Back at CES we told you about Root Wireless and their mission of reporting on carrier network performance using data collected from real users. In case you missed that post, be sure to check out the video here.

An event like the SuperBowl puts a whole lot of cell phone users in place, so the folks at Root Wireless decided this would be a good instance to see just how well each carrier performed. You can find the whole report below, but here are some of the highlights:

• Verizon Wireless was the day's ‘loser,' recording far more connection failures than typical, while providing the slowest service at the game Sunday.
• Of the ‘Big Four' carriers, AT&T provided the fastest service - despite the expected congestion created in part by the iPhone's popularity. But like Verizon, it reported much higher connection failure rates than usual; attempts to connect failed 16% of the time.
• T-Mobile was a winner, far and away recording the fewest connection failures and providing transmission speeds on par with its everyday service. Sprint also performed close to par, relative to its everyday service. (Charts included with report.)

It's pretty interesting that prior to the SuperBowl three of the big four carriers issued press releases saying they would beef up their service for the game (read Verizon | AT&T | Sprint). Despite the high connection failure rate, it appears that AT&T's efforts paid off, given that they maintained speedy download speeds. As for Verizon... well... Root Wireless tells us they have never performed so poorly in one of their tests before. What's up with that?! Full Report below.

This Week's Featured Item: OtterBox Commuter Series Case for the Storm2

Last week we all saw Adam's charging pod he can't live without, and the week before Kevin's extended battery review (big shock he needs one of those huh?). This week's featured accessory is one that I have grown to love, the Otterbox cases. Otterbox has been around for quite some time now, making cases that date back to the 8800 series devices, if not even longer, but they continue to change and make their product even better. Hit the jump for some more info on OtterBox and this weeks newest accessories. Be sure to leave a comment to win an OtterBox Commuter case for your device.

The internet is buzzing lately regarding the recent annoucement of a proof of concept spyware presentation that was delivered at ShmooCon2010 by the folks over at Veracode. The concept video and presentation shows how a BlackBerry device could basically be overtaken by simply installing an application, which allows for all sorts of nasty to happen. Emails forwarded, text messages forwarded even remote listening of conversations from a BlackBerry sitting on a close by table.

One thing thing the presentation neglects is the fact these things have been in the BlackBerry OS for quite some time now. The "listeners" are actually built direct into the APIs delivered by Research In Motion. Some trusted companies have even made great use of them, SmrtGuard being one of them by leveraging the remote listen option in their offerings. There really is nothing new here and just like a virus anywhere else, this proof of concept still needs the human element in order to work. You wouldn't go installing some unknown application on your PC these days would you? Not likely. So why would you do so on your BlackBerry? The logic is pretty much the same. If you are unsure of what something does don't install it. Especially if its not coming from a trusted source.

Freshbooks. If you haven’t heard of Freshbooks before, it’s known as “The Leader of Online Invoicing”. It’s an extremely beneficial business tool, especially for those who are looking for any type of outside sales or field service automation. Unfortunately, not everyone is on board with this type of service and some are still using manual invoices, stacks of paper and other handwritten forms that could become a headache for any accounting department. It’s also a valued option for those who wish to keep track of their team, manage contractors, estimates and, of course, their clients. Now while Freshbooks can be accessed from your BlackBerry smartphone, it isn’t properly formatted for optimal viewing. With those out in the world wanting to carry increasingly smaller devices, they want to be able to only use their smartphones. Freshbooks does have an application that’s currently in beta; I believe it’s waiting for approval for entry into the App World to be precise. I’ll talk about that app in the near future. Right now we’re going to have a look at another option called ReportAway! for Freshbooks, not to be confused with the standard addition of ReportAway! for Quickbooks.

The ReportAway! for Freshbooks application will provide you with the benefits of Freshbooks, without tying you to a computer. Read on for more.

Grooveshark, the premium streaming music application we looked at previously has rolled out an update recently. Sadly, no changelog was issued with the release but users opening up the application were indeed, prompted to download what is now v1.0.7. Seems a lot of T-Mobile users were having issues with getting the application to work previously, so maybe you'll want to give this version a shot to see if it works better. Grooveshark is available for $3/mnth through their VIP program which allows for unlimited streaming and caching of music played for offline usage.

• For More Details And Downloads Check Out The Grooveshark Website>> 

While watching House M.D. last night as part of my lazy Monday night, I was excited to see our good friend the BlackBerry Tour 9630 had a guest spot for most of the show. Right from the start, Lisa Edelstien's character showed she is a true CrackBerry Abuser as her precious Tour rarely left her sight (or her hand for that matter) for most of the show). As her alarm clock rang at 5am (which she should totally scrap for an charging pod and bedside mode combo) she immediately checked her device as any true BlackBerry addict would. Throughout the episode, the stock BlackBerry ringtones made users everywhere check their own devices, not realizing the alerts were actually coming through their TV speakers. I'll admit I looked down once or twice as "Notifier_Contentment" sounded out, thinking it was my Bold 9700. While the Tour was unbranded, it was still good to see a BlackBerry getting great screen time. You can check out the show's intro at Hulu. If you happened to catch the episode, drop a comment and let us know what you thought of "House B.B" :-)

It's been a little contest crazy around CrackBerry lately, but that's ok.... we are mixing the giveaways in with a bunch of quality content and I haven't heard anybody complaining about chances to win free stuff yet :) That said, there are a couple deadlines approaching we wanted to make quick note of again here on the blogs:

• The Developer Survey we mentioned last week is still running but will end this weekend. Interpret is putting together an exciting set of data about mobile app development and needs your input. Take the survey here and be entered for your chance to win a BlackBerry Curve 8520/8530. Heck, if those phones aren't your style, you can also opt for up to $550 to purchase the phone of your choice.
• Since not everybody will qualify for the developer survey prize, one more reminder: the Smartphone Round Robin contest is still running, but will end on Thursday. You can enter to win the BlackBerry Smartphone of your choice by posting in this thread (or any of the other SPE editors' Round Robin threads in the forums). Everybody's been asking so here's the news: we are announcing the winners on Friday!

Here we go with another official carrier release of OS 5.0. No folks, it's not from AT&T it's actually from Zain Kuwait. OS 5.0.0.464 as we seen leaked not that long ago has gone all official like, so if you are wanting to grab the download you can do so from their BlackBerry download website. By the time AT&T gets around to releasing 5.0, we'll be wondering where OS 6.0 is at I'd say.

• Download OS 5.0.0.464 From The Zain Kuwait BlackBerry Site>>

A while back, I posted on an application called BerrySki. This app uses your BlackBerry's GPS to help you view, navigate, track, and record your treks through your favorite ski resorts. In honor of the upcoming Winter Olympics, the folks over at BerrySki are giving away 10 Season Passes for your favorite North American Resort. If you are a skier/snowboarder you should definitely check out this app, its statistical integration alone makes it a great buy. BerrySki is available for all BlackBerrys running OS 4.2 and up, with season passes starting at $7.99.

Contest: We have 10 licenses of BerrySki to give away. Just leave a comment on this post telling us which resort you will use the app for. Contest ends this Sunday at Midnight PST. Please only leave one comment, multiple entries wont count.

• More information and download of BerrySki>>

Here we are again with more spoils for the winners. CellUnlock, BerryWeather, TyperSpeed and more were the hot ones this week, so lets get down to it. We've already started off the fun for this week with some WorldMate Gold subscriptions, a free Animated Space Theme and one of our biggest contests ever. Hit the jump for the full list of winners - congrats!

WorldMate has long been know as the "go-to" app for travelers. With flight alerts, hotel info, itinerary tracking, weather and more, WorldMate stands above the rest. Today they have added another weapon to their arsenal by announcing integration with the popular business network LinkedIn. The new partnership allows WorldMate users to share travel and meeting itineraries, notify contacts when arriving in destination cities, search contacts by city and more.

"This WorldMate integration is a perfect synchronization of our two companies' strengths and goals," said Adam Nash, Vice President of Search & Platform Products at LinkedIn. "LinkedIn's mission is to connect the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful. The Worldmate integration extends our mission by allowing members to access their professional networks when they're on-the-go. WorldMate has taken an innovative approach to our APIs, extending and tying together the LinkedIn experience to both web and mobile."

This makes WorldMate one of the first companies to incorporate with LinkedIn and offer enhanced features. The new tools will definitely keep WorldMate at the top of it's game, and give users multiple options for better staying in touch with business contacts when traveling. The LinkedIn app is still said to be on the way, but this will help keep users in touch for the mean time. A WorldMate Gold subscription will run you $99 for the year (a free trial is available) but if you travel often it is well worth it. The new version will be pushed out to current users on February 16th. Check out the full press release after the jump.

Contest: To enter to win 1 of 4 one-year WorldMate Gold subscriptions, leave a comment on this post telling us how WorldMate helps you with your travels and/or travel planning. Please only leave one comment, multiple entries won't count. Contest ends this Sunday at Midnight PST.

• More information and purchase of WorldMate for BlackBerry >>

Contest: 50 Copies of Animated Space Theme to be won. Leave a comment!

Happy Tuesday to our loyal theme junkies. We have spent the last week sorting through the emails we have received, and have a stellar lineup of both free, and paid themes. After last week's overdose of pink, we have banished the girly colors from this weeks selection to balance things out (although we did delve into the giftable theme Valentino for that special someone). Hit the jump for our picks.

There's now the original BlackBerry Curve 83xx series, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 and the more newly-released BlackBerry Curve 8520/30 on the market... that's a lot of Curves available for purchase on a lot of carriers in the USA. And according to the IDC Mobile Devices and Technology Trends division that tracks these things the BlackBerry Curve was yet again the best-selling smartphone in the USA for the calendar Q4 part of 2009. The top 10 smartphones sold in America were as follows:

1. RIM - BlackBerry Curve
2. Apple - iPhone 3G S
3. Motorola - DROID
4. Apple - iPhone 3G
5. RIM - BlackBerry Pearl
6. RIM - BlackBerry Bold
7. RIM - BlackBerry Storm
8. Palm - Pre
9. RIM - BlackBerry Tour
10. T-Mobile - myTouch 3G 

Pretty solid results for RIM considering they cover 50% of the top ten. They had this to say on it:

February's Prizes include a T-Mobile BlackBerry Bold 9700, Accessory SuperBundle, and BlackBerry VM-605 Bluetooth Speakerphone!

WooHoo! It's contest time and you're going to love this one. It's easy to enter, features great prizes, and best of all, is ONGOING. It'll just take you a few minutes to make sure you're entered and once complete all you need to do is sit back for your chance to win each and every month. Inspired by my CrackBerry Kevin's Ongoing Twitter Contest, we're taking things to the next level with CrackBerry.com's Ongoing Follow CrackBerry and Win Contest!!!

The Premise: Follow CrackBerry on Youtube, Twitter and Facebook and you could win! The last day of each month we'll pick three lucky winners -- one from the CrackBerry subscribers on each of these sites -- to win some awesome BlackBerry prizes - apps, accessories and even devices (minimum prize value $50). We'll announce the winners on the CrackBerry blogs the first day of each month as well as let you know what the prizes for the next month will be. Subscribe to all three for the most chances to win and keep on following! And if you're already following us prior to the launch of this contest, don't worry, you're automatically entered!

February's Prizes: Are awesome. Follow us on Twitter for your chance to win a BlackBerry Accessory SuperBundle for your BlackBerry and become a fan of our Facebook page for a chance to win a BlackBerry Visormount Speakerphone. AND for the sweetest prize of the month, follow us on Youtube for your chance to win an unlocked T-Mobile BlackBerry Bold 9700!!! Click the image links above to login to each respective site and follow us. 

For full contest details and for the specific urls to each site's CrackBerry channel/page, visit the contest page at crackberry.com/followcrackberrycontest