WTF?! Desktop Manager 4.6 Requires An Internet Connection To Setup Synchronization?!?!

File this away in the "WTF" category for right now.

A few days ago Desktop Manger 4.6 appeared on our desk here at the BBHP offices. Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on if you're a pessimist or an optomist) we just now got around to playing with it, and...

It seems that the new Desktop Manager v4.6 has to be able to connect to an active internet connection in order to set up the sync process?!?!?

Hopefully this is an error and something that RIM has done because it's the BETA version (for some godly unknown reason).

If this is how the final version is, I will protest by selling half of my stock in RIM (Hopefully that one share will split into two again soon).




UPDATE: For some reason the picture was extremely minimized when uploaded onto here, so attaching a blown up picture of the message:

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Yep. Connect it to the internet, then try, and it works. RIM, WTF??? Does it happen to do with this nice little "disclaimer" you have now on your Desktop Manager Software?

Update To The Updated Update: Screw this...We're going back to 4.2.2.

BLACKBERRY 9110 SEAWOLF??? RUMORS ABOUND!

Boy Genius has a knack of getting good information pretty quickly. So, we can't help but post this.
Rumor has it that there could be this BlackBerry 9110 code name Sea Wolf. Click here and see what the Genius has unearthed.

REX REGINA CASES ARE PRETTY NICE

So I just opened my new Rex Regina case. It's in a pretty box. I feel like I just got engaged. Wait, maybe my BlackBerry now has a significant other.
These are high quality cases from Rex Regina that go beyond the rubber cases that you may see at other places.
If you want to go for the high quality case, this is it! Check out their product line here at Rex Regina . They have other phone cases as well such as TREO and iPhones. We here at BlackBerry HomePage are going to giveaway a few of these. I want to you comment on why you want one and we will pick a few.

BOLD vs IPHONE 2.0 REVIEW

This review was posted today by Jeff McCord of culturefeast.com. This is a pretty good review of the iphone 2.0 and the Blackberry Bold. I am interested to hear your thoughts audience. And what do you think about the severe price cuts that Apple did? hmm

UPDATE: Here is a strong "BlackBerry dominates iPhone" review. Click here

Rumor Has It...

First off, you're welcome for the picture of Jennifer Aniston. Woot!

Next, if you're like me, right now in your mind you are hearing "Look at all these rumors, surrounding me every day..."

Now down to business:
Ru·mor - Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[roo-mer] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation–noun
1. a story or statement in general circulation without confirmation or certainty as to facts: a rumor of website purchase.
2. gossip; hearsay: Don't listen to rumor.

That being said...Apparently somewhere a rumor has started inside the BlackBerry community that BlackBerryHomePage has purchased the website Themes4BB.

Although if this were true, it would be an honor, this is yes, a rumor.

However, it is not. We support and work with Themes4BB, as we do every other BlackBerry community and site.

Remember some other rumors that have been made:
The Bold was going to be touch screen
The 8100 would get video recording
The Bold would have had a "front forward facing" video camera

Long story short: the internet is filled with rumors. Why they are started or where they come from, who knows. Don't believe what you may read unless there is official word or physical proof.

On a business note:
Whenever Presidio Matrix Corporation either purchases a business entity or assumes a partnership or a role with a company, official press releases will be supplied or you may contact info@pmatrixcorp.com.

~Blogged On The Move Via BlackBerry~

A "BOLD" NEW MOVE

I can hear Coldplay's new "Violet Hill" track playing loudly through this young girl's ipod and I think to myself. One day I will get itunes on my BlackBerry. Low and BE"BOLD" that day is here.

It appears that the new BlackBerry Bold will be able to sync its music with iTunes. Research in Motion’s BlackBerry Media Sync software will come with the new capabilities. This is a tight relationship that helps BlackBerry owners keep that corporate feel with an IPOD sound. Not bad.

REVIEW: EZReregister

How much is your time worth to YOU.

Have you swapped BlackBerry devices, only to have to contact the companies from which you bought an application and get a new registration code?

If you answered "More than $7/hour" to question one and/or yes to question 2, then you need this application.

EZReregister saves you time, bottom line. It's a matter of convenience. Why spend 30 or 60 minutes sending emails for new registration codes for your applications?

Is $0.66/month (0.16/week) worth that time for you, when you can just send one email, and get all of the responses back, with only investing 2 minutes of your time? Its easy to use, it works, and it's affordable...A perfect comibination for BlackBerry users.

Head on over to EzReregister and sign up for a 7 day trial of the Desktop version. The online version will be setup with a trial soon also, so you can check that out to see if it would be more convenient for you. When you go to purchase, it's worth the extra few bucks to get the ones that do every thing for you, rather than just export to a database you have to sift through.

UPDATE: EzReregister is currently collecting contact information for the developers at their website. If you have one you would like to add, drop them a line with the email address and information needed for a new registration code, and they will get it added into the database!

BREAKING NEWS: First OFFICIAL 4.5 Release For 83 Series Devices

BREAKING NEWS: From the Holy Hell We Can't Believe It's Finally Happened Department, over on Pinstack, it's been noticed that the first OFFICIAL* version of the 4.5 Operating System has been released by Vodacom (Some carrier over in South Africa that we have never heard of either).

So, if you have been holding back for the "official" 4.5, you're now clear for take-off.

We do find it interesting though that this is 4.5.0.18, which in our opinion, had several bugs with it, however, the 4.5.0.37 (which has so far been the most stable 4.5 OS) is no where in sight.

:::Sigh:::

So, who knows. Any of your brave enough to test this official release?

We aren't moving off of .37 for anything that goes backwards in the number count, so we aren't going to be testing this at all...Just letting all of you out there know who either couldn't find, or didn't trust the BETA versions that it's now available.

This hopefully means that 4.5 for other devices will be sneaking out here shortly too!

DOWNLOAD LINK: http://www.vodacom.co.za/services/blackberry/downloads_handheld.jsp


*More than likely this OS is going to give you issues, so if you have above .18, stick with it in our opinions. Still wondering why .37 isn't on the partners zone though...hrmmm

BlackBerry and E-trade Partner Up for Mobile E-Trading

E-Trade has finally recognized how amazing the BlackBerry is and has released information about their new mobile application. Here are some of the features you can expect.

• Complete view of accounts


• Streaming real time quotes


• Watch Lists


• View orders


• Stock and options trading


• Quick Transfers

Man, so now you don't have to be in front of the computer to trade. I bet you there was a rush on golf tee times today. Here is more information

Verizon Buys Alltel; Noone Buys Sprint

Verizon just officially bought Alltel...No one still has bought Sprint.

Not going to get into the major specifics here, however they will now be the largest carrier nationwide (for circa $27 billion mind you).

It will be interesting to see how this works out. Not that there are any major issues such as a GSM carrier buying a CDMA carrier, however a few questions will still be out there:

• Will Verizon merge Alltel into their company completely? More than likely.
• When they do merge, will they avoid the catastrophies of billing migration? (Yes Sprint, we are referring to you).
• Will Verizon lock down Alltel GPS on their phones as they are now?
• Will Alltels rate plans change/go bye bye?
  Thoughts?

T-MOBILE UNLEASHES NEW UNLIMITED FAMILY PLAN

T-Mobile now offers families an Unlimted Nationwide Calling & Messaging Plan. This plan lets you connect the way you want to, without worrying about minutes or unpredictable bills. You get unlimited nationwide calling and text, IM, picture and video messaging to anyone on any network, even landlines for just $149.98 per month for two lines. Up to three additional lines are just $49.99 each.
Not too shabby huh? T-Mobile customers should be pleased with this. For more information click here

VIDEO: BlackBerry Users Rampage Caught On Tape!

Jefferson Clarkston went on a rampage this afternoon at Carson, Holt and Williams LLC in Miami, Florida after being told that his company would be replacing his BlackBerry 8320 with a new Apple iPhone.

The result: terrifying. In a 2 minute fiasco, Clarkston found himself in the slammer, and 4 people had to be taken to the hospital, 1 with life-threatening injuries.

"He just snapped. I have never seen anything like it. He was in a crazed-zone" stated Anthony Tatum who has worked with Clarkston 4 years. "I never would have expected this from him.".

This is EXACTLY what our office would look like if we were to take someones Curve away. Last week we told Jason we were taking away his 8320 and going to have him test a new 9000 series. After he threw it and smashed the aquarium (the fish are okay) and 30 minutes of threatening himself with a letter opener, we told him it was a joke. It was really the KickStart.





*NOTE: The above story is completely fabricated. Any similarities are strictly coincidental. The video is pretty good though.

New BETA Messaging Program: Better Than Palringo, Almost Ramble.

We truly apologize for the 15 minutes of your life wasted dealing Palringo when we mentioned it a few days back, but here we have a new BETA called eBuddy. While JiveTalk and IM+ still reign over the pack, we're always up to trying new IM clients

7:35pm: Download eBuddy OTA.

7:38pm: During setup, we somehow turned on the "block language". Now we can't read any of the menus. Need to fix.

7:43pm: Can't figure out how to navigate with boxes. Uninstalling and reinstalling.

7:48pm: Re-Downloading.

7:51pm: Setting back up. Choose English this time!

7:52pm: Enter eBuddy screen-name or register for account. (We registered online while we were waiting on the re-install so we skip).

7:53p: Add AOL account and log in.

7:54: Testing

7:59: Close. Options. Advanced Options. Applications. eBuddy. Delete. Yes.

Needless to say, don't waste your time if you use anything other than Palringo and Ramble.

We are now fair on wasted time. Back to zero. You're welcome, you're welcome.
The only thing we can possibly hope for is for IM+ or JiveTalk to come up with a new version.

You may notice the sad dog in the picture up top. We figured you might have felt a sad spot or be depressed after reading this post, so if you are, you may want to adopt him.

UPDATE: Yes, we are aware there are no links to eBuddy. Thats for a reason.

BlackBerry Screen-Saver Application For Free....and 3 other freebies

S4BB Limited is giving away 4 free applications for your BlackBerry devices.

Three of them don't interest us enough to take the time to download them, however one did catch our eye.

It's an application that activates a screen-saver on your BlackBerry.

It needs some tweaks. Such as the ability to use your own pictures for the screen-saver. The pictures are nice, however, if you are going to have a screen-saver on your BlackBerry, you probably want to have your own pictures displayed.

Also, it would be convenient if you could hit anything on the BlackBerry to "wake it". Right now, the only way we have found is to press the back button.

You can download this and the other 3 applications over at their website.

Be warned:
OTA link does not work for the Screen-Saver application, so expect to load it through Desktop Manager. And expect it to take a minute to load. And expect it to take forever for your BlackBerry to reboot.

That being said, if you try it, let us know what you think of it. Since this is an early attempt, suggestions are probably more than welcome.

DOES THE NEW FIREOX 3.0 BROWSER EAT YOUR MEMORY?

There is excitement for those who are dedicated FireFox users with the release of their new browser release, but there have been some mixed reviews. Here is an article that shows the FireFox uses less memory than Internet Explorer. Here is an review that shows quite the opposite.

SWITCH BETWEEN CELL AND WIFI SERVICE WITH ROGERS

Rogers wireless now allows customers to toggle between cell service and wifi service at home. With the launch of the 8120 Pearl, "customers with a special voice-optimized wireless router can make calls within a home wireless network."

Read more about this here.

UPDATE: Some 4.5.0.37s Re-Appear In Partners Zone...Some 4.3's and 4.5's Disappear...WTF Is Going On?!

Less than 2 days after the infamous 4.5.0.37 Operating Systems disappeared from RIMs Partner Zone (see below), they are all of a sudden back, kind of.

4.5.0.37 has re-appeared for the 8320 series, which is interesting, as it was the Operating System that apparently was responsible for frying SIM cards on TMobile devices*. Also, now the ONLY Operating Systems appearing for the 8320 series are 4.5 versions (.9/.10/.18/.37).

And while .37 has not yet re-appeared for the 8310 series, now the ONLY Operating Systems appearing for the GPS Curves are 4.5.0.9/10/18.

The CDMA Curves still show as 4.3, which is not surprising since no 4.3 OR 4.5 has been seen for any CDMA device other than the new Curves and Pearls.

All the other devices seem to be following suit, so we wonder again/now:
Is 4.5 almost ready for a release?
Is RIM just performing house-cleaning in the Partner Zone?
Is RIM just trying to confuse everyone?

Hrmm...

*We still think RIM is frying all of you non-authorized BETA testers out there...SHHHHH

BREAKING NEWS: OS 4.5.0.37 Pulled From RIM Partners Zone

We learned today that RIM has removed the BETA Operating System v4.5.0.37 from their partners site today, which leads to much speculation:

• Is the Operating System close to being officially released?



• Did RIM find a critical bug in the Operating System?



• Did RIM get fed up with the BETA Operating Systems being leaked all over the internet?

Let's touch on the first two possibilities. If by chance the OS were close to being released, then one would assume that there would be no reason for it to disappear from the Partner Zone, especially considering the fact that the Partner Zone still has copies of the 4.0 OS, and noone can seem to remember of an OS ever being removed from the site.

Second...if a critical bug was found, then it would make sense for RIM to pull the OS, however, that really hasn't stopped them before. There have been numerous issues with the new Operating Systems, and while we normally wouldn't comment on a BETA/Unreleased OS, since these have been floating around the internet like air, it's kind of hard to keep it under wraps at this point. All seems to have been well in this Operating System, except for a few instances in which users (NON-AUTHORIZED BETA TESTERS MIND YOU) reported SIM Card Rejected errors, especially when loading the system onto 8320 BlackBerrys.

HOWEVER...

Maybe RIM is fed up that their BETA Operating Systems are being leaked out just HOURS after they hit the Partner Zone.

Word around the campfire is that RIM is actively searching for the culprit(s) behind the public free-for-all that the 4.5 OS has become, with severe legal (Criminal and Civil) consequences sure to follow. And from the looks of emails that have hit partners in-boxes recently, it also appears that some major changes can be expected in the "Partners Zone" in the next coming days.

However, maybe the BlackBerry community has taken these releases too far and is somewhat to blame for this.

Not to excuse any person(s) who may have released confidential and NDA covered material into the general public, but...BlackBerry users know that these Operating Systems are in BETA...They know they "should" not have them...They know there are issues with it...But go onto any BlackBerry related forum or community, and all you see are people asking for it and offering it.

This brings up another question...How are these un-authorized releases going to affect the future of BlackBerry partners? BlackBerry Partners are given pre-released versions of the Operating Systems for a reason...So that they can test for bugs and errors, but also so they can start developing applications which are compatible with them, so that when they are officially released, applications and programs can be updated and used.

The 4.5 Operating Systems have obviously not been released for a reason...

So some questions to ponder are:

WHY were the Operating Systems removed from the Partner Zone?

Why weren't the OTHER 4.3 and 4.5 versions removed from the Partner Zone?

Will 4.5 ever see the light of day, or will RIM scrap 4.5 all together and make users upgrade to a newer device if they want all the features?

What are your thoughts and ideas?

PEARL GIVEAWAY - WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT

It's official. We have a winner and I must say I am tad surprised. I'm not saying the winner was a bad tip because it as hot, however, I thought tip 5 would win and I am not gonna lie.  But the public has spoken.  Tip number 2 has won it all. So, we will be in touch shortly with him and ship him his new pearl.  Congrats. And thank you to all you who participated. 

Next up, the music industry and Blackberry Homepage collaboration.  

BlackBerry - Leader Of The Mobile Industry

Straight out of the gate for 2008 Research In Motion came in full throttle ahead. Leading the mobile industry with a 44.5% hold gave their competitors something to think about. However, we haven't forgotten about the BlackBerry co-friend the iPhone. It came in at second place at 19.2% of the market share. In comparison to other competitors iPhone did quite well, even though most speculate that the boost in sales were from the holiday rush. Now the question still stands and will always stand > Could we expect less from Apple?

Why could BlackBerry be on top of the Market Place? It's simple and most device holders can attest to what we are about to say next. It all began with the BlackBerry Pearl which spiked the interest of many mobile device holders. Then it's big brother came and ran with the responsibility of gaining even more attention - The BlackBerry Curve. Still to this day the BlackBerry Curve is said to be the#1 Mobile device on the market. Also recently with RIM announcing the BlackBerry Bold (known before as the 9000 series ) and then information about the BlackBerrry ThunderBird , this give them even more of a boost to remain in front of it's competitors.