Mobile are already receiving builds for the 9780. ATT also has builds for the 9800. What about the 9700? I don’t see it happening. Its a good bet that a minimum of 512 RAM will be required.

Verizon and Sprint have already received builds for the Bold 9650 but we are not certain as to how much testing if any yet has been done or if either carrier plans to even release the update. Lets not forget the Storm2 and OS6 debacle.

What about OS7 you ask? Yes, OS7 is already in the works. Its highly doubtful that any carriers will see OS7 builds for any current devices. We believe OS7 marks the end of the old existing JVM and the beginning of QNX.

Remember that OS for the Bold 9650 we were able to get our hands on a few days ago?  The very same one that had some people complaining it was a hybrid?  Silly folks that run blogs but don’t know a thing about technology.  Well we are hearing from a very trusty informant that the same OS is in final testing for Verizon users.  What does this mean?  It DOES NOT mean that you are guaranteed to see this release, but there is a very good chance it could happen.  While nothing is bug free, this seems to be the best build yet and we would assume Verizon will push it out.  Thoughts?

Thanks L!

I know many of you have been waiting for something new to play with, whether you are a BlackBerry 9650 user or just making hybrids, but thanks to some help from my buddy lyricidal we would like to give you the latest OS leak for the 9650: OS 6.0.0.431.  At this point in the builds you are mostly going to see just bug fixes, with minor updates in applications, but a new OS is always fun to play around with.

*Warning: Installing an OS on your device can potentially be hazardous and you do so at your own risk.  GizmoFusion and its staff take no responsibility for what happens*

You must have OS .333 or .415 installed to upgrade to .431.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Let us know in the comments below what you think, and maybe we can hook you up with more ;)

Thanks Again Lyricidal!

Yesterday I posted up a review of Thalia by HedoneDesign. Well….they are outdoing themselves! Since Theme Studio 6 was dropped yesterday, they have reworked Thalia and have released it for the Torch 9800. Even better….IT’S FREE!!

Click here to get Thalia Torch for FREE

Don’t forget to leave a comment on the product page for HedoneDesign to know how appreciative you are!

@scuebydue

DEVCON 2010 starts today, and with it sometimes brings some surprising announcements but we learned this AM thanks to a tip off that you should not expect any kind of announcement about the BlackBerry Tablet hardware.  Its possible, seeing that this is a developers conference, there may be software announcements regarding development of the tablet, or possibly even an official release announcement.  While some sites might be saying the hardware is far off, we are being told it it is not.   The hardware is developing well, and there is still a chance there may be a holiday release.  More once we get it.

With DEVCON 2010 just around the corner, it would seem that RIM might take advantage and announce their first ever tablet.  Codename “Blackpad”, RIM’s first tablet is said to possibly release with an entirely new OS, from QNX Software Systems which was recently purchased by RIM.  While the acquisition of QNX is very good for RIM, so they can get away from their extinct OS, its also a problem.  DEVCON is about developers and development, and developers will have a tough time realizing they will need to start from scratch, assuming this is all even true.  Can RIM bring enough to convince them?  We will see in a short week!

*Word of note, that is not a real pic.  Just a mock-up*

(more…)

As was Tweeted over the weekend, we received some Storm3 info but held off until we can better verify some of the information gathered.  First off, as is already known, there is no Storm3 this fall, as it appears that the Storm2 “refresh” will be RIM and Verizon’s push to get users onto OS6.  The refresh gives the Storm2 double the RAM to 512MB to better accommodate the new OS.

Now onto the good stuff.  We have learned that the Storm3 was delayed just a bit this past late Spring, as Verizon may want to launch the device with LTE for data.  We have reports from separate sources that give us two possible launch time frames.  One being May of 2011 to coincide with RIM’s WES conference.  The other date being next November in 2011.  Why the separate dates?  We are hearing it all depends on how well the LTE rollout goes, and how much coverage is around by May.  If LTE gets delayed at all, look for a November launch.  As always, when we get more we will post it up!