It looks like we should have a shiny new beta version of the theme builder in just a few more days. Today Mike Kirkup (@blackberrydev) sent out the tweet above saying that the new version, which will include support for all OS 6 devices, will launch by the end of January. This is great news and will definitely expland the theme offerings in the near future. There are only 10 days left in January, so keep your fingers crossed and we should see the update pop up before you know it.

It's been quite some time since I've felt the need to rant about BlackBerry Theme Builder. Yes, it still has some issues but with the last update it turned out to be the best of what has been offered so far. Now we are once again reaching that point where I'm beginning to wonder what exactly is going on. The last time we looked at some of the issues with theme builder it was when the previous version (Plazmic) and its website went missing. At that time, we were told that Plazmic was being brought in house at Research In Motion so that it could be looked at closer and be given the proper treatment and makeover it deserved.

Shortly after that came the release of BlackBerry Theme Builder at the BlackBerry Developers Conference. In that time a lot of emphasis was placed on themes with the launch of BlackBerry App World and then the subsequent addition of themes into BlackBerry App World. After the intial hoorah, not much has been happening on the BlackBerry Theme Builder front

We now have two brand new devices on the market being the BlackBerry Bold 9650 and the BlackBerry Pearl 3G. Awesome. So what's the problem? Developers have no way to build themes for these devices as of yet based on the fact that Research In Motion has not released a compatible version of BlackBerry Theme Builder. (Yes, workarounds exist for the 9650 but still, they shouldn't be needed) It seems as though BlackBerry theme developers have been left behind once again here. One could reason and say maybe they are waiting for DevCon to release the newest version but, try telling that to the folks who are missing out on themes. 

Are you a theme builder? Maybe you want to take up theme building? Well, Research In Motion will be holding another webinar aimed at developers who want to learn more about the processes and tools used. BlackBerry Theme Builder 5.0 will be at the forefront of some of the information shared and with access to the webinar available to all you can pick up some tips from the experts on how to build, customize and profit from your work. The webinar will be held on January 12th, 2010 at 2PM EST, be sure to sign up.

• For More Information And Registration Click Here >>