BlackBerry News From the Wire for the Week of 11/9/2009

RIM held the second annual BlackBerry Developer Conference this week, and where there is a conference there is news. Considering the BlackBerry’s inferiority in the software department, the conference had the potential to be big. And, unsurprisingly, we got a few announcements that could eventually change the BlackBerry software for the better. Which is nothing but good news.

RIM to integrate Flash, allow developers to use Push features

Adobe Flash is coming to smartphones. The company has announced that already, though it appears to be headed to the BlackBerry after the Android and Windows Mobile platform. It might be worth the wait, though. RIM and Adobe announced this week that Adobe’s Flash and Creative Suite will be available to developers. That will mean better, more complete applications.

To further improve its software, RIM will allow developers to access Push services. This goes further into making your messages app a clearinghouse for all important items. In addition to email and SMS, you can already get Facebook notifications in your inbox, and with the official BlackBerry Twitter client on the horizon, you’ll be able to get replies and DMs there, too. Allowing developers to access Push services means even more notifications can be pushed to your inbox. It will give users unprecedented control over what comes to them. I’m pretty psyched for this one.

Oh, and just so some of us aren’t left out, RIM will support BlackBerry Development Tools for Mac. I absolutely love how RIM has become Mac friendly seemingly overnight.

First tip of the week: I’ve found a few tips this week, but we’ll start with one right from BBGeeks. Use StudentDocket to organize your life. I’ve been using it for a while now, and I must say that I’ve been able to cut a lot of fat out of my working day.

Buy a BlackBerry at Wal-Mart, get a $100 gift card

It seems that Wal-Mart is getting serious about selling cell phones. They’ve always had those boxed prepaid phone packages from carriers like Boost Mobile and Tracfone, but they’re starting to expand a bit. The BlackBerry Curve 8520 went on sale there over the summer, and for quite the discounted price. In fact, if you buy the Curve 8520 next week, you cold make a profit. The company is offering a $100 gift card to customers who buy select BlackBerry models on a two-year contract.

I’m not sure how much the Curve 8520 cost at the store, but it’s under $30 online. So if you buy one, you could come out ahead in up-front costs. Too bad you can’t pay your cell phone bill with the Wal-Mart gift card. Still, it’s a good deal. Treat yourself to a BlackBerry, and basically get $100 off holiday gifts for others. The promotion starts Saturday at 8 a.m. (though I’m sure it will be available when doors open), and will run through November 20. The following models are eligible, again, with a two-year contract: Curve 8310, Bold 9000, Sprint Curve 8330, Curve 8520, Pearl 8120, Storm, Storm 2.

Pricing information on T-Mobile BlackBerry Bold 9700 revealed

It’s almost a given that T-Mobile will release the BlackBerry Bold 9700 for $199.99. It’s the usual starting point for new BlackBerry models on a two-year contract. But, because T-Mobile announced new pricing schemes a few weeks ago, there’s a new hitch. Customers can buy the device outright, or finance it over four to 20 months, avoiding a contract altogether. But how much will the Bold cost in that case?

All you have to do is put $22.50 down and you can maybe 19 more monthly payments of $22.50. There’s no interest on the financing either, making it an even more enticing proposition. For those walking around with a wad of cash, the device will cost $449.99 outright. This, I think, is going to give T-Mobile an edge over AT&T with the Bold 9700. The prospect of not having a contract, and of spreading out the payment over 20 months, is quite enticing. Quite.

Second tip of the week: A user at BlackBerryOS has written up some Opera Mini 5 beta tips and tricks. We looked at Opera Mini a few weeks ago, but that was for the latest official release (4.2, I believe).

Is the Celio Redfly really worth it?

When I first saw tidbits about the Celio Redfly coming to BlackBerry, I was pretty excited. I’ve talked before about turning your BlackBerry into a virtual workstation, and this seems like a way to do that with just one device. Unfortunately, according to James Kendrick, it probably isn’t what you’re looking for.

In his review on jkOnTheRun, Kendrick notes that the two main purposes of the Redfly just don’t work well with the BlackBerry. “The problems with this model are two-fold, the terrible interaction with the BlackBerry interface and the horrible display rendering. Since those are the two basic functions of the REDFLY, you understand why I question producing this model.” And so ends the excitement we had over the device. I usually don’t dismiss a product based on one review, but 1) Kendrick is a respected name in mobile, and 2) i doubt he’d exaggerate these claims. Check out the post, where he has images showing exactly what he’s talking about.

Here’s one, just so you can see for yourself:

No more filling out forms to download RIM software

One of the more annoying points of downloading software from blackberry.com is that you have to fill out an information form every time. Thankfully, Firefox propagates these fields when I type in one letter, so it’s not a huge, huge hassle, but it’s a hassle nonetheless. Anyway, as BerryReview notes, RIM has said they’re going to get rid of that part of the process . Whew.

Third tip of the week: When Verizon released the Storm 2, they also released OS 5.0 to original Storm users. Most Storm users I know appreciated the update, but there seems to be a bug. As Berry Reporter notes, there is an issue when you load a third party theme and use it in landscape mode. Justin has the fix. It doesn’t seem too hard at all.

Software notes

I love closing out News From The Wire with a healthy dose of software news that just didn’t fit into our daily posts (and some that did). So, let’s see what we’ve got.

Looking to more securely protect your login information to various sites? Check out Verisign Identity Protection. It changes your password every 30 seconds, so even if someone does find your password, it won’t necessarily be valid once they try it. You can get it for free at App World.
Gym rat? Check out Gym Technik’s new BlackBerry app. It requires a monthly subscription, but when you download it you get one month free, so you can see if it works for you.
Coming soon: BlackBerry eBay app. That should make eBay sniping that much easier.
Also coming soon: LinkedIn BlackBerry app. Why this didn’t exist years ago I’ll never know. Not that I used LinkedIn or anything.
Holding out for a Firefox mobile browser for the BlackBerry? You can forget about it. It’s “way down on the pecking order, according to sources for Electric Pig. Good think that the WebKit browser is on the way.
Another popular website, soon to come in the form of a BlackBerry app: Craigslist. This will be welcome; the CL interface on the BlackBerry browser is all kinds of crappy.
For those who want a real newspaper experience on their mobile, there’s PressReader for BlackBerry. It retains everything you love about newspapers, including the layout and graphics. The app is free, but the subscriptions cost money.
Finally, here’s Part 2 of Inside BlackBerry’s feature on App World.