Having gained popularity on Android and iOS, Muffin Knight has now made its way to BlackBerry App World for the BlackBerry PlayBook. Brought to life on the PlayBook by Union, Muffin Knight is an action filled adventure but you'll certainly need to put in some hours to complete the game:

Fertilize the forest with the unicorn, cover the sky with black holes, flood the world with candy, but just get the muffins back! Muffin Knight is an action-packed platformer with stunning visuals and a myriad of fairytale characters, each with their own unique abilities which gain strength as you advance. This is the story of a little boy, on his journey to return the old fairy’s magical muffins. A strange curse was set on him: with each muffin he touches, he turns into a different creature. The old fairy promises to turn him back into a boy when he gets all the muffins back.

I've played the game previously myself and know you'll want to go ahead and check this one out for sure. Plus, given the fact that it comes to everyone for free there's no reason to at least not give it a look. Need to see more before you fully dive in? Check out the video trailer below.

Download Muffin Knight for the BlackBerry PlayBook

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Despite the fact that NFC is still a growing technology, there has been quick adoption of it in various parts of the world and one company that has proven they'll be making use of it whenever and wherever possible is RIM. A new venture between Research In Motion, Orange and SITA in cooperation with the Toulouse-Blagnac airport in France will take 50 frequent flyers and have them partake in NFC trial testing throughout the airport. As noted in the press release:

"With NFC technology, the mobile phone simplifies the passenger’s journey through the airport, says Jean-Michel Vernhes, CEO of Toulouse-Blagnac airport. It now becomes a personalized tool displaying the right information at the right time. It also enables passengers to better manage their journey, so they can choose how they spend their time at the airport. For T-B airport, the approach is to give to flyers access to leading-edge technologies that enhance and facilitate their experience at the airport in providing new Premium services."

The trial testing of NFC in the Toulouse-Blagnac airport is just a starting point for further NFC usage within airports as a whole. The trial testing information will ultimately be put to use in an upcoming smartphone application planned for 2013-2014.

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Although there has been plenty of shuffling of the ranks happening within RIM over the past little while, a rather significant change has just been confirmed by RIM themselves to the Wall Street Journal. Research In Motion's head of Global Sales, Patrick Spence, will be exiting after a 14 year long stay with the company.

I can confirm that Patrick Spence, Head of Global Sales for Research In Motion, has resigned following 14 years of service. Patrick will be taking on a leadership position in a different industry. The sales function will report directly into Kristian Tear, our newly appointed COO when he starts this summer. In the interim, the sales function will report to CEO Thorsten Heins.

Patrick, who joined RIM in 1998 and helped launch RIM’s Inter@ctive Pager 950 to the masses, will be taking on a new role elsewhere in the technology world. Where, exactly was not mentioned at this time but given the fact he maintained a high level of brand evangelism throughout his career at RIM it's certainly a departure that will be viewed as a loss.

Source: WSJ

If you're wanting to keep yourself up-to-date with the latest Facebook for BlackBerry beta releases, then you should head on over to the BlackBerry Beta Zone right now and grab the v3.1.0.11. This release has a whole laundry list of bug fixes over the previous release:

• Delete Prior Messages in Inbox leads to uncaught exception
• Unable to views comments
• With Wi-Fi only connection on BIS SN devices user should be able to view photos
• Likes count incorrect in Likes list if launched from stagnant comment screen
• Can not cancel selection via the 'back' button
• User photos mixed in FB message view
• Group name appears in the group wall
• Group Support : refresh of group wall is missing refresh animation
• Bad error message when posting on a Group without permission
• Groups are not translated in Hindi
• Finnish -Some missed translations on the Groups pages
• Accessibility: Status updates are not being read
• WiLAN event is not being processed correctly when radio is low or changed
• Removal of phone number request feature
• Update help URLs for Facebook 3.1
• Parser Error when I create comment with many returns between lines
• Remove welcome notification and message
• No ID for all the buttons in Facebook
• GCM icons are cutoff on low res devices

The update should be available for all BlackBerry Beta Zone members who have been accepted to the program previously. Hit the link below to grab the update and drop some comments and let us know how it's working for ya!

Download the latest FaceBook for BlackBerry Beta

For the past few years we've been blogging about the results of the annual Milward Brown BrandZ survey, which through magic and voodoo and (we're assuming some science since they apparently conducted 2 million interviews), places a value and rank on the world's top brands.

The BlackBerry brand has faired pretty well in previous years. In 2009 BlackBerry ranked #16 on the Top 100. And we're talking Top 100 of all companies and brands here, not just in the tech category. In 2010 the BlackBerry brand climbed up to #14 on the Top 100. 2011 saw a drop to the #25, which arguably was still pretty awesome.

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SwiftKey and Mobile Nations are giving you the chance to win a phone or tablet of your choice. SwiftKey is one of the leading aftermarket keyboard for Android, and in return for letting the SwiftKey guys know how you use your phones and tablets, you could bag the device of your choice, up to a value of $800.

Head over to swiftkey.com/survey to begin, complete the survey. If you're one of the lucky three (yes, three) winners, you could get your hands on your dream phone or tablet, even if it doesn't run Android. In fact, even if you don't currently own a device that supports their kick-ass keyboard, SwiftKey still wants to hear from you, and you could still be a winner.

The survey is open internationally for smartphone and tablet owners aged 18 and over, and it runs until midnight on Wednesday, June 6. Be sure to check SwiftKey's site for the full terms and conditions.

Head over to SwiftKey's survey page to get started!

We all know we have to pull our batteries from our BlackBerry once in a while, some more than others. S4BB dropped me an email to let me know that Restart me 3 is now available in App World to download. Some people may not be bothered about pulling the battery but for those of you who find it a hassle or use your BlackBerry with a case, this application may be perfect for you:

The app allows for the following features:

• Easy to use: restarts your device with just a single click.
• No-Brainer: avoids complicated key combinations to restart your device.
• Quick Reset: you can auto-restart your device or do it manually.
• Free your Memory: kills all the unnecessary applications running in background freeing your RAM. 
• Daily Restart Schedule*: e.g. wake up with a freshly rebooted smartphone every morning at 7:00 a.m. - * this feature is only available in Restart Me Pro 

The application is free or there is also a paid version which is set at $.99 and will allow a scheduled restart. Need more info or just looking for the download? Click the link below.

More info and to download Restart Me 3

I saw a few comments suggesting the Porsche Design BlackBerry that I gave away to a lucky reader might end up on Ebay, but that couldn't be further from reality. Thankfully, it found a great home with a deserving BlackBerry fan who appreciates it.

I shipped my P'9981 off to Toronto to CrackBerry member Houshinto, and he followed up with some photos of his P'9981, including a photo of it in its daily charging spot, next to its "protector". Gotta love it! I asked Houshinto for some background info on himself that I could share with CrackBerry Nation.

Turns out it's a really small world - Houshinto actually used to live in the same city I'm in (heck, his parents used to own a Chinese restaurant I've been to *many* times). CRAZY. Keep reading for a couple more photos and a bit more info on this lucky CrackBerry contest winner!

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If you're planning to attend one of the BlackBerry 10 Jam Road Shows, then you'll be pleased to know that registration has now opened for North America and Europe. Latin America dates have yet to be announced and registration will open soon for the Asia locations.

Remember there is a limited a supply of BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha devices and while non-developers are welcome to the event, only developers will be eligible to receive a Dev Alpha. Minors are also welcome, as long as they are accompanied by an adult and they register as a minor as per the terms and conditions.

The agenda for the event looks full-packed, seeing the afternoon go into the breakout sessions. These are separated into Native and Web sessions, so you'll have to decide whether you're going down the WebWorks route or Native route as you'll have to register for these sessions before the event.

If you're a developer it would be an event I'd recommend attending. It's free for one and there's a chance of you getting a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha. I have already registered for the London event and I am very much looking forward to the day.

Which locations are you planning to attend? Let us know in the comments.

Register for BlackBerry 10 Jam World Tour

We recently saw the BlackBerry 7 OS get approved for use by the UK government, now the same OS, along with OS 7.1 has been approved for use by Australian and New Zealand governments. It certainly is reassuring to know that our beloved BlackBerry operating systems is secure enough to get government approval. While not many consumers are hugely concerned about security, I, for one, like this about BlackBerry so I always like hearing news like this.

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If needing to know about BlackBerry Enterprise applications is your thing, then you may want to check out RIM's upcoming BlackBerry Enterprise application showcase. The event, to be held online on May 30th will offer a look at some of the enterprise solutions available from some of RIM's key partners including Citrix, SAP, and Box.

The BlackBerry® Enterprise Application Showcase is a one-day virtual event that highlights key partner applications that are designed to fully enable a productive mobile office. This virtual conference offers all of the same benefits you'd experience attending a physical conference, all without ever leaving your desk.

• Timely, Relevant Information - Gain key insights from the leading minds in enterprise mobility today.
• Savvy Keynote Speakers - See innovative apps from top enterprise partners Citrix, SAP, and Box.
• Instant Takeaway Collateral - Download all the relevant information to review and share
• Real-time exhibitor interaction - Visit booths and ask questions in a content-rich virtual 3D environment

Things will kick off at 10:30am ET and run until 2:30pm ET. If you're interested in learning more, you can hit the link below for further details and to get yourself registered if you do so with to attend the event.

Learn more and register for the BlackBerry Enterprise application showcase

If you happened to open up BlackBerry App World recently and noticed some changes you're not alone. In fact, RIM has sent out notification to BlackBerry developers letting them know that new category changes for applications are now in effect for BlackBerry App World and to adjust their apps accordingly if needed. The changes are as follows:

• News: The News category has been expanded to include magazines. This category is now called News and Magazines and includes Blogs as a subcategory.
• Beta: The Beta category is discontinued. The apps located the Beta category have been moved to relevant categories.
• Reference and eBooks & Education: The Books and Reference category has been divided in to separate categories so that these are now individual categories respectively. The Reference category includes Education. This new category is Education & Reference.
• Shopping: The Shopping category has been renamed Lifestyle.
• Maps & Navigation: The Maps & Navigation category now includes Travel and has been renamed Navigation and Travel.
• Music Creation (*NEW*): There is a new subcategory Music Creation available under the Music and Audio category.
• Children’s Categories (*NEW*): There are two new children’s focused categories: New Children’s Games category within the Games Channel, New Children’s Books subcategory within the Books category

While most of the changes are minimal, the removal of the beta section is a rather interesting one. RIM has spent a lot of time revamping the BlackBerry Beta Zone for their applications so it begs the question how BlackBerry 10 will handle betas, if at all. Then again, the beta section in BlackBerry App World was never really used by RIM themselves.

Via: BlackBerry Cool

Although they're not the first to have it in the UK, Virgin Mobile have joined the likes of Telefonica and Vodafone having now integrated BlackBerry App World carrier billing.

We've launched carrier billing with Virgin Mobile UK today! BlackBerry App World now offers carrier billing with 42 partners!^AK

Source: BlackBerryDev

Don't be sad... it'll be more fun to upgrade to a new BlackBerry 10 phone anyway!

In the past 24 hours I've literally received three emails and twice as many tweets from readers asking me if they'll be able to upgrade their BlackBerry 7 phone to BlackBerry 10 when it comes out later this year. 

The answer is still no. Seriously. This isn't news. There should be no surprise here. It's been *crystal clear* since Research In Motion unveiled the BlackBerry PlayBook on September 27th, 2010 at BlackBerry DevCon that devices on the existing BlackBerry OS would not be upgradeable to the new QNX-based platform. It is a new platform. A fresh start. Period.

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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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