After reviewing the forums for the past few days, I noticed a lot of users were having issues with their BlackBerry Messenger which was also noticed by DangermouseUK. The issues seen in this case is that avatars and remote back up of BlackBerry Messenger contacts is not correctly working. This current situation appears to be affecting not only BIS users but BES users as well.

From the information gathered, it seems the issues started as of Friday and have not been corrected since then. Not only are BIS and BES users not able to sync avatars you can't register a new email, restore a backup remotely, and even restoring using a backup file from the PC using device switch or the feature built into messenger, will NOT initiate a PIN switch on RIM servers.

This is a confirmed issue and from the information, it does appear that the servers designed to support these features are not responding to the requests to perform the actions mentioned. So I ask you all, anyone having issues with remote back up of BBM contacts? Maybe you have some people on your list who once had avatars and now, do not? Let us know in the comments if you're affected by this.

• More Information In The CrackBerry Forums >>

* Update - It seems that now at this point if you're suffering from this issue, simply resending the service books may fix it (without need to call in and change plans). Try that first before you spend anytime waiting on the phone! Dig into the forums at the links below for more details. *

If you listened to the CrackBerry podcast recently you would have heard us make mention of users in the forums having some issues with the WiFi on their BlackBerry Storm2 devices. As it turns out, this appears to be a fairly large problem for many of the customers who have purchased a Storm2. The issue is a known one to Verizon at this time since it's their issue to fix (not RIM's) and they are working on a complete fix for it but no ETA for that fix is currently available. Instead, work arounds are needed in order to ensure the WiFi is working properly.

The issue at hand is when WiFi enabled the device is not able to fully transmit voice and data at the same time and the WiFi logo stays greyed out, indicating that it is not fully connected to whatever WiFi service you set it up to (All white means connected). The fix for it currently at this is to call Verizon and have them place you on a more expensive data plan ($45+ BES Plan), power cycle your device and resend your service books. All should be fine after that, just be sure to ask about a credit for the difference between plans. But I guess the real question here is how did this glitch ever pass through Verizon's hands unnoticed?

• Read More About The Issue And The Fix For It In The CrackBerry Forums >>
• Another WiFi Fix Thread >>
• Visit the BlackBerry Storm2 Forum >>

I'm sure there have been a few of you anxiously awaiting the release of the Storm2, or maybe even an official announcement from Verizon of it's existence. Well after browsing through the forums, it looks like user LazyDanes has found evidence that the Storm2 may be here soon. 

While she was at a Best Buy store with her family, she went over to the cell phone area and found the Storm2 dummy unit on display and snapped this pic for us. Of course the salesperson did not have any info on the release date, but I'd say having dummy units arrive in stores is a good sign!

Come on Verizon, give us a release date already! Can you hear us now???

The master of all things iPhone over at The iPhone Blog, Rene Ritchie yesterday posted an article regarding the new iPhone accessory, iTwinge, which quickly made its way to the CrackBerry forums as well. iTwinge is aiming to bring a physical keyboard to the iPhone and are now accepting pre orders for this...thing, that resembles a keyboard that can easily be slid off and on the iPhone to allow usage. Now while to some this may seem great, the majority of users seem to think this is just simply not needed. So, since this question was raised in the forums, will any one now be switching from their BlackBerry to an iPhone now that it... kinda, has a physical keyboard? Anyone? 

We sure hope so. It has been a while since we have heard anything big from the folks over at Opera. Their Opera Mini web browser was and still is a favorite of many BlackBerry users, though over the past six months has taken a bit of a back seat to other third party BlackBerry web browsers like Bolt Browser and SkyFire's alpha/beta testing. Over the past few days though the Opera hype machine has been going crazy as Opera posted a rather omnious image on their site, and then began revealing the above image piece by piece.

Clearly, a new Opera mobile browser is on its way, but will we be seeing it on BlackBerry soon? Time will tell I guess, but here is one thing I'm willing to bet on. We'll see a new Opera Mini on BlackBerry before we see RIM do ANYTHING with their acquisiton of Torch mobile.

• Discuss The New Opera Mini Possibility On BlackBerry In The Forums >>

Itching to get your hands on Research in Motion's next touchscreen BlackBerry Smartphone? A couple of Storm 2's have popped up on ebay recently and as you can tell are generating some bids. Legit or scam? When it comes to pre-release devices on ebay we've seen both happen, but in this case the seller has a solid rating so the odds are good it's legit even though the image used on the auction is one that was previously posted on the web.

Should you try and pick one it up? Having been there and done that, I'd probably recommend waiting for the production units to hit stores if it's something you plan to actually try and use. Though for many the appeal of having that little something you really shouldn't have may justify the cost even if the hardware is wonky, the pin gets killed, and the unit won't take newer software updates (aka... is a paperweight). At the time of this post there is a little over 13 hours left to go on the auction - I'll be curious to see what it goes for. Any bets??

• Ebay Storm 2 Auction 1 | Ebay Storm 2 Auction 2
• Ebay Storm 2 Forum Thread 1 | Ebay Storm 2 Forum Thread 2 

A rather interesting thread has popped up in the forums that poses a simple question: What Feature Or Program Do You Use The Least On Your BlackBerry? We all know our BlackBerry Smartphones are capable of a lot of things right out of the box and with carriers pushing apps to our BlackBerry devices often times we see a lot of things show up that we may never use in the run of a day, week, month or heck for that matter, ever. So, taking a thought from that thread what do you use the least on your BlackBerry? Is it password keeper? Is it voice notes recorder? Let us know in the comments and in the forums thread as well.

• Check Out The Thread Asking "What Feature Or Program Do You Use The Least On Your BlackBerry?">>

Don't take this one as news (or even rumor) at this point, but rather as something that's popped up in the CrackBerry forums that makes for an interesting discussion for a Tuesday morning. CrackBerry member PensHockey posted the image above last night that was emailed to him from a friend - along with a subject title of Tropic (and no body text) in the email....

 

Not this again. On the heels of the first live video of the BlackBerry Storm 9550 yesterday, this image popped up in the forums early this morning. Apparently the "BlackBerry Thunder" is listed in Verizon's computers right now, right after the Storm (I thought it was the calm after the storm?). We're not even going to make a call on what's going on here.  Unless they've decided the Storm name doesn't possess enough goodwill, it would be weird for the 9550 to be anything other than a Storm when it launches. Could be Thunder is just a placeholder for now. Ahh Big Red... why do you have to mess with our minds like this?

The recent leak of BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 to the interwebs has created a ton of mayhem (good mayhem!) in the CrackBerry forums. Seriously, you'd almost think it was an OS leak in the early days of Storm's launch. In this previous article we covered some of the new features that are to be found in BlackBerry Messenger 5.0, which of course at the time of this writing has not yet been officially released.

One of the coolest new features is definitely the ability to add contacts via the barcode scanner. Within BlackBerry Messenger, you can now generate a unique barcode (visual representation of your device PIN) which people can then scan using the camera of their device. No more hunting for PINs and trying to type them out (which is a pain in the butt to try and do while out for an evening of socializing... which is when a lot of PIN exchanges happen these days). In the video above our theme-developing friend Wayne from WJDDesigns has put together a little walk through. With the implementation of the barcode, you have the ability to "post your barcode" and make it easy for people to add you from anywhere... like in the CrackBerry forums for example. Thanks for the vid Wayne!

Here's a good laugh to make your Monday a bit better. While many of us were busy playing with our week-old Tour this weekend, forums member kurpaige was simply laughing at the "Sperizon" Tour that UPS left at the door. As it turns out, the Sprint boxed Tour, sold by Sprint and shipped out by Sprint, turned out to be Verizon branded. Odd? Extremely. We're not exactly sure who is to blame for this mishap, but you can be sure someone will take the heat.

No one can ever say CrackBerry fans are not loyal! Especially not too HeroBerry, GigaJoe and SparoBerry (left to right). These three CrackBerry fans decided to celebrate the launch of the BlackBerry Tour in awesome fashion and these pictures are the result of what happened when Tour frenzy struck.

The shaven head in the pic is that of Gigajoe who willingly gave up his hair all in the name of fun and to show some CrackBerry pride for us all. Helped by his cousin HeroBerry and good friend Sparoberry, Gigajoe now has the best looking logo ever on the back of his head and that my friends is just saweeet! But what I really wanna know is - How did HeroBerry end up with the Tour at the expense of Gigajoe's head?  More shots after the jump or get a good look at them all via their TwitPic stream and be sure to check out the forum thread.

Oh boy! Seems the floodgates have opened on all things Tour. This pic was posted in the CrackBerry forums by Touchpro247 courtesy of Mangold55 who was able to get their hands on a Verizon branded device fresh in the box. And to answer the question some have been asking regarding the OS loaded, Mangold55 reports 4.7.1.26 is currently running on the device. Any questions?

• Check Out The Thread In The CrackBerry Forums For Some Q&A >>

We all know that the BlackBerry App World is coming at some point in time, be it April 1st or shortly there after. There has also been some talk of application developers holding off their applications from release just so that they may be loaded into the App World to debut upon launch.

While I was looking at the forums last night I came across a thread where CrackBerry forums member brucem76 posted a question asking which software was most needed, but still absent from the BlackBerry platform. Personally for me, it's a native blogging application for Wordpress such as the one that is available on the iPhone. Sure there are work arounds for it but none really offer what a native application could.

So I ask you CrackBerry Nation, what BlackBerry applications are missing? What applications would you all like to see developed for BlackBerry that just doesn't exist yet? Be sure to drop your app desires in the comments... maybe you can attract the attention of some developers out there who can make it happen.

 

Our BlackBerry Curve 8900 forums have been a buzz this week as some crafty CrackBerry Addicts and easily influencable T-Mobile reps have allowed for a few of our members to be among the first to take delivery of this next generation Curve. More pics of digital75's two 8900s after the jump. Could be we'll see this launch on all channels from T-Mobile sooner than previously rumored. What a refreshing change that would be for a BlackBerry roll out!

You'll want to start at the beginning and read through the whole thread. Congrats go to member clintonroche for winning the race! :-)

• Check out the Curve 8900 Corporate Ordering is Legit thread >>