Earlier in the month we saw that Rogers customers could download BBM Music and get 6 months free service. This offer has now been opened up to more customers around the world. If you live in Canada or the US you can get up to 4 months free BBM Music service and if you live in the UK, Spain or Italy, you can get up to 6 months free.

One thing to note is that this is only available to new users and those still currently in their trial period. If you have already starting your subscription payments, unfortunately you are no longer eligible for the free service promotion. 

The latest update to BBM Music is to version 1.1.0.12. With this update comes a whole lot of new features including subscription gift request and the ability to invite Facebook and Twitter friends. 

Don't forget this offer is valid if you download during the month of February, so if you're looking to give BBM Music a try, now is the time.

More information / Download BBM Music 

Communilator Pro for Blackberry by RantNetwork incorporates the very best in language translation, voice synthesizers and optical character recognition to bring you “the only translator you will ever need”. Hear speech output of your translated text in a clear, high quality voice with language inflections and expression, not in some hard to understand computer-generated voice. Need to read a foreign journal, magazine, poster or other document? Not a problem, Communilator Pro is capable of recognizing and translating foreign text in 44 languages captured with your BlackBerry camera. Communilator Pro delivers translations in over 3,000 language-pairs; provides High-Quality speech for translations in 20 foreign languages; and offers seamless integration with SMS and email. Continue reading after the jump to see more of what this app can do!

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Convertinator for BlackBerry PlayBook is a free application that recently was open sourced by the developer which allows you to input a measurement in a defined currency and then it will show on the right hand side the converted values. Convertinator gives you the option to put in various units to be measured such as area, cooking, length, temperature, time, weight and various others as well.

Once you select which measurement you need to convert you can select which base unit you want to convert from, and as you enter it the right hand side of the chart is converting in real time. On the right hand side you will see all the various values and then next to them you will see the value of the conversion. For example, if you launch the length tab, and select foot for your measurment and enter 3600 you will see that it is equal to 1.0972 kilometers, or 0.5924 nautical miles.

The developers understand that various currencies change with time, and to help ensure that you are always using the most current values they have given the ability to update from within the application. You can decide whether you want to have the currency update automatically with the option for manual checks, or only have it done manually if you wish.If you were to launch the currency tab to see how many USD the Canadian item you are about to purchase is, you would then realize that the 275 CAD price tag was equal to $274.73 USD as of today.

The developer has been kind enough to offer up his source code for the application so you can add to it, pull from it, and tweak it to your liking. Open source software is a huge help to other developers, allows applications to grow, and helps bring the developer community closer. Whether you want to convert from your known measurement or to your known measurement Convertinator is a great free option for your BlackBerry PlayBook. 

More information / download of Convertinator for BlackBerry PlayBook

I've always been looking for a bigger and better way to lock my device. I'm not always a fan of typing in a password, and I really just never got into using the lock button for some reason. I've tried many pattern and key locking apps over the years, but one I found last week I totally fell in love with. Easy Lock (available in both pro and lite versions) is a simple "slide up" lock screen for your BlackBerry. You can assign it to lock on the hardware lock button or specify a timeout of up to 15 minutes and your device will lock automatically. A full screen covers your device -- complete with time, date and notifications -- and you just slide it up to unlock your device (much like Windows Phone). It feels so fluid that it's like it was meant to be there all along. Check out my video above to see it in action, then head to BlackBerry App World to try it out for yourself. 

More information/download of Easy Lock Pro
More information/download of Easy Lock Lite 

Alright folks, here at CrackBerry we just love when we get the chance to give stuff away. This time we're offering up Slide Show Maker for your BlackBerry device. Ryan first showed us this app back in June of last year so I won't go into a full review. The gist of the app is to take your photos one step further then the native "Slide Show" already available on our BlackBerry devices.

Slide Show Maker Features :

• Browse through all your pictures on your device. You select which to include in your sllide show.
• Arrange the selected pictures any which way you'd like
• Add a title slide
• Add some background music (only 5 sound clips available)
• Share your slide via email or on Facebook

Slide Show Maker is available for the following BlackBerry devices running OS 4.5 or higher: 8520, 8530, 9000, 9300, 9330, 9500, 9520, 9530, 9550, 9630, 9650, 9700, 9780, 9788 and 9800.

Contest: RP Mobile has given us 50 copies to give away to our faithful CrackBerry readers. Here's a great chance to try out an app for FREE and leave an honest review in App World (aside from all those spam ones we so often see). If you have a compatible BlackBerry and want to enter, just leave a comment below. The contest ends this Sunday at midnight PST. One entry per person please.

We were starting to wonder when the BlackBerry Beta Zone would start rolling out new betas. But wonder no more as a new BlackBerry App World beta has just been released. Getting bumped up to v3.1.1.15, it's noted to have the following changes:

• Alternate billing options shown in purchase confirmation screen
• Submitting Apps has new, easier-to-use confirmation screen 
• OS 7.1 Support
• Various Bug Fixes

If you're a member of the BlackBerry Beta Zone, you can log in right now and grab the latest release from there.

BlackBerry Beta Zone Login

Every once in a while a great free app comes along that is so choc-full of features it's just awesome. Browsing through App World I came across Advance OS and LED, and I have to say, it totally fits the bill. This free app offers customization of your BlackBerry LED, offers popup notifications, extra phone call features and much more. It's not often that you'll find this many different features packed into one app, but this time it's for real. I've been using the app for the last week or so and I really don't have any complaints. The UI isn't really the greatest (it's pretty far from it actually), but free is free. You can customize your LED color for SMS, email, phone calls, BBM, contacts and more. Add vibration alerts to your calls, turn on popup notifications for emails and SMS, backup/restore your settings within the app ... the list goes on and on. This is really an awesome app to have as it adds plenty of fun tweaks to your BlackBerry. Advance OS and LED is 100% free and as the developer notes, all future updates will be free as well. Drop by BlackBerry App World for more.

More information/download of Advance OS and LED

The BlackBerry Mobile Conferencing app from RIM has seen a small update to version 3.0 today. It still has all of the standard stuff, like pulling bridge numbers and access codes from meeting requests so you can join in one click when the calendar reminder pops up. New in this version is the ability to share the app through a bunch of different channels, including BBM, e-mail, and various social networks. The app also comes with help videos, so users can figure out what they're doing wrong without being too late for their conference call. You can access both of those through the dedicated icon. As always, if you lose coverage mid-call, the app provides you with a pop-up to reconnect. The app also adds a ton of options in the native calendar app for setting up conference call meetings, including moderator passcodes. 

While BlackBerry Mobile Conferencing certainly isn't flashy, it's definitely useful for people who deal with conference calls regularly. Take a look at the demo video after the jump for a full tour, and be sure to check out our review for the deep dive. To get started with the update, hit up the App World link below; unfortunately, the latest version is currently only available in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K., but I'm sure other regions of the world will get access soon enough.

More information/download BlackBerry Mobile Conferencing

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Get fit with CrackBerry during Fitness Month at Mobile Nations!

Fitness month at Mobile Nations and CrackBerry has gotten many into a get fit frenzy. I’m feeling a renewed drive to start my journey back up and reach my weight loss goal. One of my biggest problems is that I tend to forget to keep an eye on my caloric intake. Is what I’m eating healthy enough? Do I really know if I’m taking in enough calories? Can I afford to have the pretzels that I’m thinking about as I’m writing this? Probably not. It isn’t easy for everyone to remember how many calories you need or eat, or know the nutritional values for food from restaurants. A guide is all that some need to stick to the plan and drop the pounds. A guide like TrackNSlim will do just that.

This application is an effective way to set goals yourself and see how well you’re sticking to them. To set up, you enter in your weight, diet and the thresholds (calories, fats, sodium, sugar, etc) you want to work with. Now here’s what I like; TrackNSlim has a huge list of food and their nutritional values. So all you need to do is select and quantify. I’m a visual learner – I need to see how I am doing and view charts, like pie charts, to learn where I can improve (mmmm, pie charts). A daily progress screen will indicate how close you are to reaching your thresholds and will also show you when you are over them (otherwise known as being in the red).

Honestly, I don’t have the diet part completely down. I basically know what’s healthy and what’s not. It’s portion control and balance that I really struggle with. In my opinion, TracknSlim is one of the best ways to get a handle on eating before your eating gets out of hand. Nutritional information, breakdown of your intake and goal management, TrackNSlim is a great application to start to use during fitness month and beyond. You can get TrackNSlim for $2.99 from BlackBerry App World.

More information/download TrackNSlim for BlackBerry smartphones

The time of year has come where I am once again commuting regularly. So with hour long journeys I need to find something to do during that time. There's a whole of list of things I could do - read a book, watch a show/movie on my BlackBerry, listening to music, sleep ... I could go on but I shant instead I'll tell you what I do first, I check out the news. Instead of picking up the free papers from the station and get my hands stained with ink, I take out my BlackBerry and open up the Sky News app. It's a great way to catch up with the news throughout the day too.

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Win 1 of 30 free copies of Photo Studio Pro! Keep reading to see how. 

Just in time for Valentine's Day, KVADGroup has released an update for Photo Studio that includes an all new Valentine's frame pack, new effects in the art category, and a new feature called PicFrames, which allows you to combine multiple photos into awesome looking frames. If you enjoy taking pictures with your BlackBerry, and adding fun effects and frames to them, Photo Studio is a must have.

A few other fixes and updates include:

• Problem 'Can't Browse' is fixed (found in v.0.9.8.23)
• Add localization to Spanish, French and Russian
• BBM Connected (OS5-OS6)
• Fixes, algorithms optimization etc.

Photo Studio is a great app with a ton of features packed into it. The free version is great, but you'll want to upgrade to the Pro version to unlock the full potential of the application. Photo Studio Pro is just $3.99 and you can find out all the detais on both versions in BlackBerry App World at the links below. 

Contest: We have 30 copies of Photo Studio Pro to pass on to you guys, courtesy of KVADGroup! To enter, leave a comment below letting us know what you like to take pictures of and how this app will help you out. One entry per person, please! 

More information/download Photo Studio for BlackBerry smartphones
More information/download Photo Studio PRO for BlackBerry smartphones

 

Calling all hockey fans! If you're looking for app that contains a wealth of information concerning all things relating to this great winter sport then look no further than The Liam Maguire Ultimate Hockey Experience by AGS Advanced Software, Inc. Liam Maguire is Canada's foremost hockey trivia expert and this free application combines news, trivia, chat, video and Wayne Gretzky Authentic Sponsored memorabilia prizes to help you stay on top of all the action as it happens. If you answer correctly the trivia question of the day (for only $.99 per try) you'll get 2 entries into the monthly signed memorabilia draw.

Hockey fans will be able to speak directly to Liam Maguire using the Ask The Expert and built-in chat system. I must warn you there is a fee (determined by which response time is selected) for asking Liam any NHL related question. Good news is the chat system is absolutely free and is cross platform so you can speak with other hockey fans around the globe whether they're using a BlackBerry, iPhone, or Android device including Liam himself. Once a week he'll provide his insights on past games and future matchups and anything hockey related.

Again, while there are charges to join the daily trivia challenge and ask the expert it's perfect for staying on top of all hockey related news items with their free RSS feed, chat room, and Liam's weekly video wrap ups and interviews. You can check it out in BlackBerry App World and it's compatible with most BlackBerry devices running OS5 and higher.

More information / download The Liam Maguire Ultimate Hockey Experience

The guys at Smarter Apps let us know that they are celebrating the one-year anniversary of their hit Angry Farm with an update and sale. The update brings 50 new levels to conquer as well as the addition of dynamite for those tough to beat levels.

Angry Farm was released a year ago this month and Smarter Apps isgoing to celebrate with a new version of Angry Farm for the BlackBerry Nation! First off we are putting it ON-SALE for a limited time at $2.99. Secondly, we have added 50 NEW and challenging levels for a total of 250 levels of Angry Farm fun. Finally, for any of those levels that the foxes are making it difficult or tricky to get through, we have now added a bundle of "DYNAMITE" which can be purchased to blow up the barn! You can purchase the dynamite via in-app purchase but it can only be used once per hour. All upgrades are free to existing customers for life and Smarter Apps is working on more levels for the future! 

Angry Farm is on sale now for just $2.99, so if you haven't tried it before you should grab it while the gettin' is good. Current users can find the update in BlackBerry App World.

More information/download of Angry Farm

For anyone who has a BlackBerry 7 device this news may not be that big of a deal seeing how the Music Store app came pre-loaded on your device, whether you saw the icon or not it was there and installed. For those without a BlackBerry 7 device though, the Music Store app has been in the BlackBerry Beta Zone for a while and now has moved on to being publicly available for download through BlackBerry App World.

Despite it being preloaded on BlackBerry 7 devices, those of you who tried out the app may have found that it was either not supported in your country (This app, only has support for Canada and Australia) or even got an error message stating it was disabled by your administrator. If you fit into that area, then the newly released version is the one you'll want to get your hands on. You see, Amazon MP3 powered the old version where the new version is essentially a front-end for the 7Digital music store but it's much more then that when you consider a few things.

For a while now, I griped about the inconsistency of a music market place on the PlayBook and BlackBerry 7 smartphones due to the fact the PlayBooks music store was powered by 7Digital but BlackBerry 7 devices were powered by Amazon MP3. As such, any music you purchased on your PlayBook wasn't easily retrieved on your BlackBerry smartphone. You could get it, but it was through the 7Digital app, which has a totally different icon and is a totally different download. Some folks, may not have ever even known there was a 7Digital app or site and went on thinking their purchased music was stuck on their PlayBook.

With the BlackBerry Music store now available as a separate download, being powered by 7Digital (like the PlayBooks music store) RIM finally has some convergence happening and almost a complete music ecosystem. Files bought on your PlayBook can be retrieved on your smarphone and vice-versa as they are both on the same system now. BBM Music is of course the last remaining piece of the puzzle since; music you purchase there cannot be accessed outside of BBM Music easily without some digging around (It uses Amazon MP3 still). But that leaves the door open for RIM to port BBM Music over to the PlayBook at some point ideally or come up with a different solution for moving the music about easily.

Download the BlackBerry Music Store app from App World

It's Health & Fitness Month at Mobile Nations!

When we came up with the idea of a Mobile Nations Fitness Challenge while at CES this year, I instantly started thinking about how I could best use my mobile devices to help reach my goal. Ultimately I am aiming to lose weight on what I'm calling my "no more fat kid" diet. While there are plenty of fitness and health oriented apps out there for BlackBerry, I really wanted to just keep track of things on my own. I don't need fancy graphs or reports to tell me what I'm doing right or wrong, I just want to see my progress how I lay it down. Evernote couldn't be a better solution for this. I already told you how I use Evernote and why I love it and now for the course of my diet I can keep track of my meals, my weight, my workouts (or lack there of) and whatever else I need. Keep reading and we'll take a look at just how easy it is to use Evernote to keep track of your goals.

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