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Win one of 25 free copies of Glow for the BlackBerry Torch by  Z Man Designs! Details below!

BlackBerry Theme Roundup

Hey everyone, welcome back to the BlackBerry Theme Roundup! If you have developed a theme you want to share or be featured in the contest, or if you just see a really good one out there somewhere, let us know so we can post it. Send an email to themeroundup[at]crackberry.com with screenshots, links, and whatever information you feel is important for consideration. And don't forget to keep your eye on the CrackBerry theme forums for all kinds of free and premium themes.

This week's contest is courtesy of Z Man Designs, who has given us 25 copies of his new theme Glow to pass on to you BlackBerry Torch owners! Keep reading for details.

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Effortless by Z Man Designs

Looking for a new theme that not only looks awesome, but is easy to use, not bogged down with an overkill of hot spots, hidden this and that, and keys to press just to do basic functions? Z Man Designs heard you were looking for that, and they have developed Effortless, a hot new theme that you don't need a user manual to figure out.

Effortless features one simple hidden dock, custom battery and signal meters, weather, and a clock/date that is clear and easy to read. The icons are bright, sharp, and provide just the right amount of contrast against the subtly colorful backgrounds and darker banners. You can pick up Effortless in the CrackBerry store for $2.99 for your BlackBerry 91xx, 93xx, 9650/70, 97xx, and 9800 (BB6 only at this time).

For more information and to purchase Effortless

Contest: We have 30 free copies of Effortless to give away this weekend courtesy of Z Man Designs! Entering is, well, effortless! Just make sure you have one of the compatible BlackBerry devices listed above, and leave a comment below. Contest ends this Sunday at midnight PST. Good luck!

iV3

We all know that Z Man makes some pretty sweet themes, I know his iVista 2 theme was the first premium theme I ever bought for my Storm, and I absolutely loved it.  Zach fired me an email the other day, letting me know about his newest release, iVista 3, which is new take on the concept.  As always, the skill shines through, giving you an authentic Windows Vista feel, right on your BlackBerry device.  The homescreen is modelled after the Windows desktop, with 4 icons on the right of the screen connecting to apps, Manage Connections, Options, and a dedicated Today screen. Clicking the "Start" button opens a 3 icon user-defined hidden dock, and the folder icon to the right of the button open the "Mail" folder, a custom folder Zach has plugged in to hold all your email inboxes, as well as the standard Messages folder. Custom menus and meters have been skinned to provide that Windows look, and the feel flows throughout the theme.  It runs with zero lag on my 9700, proving that Z Man makes some of the best complex SVGs around. This is also the first ever theme to have its own online self-help, and includes and icon to bring you right to it. Available in the CB store for an even $5 for 480x360 devices running 5.0, as well as the 9000 and 95xx series. Check out more at ivista.thezman.us.

Berry My Hero Berry My Hero

Zach dropped me a line the other day to let me know about his newest theme Berry, My Hero. Designed for the 95xx series of devices, it ports the Sense UI look and feel to your BlackBerry. To those who know me, it's no surprise that I loved this theme right from the start - the homescreen clock gets me every time. The homescreen is clean and well laid out, as we have come to expect from ZMan, and the more I use this theme the more I love it. I purposely didn't do any research on the theme before loading it, and the amount of function packed into the homescreen has not ceased to impress me over the last two days as I've been using this theme.

Initially I found the usual hotspots very quickly, with the handy bottom dock allowing shortcuts to Manage Connections and Profiles, and the clock launching (as expected) the clock. I was extremely impressed with the quick menu incorporated into the bottom dock, which allows me fast access to common applications including my Options, Browser, and Music among others. However, what I didn't realize was that I hadn't yet found the coolest features of this theme, which are two hidden hotspots in the top corners of the screen. Clicking the top left corner transfers over to a lock screen, and clicking the top right launches a Today area with three panels. This would have to be my favorite component of the theme, incorporating a feature that I have found immensely useful, yet haven't seen before. The middle panel of the Today area allows you to compose a message directly from your home screen, perfect for firing off that quick message without having to open the Messages folder. If you are looking for the look and function of the Sense UI on your 95xx series device, you have to try this theme, which you can find in the CrackBerry App Store for $5.

FREE CB2 Theme for BlackBerry Smartphones

Remember the free Berry Holiday 2 theme we gave away before Christmas? Well it's back! Rebranded from Berry Holiday to CB2 and coming with a default wallpaper that works year round (though you can always change that up with our free wallpaper gallery), Zach from Z Man Designs has tweaked up the theme (fixing any issues some users had) and has now made it available for ALL BLACKBERRY device models, including the Pearls and older Curves, 8800s and even the 8700 (be sure to check the OS requirements on the product page to make sure your device is compatible - ie, 8700 needs OS 4.5). Keep in mind this is a new theme, so if you're already running Berry Holiday the CB2 theme will install separately.

Just like Berry Holiday 2, CB2 features three hidden docks. When they're all minimized the homescreen is very clean with the CrackBerry fuel/battery gauge standing out nicely in the middle. From there you can scroll up for your core shortcuts and then back down the outer to icons to bring up the customizable side docks (Storm users can check out the hot spot chart). It'll take a couple minutes to get used to it. For devices running OS 5.0 the CB2 theme features nice transitions. Overall, it's a really nice looking theme. Follow the link below to download FOR FREE. Thanks again Z Man!

Berry Holiday 2.0 Theme

* Update - December 24, 2009: I figured we'd better re-post this one for the day too. If you haven't yet tried our free Berry Holiday 2 theme on your BlackBerry yet, then today is the day to give it a go! *

Berry Holidays everyone! Man oh man, our friend Zach from Z Man Themes has done it again this year. Last year he gave us the original Berry Holiday theme, which was pretty cool, but this year he has done up an absolutely AMAZING and FREE BlackBerry theme for CrackBerry Nation, aptly named Berry Holiday 2.

While Berry Holiday 2 is technically a holiday theme, the Z Man fully custom-built this one so you'll be able to use it year round in style. The default wallpaper is festive, but once the holidays are over you can change it up and keep rockin' it all spring, summer and fall (it looks really good with a straight black wallpaper and Berry Weather running - will do up a video tomorrow for the blogs to show Berry Holiday 2.0 in action). You can jump over to TheZman.us to grab the Berry Holiday wallpapers and for more details.

Berry Holiday 2 features three hidden docks. When they're all minimized the homescreen is very clean. Gotta love the CrackBerry fuel/battery gauge in the middle. From there you can scroll up for your core shortcuts and then back down the outer to icons to bring up the customizable side docks (Storm users can check out the hot spot chart). It'll take a couple minutes to get used to it. For devices running OS 5.0 the Berry Holiday 2 theme features nice transitions. I've been running the theme for the past few days and absolutely love it. It's clean and professional, nice and fast and ohhh sooo pretty. Love the icons!

Right now Berry Holiday 2 is available for the Curve 8900, Bold 9000, Storm, Storm2, Tour and Bold 9700 (OS 4.6 through OS 5.0 version available). Support for OS 4.5 devices is coming later this week, so stay tuned for that. Zach's turnaround time on this was pretty quick, so if by chance you experience any things that need tweaking, nicely let us know in the comments and Zach will get to them. Wicked theme Zach!!!!