We'd like to take a minute to wish everyone in CrackBerry Nation a very Merry Christmas! We'll obviously be taking it easy today (we'll sneak in a few posts, don't worry) and you should do the same. We know it's tough, but try to put down your BlackBerry (or PlayBook, iPhone, Android ... ) for the day and spend some quality time with friends and family. Today is a day to give thanks and look back at the year and drink plenty of spiked egg nog. RIM has certainly brought us through some ups and downs in 2011, but overall it was a pretty good year.

So here's to a Merry Christmas to all and very happy holidays!

- Kevin and the The CrackBerry Team

I think most of us have our list of favorite holiday movies we like to watch each year - Elf, Love Actually, Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, etc. And call me a cell phone junky, but I also have my list of favorite holiday commercials/videos from mobile companies I find myself watching each year as Christmas approaches. The year after year winner on this one has historically been Virgin Mobile, though I haven't come across a new one by them for 2011. Not a big deal though, as the Seasons Greetings from Mrs. Claus skit they did up a few years ago is hard to beat (watch it above - language warning).

T-Mobile did step it up this year with their Home for the Holidays skit, which you can watch below along with a few other mobile holiday gems. If you come across any other new ones this year, be sure to toss the link in the comments. Enjoy the show!

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MMMOOO is back with the cutest animated Christmas theme for your BlackBerry. Aptly named Christmas Lights, this theme features animated lights on your home screen, adorable custom icons, and tons of details that will delight you as only the holiday season can. Available for most BlackBerry smartphones running up to OS6, you can grab Christmas Lights for just $.99 in the CrackBerry store.

We have 25 free copies of Christmas Lights to give away today, courtesy of MMMOOO. Leave a comment below to enter, and we'll choose winners at midnight PST. One entry per person please, and good luck!

More information/screenshots and purchase Christmas Lights

Contest: Enter to win a pair of smarTouch gloves courtesy of Isotoner! Read on for details.

It's winter in our neck of the woods. Well, not mine, specifically because I live in Arizona. But for much of the world, it's cold and snowy and wet and that means that everyone is bundled up to stay warm. The only problem is… how do you use your BlackBerry or PlayBook if you have gloves on? If you have a BlackBerry with a keyboard you may be able to navigate ok, but if you have a touchscreen, you're pretty much out of luck if you're wearing gloves.

Isotoner has a solution. They have a line of gloves called smarTouch that are designed to work with your smartphone or tablet. They are water repellent, with a non-slip palm and fingers, made with Lycra fiber so the gloves fit snugly and stretch just when you need them to. While all of that is neat, the best feature of these gloves is right at the tip of your fingers, or to be specific, your thumb and index fingers. Here you'll find they have embroidered the tips with a special conductive thread that conveys an electrical impulse to the touchscreen, allowing you to scroll, select, and type without having to remove your gloves and freeze your fingers off. Keep reading to see our impressions of the smarTouch gloves, and more details about how to get your hands on some.

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It's no secret that the holidays are fast approaching, with Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas and the New Year just around the corner. Whether you have fully immersed yourself in the spirit of it all, or you're looking for something to help boost your joy this year, we thought it would be fun to take a look at some holiday themed games that are out for you to enjoy on your BlackBerry.

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From the creators of The Jumble, Karmic Apps now gives us Untangle - Holiday Edition for the Blackberry PlayBook. Help the santa spiders untangle their webs and make sure they don't overlap. It seems so simple, touch the dots and drag the lines to untangle them. With 100 levels of brain teasing fun and cute graphics, you're sure to keep your mind stimulated during the holiday season.

Features:

• Fun holiday themed graphics 
• 100 different levels
• Timer and different challenges to keep the game interesting

Untangle is available for the BlackBerry PlayBook in all countries EXCEPT South Korea for the low price of $0.99.

For more information / purchase Untangle

Screen capture applications are one of the most popular for BlackBerry smartphones, and one of the favorites among users is Screen Muncher by Motek Mobile. With Screen Muncher you can capture a screenshot of your phone and share it directly to Twitter, BBM, email, or save it to share later. With a free and paid version, you can choose from 11 colors and 8 sounds for your munches, 2 image formats (png or jpg), the option to remove the watermark, and the ability to turn the sound off for discreet munching. Assign Screen Muncher to a convenience key for ultimate ease of use.

Since it's the holiday season, Motek Mobile has released free and paid ($2.99) holiday editions of Screen Muncher, and we have 50 copies of the paid version to give away! To enter, leave a comment below, and we'll pick the lucky winners Sunday night at midnight PST. One entry per person, please! If you don't want to wait, you can check out both versions at the links below.

More information/download Screen Muncher Holiday Edition free
More information/purchase Screen Muncher Holiday Edition premium

Last week we brought you the news that Magmic created the first theme available for the BlackBerry Bold 9900 / 9930 and it couldn't come at a better time of year. For those of you looking to spread some holiday cheer on your device then be sure to check out this week's picks. Remember, there are plenty more where these came from as you can discover more holiday crafted themes in BlackBerry App World and in our forums. Plus you don't just have to download a theme to decorate your device. Be sure to check out the Wallpaper Gallery and ringtone gallery for more great ideas. If you developed a theme you want to share or see featured in the contest or discovered a really great one out there by all means shoot it on over to us! Submit your tips and suggestions to themeroundup[at]crackberry.com for consideration.  

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XIMAD has released a festive update to 3 of their super popular games: Pandas vs Ninjas, Brain Cube, and Bubble Birds. New levels, fun graphics, and great games, what more could you want for the holiday season?

• Pandas vs Ninjas has 50 new levels to play, and you can now choose Christmas or Chinese themes to play. Help the pandas defend their homeland by fighting off the ninja invaders and destroying their camps, all while enjoying the look and feel of the holiday.
• Bubble Birds is easy and fun to play. Simply get as many points as you can by shooting away sets of three and more bubble birds of the same color, all with a winter theme.
• In Brain Cube you roll the cube thru combination of very interesting puzzles and find a way from one level to another. Each level is unique and filled with different obstacles and mazes. This game is also integrated with social media, so you can share your progress with your friends.

As always, the graphics and sounds are fun and gameplay is smooth. Bubble Birds and Brain Cube are compatible with most BlackBerry smartphones up to OS6, and Pandas vs Ninjas includes BlackBerry 7 devices. You can pick these awesome games up FREE in BlackBerry App World at the links below.

More information/download Pandas vs Ninjas
More information/download Bubble Birds
More information/download Brain Cube

It just wouldn't be Christmas without ugly sweaters. In fact, they're such a staple for the holidays that people even plan whole parties themed around the Christmas Sweater. Now you can express your Christmas spirit with your BBM avatar too, as RIM has released a free Ugly Sweater expansion pack for their popular Avatar Builder app for BlackBerry.

First, make sure you have Avatar Builder Girls or Guys Edition installed on your BlackBerry. Head on over to BlackBerry App World and install the Ugly Sweater expansion pack. If you already had Avatar Builder open, you'll want to exit out of it. When you re-open the app and create a new avatar, you should see the additional category on the right hand side along with the normal features and clothes. Choose from the many unstylish sweaters, then decorate it with a candy cane, a moose, a snowman or one of several other tacky items. Of course, you can still save, share, or set the avatar as your BBM profile picture from within the app.

If you don't have Avatar Builder installed already, you can grab the guy's or girl's version from the links below, as well as the Ugly Sweater Expansion Pack. Just remember, you must have both installed in order to see the new features.

Download Avatar Builder Girl's Edition
Download Avatar Builder Guy's Edition
Download Ugly Sweater Expansion Pack

It's officially December and the holiday season is upon us. It's time (for most) to start their Christmas shopping and prepping for all that holiday goodness. While decorating your house is great, you don't want to forget about your BlackBerry. Personally, I love having holiday themed wallpapers on my device to get me in the Christmas spirit. For that, RIM has created some special Christmas wallpapers to get you started. There are four great ones to choose from (at mobile.blackberry.com), but if you want a bit more, be sure to check out all of the great holiday wallpapers in our Free Wallpaper Gallery. You can also submit your own if you have some special ones you want to share with the CrackBerry nation!

Check out holiday wallpapers in our free wallpaper gallery

December isn't quite here, but for some reason I'm already thinking about the holiday season (could be the fact I was listening to my Christmas playlist while typing up the BlackBerry Curve 9380 Review). If you follow @crackberrykevin on twitter you may have caught early wind of that festive spirit yesterday when I tweeted out the chorus to a CrackBerry'd up rendition of Jingle Bells. The chorus was a big hit, so our own Ryan Blundell took a first crack at finishing up the lyrics. Sing it outloud and leave your feedback in the comments. Once we get the lyrics perfected you just know a video rendition of this soon to be holiday classic will be hitting the blogs. Happy (early) Holidays!

CrackBerry Jingle Bells

Dashing through the snow
In a BlackBerry 7 sleigh
O'er the BES they go
encrypted all the way
3 Bells on phone calls ring
Make my led bright
What fun it is to email, ping
And tweet ‘til late at night

Oh, jingle bells, Android smells
webOS go away
iPhone Yuck and Windows Phones suck
BlackBerry all the way, hey!
Oh, jingle bells, Android smells
webOS go away
iPhone Yuck and Windows Phones suck
BlackBerry all the way, hey!

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My favorite season of the year is finally upon us. Christmas is just a few looooong weeks away, and soon many of you will be getting full swing into the Christmas Spirit. During these few hectic weeks, we tend to get so overloaded that we always forget just how much longer we have until December 25th. For that, Christmas Countdown comes to save the day. This handy app lets you instantly know just how many days are left until Christmas simply by checking your BlackBerry. Features include:

• BlackBerry 7 support
• BBM connected - Update your status, send a BBM with countdown or update your profile box
• New backgrounds
• Six songs
• Christmas trivia
• Dynamic snowflakes (user controls the volume)
• Notification banner icon
• Home screen icon updates to show days left
• Random backgrounds
• Daily popup reminder with days left

Christmas Countdown is available for just $0.99 in BlackBerry App World. Grab it from the link below.

More information/download of Christmas Countdown

The holiday season is upon us, and if you are still looking for ways to get your BlackBerry device in that holiday mood, check out the official Jessica Simpson Christmas app from BigTinCan. The app includes 4 Christmas songs from Jessica, including My Only Wish, I'll Be Home for Christmas, Mary Did You Know, and Merry Christmas Baby. It also includes exclusive images of Jessica from her time with the US Troops (her favorite charity). Don't worry, the app is good for more than just the holiday season. It also comes with BuzzMe, an app to customize your LED colors, vibrations, and ringtones. You can pick up the app for $4.99 at the CrackBerry App Store. It is compatible with all devices running OS 5 and up.

Contest:We have 50 copies of the Jessica Simpson Christmas App to give away. Just leave a comment on this post to enter. Contest ends this Sunday at midnight PST. Please only leave one comment, multiple entries wont count.

More information and download of Jessica Simpson Christmass App

If you're still looking for that perfect Christmas theme for your BlackBerry, you may want to have a look at Xmas by HedoneDesign. Designed in rich reds, deep greens, and shimmery gold, Xmas is a theme that is sure to bring a touch of elegance to your device. The home screen flaunts bright red Christmas ornaments against a green background of falling snowflakes. These ornaments are predefined icons, but you can also scroll down to access a hidden screen for user defined icons in gold. The banners throughout are home to custom battery and signal meters. No detail is overlooked in Xmas and it is the quality you have come to expect from the team at HedoneDesign.

Xmas is available for $2.99 and is compatible BlackBerry 8500, 8900, 9000, 9500, 9700, and 9800 (OS 5.0 only with the exception of the Torch 9800.)

For more information/screenshots and to purchase Xmas by HedoneDesign