A good news reader for BlackBerry seems hard to come by lately, but a new player to the game hopes to change that. SideSwipe is a great news reader for BlackBerry that is now in beta and seeking testers. I've had the pleasure of playing around with the app for the last week and I have to say it's one of the best yet.

We live in a time where the amount of readily available information is increasing faster than we can keep track of it, let alone understand it. There are more than 150 million blogs and billions of tweets, yet we still get most of our information from a handful of sites. The sheer volume of information is overwhelming; think of it as trying to drink from a fire hose. This is where SideSwipe comes in, offering users the ability to expand their information horizons without drowning in data.

Our proprietary cloud technology marries popular content with less obvious sources, using personal preferences and social networking to provide a broad offering of interesting content. Utilizing powerful background processing and storage capabilities, the BlackBerry client packages up the content in a viewing experience not yet seen in other mobile device offerings.

Having the news you want, when you want it is important, and SideSwipe does just that - and it does it well. The fluid UI, ease of use and all around fun of the app make it simply awesome. Your content is stored locally so there is no wasted time accessing data, the swipe navigation is amazingly smooth and quick, you can save and share articles and much more.

SideSwipe is now in beta and seeking testers. There are 1000 spots open for eager users to try it out. You'll need to use the app and report back with your findings, but that shouldn't be too hard. If you're interested in helping out, head to the link below to claim your spot. Keep reading for more screeshots.

Get in on the SideSwipe beta now

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The developer beta for the BlackBerry PlayBook v2.0 has been updated. With it brings just a few improvements to help developers in creating their apps. The first is that BlackBerry WebWorks applications can now call the GPS. Secondly, Wi-Fi profiles are now saved and do not disappear after rebooting your PlayBook. After registering to receive the developer beta software, an icon will appear in the status bar on their BlackBerry PlayBook to notify that the update is available. At that point you'll have 24 hours to complete the update of software on your PlayBook. After 24 hours, developers can reregister to receive the Developer Beta of PlayBook OS 2.0 as long as the beta is still open.

If you are already running the developer beta, by now you should see a gear symbol signifying that there is an update available. To update simply tap the top right corner of your screen, select Software Updates, Check for Update and complete.

*Update* - Looks as though RIM decided to put BlackBerry App World back into the build. They've adjusted the information on their blog and it no longer reads that App World will not be loaded. Try reregistering your PIN if you have issues though as suggested in the comments.

Source:  Inside BlackBerry Developer's Blog

You ever have that one email address that you only need to access sometimes, so you don't really need nor want to set it up on BlackBerry? LogicMail can help with that. Maybe you just want a little bit more control over your inbox? LogicMail can help in either of those cases and now they've released the latest beta update to their standalone email client for BlackBerry and it's loaded with new features:

Key new features of 2.1 are:

• Background server polling (may affect battery)
• Home screen notification icon
• Configurable refresh intervals IMAP: Can check both INBOX and non-INBOX folders / IMAP: Uses IDLE to keep the connection open when possible
• Can automatically connect and check for mail on application startup
• Can auto-start on device startup
• Improved setup wizard, including configuration of new features
• App now hides instead of exiting closed (Exit option still available)
• Option to mark messages read/unread without viewing them
• Supports the IMAP COMPRESS extension (optional)
• Support for OS7 hybrid-touch devices (e.g. Bold 9900)
• Faster detection of stalled network connections
• Supports OS 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 5.0, 6.0, and 7.0

If you're looking for an alternative email client for your BlackBerry, LogicMail is certainly worth a look. You can hit the link below and grab the version most compatible with your device -- remember though, it's a beta, so make sure you share any bugs you find so that they can be fixed.

Download Logic Mail 2.1 Beta

One of my favorite apps, JeeoSuite, had an update for their beta yesterday, bringing many improvements. If you haven't heard of JeeoSuite before, it is a WiFi Portal for your BlackBerry. Giving you access to your device's email, calendar, files, bookmarks, memos, photos, and device stats. It also has various tools including my personal favorite, screen capture. This update includes several bug fixes and overall performance optimization. JeeoSuite is still in public beta, and free to download for most devices, via the link below

Download JeeoSute's latest beta

One of the applications that I have been praying to hit the BlackBerry platform has finally reached beta. If you haven't used GetGlue before, it is the leading social network for entertainment, now with close to 1 million users. With GetGlue you can check-in to your favorite TV shows, movies, music, games, and more. You can also review, comment, and share your thoughts on these topics with Facebook and Twitter, with one click. Your reward? Stickers, stickers, stickers. You get these stickers the more times you check-in and rate the media you love. And as you can see from the picture above, they even send actual stickers for your achievments to you. Might seem kind of lame, but I haven't received anything for free from Twitter or Facebook.

The beta seems very stable, and I have yet to encounter any errors or bugs. No word on device compatibility, but it seems to be working on a variety of devices. If you don't get the invite right away, you can also use their extremely fast loading mobile site. Hit the break for screenshots from the GetGlue for BlackBerry app.

Learn more about GetGlue
Reqest an invite to GetGlue for BlackBerry beta

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If you've never heard of XTop Mobile before that's likely because it has been "coming soon" forever now. That said, XTop Mobile has finally been released in a lovely beta fashion and is welcoming users to sign up and try out the service. That service promises to create a lot of productivity between you, your PC and your BlackBerry. The full feature set below:

• Get real-time notification of all incoming calls directly on your Laptop / PC so you don't have to reach for your Smartphone during meetings or while you're at your desk.
• View, send and receive emails from the BIS (i.e. hotmail, gmail) and BES accounts on your Smartphone, wherever you are, without having to connect to a 3rd Party Hotspot.
• Send and receive SMS and PIN chat messages in a chat-like window directly from your Laptop / PC screen.
• Add, edit and manage your Smartphone contacts directly from your Laptop / PC in real-time.
• Automatically back-up of all contacts, emails and text messages every time you walk-up to your laptop.  

Sounds pretty awesome right? The beta is available now and gives you a full 30 days to try out the services. Full launch is expected next month but no details have yet been given indicating as to what the service may cost. Sadly, no Mac support is available as of yet either so this is just strictly for the Windows users out there. Give it a shot and let us know in the comments how it's working out for you.

Click here to learn more about XTop Mobile

Jam11 is a new app (currently in beta) that allows you to stream your iTunes library to your BlackBerry smartphone. It also streams over 40,000 SHOUTcast internet radio stations, from around the globe. During my testing, I have personally experienced lightning fast streaming over 3G and Wifi. It is also nice that the app will also stream over sub-3G connections, a feature that a lot of apps don't support.

Jam11 is a great app for those who have massive music collections and do not have the space on their device to hold it all. You can download it at BlackBerry App World free of charge in the beta section. It supports only non-touchscreen devices at the moment,  but hopefully will add touchscreen devices soon.

More information and download of Jam11 beta
Download the Jam11 desktop software

Well, this came out of nowhere. Inside BlackBerry has just let everyone know that starting today, beta invites will go out to BlackBerry Beta Zone members so that they may have access to the all new, all fresh looking BlackBerry Desktop Manager 6. Certainly not a lot of details were posted other than that. Instead, Inside BlackBerry let the pictures do the talking for them. The design is that of what Mac Desktop Manager users have had for a while now, except its got way more polish added too it and it looks great. If you have yet to sign up for the BlackBerry Beta Zone you might wanna finally get on that! What do you all think? Looks great right?!? More pics after the break.

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As the Twitter space continues to grow, so do the apps that allow you to access it. The latest big name contender looking for space on your BlackBerry is soon too be Hootsuite. They havesent out a newsletter today that was meant for the announcement of their compatibility for the iPhone 4 but at the bottom of that newsletter I happened to notice the BlackBerry mention.

Finally, fans of RIM's Blackberry phones can almost.... finally begin Hoot-ing since HootBerry is just about ready for beta release. To get on-board for early access, simply sign up at: http://ow.ly/2aRUx and you'll be among the first to try the new tool.

Hootsuite has been making it's rounds across platforms these days and in order to keep up with the many others out there, a BlackBerry app is certainly needed. How it looks and runs remains to be seen but clearly we'll know soon enough. If ya wanna try out a new Twitter client for BlackBerry, hit the link and sign up.

Review of SocialScope for BlackBerry Smartphones

With a tagline like "a mobile inbox for your social networks", and stats reporting that users find it "more important than the Inbox, Brick Breaker, and the Browser", it's no wonder that from those who have been graciously allowed into the over-extended private beta, I've heard mostly love stories for SocialScope.

I'll admit that the multitude of not-yet-privy-to-the-beta users often look at me like I'm crazy, and maybe they're right. I mean, there is nearly zero support for this app. You can attempt to send SocialScope a suggestion email and debug file from the Settings menu, but that typically generates an auto-response saying, "Thanks for taking the time to send feedback, we really appreciate it ... but don't expect to hear back from us." Try to engage them via Twitter, and it's most likely to lead to nowhere. There is a Tumblr blog ... but you won't find consistent post, only a developer's response to all the backlash.

Despite the negativity, I still tell anyone who asks that this is simply one of the best BlackBerry apps I've ever used, mainly because of the social media integration. It is a large part of what fuels why the device rarely leaves my hand. (I don't plan to turn this into "My top apps for accessing Twitter from your BlackBerry", I will say that my consistent second and third choices are UberTwitter and the official RIM Twitter App.)

Read Full Review

Review of Evernote Application for BlackBerry Smartphones

With the growing desire to capture information and access it later in a simple manner, a problem yet to be solved has come up: organization. Organizing our digital lives can be a tough procedure, but thankfully many services are available out there to help us take control of our data. Evernote is one of them, which makes note-taking simple and intuitive. Evernote allows you to create text notes, take snapshots, record audio notes and upload files. Once synchronized with the Evernote server, you may access your notes wherever you are and whenever you need them. With a Web interface and applications available for the PC and Mac as well as BlackBerry, iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile and Palm webOS, Evernote has you always covered. But how well does the BlackBerry application perform? Read on to find out!

Read Full Review

For some folks who are making use of the BlackBerry Beta Zone, you can now download a new Research In Motion designed application called Traffic if you are eligible. Pics of the application leaked out shortly after the announcement, as you can see above. Traffic is an app which helps you determine a few things while you are driving. One of them being when exactly you will reach your destination, sharing your location with others and your ETA and it also helps you find things that may be near by. Need to find a restaurant or gas station? Traffic can help. Or if you just simply need a map routed out for you, Traffic can do that as well.

The funny thing about this new application is that well, it's not really all that new. If you are a person who often sorts through OS files on your PC you may have noticed the files for adding traffic have been there for quite some time. Which, could very well explain the looks of the app. It looks kind of dated and we hope that it will see a slight revamp before its release. For the sake of comparison, Traffic is similar to that of Telenavs OnMyWay application in some ways. What does everyone think? Is Traffic something you would use? More pics available after the jump. You can also read more in the forums, where this was posted.

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We covered the beta of Bitbop not too long and now, glad to say that it has passed it's beta testing phase and moved into a full on roll out of services. Bitbop brings a lot to the table for US customers who are looking for great media content on the go. Headed up by the folks at Fox Mobile, the wide array of streaming content is something a lot of users having been asking of big media for a while now. Shows such as 30 Rock, American Dad and Family Guy are all available to view as well as many others from Global partners which Fox has teamed up with.

With the service now out of beta Bitbop has had to put a price tag on their offerings which, has turned out to not be that bad at all. A free trial is available to BlackBerry users wherein after the trial a subscription model has been established for $9.99/mnth which allows for unlimited streaming and temporary downloads. Full press release is available after the jump.

• More information/download of Bitbop for BlackBerry >>

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For all of you out there that signed up for the BlackBerry Beta Zone, you may have received an invite to check out the new BlackBerry feedback tool offered by Research In Motion. Now, before you go stating that I shouldn't have posted this, keep in mind Research In Motion has open betas and closed betas within BlackBerry Beta Zone and this is among one of the open betas.

The new feedback tool offers direct access to send feedback for any Research In Motion developed application from within each app. The feedback can be specific to that application or if you just happen to think of something, you can choose the option of general feedback. This information allows Research In Motion to identify trends in issues that users may be seeing. With the collective information being reviewed, they can act more quickly in resolving any issues that arise. Remember, only BlackBerry Beta Zone users have access to this tool so be sure to sign up if you haven't already.

• Sign Up For The BlackBerry Beta Zone Via The BlackBerry Website>>

Our friend Fabian Heuwieser is looking for some feedback on his latest iteration of Later Dude Pro. If you are a current user or new to Later Dude Pro here is your chance to check out what's up and coming. As Fabian has posted in the CrackBerry forums, you can now get your hands on the latest version which has some newly added features to make Later Dude Pro more robust app. Have a look in the forums and if you want to give Fabian a hand with the testing, be sure to grab the download.

• For More Information And Download Details Check Out The CrackBerry Forums Post >>