Vlingo was introduced less than a year ago, and millions of users are using it and are familiar with it. Vlingo Corporation, maker of Vlingo, has now launched version 3.0. Vlingo is a program that already gives meaning to the power of speech, but now it’s even more. It currently gives users the ability to send and reply to emails and text messages, searching on the mobile web using various search cues, dial a contact, look up contacts, and launch certain applications in the phone by using the voice of the user. The program utilizes the side buttons so the user can press a button and speak. But that was 2.0, and with 3.0, it just got better.
Now with v3.0 users can use the enhanced text-to-speech read-back features so that now you can have confirmation of what was said, the ability to speak action requests giving new enhancement to voice command such as send, and support for wired headsets and many Bluetooth headsets.
It’s now available for many BlackBerry BES users, making it available to more users. The BlackBerry Storm also features a special version, which is optimized for the touch screen interface.
With Vlingo v3.0, the user’s voice now has the ability to:
Send and reply to text messages with other users who also have Vlingo
Web search
Dial the phone
Send a “note to self”
Facebook and Twitter status updates
Tell A Friend
Optional read-back of the full text or email message that was spoken.
Speak action requests such as “send” or “search”
Launch native and third party applications
But that’s not all, there’s a paid version called Vlingo Plus, that also includes the ability to send and reply to text messages and emails to anyone for a one-time charge of $17.99. And rest assured, for those existing users of Vlingo v2.0, you can still continue to use it at no additional charge.
Vlingo is currently available for the BlackBerry: Bold, Storm, Pearl, Curve, and 88xx series.
US, Canadian, and UK users are able to download Vlingo v3.0 rights from BlackBerry App World.
Today was a very exciting day, with the official release of a new Twitter client named TweetGenius. I know there’s Tiny Twitter, TwitterBerry, SocialScope, SocialScope Lite, and ÜberTwitter, so what makes TweetGenius so unique? It’s not like SocialScope or ÜberTwitter, it doesn’t integrate Facebook or Google, or any other program with Twitter. It’s not like TwitterBerry or any other applications. This is everything you ever wanted in a Twitter application and more. The description said it was made for BlackBerry users by BlackBerry users who know what they want. I’ve been hearing so much about it on Twitter, and very excited that it’s finally out. As you can see by the following video, it’s pretty impressive in what it can do.
The Application is the vision and design of Boy Genius from the Boy Genius Report. The code for the program was done by Dossy Shiobara, a master coder. The current version is 1.0 with 1.1 in the works. The program is $9.99 but for now the only versions supported are the Curve 8900 and the Bold, so they are offering the application for $4.99 for two weeks as the Storm, 88xx, and 83xx versions will be out by that time. The price includes free upgrades till v2.0 and is tied to the pin, but don’t worry, this will include if you have to get a warranty or insurance replacement as long as it’s one application on one phone at any given time.
The TweetGenius Twitter icon
TweetGenius in front of T-Town
Friends
To message
Options
Writing a message
I have to agree
Missed the Poof
So now with the review. I installed the application and the first thing you see is the classic blue Twitter bird icon. Click on the icon and it brings up TweetGenius by BGR. The colors are appeasing to the eye in white and different shades of blue. It’s a cartoon city in the back (Must be T Town), and there are three icons on the front: Friends (with a person and shadow icon), Replies (with the @ sign), and Direct Messages (with an open envelope that has a letter coming out). On each of these icons you will see a bubble in the right corner with the number of unread messages. Clicking on either one of these icons will move the screen up and the next screen rolls up from the bottom. Click on any of the messages, and the the full message rolls in from left to right. Click on the name of the friend and the friend’s profile rolls down from the top. Pretty sweet how it rolls and is like an intricate cube you roll to read. If you click the option button you have Refresh, Mark all read, Send tweet, Friends Timeline, Replies, Direct Messages, Public Timeline, Go to user, Search, Options, and Help.
When going into your Friends and other messages, your friends pictures show on the left, and your’s on the right. When you click on a tweet and click options and choose to tweet, retweet, or reply, a quotation balloon shows up, and the background darkens. Fill out what you want to say and hit the options button. Now the choices are: Select; Check Spelling; Send; Insert my location; Clear Field; Show Symbols; and Close. Choose send and “Poof!” your message disappears in a cloud of smoke! It’s like message be gone!
The program is nice in that you can follow through it. When you are on someone’s profile your options are: Select; Refresh; Reply; Direct Message; View timeline; Go to user; Follow this user; Track this user; and Close.
So in rating this application, the colors and how appeasing to the eye it is makes this a five and a half stars out of five. For user friendliness, it’s definitely five stars. For the way the program rolls and works, amazing, and for that I would give it ten stars! It looks and works like an application for Twitter you could only hope for, it’s very much like what you see on your desktop only much more impressive. It’s amazing enough to earn an icon on your BlackBerry because it’s just as awesome as our BlackBerry phones we have come to love. So great job Boy Genius! And hats off to Dossy Shiobara as well. And most importantly, there hasn’t been one error message yet, which really impresses me. It’s great on my battery and I haven’t missed a tweet yet. When I’ve had to restart my phone, I haven’t had to log in to get my messages.
Rating:
To learn more about TweetGenius, to take advantage of the special going for $4.99, and to download this great application that will bring Twitter to you in a new way, the way it should be presented, click here.
Currently the program is only compatible with the Bold and the Curve 8900, will be compatible with the Storm, 88xx, and 83xx series.
Finally! The folks at BeeJive have just released their early stage beta for the BlackBerry Storm. Unfortunantly the beta version is lacking a few features such as chat logs and file transfering but its great to see their working on it. So if there is any Beejive IM users out there who have been patiently waiting for this release its time for you to check it out! Simply point your Storm’s browser to beejive.com/stormbeta to download it.
Research In Motion co-CEO Jim Balsillie has confirmed with Reuters that they are in fact working on a next generation Storm. RIM saw strong sales of their heavily criticized BlackBerry Storm and that means that they will continue working on next generation versions for the consumer market. The RIM CEO would not confirm anymore details about the device and if it will even be called “Storm 2″ but I guess that’s just part of the waiting game.
Here’s part of what Balsillie had to say: Balsillie said Storm sales remain strong and added “we have next-generation devices with that and the whole roadmap.”
Meet Elecite’s latest premium BlackBerry theme designed for the BlackBerry Bold, Curve 8900 and Storm. It features 10 high definition rotating wallpapers but yet still provides maximum speed and performance on your BlackBerry so you don’t have to worry. It’s quite an amazing piece of work and is now available for all three devices. You can purchase this theme directly from Elecite for only $5.99.
The hits just keep on coming!! Once again, our good friend Kevin over at CrackBerry has let the world know that you can now download OS 4.7.0.141 for the BlackBerry Storm 9530! It was only yesterday Telus released their official update, and today we have yet another leaked beta OS! It’s also less than 24 hours since the same .141 OS was leaked for the BlackBerry Storm 9500. So as per usual, exercise caution when installing this update. This will not be supported by your carrier, and any issues you encounter are your responsibility to resolve. But the good news is, that’s why we’re here!
Seems it has been a while since a leaked for the BlackBerry Storm 9500. OS 4.7.0.141 has been leaked for the GSM BlackBerry Storm 9500. We don’t recommend you install this OS unless you have previous experience installing beta leaked operating systems. But if you feel like you really want to test out this OS then follow the link below. Please just be sure to do a full backup before installing it. Also word has arrived that RIM will no longer be working on any new OS 4.7 versions for the Storm. Seems RIM is starting to work on OS 5.0 now. With any luck at all we will see some leaked versions soon!
Not too long after Bell, TELUS finally got around to launching OS 4.7.0.122 officially for the BlackBerry Storm. Only owners rocking a 9530 and wanting to get their hands on an official update can now download it via BlackBerry Desktop Manager or from the BlackBerry carrier download page. This is TELUS’ first OS update since releasing the 9530 with .76 late last year.
If anyone out there was waiting to get their hands on Seidio’s new BlackBerry Storm Desktop Cradle its now available in the BlackBerry Sync Store. This cradle allows you to both sync and charge your Storm with an easy drop in design like RIM’s OEM one. The best news is this cradle is compatible with Seidio’s extended battery as well most BlackBerry skins. You can purchase the Seidio Desktop Cradle for only $24.95 today (regularly $34.95) at the BBSync Store.
Our friends at Elecite have just introduced a new theme to go along with their gaming themes. First they started with PSB, which was based on Sony’s Playstation. Now Elecite is proud to introduce XBerry, which changes the look of your BlackBerry to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 interface. This hot theme features a sliding bottom dock (on Bold, Curve 8900 and Storm) with 10 icons (7 on Storm) and 2 today screen icons to keep you in sync with your phone. It’s a pretty hot design and available for BlackBerry Bold, Curve 83xx, Curve 8900, Storm and 8800 series for only $6.99.
