Blackberry owners, pay attention! If you want to make your device look a little more exciting, then check out the free themes over at Blackberrythemes.co.uk.

These premium themes used to be available for purchase only, but because of an upcoming new release of the theme maker software, he’s giving away all his theme packages for free! There are some pretty decent looking themes available, but you’ll need an 88XX or 83XX Blackberry to install them. Once downloaded, unzip the theme, then simply point your desktop manager to the directory where you unzipped the files.

You’ll then be able to select the theme from the “themes” menu option in your setup screen.

Source: Blackberrythemes.co.uk (via Berryreview)

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Gizmodo posted a trollish article this afternoon where chief Apple fan Jesus Diaz claims the newest and greatest from Apple will “kill the Blackberry”.

First of all, I don’t usually take anything from them that serious, they are after all pretty rabid Apple fans. But looking at things from a technical perspective, I still can’t find any logic in the post.

According to Diaz:

Until now, the only thing that separated the BlackBerry from the iPhone-apart from the iPhone’s better, faster and more powerful operating system-was the push email on the BlackBerry

Wow, that’s just silly in so many ways. Lets look at a couple of reasons why I think he’s incorrect:

Read the rest of this entry »

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Let me open by saying I’m not always the easiest  to please when it comes to technology. I’ll often start out impressed with something, but after 2 or 3 hours I’ll start to find things that annoy me, and end up hating it.

But I’ve been Blackberry Unite! for several weeks now, and I’m still loving it!

Blackberry Unite! combines the following features:

• Shared calendar and contacts
• Private email server
• Remote file access

The entire server runs on your home PC, and unlike their enterprise server, you do not need Exchange to run it. The heart of Unite! is the Blackberry MDS (Mobile Data Service Connection Service).

Installation

Installing Blackberry Unite! is as simple as running the setup program, and letting it do its job. Once installed, you configure the server through your web browser (IE only, Firefox did NOT work for me).

The first step in adding Blackberry Unite! to your own Blackberry is plugging your device into your desktop. Once the server detects your Blackberry you can register it.

Once registered, your Blackberry will receive several new service books which support the various Blackberry Unite! features. This registration also ensures no other Blackberry device can remotely access your information, the PIN level authentication is extremely reliable.

Once the Blackberry has been added, you can add an email account. Blackberry Unite! can retrieve email from POP and IMAP accounts, and forward it on to your device.

I’m not entirely sure what the advantage is of having Unite! do this for you when most people will already have Blackberry email service from their operator, but I guess that the ability to host your own Blackberry service might be interesting for people who do not trust their mobile operator, or who prefer to have a backup email provider. The Unite! email service can operate together with your current email setup, so there is no need to stop forwarding messages to your current email account.

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Mmmmmm…. These photos are the first (hopefully real) ones showing the interface on the upcoming Blackberry Thunder; the first full touchscreen Blackberry.

The interface looks fantastic. It is supposed to launch on the US CDMA networks first (Verizon and Sprint), and could be the first real competition for the iPhone.

Hopefully we’ll see some more shots soon, especially if they show the email and text entry interface.

Source: BlackBerry Sync

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If you are in the market for a Blackberry plan, then Sprint has what I consider to be one of the best offers out there. The new Sprint "simply everything" plans really do include everything; including Blackberry Internet Service!

For $69.99 you get 450 minutes, unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited nights and weekends, unlimited data (on 3G EVDO), unlimited Sprint TV and Navigation, unlimited text, picture and video messages and even the Blackberry service. If you need more minutes, then the plans become even more attractive: 900 minutes for $89 or unlimited minutes for $99. Other operators have $99 unlimited voice plans, but none of them include every service the operator has to offer.

A similar plan from T-mobile (just 300 minutes, unlimited weekend minutes, unlimited messages and Blackberry service)  is $65 a month. But since T-mobile data is still stuck in the middle ages, you’ll understand why I consider the Sprint deal to be the best out there.

Of course, if you plan to take your Sprint phone abroad, you’ll need to make sure you order a "World Edition" Blackberry with GSM support (Sprint will supply you with a SIM card).

Sprint Plans

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Clearly not wanting to be outdone by Microsoft, Google have now added voice search commands to Google Maps Mobile. It is currently only available on 3 Blackberry devices; the 8110, 8120, 8130. If you have one of those phones, and want to take it for a spin, point your mobile browser to m.google.com/maps.

Google maps voice search page

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I’ve been running a  beta version of the Blackberry OS on my device for a few months and it has been quite impressive so far. But things just got better when RIM updated their BIS (Blackberry Internet Service) servers over the weekend; I can now receive and view HTML emails.

This finally puts an end to emails telling me to visit their site to view the message, and it adds some color and images to my emails.

To get the feature you’ll need to find a beta version of the "4.5 firmware" for your device, and you’ll need to login to your control panel and resend your "servicebooks".

Of course, none of this applies to users on a corporate (BES) Blackberry server and if messing around with your device isn’t something you fancy, then be patient, because RIM have announced that everyone should be able to get an official version of the newest software by September.

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Amazingly, the hottest upcoming phone this summer is not the 3G iPhone. It is the Blackberry Bold (in my humble opinion of course)

RIM’s latest was planned for a July release, but according to BGR, issues with heat and battery life have pushed things back to mid August.

I’d be lying if I said this doesn’t make me a little sad. The Blackberry Bold is the only phone I *really* want at the moment. Fingers crossed that this delay will be the only one. Of course, a delay on AT&T means the release on T-mobile will also be pushed back, since AT&T usually get a 3 month head start with new devices.

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Weatherbug has always been my first choice for weather information on my desktop and Windows device, so when I ran into a free version of Weatherbug Direct for my Blackberry, I just had to take it for a spin.

Weatherbug Direct places 2 icons on your application list, and shows the current temperature as an icon. It’s similar to the existing Blackberry push weather application, but gives you direct access to the Weatherbug site, as well as showing your local forecast (including hi/low temperatures) in a second icon.

Weatherbug Direct for the Blackberry is free, and can be found here. A direct "over the air" download link is here.

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If you thought the summer of 2008 was going to be all about the iPhone 3G, then think again.

RIM has so many goodies in store that I’m actually more excited about their new stuff than I am about the new iPhone.

The best part about most of these new developments is that they will be absolutely free for all current users (except for the new devices of course!

Here are a couple of the upcoming new features and applications:

• Blackberry Media Sync - full media syncing with iTunes for your Blackberry.
• OS version 4.5 - adds loads of new features including better fonts, a much better browser, better multimedia features (including stereo Bluetooth support for all devices).
• HTML email support for Blackberry Internet Service customers.
• The new Blackberry Bold and Thunder smartphones.

Several of these new things can actually be found right now, if you know how to use Google…

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