Last week we posted that more and more carriers are introducing integrated carrier billing for App World, with more than 40 carriers worldwide already using it. Next in line to do so is Globe Telecom which operates in Spain and the Philippines. It allows both postpaid and prepaid customers to purchase apps on App World.

Press Release

Globe Telecom to Integrate Carrier Billing on BlackBerry App World 

Globe Telecom's BlackBerry smartphone customers will be able to apply purchases from BlackBerry App World directly to their Globe Telecom bill

Barcelona, Spain and Manila, The Philippines - Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) and Globe Telecom today announced that Globe customers will enjoy the ease and convenience of applying their app purchases on BlackBerry App World^TM to their postpaid or prepaid accounts.

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It's very frustrating for BlackBerry users in countries that don't have access to BlackBerry App World to try to download apps. Though it's not available in all countries yet, RIM has expanded the accessibility of App World to 9 additional countries in Africa: Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Lesotho. Customers in these countries can now download App World for their BlackBerry and enjoy all that it has to offer. Thanks for sending this in @as_faruk!

Ever wonder what type of data speeds you are getting from your carrier on your BlackBerry device? Well, up until now it was never really possible to tell, and there were no fun apps like Speedtest.net for the other devices, but now BlackBerry users are no longer left out of the fun. Fancy Speed Test is a free application that allows users to check their data speeds, by seeing what their ping, download and upload speeds are in a quick and easy fashion. So, if you want to monitor your speeds, and show them off, be sure to grab this free app today!

More information / download of Fancy Speed Test

Now a days it is nearly impossible to find free time for many of us, with a full time job or two, school, and all the rest of the curve balls life throws our way adding in time to sit down and study can be a bit of a challenge. Luckily Paul Bredbury was looking out for us and brought a Flashcards application to BlackBerry that will help us take studying on the go.

BrebsFlash Flashcards allows you to download decks from FlashcardExchange and StudyStack, edit slides while on the go, have the option to include or exclude images and so much more. If you are in school and looking to get some extra study time in, or if you just like to keep expanding your knowledge base be sure to check this out in AppWorld today. The application will set you back $5.99 but there is also a trial so you can check it all out before you buy it.

More information / download of BrebsFlash Flashcards

We've slowly been seeing networks support carrier billing for BlackBerry App World. Most recently we saw T-Mobile, A1 Telekom and Vodafone UK make the move, now we see Vodafone Spain jump on the carrier billing wagon too. This method of making purchases on App World has cetrainly been  most welcomed by BlackBerry users as it allows them to pay for the application through their bill, a lot more convenient that having to use Paypal. 

Hopefully we can see more networks adopt the carrier billing method soon.

Read the full Press Release 

RIM's Alex Kinsella, Product Manager for BlackBerry App World, announced on Twitter that BlackBerry App World has finally opened its doors to BlackBerry users in Vietnam. A relatively new, but potential market for RIM, Vietnam is home to an evolving BlackBerry community with specific needs. To address these needs, RIM introduced a localized BlackBerry Bold 9780 smartphone in cooperation with telecoms operator Brightstar back in July. The localization occurred in the form of a Vietnamese keyboard on the BlackBerry Bold as well as a translated user interface, both very important properties to appeal to the Vietnamese market. But RIM's commitment doesn't end there, which can be seen from today's announcement that BlackBerry users in Vietnam finally have access to BlackBerry App World.

The video above comes from a Vietnamese BlackBerry community, which recently discovered that BlackBerry App World is accessible in Vietnam on the new BlackBerry Bold 9900. The group has also discovered that Wikitude, among other features of BlackBerry 7, fully work in the country, giving Vietnamese BlackBerry users a small glimpse into the future. The future is now however, when it comes to BlackBerry App World, so tell me CrackBerry readers from Vietnam, how are you enjoying this new feat?

BlackBerry App World 3.0 is amazing. A complete redesign of App World 2.0, the new version features a much more relatable carousel of apps and categories; searching is made easier; and in general, the entire experience has been improved. Today, though, App World becomes even more amazing-er with the release of App World 3.0.0.59. Included in this latest release are "UI changes to the background and app details screen," "Further improvements to the speed and screen transitions," and "Various bug fixes."

BlackBerry App World 3.0 has not been officially released; the only way to get its wonderful goodness is by joining the BlackBerry Beta Zone, where you can be among the first to get new apps. And if getting to experience App World 3.0 before almost anyone else isn't a good enough reason to join, then I don't know what is.

Visit the BlackBerry Beta Zone to sign up or download the latest version of App World

Single largest update to application since it was first developed

If you're unfamiliar with SugarSync, it is a file back & sharing service similar to that of DropBox.  I say similar because I have come to be a true believer that SugarSync is superior to DropBox.  We've written about it in the past and like many I glazed over and thought "Oh whatever, DropBox is better" and did so without really looking at what SugarSync offered.  At CES2011 I met with Robb from SugarSync and bluntly asked "Why do you think SugarSync is better than DropBox?"  To my surprise I was given an answer I wasn't prepared for from Robb, "DropBox is GREAT!  We'll even back that folder up for you!"  With that bizarre answer, he had my attention and I looked further.

My biggest frustration with DropBox was that all your folders must be underneath the almighty DropBox folder, and I am a little particular with my file structure and that always ate away at me but I dealt with it.  Looking further into SugarSync I found that I could select ANY folder on my computer for backup, I didn't have to live inside their file structure.  Next stop was the fact that DropBox's free account was 2GB and SugarSync's is 5GB.

Where I lost some love for SugarSync was the BlackBerry app.  Compared to that of the iOS and Android application , the BlackBerry was absolutely the 'black sheep twice removed' in the mobile app family.  Until today....

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BlackBerry PlayBook 101: Using BlackBerry App World on your BlackBerry PlayBook

BlackBerry App World is the go to for apps on your BlackBerry smartphone as well as your BlackBerry PlayBook. While you've surely been using App World on your phone for quite some time, you'll find both similarities and differences in App World for the BlackBerry PlayBook. All the same features are there - including categories, featured and top lists - but some things are a bit different as well. So if your curious to know just how to use BlackBerry App World on the PlayBook, check out this tutorial to get you started.

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It looks as though RIM has removed a huge barrier to entry to deploying the BES Express in organizations.  Up to now in order to take full advantage of the BES experience you needed to pay your carrier an additional $10-15 per month for a BES Data Plan.  The "BES Tax" gave you a service book on your device which allows for over the air activation. BES Express has been very popular with the corporate world because of this $0 price tag.  However activating devices on a carrier BIS plan can be a headache.

If you're unfamiliar with this process, to activate a new BlackBerry on the company BES you would just need to ask your BES Admin for an activation password.  Once he assigned you the password, go to your BlackBerry under Advanced Options there would be an option called "Enterprise Activation", type in your email address and the assigned password and click Activate.  After a short period of time your device is fully provisioned on the BES all without connecting to any desktop software.

BUT if you were not paying your carrier's BES Tax this Enterprise Activation option was never pushed down to your device via Service Books so Desktop Manager was your only option for activating your new BlackBerry.

Today thanks to RIM BES Express users now live BES Tax-free.  They've put a new App in BlackBerry App World which gives you an Enterprise Activation option on your BlackBerry with a BIS data plan.

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Time for another CrackBerry Podcast! We had a lot of fun recording this one, so hopefully all of you CrackBery listeners out there will enjoy it too. Granted, we went a little bit overboard with the vuvuzela (now banned from all future podcasts), but between the horn blowing we managed to cover a lot of topics, including App World 2.0, and follow-up reviews of the Bold 9650 and Pearl 3G. We also touch on the CrackBerry Idol competition and how the action is heating up and the competition rounds haven't even begun yet and as always cover the rumormill. There's lots of good stuff buried in here, so give it a listen!. Enjoy the show!

$1.5 Million of Prizes to be won in the BlackBerry Partners Fund Super App Developer Challenge! Click for Challenge Details...

Calling all current and aspiring BlackBerry Developers...  tomorrow (May 18th) RIM will be having a webcast for developers to help "Boost Your Super App Experience." Whether you're a current BlackBerry developer or want to get started developing for BlackBerry you'll definitely want to check out this webcast. Here's the pitch: 

Overview
The BlackBerry® Application Platform provides a powerful set of APIs and services that provide the framework to create rich, engaging Super App experiences on mobile! There are six categories of Super App characteristics and this month Efficiency and Intelligence is our focus. Learn more about Super App characteristics at www.blackberry.com/developers/superapps

Join us for a webcast which covers efficiency in your app. Learn optimization techniques and best practices that will keep your application size down, optimize resources and decrease your application's memory footprint. And finally, get answers to your most burning performance-related questions. After the presentation, there will be a question and answer period with our panelists providing real-time responses to your questions.

Date: May 18th, 2010
Time: 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM EDT

Presenters and Panelists:
Sarim Aziz, Sr. Application Development
Brian Zubert, Sr. Application Development Consultant

You can click here to sign up for the webcast. Once you're done with developer webcast, you'll want to jump over to the BlackBerry Partners Fund's Super Apps Challenge page to learn more about this exciting event. This year's focus is on Super Apps and they're giving away a whopping $1.5 Million in prizes!

It's been long awaited by many that I know who live in Australia and New Zealand but finally, Research In Motion has delivered BlackBerry App World. Folks in Australia and New Zealand can now download and install BlackBerry App World to their BlackBerry smartphones which of course, brings with it many other applications. No having to look for work arounds once things are fully up and running. Content currently is based on free applications but more and more apps will be loaded over the next little while to make it as robust as other countries offerings.

From The Press Release:

“BlackBerry App World makes it very easy for our customers to discover and download a wide variety of applications for their BlackBerry smartphone,” said Adele Beachley, Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, Research In Motion. “BlackBerry App World provides a fantastic new resource and enhanced experience for customers and an equally exciting business opportunity for RIM’s partners.”

Another milestone down in making BlackBerry App World a global offering as Research In Motion envisioned. Anyone from Australia or New Zealand out there currently using BlackBerry App World? Let us know in the comments folks.

• Read The Full Press Release Via The Research In Motion Website >> 

Within App World, Let's Keeps Apps, Games and Themes Separate

If you didn't catch my article titled How Are You Liking Theme World So Far? I recommend you go read it before continuing with this post if you want the full understanding of where I'm coming from on this. To summarize, while 89% of our poll respondents are happy to see themes finally come to App World, 85% of those same respondents think RIM got the implementation of themes in App World wrong (myself included). In RIM's App World, themes are currently treated the same way as apps. While themes do have their own category, they compete with apps for rank on the Top Paid and Top Free download pages and are side by side with apps in sections like the Featured Items carousel (and we've already seen themes also creep into non-theme categories like Entertainment > Personalization).

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