Ahh... this one totally brings back fond memories as I was indeed an owner of the original Executor keychain and played with it non-stop until my older brother eventually stole it from me, put it on the floor and jumped on it until it crumbled into little pieces. I still haven't forgiven him.... though I guess I can let the issue drop now as new from Generation Media Group, bbExecutor mimics the original Executor keychain and offers up 8 of those classic assault sounds, including the ever-popular machine gun.  Be sure to watch the video above to see bbExecutor in all it's glory.

The app is available for both the Storm and non-touchscreen BlackBerry smartphones and is currently available for 99 cents (until July 31st - $1.99 regular price). You can grab it from the link below and be sure to check out the original Executor after the jump!

• Purchase bbExecutor and Drive your Friends and Family Insane >>

I just came across this thread in the CrackBerry Forums tonight that's getting some interest from folks looking to pick-up the BlackBerry Tour from Verizon. Wirefly, who by the sounds of it sells a ton of devices for Verizon, put the BlackBerry Tour up for pre-order today. For new customers the price is $179.99 -- $20 cheaper than Verizon's direct price -- while existing elgible Verizon customers can upgrade to the Tour for $199.99. Be sure to check out all the details/requirements first before purchasing. You can follow the links below to learn more.

• Learn More / Pre-Order the BlackBerry Tour from WireFly >>
• Check out the WireFly / BlackBerry Tour Forum Discussion >>

As I made note the other day with our CrackBerry/SPE Developer job posting, lots is going on behind the scenes to really take CrackBerry.com to the next level over the months ahead (we even have a little 'header' clean-up coming in the next week just to fresh'n things up a bit in the meantime).

And as we work towards CrackBerry 2.0, we'll be coming to the you, the readers, members, and customers of CrackBerry.com, to help provide us with further information and insight so we can deliver the quality improvements that you want to see.

Survey Time: That said, today we have two surveys we'd like you to fill out. The first is a BlackBerry Needs survey, while the second is a CrackBerry Importance survey. Whether you visit this site hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or even if this is your first time here, we'd love to hear from you. Thanks in advance for helping make CrackBerry.com even better!

• CrackBerry Survey #1 - Your BlackBerry Needs >>
• CrackBerry Survey #2 - What's Important on CrackBerry to You >>

With the BlackBerry Tour to be available from Verizon and Sprint on July 12th and shortly thereafter from Telus and Bell in Canada (and am sure other CDMA folks - Alltell, etc. will be getting it soon), it's time for us to have a good 'ole fashioned CrackBerry.com contest!!

Prizes:

• Grand Prize - A BlackBerry Tour 9630! From your CDMA carrier of choice: Verizon, Sprint, Telus, Bell, etc.. We'll get it to you as soon as it becomes available for purchase.
• Runner Up Prizes - $150 Coupon Code for Accessories from ShopCrackBerry.com! We have three of these to be won. 

To enter, all you need to do is login to CrackBerry.com and leave a comment to this blog post. Looking for something to comment on? Why not tell us What you love about the BlackBerry Tour! After you enter for your chance to win, do us a favor and take our CrackBerry Surveys so we can help make this site even better! Contest entry closes Midnight PST on Friday, July 10th. We'll contact the winners on the 11th so you know before the Tour goes on sale that you won. Good Luck!

The boys over at BGR and Engadget both got their hands on a Verizon BlackBerry Tour today and have posted the photos for us all to drool over. They made note of some final design details and snapped some great shots. Biggest news is that the back battery door has seen some changes (for the better) and according to BG looks good - It's got soft-touch rubber on the outer part and the inner part is a carbon-fiber material. Really, really sharp.

Head over to The Boy Genius Report and Engadget to check out all the photos and some impressions.

To all of the BlackBerry users north of the border  reading this, have a Happy Canada Day!

And while you should be putting the BBs out of site for 24 hours to give family and friends your undivided attention, I'm sure many most all of you will all work at least a few minutes of CrackBerry time in between fireworks, BBQs, beers and the beach (let me guess...you're reading this on Viigo !). Since you're here on your day off, I'd recommend a leisurely stroll through the blogs, forums and ShopCrackBerry.com store. There's a ton of new apps and accessories out there for you to check out!

And a special shout out goes to all of the hardworking folks at Research in Motion, the makers of our beloved BlackBerry smartphones. Though RIM is a global enterprise these days, the company roots are dug deep in Canadian soil. I hope the guys and gals at RIM take the day off to rejuvenate... we're expecting a LOT from them in the months ahead (the gauntlet has been thrown), so we need everyone to be Fresh!

Back on June 3rd we posted that the CrackBerry App Store client was now official and out of beta, but following that release still found we had a few bugs affecting a small portion of users that needed to be ironed out. The current CrackBerry App Store version -- 1.04 -- should address the lingering issues those user's faced. You can download the updated version from within the client itself (Check for Updates) or just point your BlackBerry's web browser to crackberry.com/appstore if you have yet to give it a go. You don't need to delete any previously installed versions before upgrading. And if by chance you do experience any bugs, you can email them in to crackberrysupport @ mobihand.com.

20% Off App Sale: To compensate for the problems some users experienced we are extending the grand opening sale with 20% off all software until July 4. The coupon code is  appstore. In addition, we've queued up a bunch more top-sellers for the Deal-of-the-Day which will be offered for 50% off. These apps include PeekaWho Email SMS Alerts, Par 72 Golf II, BatteryBooster, and NextAction.

To Celebrate Canada Day and Independence Day this week, SmrtGuard is hosting a contest and is giving away 100 subscriptions for their One-Year Subscription Plan (retail at USD $44.99 each) to citizens of that other country we know and love, CrackBerry Nation. To enter for your chance to win, all you need to do is login and leave a comment to this blog post. Contest entry closes this Sunday at midnight PST, and we'll announce the winners on the blogs next week. Good luck!

If you don't know what SmrtGuard is, it is a software that let's you backup and restore personal data over the air, track the location of your device, and to critically execute a remote wipe in the event of theft or loss. Backed up data includes your Contacts (with contact pics), PIMs, and now SMS. We've covered it a few times previously on the CrackBerry blogs - be sure to check out this post and this post for more info or click the image above to jump over to SmrtGuard.com.

With all the BlackBerry Tour mania on CrackBerry this week, it's almost easy to forget about the next new device lined up to hit the market in the weeks/months ahead, the BlackBerry Curve 8520 (aka Gemini). The 8520 has been in full-production for weeks already and with FCC approval now behind it it's now just a matter of when. With time we should see the Curve 85xx series roll out to many carriers (1 of the 3 devices in the photo above is actually a CDMA-friendly Curve 8530... can you guess which one?!) but it's looking like T-Mobile will get the honor in the USA of pushing this optical trackpad equipped, rubbercoated Curve first. Anybody out there planning to pick this one up when it hits??

• Check out the BlackBerry Curve 8520 FCC documents >> 

While the crack team was sleeping, Brian & Benjamin sent us in tips that Verizon's website is now showing the BlackBerry Tour available for pre-order in two versions - both with camera and WITHOUT CAMERA. You can click on the image above to jump over to Verizon's site and spin the Tour around to see it's camera-less behind. Try zip code 07828 if you're in need. Very cool for RIM to cater to those individuals who need a device sans camera for work. It's a bit of a shame though as the Tour's camera does take some seriously awesome photos (like alarmingly good).

Some late night activity just sprung up in the CrackBerry forums on word that Verizon's BlackBerry Tour site has been updated, which confirms the previously rumored July 12th in-store availability date and also allows for pre-ordering of the device. At the time of this post the new site seems to still be propagating through (the site isn't showing up properly for everyone just yet and the preordering isn't quite working - it should be good to go soon), but you will want to jump over and take a look (click here if the main link below isn't working for you).

The updated site also features a short Bloggers on the Tour video which features a couple of CrackBerry.com quotes about the BlackBerry Tour..... SWEET! The BlackBerry Tour definitely is the smartphone sooo many CDMA users have been waiting for. The release of the BlackBerry Tour is so close now. I guess it's about time we get ready for a CrackBerry contest huh? Stay tuned!!! If you're excited for the Tour, say CrackBerry!

• Visit the Updated Verizon BlackBerry Tour Website >> 
• Check Out CrackBerry.com's Pre-Release BlackBerry Tour Review >>

I think we can let the photos above do the talking on this one.... it seems Alltel subscribers can rejoice as they will soon have a BlackBerry Tour 9630 to call their own in the near future as well. Big thanks to you know who you are for sending this in!

This past Friday we posted about the release of the latest version of CrackBerry Viigo, Tango 9. Tango 9 brought forth a ton of improvements and new modules, including (finally!) the ability to listen to podcasts directly through Viigo as well as sharing your Viigo content with your Facebook friends. Our friend Matt at Viigo put together a couple of videos to walk Viigo users through these two new additions. Above is the podcast how to and below you will find the Facebook one. Thanks Matt! And if you haven't downloaded Viigo yet, you can visit this page for the details and download instructions.

Love smartphones? Got mad php, mysql, css, etc. skillz?? If so, then we have the opportunity for you. Lots is going on behind the scenes to take CrackBerry.com and the Smartphone Experts network of community sites (TheiPhoneblog, PreCentral, etc.) to the next level and we're looking for a talented and motivated developer to work with us to help get the job done. If you're interested and think you have what it takes, you can check out this forum thread for more details.

And in case you were wondering... no, it is not required that you be a BlackBerry user to win the role, but be forewarned that if you're not sling'n a Berry I will convert you - resistance is futile... you will be assimilated! :-)

It's been a while since we have heard from the folks behind Bolt Browser, but that doesn't mean they have not been hard at work improving on their already stellar (and popular - they passed the 1 million phone installs milestone) third party BlackBerry web browser. In fact, they have just released a hot new upgraded version of Bolt which signifies their jump into Beta3 (version 1.04) which introduces a whole slew of incremental improvements.

First of all, they have added the ability to upload too YouTube and Photobucket for your media files. Secondly, the ability to organize your favorites and copy text has been integrated. And finally, all of Bolt's servers (which do up the rendering job) have been upgraded too WebKit4 which enhances the fonts within the browser and allows for inline text entry on webpage forms and also adds the capability to display Cyrillic fonts. This is a solid upgrade to what was already a great browser to begin with. You can read the full press release after the jump and be sure to check out the newest offerings and leave some comments if you give it a go. Current Bolt users can upgrade within the app (visit a webpage and you'll be prompted to download the new version) while existing users can download from boltbrowser.com. 

• Download The Brand New Beta3 Release Of Bolt Today >> 
• Check Out The Bolt Support Forums To Report Any Issues >> 

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