As I found out earlier this morning, installing another carrier's OS on your BlackBerry isn't as easy as downloading and deleting the vendor.xml file -- now you have to delete both vendor files. It seems that in one of the updates to BlackBerry Desktop Manager, the vendor.xml file is not only located in one folder, but two. In the past you simply had to delete the lone vendor file and you were well on your way to a clean install with either BlackBerry Desktop Manager or App Loader. Now however, you'll need to dive in a bit more before your PC will see the OS - keep reading and we'll tell you how to seek and destroy (ok, find and delete) those pesky vendor.xml files.

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Hey all you BlackBerry Curve 9360 owners, now you too can upgrade to OS 7.1.0.190 that the Bold 9900, Torch 9810, and Torch 9860 previously saw. Of course, as this is a leaked OS and not official, if you choose to download it make sure you do a backup first, and let us know in the comments or forums how it works out for you.

*OS Disclaimer - Please Read: Keep in mind this is NOT an official release and as such is not supported by RIM or your Carrier. If you choose to install, do so at your own risk and only if you're comfortable in the process of upgrading and downgrading your device software. It is quite normal during operating system development for certain features to be crippled or disabled while others are tested, and these beta builds often reflect that. They are not always better. Depending on your BlackBerry comfort level, it may be best for you to wait for community feedback on a build before deciding to download and install for yourself or simply wait for the next official release. If you require support, you will find it in our CrackBerry forums via our extremely knowledgeable community base - do not contact your carrier or RIM for Beta OS technical support (their first course of action will be to advise you to downgrade to a supported OS). *

Download the leaked OS 7.1.0.190 for the BlackBerry Curve 9360
Discuss in the CrackBerry Forums

Source: N4BB

Here we walk though setting up the Mobile Hotspot on the leaked 7.1 OS for Bold 9900. Mobile Hotspot allows you to share your BlackBerry data plan with other WiFi only devices like the BlackBerry PlayBook or Apple iPod Touch. Some key points to be aware of:

• Mobile Hotspot uses your data plan
• Your carrier must have enabled tethering on your account
• The WiFi radio must be enabled for Mobile Hotspot to work

I can confirm that when using the Mobile Hotspot with your BlackBerry PlayBook, App World does work on the PlayBook. This is great news because under Bridge or Tethering App World was not available.

Discuss more in the forums

We've all been awaiting the arrival of OS 7.1 to drop for one specific feature, Mobile Hotspot. This allows your BlackBerry to serve as a WiFi hotspot to other devices. Our wish was granted yesterday with 7.1.0.74 leaking, this is an early build of what we are hoping is an OS coming to a carrier near you. This quick video walkthrough shows Mobile Hotspot running on a Bold 9900 with the leaked OS.

I've very excited about this option because now when I'm using the web on my BlackBerry PlayBook, my web speed is not limited to the speed of Bluetooth. Now with Mobile Hotspot I can better take advantage of the 14.4Mbps modem in my Bold 9900. In the walk though video we see the web running on my PlayBook (cracked screen and all).

Discuss more in the forums

* Update: RIM reached out to me today following up last night's rant with a response:

As a follow up to your article we wanted to let you know that the ‘900 minutes' shown in the error code was a mistake and should have read 15 minutes. We are working at implementing a fix for this that will be included in the next version of BBM software. 

Thanks for the update. 15 minutes sounds a LOT better. *

So here's a BBM error message I've never seen before on a BlackBerry....

Cannot contact the server due to database maintenance. Please retry in 900 minutes. 

I ran into issues today with reloading the OS on my bricked BlackBerry Bold 9900 (not sure what the scoop is but my normal process for reloading the OS is not working), so I decided to turn a negative into a postive and take this as a chance to rock another BlackBerry for the week.

I tossed my SIM card into a brand new BlackBerry Curve 9360 I had sitting on my desk. I signed in with my BlackBerry ID, and within a minute had all my email accounts setup. Then I opened up BlackBerry Messenger. I always back up my contacts to an email address, which typically makes it easy to reload the contacts into BBM via the on device restore function. But this time after trying to restore BBM with the email address tied to the device, I got 900 minute error message.

I couldn't help but laugh when it popped up. NINE HUNDRED MINUTES? Where the heck did RIM pick that number from? And couldn't they make it a little easier and put that into hours for me?  Seriously. Ok... well this post killed a little time.... only 877 minutes before I have BBM again! :/

If you're proudly rocking a brand new BlackBerry Torch 9810 you might want to grab your USB cable and give OS 7.0.0.336 a try. While we're not exactly sure what has changed in this update, it's fresh and new so you might want to check it out. As always, make sure you back up your data first and heed the warning below.

*OS Disclaimer - Please Read: Keep in mind this is NOT an official release and as such is not supported by RIM or your Carrier. If you choose to install, do so at your own risk and only if you're comfortable in the process of upgrading and downgrading your device software. It is quite normal during operating system development for certain features to be crippled or disabled while others are tested, and these beta builds often reflect that. They are not always better. Depending on your BlackBerry comfort level, it may be best for you to wait for community feedback on a build before deciding to download and install for yourself or simply wait for the next official release. If you require support, you will find it in our CrackBerry forums via our extremely knowledgeable community base - do not contact your carrier or RIM for Beta OS technical support (their first course of action will be to advise you to downgrade to a supported OS). *

Download OS 7.0.0.336 for the BlackBerry Torch 9810
Discuss in the forums

Source: N4BB

China Mobile released official OS v5.0.0.1062 this weekend for you lucky BlackBerry Tour owners so fire up Desktop Manager and get to upgrading. Even though this is an official OS, be sure to use caution and do a back-up before installing. And if you're not on China Mobile, make sure you delete that vendor.xml file. Thanks to everyone that sent this in!

Download OS v5.0.0.1062 for the BlackBerry Tour 9630
Discuss more in the forums

Today from Bell Mobility we have OS 6.0.0.615 available for download for the BlackBerry Bold 9700. What's new in this OS? After you install drop a comment or hit the forums with your findings, since no change log was included. Even though this is an official OS, be sure to use caution and do a back-up before installing. And if you're not on Bell Mobility, make sure you delete that vendor.xml file. Thanks to everyone that sent this in!

Download OS 6.0.0.615 for the BlackBerry Bold 9700
Discuss more in the forums

Though we've seen this OS before in leak and official versions for the BlackBerry Torch 9800,  we thought we should go ahead and let you guys know that AT&T has officially released it as well. I'm sure there may be a small group of you out there waiting for this from AT&T so if that's you, then here you go! If you installed the leak or the official version from Vodafone DE last month, no need to re-install this, as they are all the same OS. As with any OS, be sure to do a backup of your device before installing.

Thanks to everyone that sent this in!

Download OS 6.0.0.600 for the BlackBerry Torch 9800
Discuss in the forums

Fancy an official OS on your BlackBerry, instead of a leak? Well owners of both the Blackberry Torch 9800 and BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300, if that's you, you may now feel free to install OS 6.0.0.600 on your device, as it has been officially released by Vodafone DE. This isn't a new OS, exactly, as both of these devices as well as the BlackBerry Bold 9700 all saw it as a leak earlier this month. If Vodafone DE isn't your carrier, you can still install this OS, just be sure to have a quick read about that pesky Vendor.xml file before you do. If you do install, be sure to hit the forums and let us know what you find. As always, use caution when installing this or any OS.

Download OS 6.0.0.600 for the BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300
Discuss in the forums

Download OS 6.0.0.600 for the BlackBerry Torch 9800
Discuss in the forums

Source: N4BB

Through the course of many BlackBerry OS announcements here at CrackBerry, many of you have asked about deleting the vendor.xml file. You may have seen it referenced in one of our articles about a carrier releasing an official OS update. You may have come across it several times in the forums. You may be hearing about this file for the first time. The truth is: you only need to delete the file from unofficial updates; that is, updates that are official for a carrier other than your own.

When updating your BlackBerry, oftentimes the first step is to install that Operating System update to your computer. The vendor.xml file is copied to your computer as a part of that process. If you are updating your BlackBerry with the official update supported by your carrier, the information in the vendor.xml file must match similar information in the hardware of your smartphone. If the two don't match, the update cannot be applied to the phone. This is how the carriers make sure you only load their supported version of the operating system on to your phone.

For the sake of argument, let's say that Orange in the UK has a BBOS version 6.0.0.999 for my BlackBerry Torch 9800. Since AT&T's officially supported version is .570 (I think), I wouldn't mind getting that Orange update. BBOS versions that are supported by a carrier are usually pretty solid. Ah, but that vendor.xml file would prevent me from using it. The file won't match the hardware on my AT&T Torch. Well then, I'll have to delete it.

Read Full Lecture

Someone call the plumber, the leaks are flooding in this morning. This time around they come in the form of OS 7.0.0.187 for the unreleased BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900/9930, and the still unannounced BlackBerry Torch 9850/9860 and the BlackBerry Curve 9350/9370. Obviously, these don't do us common folk much good, but if you're one of the minority and happen to have one of these devices, you might be interested in downloading these and giving them a go. Do not go crazy and try to install them on your current device if you don't have the ones listed above! No they will not work on your PlayBook, Bold 9700, or Curve 8320.

Pssst... RIM, if you're reading this, why not just go ahead and announce the new Torch line and those Curves? They aren't really a secret anymore anyway.

*OS Disclaimer - Please Read: Keep in mind this is NOT an official release and as such is not supported by RIM or your Carrier. If you choose to install, do so at your own risk and only if you're comfortable in the process of upgrading and downgrading your device software. It is quite normal during operating system development for certain features to be crippled or disabled while others are tested, and these beta builds often reflect that. They are not always better. Depending on your BlackBerry comfort level, it may be best for you to wait for community feedback on a build before deciding to download and install for yourself or simply wait for the next official release. If you require support, you will find it in our CrackBerry forums via our extremely knowledgeable community base - do not contact your carrier or RIM for Beta OS technical support (their first course of action will be to advise you to downgrade to a supported OS). *

Download OS 7.0.0.187 for the BlackBerry Curve 9350/70
Download OS 7.0.0.187 for the BlackBerry Torch 9850
Download OS 7.0.0.187 for the BlackBerry Torch 9860
Download OS 7.0.0.187 for the BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900
Download OS 7.0.0.187 for the BlackBerry Bold Touch 9930

Thanks again Mr/Ms Anon!  ;)

It looks like RIM is reaching out to YOU i Labs in an effort to develop the UI or future smartphones and tablets. YOU i Labs is a Canadian company that is responsible for building “inspirational user interfaces” – prodiving a natural UI framework and software services. The result is an incredibly smooth and interactive experience to start. According to their website, roughly 500 million devices in the market are running YOU i Labs developed software; could BlackBerry be added to that list? A low rumbling of rumours in the intertubes suggests a partnering between RIM and YOU i Labs.

Some of the products of YOU i Labs includes uSwish – a graphical UI platform that supports Haptics, Multi-touch, Gestures, Physics and Stereoscopic 3D. A look at the Embedded OS support list reveals that it includes QNX (hmm). Another product is isGPU (Intelligent Software Graphics Processor Unit) which is a set of libraries for 3D and 2D graphics. It brings the benefit of amazing rendering power over OS /platforms graphics support. For developers and hardware manufacturers, it gives them an OS independent graphic solution (lessening app porting costs and marketing time). Coincidently QNX is also supported (double hmm).

Now check this out – the PlayBook UI was designed by Teknision; another Canadian company which also works with YOU i Labs (triple hmm). Could these be the pieces falling into place that will allow us to see QNX powering BlackBerry smartphones? Last year, RIM acquired TAT with hopes to strengthen the design of its UI. If RIM is looking to compete with other devices /tablets (and hopefully silence critics) with a truly unique interface and experience then this partnership may be a step in the right direction.

Source: GIGAOM

Taiwan Mobile has released OS 6.0.0.546 for BlackBerry Bold 9700 and 9780 owners bringing them up to par with the BlackBerry Torch 9800, which recieved the same update last week from Vodafone DE. This isn't a huge jump for either as the 9780 was previously sitting at .534 and the 9700 at .526 but an update is an update. We're interested in knowing how it performs for you, so if you choose to install it let us know in the comments or in the forums at the links below what changes you see. Thanks rroyy!

Download 6.0.0.546 for the BlackBerry Bold 9700
Discuss 6.0.0.546 for the 9700

Download 6.0.0.546 for the BlackBerry Bold 9780
Discuss 6.0.0.546 for the 9780

While OS 6.0.0.522 was leaked back at the beginning of April for the BlackBerry Style 9670, we know there are many out there that don't like to use leaked OS' and wait for them to become official. Well if this is you, then your wait is over, as Sprint LP released .522 officially today. You can download it from the link below, and if you want to see what changes people reported from when it was leaked you can hit the forums. Thanks rroyy!

Download OS 6.0.0.522 for BlackBerry Style 9670