Yesterday will.i.am made a quick run through the town of Taunton with the Olympic torch in hand. The London Olympics are only a few months away, and thousands of lucky people will be carrying torches throughout the UK. The Olympic torch wasn't the only torch in-hand however. will.i.am was also clutching his trusty BlackBerry Torch and managed to crank out a few Tweets along the way.

That was like, a surreal moment. You know I remember in 1984, the Olympics in Los Angeles, and me being a little Will, watching it on TV, wishing I could be at the Olympic Games, and I had that flashback when they handed me the torch to run through Taunton. So it's like a blessed moment, and a surreal moment, and an 'I-can't-believe-it moment' all at the same time," said will.i.am.

The Olympic torch will be making it's rounds for another few weeks until landing back in London for the start of the games on July 27th.

Often times you may find yourself wanting to edit some images on your BlackBerry PlayBook. While there is a small seleciton of apps available, as forums member edyb pointed out, there are also plenty of free online editors that work great on the PlayBook. In my experience the best is pixlr.com, but there are others that appeal to different users as well. Keep reading for the full list, then play around a bit with each to see which you like best (let us know in the comments). Be sure to hit up the forums and let us know which one is your favorite.

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Kodak has announced today that it they have received the initial determination in their infringement case that has been going on since early 2010. If you recall, Kodak made claims that both Apple and RIM infringed on various Kodak-owned image patents. The Administrative Law Judge has concluded that both iPhone 3G and certain BlackBerry devices infringe Kodak's patents however those patents have been found (again) to be invalid. There is still some way to go for this all to be over, so we'll see what happens from here. Keep reading for the full press release.

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3D flying shooter Pirate Wings has made its way to the BlackBerry PlayBook. The game has been available on iOS for quite some time, and this is a direct port of that version (as noted by the "turn your iPhone" notice I got during the tutorial). Pirate Wings puts you inside a Star Fox-like ship while you race around 3D environments collecting powerups and firing off missles and mines.

Features include: 

• Races mode with 9 race circuits, 3 different environments (Canyons, Underwater world, Outer Space), 5 characters and 12 ships available for 3 levels of difficulty. Use your lasers, missiles, mines and boost to finish first.
• Story Mode where you'll discover the incredible adventure of Raoul, a canyon pilot who will ally with the space pirates to avoid the trap of the defiant commander Burp in 13 original missions.
• Ghost mode to improve your lap time and compare your scores online.

I'm really digging the game thus far. The controls are a bit tough at first, but once you get the hang of it they aren't too bad. We'll have a full review coming along shortly, but if you want to check out Pirate Wings for yourself, you can grab it for $4.99 in BlackBerry App World.

More information/Download Pirate Wings

The latest version of the BlackBerry Desktop Software has just hit the beta zone. This time it rings in at version 7.1 and is ready for the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha as well as 4G PlayBook (I'll take one of each, thanks).

Updates include:

• Media sync enhancements including individual selection, sync by album, and customizable columns in collections mode
• Support for 4G PlayBooks
• Support for new BlackBerry 7 OS devices
• Major bug fixes and PIM sync improvements as highlighted in the Release Notes (in downloads section)
• Support for BB10 Alpha Developer devices

Looks like only some minor tweaks and fixes aside from there, but if you're a Beta Zone member you can grab the update anyway. Head to the link below to sign up if you're not already a member.

Check out more in the BlackBerry Beta Zone

Sometimes you may go a bit overboard when it comes to customizing the icon arrangement, wallpaper or themes on your BlackBerry. You may reach that point when you say "I really wish I could just start over". Well if you aren't ready to totally restore your device to it's factory settings, you can easily reset some options. Your BlackBerry has a built-in Reset to Default Settings option that lets you get some things back to stock so you can start fresh.

To access this option, simply press the Menu key from the home screen, then choose Options. Scroll down to the bottom and choose Reset Settings. From here you have the option to restore your wallpaper, downloads folder, icon arrangement and home screen panels. Check the box next to the item(s) you want to reset and then choose Apply. That's it! Head back to the home screen and you can start customizing things all over again :-)

For more discussion on this and other tips, head into the CrackBerry forums.

C Spire Wireless has officially released OS 7.1.0.355 for the BlackBerry Bold 9930. While this is an official release, remember to use caution when updating your device. If you need help along the way, you can head into our help forums or check out some of our BlackBerry 101 articles including How to Install or Upgrade to a new OS. If you do install this OS, hit up the forums thread below for findings, fixes and more discussion.

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Contest: Win a stylus of your choice for your BlackBerry! Keep reading for details.

At certain times your finger may just get flat out tired from all that tapping around on your BlackBerry PlayBook or touchscreen phone. Not to worry because we have just the thing - a BlackBerry stylus! If you want to navigate your touchscreen device in style, you can pick up an awesome stylus from ShopCrackBerry. We have plenty of different styles and colors, so you're sure to find one that suits you. Head into the store to see all the options and keep reading for your chance to win one!

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I guess Kevin really is getting older. Not to take anything away from him giving away his Porsche Design BlackBerry, in the past on his birthday he used to crank out some ***fun*** posts. But since he is now getting older and wiser (and recently got engaged!), I figured this year I'd take the heat and spice things up.

And as a suitable replacement -- I found an app that fits the bill. Sexy Screen is a simple PlayBook app that puts the lovely Andrea on your screen and also gives you a set of useful widgets. The app includes weather, clock, time & date and a news ticker - all displayed right on the screen and just a tap away. Sexy Screen features exclusive pictures (taken just for this app) and is $1.99 in BlackBerry App World. Go buy it ... you know you want to.

More information/Download Sexy Screen

Press Release

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire - May 17, 2012) - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today announced that CESG, the National Technical Authority for Information Assurance in the UK, has approved the BlackBerry® 7 operating system for government use. The approval enables public sector workers to utilise the enhanced performance and rich functionality of the latest BlackBerry smartphones available in the UK.

The BlackBerry® Enterprise Solution from RIM is the only mobile solution approved by CESG to protect material classified up to and including 'Restricted'.

Stephen Bates, UK Managing Director, RIM, said: "We're pleased to see CESG taking such positive steps to help ensure UK government workers have access to the latest suite of BlackBerry 7 smartphones. Thanks in part to our industry leading security credentials, BlackBerry smartphones are widely deployed in UK public sector organisations including the Ministry of Defence (MoD), most of Central Government and more than half of the UK's police forces, NHS and local government organisations. BlackBerry smartphones are enabling greater efficiencies and improved citizen service by providing access to data such as patient records, the Police National Computer and other government systems at the point of need."

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RIM seems to be on a bit of a patent kick lately (more than normal at least) and this time around has landed one for a phone-charging holster. The device is pretty much a standard phone holster that has a second battery for charging your phone. When your phone is in the holster, it would be charged from a second battery so you would always have some extra juice on the go  -- of course that means charging two devices instead of one before you head out. We've seen some third party options that are very similar, but this could be something cool in the RIM arsenal.

Source: USPTO Via: Engadget

If you're at all a fan of tower defense style games and haven't yet tried Vampire vs Hunter, you won't want to miss this. For a limited time, Vampire vs Hunter is on sale for just $1.99 -- over 60% off. The game lets you play the hunter while you fight off vampires, zombies and werewolves through various levels and difficulties. This one makes for a great time killer and will keep you busy for hours.

Features:

• Engaging audio and visual experience
• 3 unique game boards
• 45 levels of intense vampire hunting gameplay
• Progress and earn new weapons and defences to fend off more challenging enemies

You can grab Vampire vs Hunter in BlackBerry App World from the link below.

More information/Download Vampire vs Hunter

Gaming has never really been something that BlackBerry was known for. We've had the old-standby Brickbreaker since the start as well as a few good games here and there, but we never had the "latest and greatest". When the BlackBerry PlayBook was released, BlackBerry fans everywhere were overjoyed and gaming on the BlackBerry platform changed forever. With the new hardware, we could now have our share of great games as well. Things have come a long way in the last year, and moving forward to BlackBerry 10, it looks like they won't be slowing down.

At BlackBerry World 2012 this year there was a huge BlackBerry 10 vibe, but more so there was a great buzz about gaming. Plenty of big game companies like Marmalade and Gameloft were showing their support and excitement for the BlackBerry 10 platform, and that itself is truly something to look forward to.

As BlackBerry 10 approaches, more and more game companies are getting on board and either making new games for the platform, or porting existing titles over since RIM has been making it so easy to do so. Keep reading and we'll take a quick look at what we can expect for gaming on BlackBerry 10.

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Using a standard SIM card in your GSM (and some CDMA) BlackBerry is pretty easy to grasp at this point. Most come pre-installed if you buy your device from a carrier store, and even if it isn't, getting it in your phone is pretty straight forward. If you're like me however, you might have a micro SIM you want to use in your BlackBerry (I often use both an iPhone 4 / Bold 9900 and swap SIMs between them) it can be a bit more tricky.

Going forward to BlackBerry 10, the micro SIM will most likely be the card of choice for phones as we've seen in the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha already. If you want to use a micro SIM in your current BlackBerry however, you'll need to either pick one up from your carrier or cut down your current SIM (which I don't recommend). You'll then need to purchase a micro SIM adapter. Read on and we'll take a look at how to use a micro SIM card in your BlackBerry smartphone.

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C Spire Wireless has officially released OS 7.1.0.355 for the BlackBerry Curve 9350. While this is an official release, remember to use caution when updating your device. If you need help along the way, you can head into our help forums or check out some of our BlackBerry 101 articles including How to Install or Upgrade to a new OS. If you do install this OS, hit up the forums thread below for findings, fixes and more discussion.

Download OS 7.1.0.355
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