At an event like BlackBerry World we're used to seeing lots of BlackBerry users walking around with their heads down in the CrackBerry prayer position as they type and text away on their keyboards. But at tonight's BB World opening reception party, I just couldn't help but hit record on the 'ole CrackBerry camera when this guy walked past me holding his BlackBerry PlayBook out in front of him as he walked and talked and video chatted with his family back home. Now that's hardcore. Gotta love it!
Oh, and it turned out he was a CrackBerry fan. Watch the video for a chuckle!!
Having options is something that just about everyone loves, options of wallpapers, ringtones, but how about having more than just the default options for unlocking and locking your device? Last week Adam took a look at Easy Lock Pro and while it is a great option for many, we wanted some more variety, right? Luckily for us another great option that is feature loaded is Unlock Pro by the folks at MMMOOO, and it is a great alternative lock option for your device. Featuring three different lock screen options, the ability to customize what is displayed, and what wallpaper is shown, allows for it to fit the needs of a wide user base.
Whether you want a lock screen that allows you to slide to unlock, or pull down to unlock or if you want the ability to quickly launch into camera and other options, Unlock Pro is a great choice for you. The developers have put a ton of time and hard work into making the application well polished, and while there are still a few minor display kinks to work out, they are ready for feedback and willing to listen to ideas. There is a free version which offers just one of the three lock screens, but the paid version which unlocks the other two and all the other features will only run you $1.99. Be sure to hit the link below and check it out for yourself!
Contest: The fine folks at MMMOOO have offered up 25 copies of the full application, featuring all three lock screen options and all the features. All you have to do is simply leave a comment on this post. Contest ends Sunday, limit one entry per person.
Last night I hit up the Aspen Social Club in NYC to check out the happenings at #BBMUglySweater Fan Night. Plenty of BlackBerry users were on hand to check out the festivities and claim the prizes they won from RIM in the #BBMUglySweater contest on Twitter. They were many happy campers heading home with brand new devices just in time for Christmas. We took in some great food and drink, played a bit of Angry Birds on the BlackBerry PlayBook (even former New York Giant Michael Strahan gave it a shot) and had a blast. Check out the video above to see how it went and get a glimpse of some truly ugly sweaters.
From the creator of Vector Runner for the BlackBerry PlayBook comes Vector Stunt. With the same old school vector graphics, Vector Stunt lets you pilot your way down the track collecting points for pickups and stunts, all of which changes depending on what song you choose. You can pick from the preset tunes in the game or choose your own MP3s to change up the game play. It's simple to grasp (once you get the hang of it initially) as all you need to do it steer and tilt to perform your stunts. Vector Stunt has loads of replay value and is sure to keep you entangled for hours on end. Check out the video above for more then hit the link below to grab it for just $0.99 from BlackBerry App World.
Madden is an American institution. We've played it on consoles, fear the worst with the Madden curse and look forward to it each and every year. Well now you can have some of that Madden greatness with you wherever you go with Madden 12 for the BlackBerry PlayBook. Madden 12 brings all your favorite teams to the line and does not disappoint, even in this smaller package. While it does take some getting used to, once you master the controls you should be able to knock off a full season on your way to a Superbowl victory. I'll admit that it was a rough start trying to adjust to the game control setup, but I actually find it to be extremely useful and a welcome addition (especially the drawing of hot routes) from the console versions. Overall I highly recommend Madden 12 and think any football fan should definitely give it a go. Check out my review in the video above, then head to BlackBerry App World to grab it for yourself!
If you follow @crackberrykevin on twitter, you might have noticed that I'm in Waterloo, the hometown of BlackBerry, today! I'm still in the middle of briefings, but just had to get some content up for CrackBerry Nation asap. So to kick things off is a hands-on video walk through with the newly-announced BlackBerry Bold 9790.
The BlackBerry Bold 9790 is the lower cost, young brother to the BlackBerry Bold 9900. As you'll see in the video above, the overall footprint of the phone is quite a bit smaller than that of the 9900. While the battery is the same 1230mAh battery that is found in the Bold 9900, with a slightly smaller display and 200 less MHz on the processor, the battery life on the 9790 *should* be a bit better than that of the 9900.
More first impressions are on the way, but for now you can watch the video above to get a good look at the BlackBerry Bold 9790!
Odds are if you have seen one of our many videos you have seen that we tend to change the name of the wifi network connection, and if you have been wondering how you are in luck. Luckily we are not stuck with a boring wifi network name like Linksys or Belkin, but instead we can change it to something we prefer. For a while I enjoyed having the name blank, and other times I like to change it up to a symbol or other text.
Changing the saved networks name is quite simple, and with just a few steps you can be doing the same, so check out the video above and learn how. Will you be changing the name, or keeping it stock? Let us know!
With TELUS and now Bell, rolling out the still freshly announcedBlackBerry Curve 9360, we had do to make sure we covered all bases in the BlackBerry 7 line so I rushed out today to TELUS and picked one up. As always, picking up a new device requires and unboxing video of sort -- and this, is the unboxing video for the sexy new Curve. Surprisingly enough, even only after minimal use today -- I'm quite impressed with the BlackBerry Curve 9360. It's no BlackBerry Bold 9900
but it's still quite an upgrade for what we know of the Curve series of devices now. I'm working up a full review of the device for you all but in the meantime, go ahead and check out the unboxing.
Now that BBM Music is headed out to beta testers, we figured we'd do up a little video to show you all what it's about. With the BBM connected apps catalogue growing larger everyday, this is one app that truly shows off the power of such offerings. In the past, RIM has taken some heat for not really expanding their ecosystem to provide media offerings such as music and movies despite the fact BlackBerry devices capabilities to handle that content.
BBM Music is one step towards setting things right in that area. Wheter or not it'll be successful as a paid service remains to be seen but even in it's limited trial beta stages it shows some great potential for long term use depending on what RIM does with it. Caching of songs, sharing of songs, play list creation and BBM interaction make the app great but it's what RIM does with the service to help it be more appealable over time is what I'm looking forward to.
Picking out the right case for your device always seems to be a struggle, there are so many options, and each of them have their very own advantages and disadvantages. Let's take a quick look at the Case-Mate Barely There Case for the BlackBerry Curve 8500 and 9300 series devices which is a slim, low profile case that fits the device very snug. If you are looking for maximum protection, this isn't the one for you, but if you want something to keep the device from being scratched and to give the device a great feel in your hands, your money is well spent on this case. Check out the video above for some more thoughts on the case, and to see the fit on the device.
Contest: To win a Case-Mate Barely There case for your device, just leave a single comment on this post. Contest ends this Sunday at midnight PST.
I'm still banging away a full BlackBerry Torch 9810 review for you all but when it comes down to it, the changes that have been implemented on the BlackBerry Torch 9810 can really be summed up in about 10 minutes (Though, I did go over a bit). As such, I went ahead and did up the above video for you all. It explains some of the most significant changes within the Torch 9810 so that if you're an already existing Torch 9800 owner, you can decide whether or not the Torch 9810 is a viable upgrade.
Personally, I think if you're a Torch 9800 owner and love everything about the form factor, there is no reason for you not to go ahead and grab the Torch 9810. It does bring some powerful changes to the device, and will certainly meet your needs. There are quite a few people out there that do love the touch screen and keyboard combo, many of which will be well served by the Torch 9810 -- even if this is the device the BlackBerry Torch 9800 should have been.
I know I don't have Kevin's flair for unboxing videos but I managed to get my hands on a BlackBerry Torch 9810 before him so I did my due diligence in standard CrackBerry fashion and unboxed the sexy upgrade to the Torch 9800 for you all.
The above version was picked up from a Bell retail location as the devices went on sale today in addition to their version of the BlackBerry Bold 9900. If you're an already existing BlackBerry Torch fan, then no doubt about it -- this is the device for you.
The updated specs for the Torch 9810 really do make you feel as though you have a whole new device in your hands, only when it comes to looks do you realize that the only thing has changed is the internals and higher resolution display. I'm working up a full review for you all so, stay tuned!
The last time we did a browser shoot out, we can say that the BlackBerry didn't fare all that well. In fact, it was pretty brutal. However, that said; it was at the time the best BlackBerry browsing experience available and was leaps and bounds ahead of what was previously known as the BlackBerry browser.
This time around, as seen in the video above the BlackBerry Bold 9900 browser kept pace with the iPhone 4 and Samsung Nexus S we pitted it against and now, BlackBerry is enjoying the richer browsing experience it should have had all along.
The folks from RIM's acquisition of Torch Mobile have worked hard on this browser release and as mentioned, the browser is 40% faster on BlackBerry 7 vs. BlackBerry 6. Even though in our testing the BlackBerry never "won" so to speak -- it did pretty damn fine.
BlackBerry Video Chat is here! That holy grail once denied to we BlackBerry users is finally within our grasp, at least for PlayBook users. With an update to the PlayBook OS delivered in the wee hours of the morning, those owners gained the ability to see and talk to people hundreds of miles away. All from a device that weighs less than a pound.
Connecting to another PlayBook user is meant to be easy; all you'll need is their BlackBerry ID. Once you've opened the Video Chat application, touch New Contact (located in the upper left). If you want to add a person as a contact, enter the BBID and a nickname if desired. You can also choose a picture from your PlayBook or bridged BlackBerry to serve as that person's avatar. Click done (in the upper left) to save that person as a contact.
To start a call, simply touch that person's name in your contact list. The call will start automatically. The person being called will get a notification and the option to answer, answer without video, or decline the call. If you're unavailable for a video call, set Video Chat to Do Not Disturb. Touch the white circle in the upper left to activate; it will turn red when Do Not Disturb is on.
It would be wonderful if all of this worked perfectly on day one; unfortunately, there have been some glitches.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I hate wires. They're cumbersome, always getting tangled in things, and half of the time you grab the wrong wire anyway. I love the freedom of movement afforded by Bluetooth headsets, the ease of paring the headsets, and the myriad voice responses built right in. Audio instructions, automatic pairing mode and a thankfully abset "Enter Code 0000" made for a surprisingly pleasant experience, pairing the devices with my BlackBerry.
In the past, I've written about Stereo Bluetooth Headphones; today, I'm taking a look at two Bluetooth headsets: the Motorola Oasis and the BlueAnt Q2. Both impressed me with their signal range, call quality and comfort. In the end, there could be only one winner.
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