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

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

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

Last week Hyundai let us know that they are working on a BlackBerry application to work with their Bluelink in-car technologies, and now GM has officially stepped into the ring with OnStar. Today those with an OnStar enabled Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick or GMC that live in the USA will be able to access features like activating your horn & lights, starting your vehicle remotely, locking/unlocking your doors and more.

Features

• NEW!  Find a destination on your phone and send it directly to your OnStar Turn-by-Turn or In-Dash navigation system (OnStar Directions & Connections subscription required).  Your directions will be downloaded and available upon vehicle start, and you are on your way.   
• Lock/unlock your doors from any distance
• Start your vehicle remotely (based on vehicle capability)
• Control your Chevrolet Volt charging and charge mode settings
• Activate your Horn & Lights to help locate your vehicle
• Contact an OnStar Advisor, Roadside Assistance or your Preferred Dealer

Unprecedented connectivity to:

• View real-time fuel information, including fuel range, gallons of gas remaining and your lifetime MPG
• View your Chevrolet Volt battery state of charge, electric range, electric miles and MPG
• Check your current lifetime mileage
• Check your remaining oil life
• View your current tire pressure information
• Access account information

Of course for some of these features you will need OnStar paid services and a data connection on your BlackBerry smartphone. The OnStar app is only available for the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and Bold 9930 at this time, but I would expect that to change in the coming months. Also, I hope that a BlackBerry 10 application using the Cascades framework is underway; I’m sure it would look amazing and function like a charm.

Download the OnStar app for BlackBerry smartphones

Need to send out last minute party invites? Forgot to get that birthday card in the mail? No problem when you have j4funzies. This fun application allows you to send cool animated (or non-animated) greetings to your friends and family from your BlackBerry device (OS 5 or higher). The app itself is FREE and the greetings range from FREE to $1.99. There are numerous holidays, special event greetings and everyday type sentiments.

Features

• Send greetings via SMS, email or PIN
• Holidays, Personal Occasions, Casual and Invitation greetings with more added all the time
• Both animated and non-animated greetings available

Make someone's day by sending them an animated greeting with j4funzies. I’ve used j4funzies to send birthday party invitations, a few Mother’s Day greetings as well as random little notes to my kids and husband. It's a great way to send a short note just to let someone know you're thinking of them.

For more information / download j4funzies

If you use eBuddy XMS on your BlackBerry as a cross-platform messenger, you will be happy to learn that a new version has been released that not only adds support for older OS' (4.6 and above) but also group messaging! You can now chat with up to 30 of your friends at once, whether they are on BlackBerry, iOS, Android, Windows phones, or Nokia. They even have a desktop application, so if you don't feel like picking up your phone you don't have to.

If you don't currently have an app for cross-platform messaging, or maybe you're looking for something new to try, eBuddy XMS has a lot of features you might enjoy. XMS users in your phone book are automatically added to your XMS contact list, and you can link your Facebook account to find more friends. Messages also have sent and read indicators, (a la BBM) so you always know the status of your message. And since the messages are sent via your internet connection, you don't have to worry about texting overages or extra fees. You can find eBuddy XMS in BlackBerry App World for free at the link below, and for other platforms simply visit ebuddyxms.com.

More information/download eBuddy XMS

I am a huge fan of "Sat Nav' applications but sadly on the BlackBerry platform we don't have as many options as our friends on iOS and Android.  Telmap dropped me an email today announcing their new free application is available for download (This is the kind of thing that gets me excited).  So I am going in and we will of course have a full review here in the very near future ... well, as long as I don't get lost! Download from the link below and keep reading for the full press release.

More information/Download Telemap

Continue reading article

The folks over at Hedone Design let us know that their first application for the BlackBerry PlayBook under the name i-Mentlist, called VCMS (Vehicle Counters and Monitoring System) has been updated to v2.0. This new version not only adds some interesting new features but also brings support for BlackBerry 7 devices as well.

For those unfamiliar with VCMS, this is a GPS based application that displays all the information you'll ever need on the road, water, or in the sky all with its elegant design and eye-catching dials. While it already features a compass, speed meter, two trip counters, location and time, just to name a few, it now includes the following updates:

• Lap timer
• Social networks (including BBM on BB7 devices)
• Statistics (you can export it and import them to Google maps, or similar and check your routes)
• Maximum speed
• Average speed
• Speed alarms (yes, not alarm but alarms)

VCMS is compatible with BlackBerry 9220, 9350/60/70/80/90, 9790, 9810/50/60, 9900/30/81 and the BlackBerry PlayBook running OS 1.0 and higher. You can find it at the link below for $2.99 in BlackBerry App World.

More information/screenshots and to purchase VCMS
Discuss VCMS for BlackBerry 7 devices in the forums
Discuss VCMS updated to 2.0 in the forums

Photo Booth Pro turns your BlackBerry smartphone into a photo booth that you can stick in your pocket! The Photo Booth, you can find them at almost every mall and they’re used for almost any occasion. You may have seen people acting like absolute goofs in the booth (you’ve done it too, admit it). Others may use them to take more memorable, or serious, shots like for headshots or forms of ID. To be honest, I’m not sure what type of use makes me laugh more. They’re all entertaining, although slightly inconvenient due to location limitations. Now before you go out and start pricing a photo booth for your house, I should point you in the direction of a BlackBerry smartphone app called Photo Booth Pro.

With this app, you can take four consecutive pictures and then choose to apply up to 8 different effects to them. Alternatively, you can also select from some of your finest shots already stored in your internal or external memory. Hey, if you can connect to a Bluetooth printer, you can set up shop, as a portable photo booth, anywhere! Let’s see if Photo Booth Pro can keep up with your potentially lucrative summer job.

Read Full Review

I must admit, it isn't very often I browse through the 'latest apps' section of BlackBerry App World and get excited about a new edition with no reviews. However, today was an exception as I spotted an application called Test de debit DeGroupTest (roughly translated to "Throughput Test") which appeared to be a speed test app that works over both WiFi and 3G. This is something I am currently lacking from my collection of apps.

The developer is clearly French and the majority of the wording within the app is in French but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out how to get the app working.

And work it does -- it shows your download and upload speed as well as your ping, plus the center tab at the top of the app will take you to a results page, much like the more common known speed test app on virtually every other platform.

If there is another speed test application for BlackBerry that tests both WiFi and 3G I haven't found it yet, so although this one may be brand new and in its first edition, you may well want to check it out. With continued developer support this one could be quite well a beauty.

More information/Download DegroupTest

Listen up soccer football fans. With Euro 2012 just a few weeks away, did you know you can keep up to date with all the action right from your BlackBerry?

ScoreMobile FC is the perfect free app for mobile users to stay up-to-date with all the action from the tournament in Poland and Ukraine, and this week it gets an update improving its experience.

The app, from the makers of ScoreMobile - one of the world's leading free sports apps with more than 3.6 million unique users each month - is already a must-have for the hardcore football fan thanks to its in-depth coverage of more than 100 leagues and competitions.

Although the most popular football app in the UK, it is time to spread the word to BlackBerry users worldwide with one of the biggest global soccer tournaments looming on the horizon. If you think the app will just show you scores you are so wrong. It has a vast array of features -- ScoreMobile FC is BBM connected so sharing up to date scores and news with your buddies has never been easier. Whether you are using a Bold, a Torch or a Curve the application both looks and works like a dream. With a host of customisable notification settings, missing out on up to date football news is a thing of the past.

ScoreMobile FC is offering a host of great features to ensure you never have to miss a kick during one of the world's biggest football tournaments, including:

• Free customizable push alerts (including goals and key incidents).
• Daily video "vodcasts" featuring special guests.
• Sync tournament fixtures to your calendar.
• Up-to-the-second live scores.
• Live blogs or text commentary for EVERY game.
• Comprehensive list of match times, tables and statistics.
• The latest Euro 2012 news, previews and post-match analysis in video format.
• "Bet Now" feature, allowing UK-based users to place real-time bets via licensed betting and gaming provider William Hill.

The latest version of ScoreMobile FC should be available in BlackBerry App World starting tomorrow.

More information/Download ScoreMobile FC

We’ve started to see BlackBerry and RIM gain momentum over the past few weeks, pretty much since they demonstrated the all-new BlackBerry 10 operating system. Today Hyundai USA has announced that their new Blue Link car connect application would be coming to BlackBerry in the coming months. The app will allow you to start and unlock your car, among a bevy of other features that will make the car connect application an "industry" leader, according to Hyundai USA.

Blue Link Mobile App Highlights

• Completely redesigned interface and navigation
• Swipe gestures allow quick access to core features
• Remotely access many Blue Link® features found on MyHyundai.com
• Manage multiple Blue Link-enrolled vehicles
• Remotely control vehicle functions: Door lock/unlock, horn & lights,
• lights-only and remote vehicle start (not available on all models)
• Search, save and send POIs to vehicles for in-car navigation
• Innovative new features: car finder, parking meter/timer and vehicle diagnostics
• Remotely manage Blue Link alerts and notifications

The application is currently available on Android and iOS and is currently in development for the BlackBerry platform. One thing to note is that there wasn’t a mention if this app is being developed for the current BlackBerry platform or BlackBerry 10; if Hyundai is on the ball they’ll make sure it’s available on the current platform as well. Stay tuned because once the application is available we’ll take to the streets to test it out. You can read the full press release below.

Continue reading article

While RIM just recently released the official build of Facebook version 3.0 with BBM integration, they are already hard at work with an updated version in BlackBerry Beta Zone. Facebook version 3.1.0.9 is now available to Beta Zone members. In this new version, one of the fixes is to an issue some were experiencing with comments taking an extended amount of time to load. This build also features many other improvements and bug fixes, all of which can be found below.

Updates in v3.1.0.9

• Status Cleared notification doesn't make sense
• Update help URLs for Facebook 3.1
• Got a state that could not exit Facebook setup wizard if Facebook opened from other access points
• No photo on post
• Facebook does not update while on Wi-Fi. Mobile Wi-Fi does work however.
• App takes very long time to refresh comments.
• Clicking “resend" on a status update doesn't seem to work
• Focus is lost after scrolling thru a very long post.
• Likes count incorrect in Likes list if launched from stagnant comment screen
• Doesn't work on Wi-Fi only connection
• Send icon is missing in command screen
• User is not able to scroll to Facebook title bar to open navigation screen on the new chat conversation screen if cursoris not at the beginning of text box
• Comments for Notes are limited to 1000 characters while on the web the limit is 8000
• Event Created By lists incorrect name
• BBM Text for check in is not localization friendly and might cause issues in other languages
• Focus order on comment page
• Focus jumps to the top of the notifications list after marking an unopened notification as opened

If you’re not a member of BlackBerry Beta Zone you can sign up for free at BlackBerry.com/Beta, once you’re a member you will have access to the Facebook beta, along with others as RIM sees fit. If you notice any other improvements that aren’t listed above toss them in the comments below, you never know what could be hidden in this build.

Check out more in the BlackBerry Beta Zone

The team over at BBM Animated let us know that they have just updated their site, adding brand new content! Not only have they added more animated gifs for your BlackBerry Messenger avatar, they've introduced a section for trending themes. You can click on the tab marked Hot to see what's new in that category, as it will change up depending on what is currently hot (movies, music, etc). Right now you can find animated avatars featuring The Avengers!

Of course, the gifs offered on BBM Animated are free to download and easy to get onto your BlackBerry. Simply navigate to the site from the link below, pick out which avatar you'd like to use, and save it to your BlackBerry. From here you can open up your media folder and find the saved gif, open it and hit your menu button. Choose "Set As BBM Display Picture" and you're all set. You can also change the avatar from BBM directly. Go to your profile and click your current avatar, which will open up your pictures folder. Choose the gif you downloaded and you're done. Note, animated avatars only work with BBM v6.1 and above. 

Download avatars from BBM Animated

Evernote is one of the CrackBerry staff's favorite apps, and it's really no wonder why. It's versatile, easy to use, and cross platform syncing ensures that you'll always have your stuff when you need it, no matter what device you're on. Evernote also receives fairly frequent updates, and today's update brings the BlackBerry app to v3.5.407. While not a huge jump from the last version, this one does have a couple of important fixes.

• Fix issue with BES blocking any connection
• Fix issue on note loading blocking syncing

Make sure if you have the app installed on your BlackBerry you head over to App World and grab the update. And if you aren't currently an Evernote user, you can use the link below to rectify that.

More information/download Evernote for BlackBerry