I have been testing Home to Phone for the past couple weeks, and have to say it is one of the most useful BlackBerry applications I have come across. Like Android's Chrome to Phone, Home to Phone lets you share web pages to and from your BlackBerry device and desktop browser (Firefox plugin, Chrome beta, or Windows application).

Setting up Home to Phone is simple and easy. It can be done in about 5 minutes. After installing the BlackBerry Home to Phone application, you will need to install the Firefox plugin on your PC. Once both are installed, you will have to set a passcode for authorization on both the device, and the plugin.

Once you are all setup, the fun begins. Remember, Home to Phone allows you to share web pages from both PC to BlackBerry, and BlackBerry to PC. When sending a web page from your PC, the page automatically opens on your BlackBerry, and is almost instant. Another great feature is the ability to send phone numbers, which arrive in your inbox and are clickable, quickly connecting the call.

Overall, Home to Phone is one of the best BlackBerry applications I have used. I use it dozens of times per day and it works without any bugs whatsoever. Personally, throughout my busy day, there are countless situations where this comes in handy. The application is available on all BlackBerry models running OS 5 and up, but really shines on the new BlackBerry 6 webkit browser. You can pick it up at the CrackBerry App Store for the introductary price of $2.99.

• More information and download of Home to Phone >>

Starting today Verizon Wireless will be offering new prepaid data plans on all of their 3G smartphones. The list includes the Curve 8330, 8530, Storm 9530, 9550, Tour and Bold 9650. The plans will run $30 for a month of unlimited data.

"These new data offerings will help our prepaid customers experience the full breadth of Verizon Wireless' robust device portfolio and the many engaging, informative and helpful applications that depend on a data plan," said Jim Sullivan, director of marketing for Verizon Wireless. "Our prepaid customers will now have the freedom to enjoy all of the capabilities that these phones have to offer, while controlling costs and without being tied to a contract." 

From the looks of it users should be able to just bring their own devices into a store and add on a prepaid data plan, with online options coming on September 28th. Read more after the jump

While it would have been way easier on the bloggers of the world if Canada just let out a single press release that the BlackBerry Torch was coming to "a bunch of carriers at once", the announcements trickled out one after the other yesterday. The next in line to get the device on the grand September 24th launch date is Virgin Mobile Canada. They dropped the announcement via their Twitter page today and will be joining the party as well. No additional info was provided but "deets coming very soon". Thanks Ally!

If you're a Starbucks fan then your life just got more convenient (well, kind of). Starbucks has released their Starbucks Card Mobile app for BlackBerry. This cool app lets you convert your Starbucks card to digitalness and keep all of your info right on your device. Just enter your card number and the app can display your barcode, lets you track your balance and more. In some test areas (looks like only the Bay Area and Seattle) you can even pay for your drinks using your card number in the app - very cool. The app looks to be available for most devices and you can grab it by texting GO to 70845 or hitting the link below. Thanks to everyone that sent this in!

• More infomation about Starbucks Card Mobile for BlackBerry >>

BlackBerry Torch 9800 Review - BlackBerry Newbie

If you're considering upgrading to a smartphone, you've undoubtedly come across the plethora of news articles and reviews for the iPhone and Android phones. What those news articles tend to gloss over is the fact that Research in Motion - BlackBerry's manufacturer - absolutely dominates the smartphone market. Nearly half of all smartphones sold are BlackBerrys. Combine that with a decade in the business; countless government, security, and business contracts; and a history of solid operating systems - you'd think RIM would get a little more love.

We'll keep this short and sweet. With over 12,000 entries, the lucky winner in CrackBerry's Second Chance Win a BlackBerry Torch Contest is.....

Hosehead13

Dang I love that username! Congrats Hosehead13! We'll be shooting you an email shortly to get your details and get an unlocked AT&T BlackBerry Torch 9800 out your way. For everybody else, stay tuned. It's CrackBerry.com. You know another chance to win free stuff is just around the corner. We've already given away two Torches... maybe the next big contest we do will be for some BlackBerry Torch accessories or maybe we should move onto a new device and give away a BlackBerry Curve 3G. Whaddya think?! Any contest prize suggestions out there?

We've known since the release of the BlackBerry Torch on AT&T that Bell was slated to release it in Canada aside all other Canadian carriers. The pre release sign up page is still active at this point but, we now have confirmation of the Bell date and pricing as well. In an email sent to us Bell confirms the following:

Just wanted to let you know Bell Mobility will launch the BlackBerry® Torch™ on September 24, and clients will be able to get the device for as low as $199.99 on a three year contract. 

So there you have it folks. While the US only has the BlackBerry Torch available to them on one network, Canadians will have the device available on any of the top 3 carriers come September 24th.

You heard it here first... the upcoming BB flip is the BlackBerry Style!

Been wondering what product family Research in Motion was going to slot the upcoming BlackBerry 9670 clamshell into? Could it be a Pearl? Maybe a member of the Curve family? Nope. We've confirmed with multiple sources now that the new BlackBerry 6 toting flip is getting a new product family name of its own. Enter the BlackBerry Style. I guess consumers who go for a flip phone these days do have a particular sense of style, so maybe the BlackBerry Style name is a fitting one. With a name like Style we may see a ton of consumer and fashion focused BlackBerry Style Cases and BlackBerry Style Accessories emerge too.

So what do you think of the name? Like it? Love it? Hate it? I always find when I first hear the name of a new BlackBerry I don't like it overly much... but then it grows on you, and it just sticks. I think that's likely to be the case here too. Let us know what you think in the comments!

Following closely in the footsteps of Rogers, Telus announced via Twitter that they too will be offering the BlackBerry Torch 9800 on September 24th. Both Canadian carriers are set to release now on the same day making for lots of happy folks. Unlike Rogers however, Telus made no mention of the pricing in their release, but it's a pretty safe bet to say it will stick to the $199/3-year pricing scheme. No extra information has been posted up on Telus' site just yet. Hit the jump for the full release.

Follow CrackBerry in September for a Chance to Win These Awesome Prizes...

You gotta love the Ongoing Follow CrackBerry Contest... you get a chance to win great prizes each month just for following CrackBerry on youtube, twitter and facebook!

For the month of August, each of our three winners is taking home an awesome prize depending on which social site they were following us on. August's lucky winners are.... tehkseven (youtube), justjen808 (twitter), Jamie Lund (facebook). Congrats winners! We'll shoot you a message through each of these sites to notify you about your winning or you can also shoot us an email to sitesupport @ crackberry.com if you're reading this year and want to collect your loot asap. :)

September's Awesome Prizes: We're mixing up the prizes so you'll want to make sure you're following us on all of YouTube, Twitter and Facebook so you get a shot of winning all three. Visit the follow crackberry contest page for full details.

If you've been holding off on purchasing Xobni for BlackBerry, now you can grab it directly from BlackBerry App World. If you haven't yet heard of Xobni, it creates a contact list based on addresses and information pulled from emails, giving you a big, fat contact list that is extremely easy to manage and convenient to use. Features of Xobni include:

• Automatically created profiles for every person with whom you've ever communicated.
  
• Ranked by importance - The people you email the most are at the top.
  
• Lightning fast search by name or company name exposes each person's profile. Complete with photos, contact info, recent emails, calls, texts, info from LinkedIn/Facebook and more.
  
• Instant access to all your Xobni Contacts in the BlackBerry compose screen.
  

Xobni is $9.99 and a free-trial is available. While the price tag may seem a bit high, the app pays for itself in no time and is one of the most used apps by the entire Crack team. Hit the link below for more.

• More information/download of Xobni for BlackBerry >>

Those of you in the Great White North won't have to wait much longer to get your hands on the BlackBerry Torch 9800. We just got word that the device will be available starting September 24th for $199 on a 3-year contract. Rogers will be the first Canadian carrier to have the Torch, but we've seen pages from both Bell and Telus that suggest they won't be far behind.

As part of the Rogers RedBoard series, Miranda MacDonald talked with BlackBerry Director of Marketing, Michael McDowell about the Torch and what features it has to offer including hardware, BlackBerry 6 and more. Check out the full video above and then head over to Rogers for more information. 

• More information on the BlackBerry Torch 9800 from Rogers >>

With all the news these days of about encryption on the BlackBerry solution there is a great amount of misunderstood reporting in the media on just what is at stake between RIM and governments of the world. I'm not going to pretend that this article will be the ultimate encryption thesis it's my hope to explain things plainly and clearly.

As global terrorism rages, governments are trying to keep up with the perpetrators and the BlackBerry has become the symbol of all that is secure. Many government agencies themselves use BlackBerry devices for their security, so it's understandable that they would be concerned with encrypted communications of terrorist BlackBerry devices. Various countries have been in the news lately demanding that RIM give them the keys to read all the BlackBerry traffic within their countries. Many have put down deadlines if RIM does not comply they will close down all BlackBerry traffic inside that country. That potentially wouldn't be a problem is these demand were being made by Madagascar but the countries are India and United Arab Emirates.

It's that time once again when football geeks unite to take on fantasy teams everywhere. If you're like me, you want to be able to access you team 24/7 whether at home or on the go. Last year we had the benefit of a semi-decent app for Yahoo! fantasy teams, it has been replaced this year by a mobile site launcher that hopes to keep you in the loop. I was a pretty bug fan of the app as it let you make roster adjustments as well as view info on your league, but for some reason the app is no more this year. Instead the launcher takes you straight to the fantasy mobile site (active on September 1st) is all we have this time around. The mobile site gets the job done and really has all that needs to be there, but it's totally not as fun as having a dedicated app. In any case, you can still get your game on and download the Y! Fantasy Football launcher free from BlackBerry App World.

• More information/download of Y! Fantasy Football from BlackBerry App World >>