I was really happy to see BlackBerry and Verizon in a new contest/promotion. This is the Famtastic Challenge. There are three chances to show how fantastically unique your family is and win some great prizes. The contest is on Facebook, check out the details…

You’ve been familiar with all the Android/Droid contests by Verizon Wireless, so it’s a welcome contest to see a current one with BlackBerry! The contest basically has challenges with picture challenging and votes. Challenge one is a picture of a furry animal.

The above picture details the dates of the challenges and votes.

• Challenge One for pictures to be submitted is from January 23rd to January 29th. Voting is from January 30th to February 5th.
• Challenge Two is from February 6th to February 12th. Voting is from February 13th to February 19th.
• Challenge Three is from February 20th to February 26th. Voting is from February 27th to March 4th.

These are the prizes available, as first prizes. But these are not the grand prize. Oh yes, there is more…

These are the prizes available. Imagine, four BlackBerry devices for a family, one for each of you, including one month of free service! A Grand Prize of a Famtastic Vacay!

I don’t know about you, but this is a great contest that includes the family and makes it fun. Don’t wait, check out the contest and enter. Good luck to all of our readers.

Check out the rules and conditions of the contest here.

Sign into Facebook and check out more and enter the contest here.

Finally the updates have arrived. While there are three ways to install the update on your phone, it’s all about how comfortable you are. I learned one thing, if you have quite the few apps on your BlackBerry, you might want to consider backing up and freshly install. Here’s the scoop…

The updates began rolling out to the BlackBerry devices on Monday in the later evening. One thing to keep note of, if you’re planning on doing the OTA install, please keep your app room in mind. I have so many apps that the update froze because of low app memory and I had to nuke and reinstall. I had to actually reinstall twice. A second time was necessary because of the phone app not installing on the phone. It was odd to me not to be able to receive or make calls. But it’s perfectly running now.

What does 7.1 bring to the Verizon Wireless handsets?

Device Features

• Device will no longer repeatedly indicate that new software has been installed.
• Device will no longer reset while connected to a charging source.
• Device displays the correct wireless service provider while making calls or
• sending text messages.
• While in a global roaming condition, connect to a previously registered CDMA
• network without experiencing lengthy search periods.
• Improvements in home screen responsiveness and reduced touch screen lockups.
• No longer experience delays in audio reception or unexpected call termination.
• Improvements in device stability during Push to Talk calls.
• Device will no longer restart unexpectedly when making a Push to Talk call to a
• newly created group.
• Improvements to audio quality during playback for audio files downloaded using
• the V CAST application.
• The zoom in and zoom out function on the browser application renders the
• page properly.
• When downloading an application, the device will display the correct number of
• bytes being downloaded.
• Device now supports Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS).
• Device now supports Wi-Fi Mobile Hotspot (MHS).

Email & Messaging

• Duplicate text messages will no longer display in the Messaging application.
• Improvements in Visual Voice Mail.

I know that most of us were anxious for the hotspot to come to our BlackBerry devices. All in all, I have to admit that this new update is really nice. I have no complaints and love my BlackBerry even more. I still wish that Amazon’s Kindle app would be available, but I suppose you can’t win them all.

For the list of what the update brings, click here for the pdf

There are three ways to install the update. The first and easiest being OTA which you can find by going into Options/Device/Software Updates. The second being the over the web updating which you can use without the BlackBerry Desktop Manager. Open Internet Explorer on the pc, then you go to the BlackBerry Update page here, then click on update, the loader comes up, you connect your BlackBerry device, and it finds there’s an update, and installs. The third method is my preferred method (primarily because I like to “clean out” what I don’t use and remove it from the OS prior to install). The third method requires that you go to the Verizon Wireless update site here, and click on whether you need personal or enterprise, then download the OS to your PC (the instructions on the bottom half of the page), then run. The OS is now ready for you to install on your BlackBerry after you have run and installed the updated OS on the pc.

For more concise directions, read the directions pdf from Verizon Wireless with instructions and photos here.

Be sure and back up your device first. What’s your preferred updating method and why?

BBM Music has been a lot of fun. It’s a social app that allows you to listen to music, share music, grow your music library and more! It all connects through BBM, though your BBM Music friends don’t have to be your BBM Buddies. As of the 22nd, if you have one of the OS 7 handsets, the icon should appear on your BlackBerry. Check it out…

On Inside BlackBerry, BlackBerry has posted the following:

“With the release of BBM™ Music you can now listen to your favorite songs, share music with your BBM friends and even receive recommendations on new music you might be interested in right on your BlackBerry® smartphone¹. The best part of all is you can try BBM Music for free².! The length of the free trial will vary by carrier – so, check with your carrier for details!”

So since the 22nd, if you have service under BIS with any of the carriers listed, you should see a BBM Music icon. If you’re interested, click on it and it will take you to the BlackBerry App World to download. If you are on an Enterprise account (BES), the icon will be missing, and you will have to contact your BlackBerry administrator for assistance and permission. You can read more about it from Inside BlackBerry here.

What are the benefits and features of BBM Music?

• Create your music profile* from a catalogue of millions of songs and keep it fresh by swapping songs every month
• Make friends and listen to their music selections
• Play single songs or entire playlists created by friends. Listen to a giant playlist that includes all tracks from all your friends
• Create playlists that are all your own – using songs from all your friends’ profiles
• Post comments about your friends’ music and chat with them about music in real-time
• Discover what your friends are doing by watching the timeline – friends adding friends, new songs, playlists, comments
• Listen offline, while not connected to the wireless network (listen on subway, airplane, cottage, etc.)

Your profile contains 50 songs, but you can freshen them up monthly with 25 music song swaps. This is subscription based, however there is a free trial, the length of which depends upon your carrier. Although your profile can have up to 50 songs, you also have access to your BBM Music friends profiles, which allows you to grow your collection.

Download BBM Music from BlackBerry App World and check it out with the FREE music trial here

[via: Inside BlackBerry]

There has been a ton of rumors on the interent as to when Verizon will officially launched the BlackBerry Torch 9850. Verizon has officially announced the new all touch Torch is launching this week (Sept 8th) online, and will be available in most stores on September 15th. In case you needed a quick refresh here are the key specs (from Verizon) of the new Torch 9850:

• 3G coverage on the nation’s most reliable network
• 3.7-inch high-resolution touchscreen display (800 x 480) with trackpad navigation
• 1.2 GHz processor
• Global Ready™ – Quad band with support for UMTS, HSPA, GSM, GPRS and EDGE allowing customers to enjoy wireless voice and data service in more than 200 countries, including more than 95 with 3G speeds
• 5-megapixel camera with flash and 720p HD video recording capabilities
• Wi-Fi b/g/n, GPS and Bluetooth® 2.1
• 16 GB microSD™ card pre-installed, with support for up to 32 GB microSD card

Verizon Wireless Introduces BlackBerry Torch 9850 Smartphone

BlackBerry Torch 9850 to be Available on the Nation’s Most Reliable Network

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Verizon Wireless today announced the new BlackBerry® Torch™ 9850 smartphone will be available online atwww.verizonwireless.com on Sept. 8, and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores on Sept. 15.

Watch videos, play games and stay productive on the largest display and highest resolution on a BlackBerry smartphone to date. Powered by the new BlackBerry® 7 operating system, customers can enjoy the next generation BlackBerry browser with optimized zooming, panning and HTML 5 performance. BlackBerry® Balance is now integrated, allowing secure access to business information while preventing it from being copied into, sent from or used by personal applications. Customers can stay connected to their personal and business lives while in or out of the office.

Key features:

• 3G coverage on the nation’s most reliable network
• 3.7-inch high-resolution touchscreen display (800 x 480) with trackpad navigation
• 1.2 GHz processor
• Global Ready™ – Quad band with support for UMTS, HSPA, GSM, GPRS and EDGE allowing customers to enjoy wireless voice and data service in more than 200 countries, including more than 95 with 3G speeds
• 5-megapixel camera with flash and 720p HD video recording capabilities
• Wi-Fi b/g/n, GPS and Bluetooth® 2.1
• 16 GB microSD™ card pre-installed, with support for up to 32 GB microSD card

BlackBerry 7:

• Liquid Graphics™ technology combines a dedicated high-performance graphics processor with a blazingly fast CPU and stunning high-resolution display to deliver a responsive touch interface with incredibly fast and smooth graphics.
• Premium version of Documents To Go is now included at no additional cost, offering customers enhanced document editing features, as well as a native PDF document viewer.
• The newest release of BBM™ (BlackBerry Messenger) now extends the real-time BBM experience together with a range of apps including gaming and social networking.
• Updated Social Feeds app has been extended to capture updates from media, podcasts and more, all in one consolidated view.
• Universal search capability now supports voice-activated search, allowing customers to simply say what they want to find on their device or the Web.
• BlackBerry Balance administrator can remotely wipe business information from the device while leaving personal information intact.

Pricing and availability:

• BlackBerry Torch 9850 smartphone will be available for $199.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.
• Customers that purchase a BlackBerry Torch 9850 smartphone will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan beginning at $39.99 for monthly access and a smartphone data package starting at $30 monthly access for 2 GB of data.

For more information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.

We’ve been waiting, and great things come to those who wait. Verizon Wireless has the BlackBerry Bold 9930 up on their website for the ordering. The BlackBerry Bold is available with Verizon Wireless for $249.99 with a two-year contract and data plan. Check it out…

Verizon released the Bold 9930 this evening and if you were waiting for it, head on over to the Verizon Wireless website and order it now! There’s even a video that Verizon cleverly displays on a BlackBerry Bold 9930 video player. It’s not the one that was leaked earlier on their 9650 page, but it’s definitely nice to see it finally has arrived. If a contract isn’t what you had in mind, feel free to purchase the 9930 at the full price of $509.99.

For more information on the BlackBerry Bold 9930 and order your’s from the Verizon Wireless website, click here.

RIM announced Friday that Sprint was cancelling the 4G BlackBerry PlayBook but will continue to sell the WiFi enabled BlackBerry PlayBook, much to disheartened Sprint customers. There is a silver lining however, as BlackBerry announced the BlackBerry PlayBook will be released in an LTE version. Check it out…

With Sprint letting go of the ball, not all is lost, and more is gained. The WiFi version is still available, but the LTE version will be a great feature for the PlayBook.

RIM’s official statement is as follows:

RIM has decided to prioritize and focus its 4G development resources on LTE. We remain excited and committed to delivering innovative and powerful 4G tablets to the US market together with our carrier partners. Testing of BlackBerry 4G PlayBook models is already underway and we plan to enter labs for network certifications in the US and other international markets this fall.

Looking at speeds between WiMax and LTE via ComputerWorld, the comparison is very clear to see:

Download speed:

Wow, that’s fast for LTE! That’s 3x the speed of WiMax.

Upload speed:

Wow, 5x the speed of WiMax!

Latency Speed:

It’s fair to say that the speed of Verizon’s LTE will do the BlackBerry PlayBook justice when it comes to browsing and having that lightening fast internet connection. The beauty of the BlackBerry PlayBook and the QNX OS matched with the blazing speed should make for a great pair.

Who’s getting a 4G BlackBerry PlayBook this fall?

[via: BerryReview]

[graph credits: ComputerWorld]

There is no doubt that the BlackBerry Bold Touch 9930 will be making its way to Verizon soon. But if you really need some more proof here is a picture of the Bold Touch 9930 with a Verizon boot up screen. As you might know the new Bold Touch 9930 will be a CDMA smartphone, running RIM’s new BlackBerry 7 OS. It will feature a 1.2GHz processor, 8GB internal memory, and of course a full QWERTY keyboard with a touch liquid graphics display. Unfortunately thats all we know for now. We do expect to see the Bold Touch launch on Verizon late August or September. Stay tuned for more details…

[via N4BB]

Recently BGR had a chance to sit down with Verizon’s Chief Marketing Officer Marni Walden. During the interview BGR discussed a variety of topics including various platforms including iPhone iOS, DROID, Windows Phone, and of course BlackBerry. Near the end of the interview Walden had this to say about BlackBerry and Verizon:

…RIM is still very, very important in the enterprise space. It does resonate in some of the consumer space as well, particularly with BBM. We’ll have three devices this year that we will bring to market with RIM. We’ll continue our partnership and it’ll be important for now going forward.

So from the sounds of it, RIM plans to introduce three BlackBerry smartphones, we gather it’ll be the Bold Touch 9930, next-generation BlackBerry Curve, and maybe one of the large touchscreen devices, like Torch 9850, only CDMA. So by the sounds of it Verizon customers will have a few devices to pick from this year. Personally I think many will fall in love with the Bold Touch 9930, but lets wait and see.

It seems the Bold 9650 wasn’t the only BlackBerry Verizon had in mind to update. Luckily, the BlackBerry Curve 3G also has had the grace bestowed upon it as well. Yesterday was a busy day for the Bold and the Curve 3G.  What’s included with the 4.4.0.438? Let’s check it out…

New enhancement features are as follows:

Email and Messaging:

• Supports Mobile Originated EMS messages.
• Send SMS messages without error message interruption.
• Cursor displays properly when scrolling through sent BlackBerry Messenger messages.
• New messages display accurately in the inbox.
• When a device’s battery is removed and reinserted, you will experience no interruption in text messaging functionality.
• “<Content Protection is Enabled>” no longer appears in BlackBerry Messenger if you have enabled encryption.

System Enhancements:

• After restoring a backup file, all contacts appear correctly.

Web Browsing and Data Access:

• Includes BlackBerry Balance, enabling you to securely separate your business and personal data, applications and information.
• Improvements to BlackBerry browser.
• Signal strength indicator will accurately display the signal strength of the device when using VZAccess Manager.

Additional Device Features:

• “<Content Protection Enabled>” no longer displays in Subject and Description fields of Calendar events.
• Successfully scroll to the next day when in Day Calendar view.

Call Features:

• When using the Telecoil Hearing Aid Mode, calls will not experience audio interruption.

You can grab the latest update for OS 6 on your BlackBerry Curve 3G here

Or you can do the update via OTA by going to your Options/Device/Software Updates and follow the prompts to update the OS. Just remember doing it OTA takes a while and to backup and install takes about 2 hours.

I love it when updates start coming around. Verizon issued their update yesterday for the BlackBerry Bold 9560. Some enhancements have been made and if you have the BlackBerry Bold, it’s a great time to update it. The update is v6.0.0.524, Platform 4.4.0.438. What’s new?

Here’s the updated differences regarding each feature:

Calls- Push to Talk groups appear consistently regardless of their online status.

Email and Messaging:

1. Supports Mobile Originated EMS messages.
2. Send SMS messages without error message interruption.
3. Russian language text messages display correctly.
4. Successfully send or edit text messages with a media file attachment.
5. Send recorded videos in a MMS message without audio interruption or delay.
6. Successfully preview maximum-length recorded videos and send as a text message.
7. View cursor properly when scrolling through sent BlackBerryMessenger messages.
8. New messages will accurately display in the Inbox.

System enhancements:

1. The list screen displays properly when running applications.
2. After restoring a backup file, all contacts appear correctly.

Web Browsing and Data Enhancements:

1. Includes BlackBerry Balance, enabling you to securely separate yourbusiness and personal data, applications and information.
2. Improvements to BlackBerry browser.

Additional Device Features:

1. Successfully scroll to the next day when in Day Calendar view.
2. “<Content Protection Enabled>” no longer displays in Subject and Description fields of Calendar events.

I like the changes that came with this version, including the text messaging and the browser. It somewhat resembles the PlayBook the way it looks when you click Go To. The only thing I noticed I don’t care for is that the charging indicator on the battery icon doesn’t show the lightning bolt, but you can tell it’s charging as the battery icon “fills” but it’s not apparent anymore.

You can download the update via web to install through web or the BlackBerry Desktop Manager from the following link:

Update your BlackBerry Bold 9650 here

Or do the update as an OTA from the BlackBerry, just be aware it takes a while to download and two hours to do the backup and install and during those two hours, no calls, emails, or messaging will take place. Go to Options/Device/Software Updates, click on the Software Updates and it will tell you if you have an update available.