It’s been a long time coming… Over the years many of you have asked for a way to discuss topics on BerryReview and requested that we add forums. We were listening but wanted to make sure that we do it right so we took our time.

Today I am proud to say we are ready to launch our BerryReview Forums Beta. The forums are not intended as competition to other forums but rather as a compliment to the news found on BerryReview. This new feature gives readers a chance to share their thoughts and ask question and assist other BerryReview readers while expanding our community. We get many questions, tips, rants, & reviews a day and this is a perfect medium to share those with all our readers and crowd source solutions.

Check it out at www.berryreview.com/forums/

Some things to know about the forums:

• There is a mobile friendly version of the forums! Just visit from your BlackBerry
• Your login is the same login you already have on BerryReview
• All of your previous and future comments are accounted for in your profile. Some of you may be surprised at the number!
• The forums are in a little different style than what you may be used to but BBPress definitely grows on you due to its simplicity.
• Your avatar (profile image) is driven by Gravatar so if you already set one up you are good to go. If not set one up free at this link.
• Currently there is no way to upload files due to a security issue. There is always photobucket and other options and if you need we can always upload the files for you if you email us.

I invite you to reply with any suggestions and comments you may have. Currently the forums are light on side features to ensure that we focus on the basics before we extend any further. Right now it is a place for discussing topics with your peers and I think the current setup is perfect for that. Expect this to evolve as time goes on.

Dive in, have fun, and let me know what you think!

PS: If you are having trouble logging in on both the forums and regular site please clear out all of your cookies and try again. Let us know if you run into the issue.

I am sure by now every one that resides in the US has some good plans for the celebration of the 4th of July correct. Our friend Steve over at www.Horizonwirelessonline.com would like to reward our BerryReview readers & celebrate the 4th of July by giving away 15 colored trackballs to get your BlackBerry in style this summer.

The colors being given away are 5 Red, 5 White, and 5 blue that represents the colors on the flag of the United States.  What you need to do to win is just be the first 15 lucky readers to reply back in the comments below to win. We will be contacting you with more information so that you can claim your price.  So for those of you in the US celebrating this weekend we want to wish you a fun and safe weekend.

Last week I asked our readers to tell us their stories of why they should win a one year subscription to smrtguard and many of you shared some great stories with us. We had mentioned 15 subscriptions but smrtguard has agreed to bump that up to 20. If you don’t know what the service does read my previous post.

Without further ado here are the 20 lucky winners who will enjoy smrtguard  service for free for a full year: impak875,  Eric, Arun, VerSe, Corinne, AdamG, Chris R., ghostshell, LawTownPoPo, tito, NiceLikeDat, Ray C, Lauren, jokleung, yandar, Sofian, doueck, Elsa, Masku, Rahul. All of you who won this contest be in the look out for an email from us with instructions on how to get your free 1yr subscription to smrtguard.  If you were not one of the lucky winners this time keep your eyes open and you will get your chance.

Last Friday I did the review for the newest addition to the Otterbox line of products for the BlackBerry. If you are not familiar with their product you should read my review.  So lets get to the point, announcement of the OtterBox case contest. The lucky winner of this great product is Fronzie. We will be contacting you for your information to have  the Otterbox cake pictured below shipped to you asap. (Ha Ha Just  joking… It’s all gone.  I had to use the image below since is a picture of an edible Berry in a stylish Otterbox that our very own lucky Greg got to enjoy for his 40th Birthday. The cake looks amazing and so will your BlackBerry once it is an Otterbox case).

Congratulating Fronzie. We will be in contact shortly so we can arrange to have your new OtterBox delivered to you. And thank you for all our readers for their participation in the contest.

Uberman let us know about this new solution for tracking and logging your emails and phone calls on your BlackBerry. The app stores this information along with any notes you wish to add and emails you a weekly activity report from your device.

Features:

• Automatically logs your BlackBerry phone and email activities
• Allows you to add notes to your BlackBerry activity log
• Automatically sends a daily or weekly log to your email. 
• Report includes:
• Time
• Duration
• Type of Communication
• Activity Details

The app is totally free and is supported by advertising on your weekly report. The solution works pretty well but I am not sure if the logs are also stored on their servers. From their FAQ it looks like they are not but it makes me wonder how the reports are generated if they are not… I sent them an email asking and will hopefully hear back soon since that may be a security risk.

Check it out at www.blacktracklog.com and let me know what you think!

Its kind of humbling when you read this article on FierceWireless. Mike Dano compiled a list of the top 10 largest wireless operators in the first quarter. The biggest US carrier, Verizon, barely made it on the list. Granted many of these operators have carriers in multiple countries and markets compared to Verizon’s single market but still…

Its just mind blowing how China takes the cake with almost 500 million subscribers. T-Mobile ranks well as 6th place but that is mostly due to its many markets including T-Mobile US. I can’t imagine what would happen if China would finally open the floodgates for the BlackBerry BIS users.

Check out the listing below:

1. China Mobile 478.8 million
2. Vodafone Group 247.3 million
3. Telefonica Group 190.1 million
4. America Movil Group 174.9 million
5. China Unicom 137.7 million
6. Deutsche Telekom Group (T-Mobile) 127.1 million
7. Telnor Group 96.6 million
8. Airtel (Bharti) 93.9 million
9. MTS Group 92.2 million
10. Verizon Wireless 86.6 million

Thanks DavidB for sending this one in!

DavidB let me know about Mediafly and I was suitably impressed. The app is in beta for the BlackBerry and lets you select podcasts you wish to listen to on your BlackBerry. These podcasts will automatically stream to your BlackBerry. If they do not have your favorite podcast listed you can add your own custom channel.

Note: Currently the app only supports the Bold, Curve, Pearl, & Storm devices. You also need to set your APN sometimes to get it to work.

You can pick up the app from your BlackBerry OTA at www.mediafly.mobi

via GearDiary

Andre let me know about this cool new application called SportyPal. You just activate the app when you start your running, cycling, walking, rollerblading or similar exercise. The app will start to log and map your position, movement, distance, tempo and calories burned. You can even run it in the background.

When you finish your workout the collected information is stored on your BlackBerry where you can review it and compare it to previous workouts. The app will show you a map and charts of your performance.

The cool part is that the app also has web integration which lets you upload your workouts to their website. You just need to register for free and you can access you workouts and maps from your PC and share them with others.

Definitely a pretty cool app especially considering it is free. You can pickup the download or read more at www.sportypal.com. Right now they are supporting the Bold, 8310, 8820, 8800, 8830, & 8900. Not sure why it does not support other GPS enabled devices but it is in Beta.

XING is similar to LinkedIn but focuses more on Europe from what I can tell. It has over 7 million users who can now access their business network from their BlackBerrys. I have been annoyed that LinkedIn has an iPhone app but not a BlackBerry app but it looks like XING realizes that BlackBerrys are THE business device. I wonder when LinkedIn will realize that…

The new app gives you access to what is new in your network and post status messages. You can also send and receive private messages. The coolest feature in my opinion is the ability to sync specific contact information with your BlackBerry address book and easily access that address book.

You can pick up the free download at www.xing.com

In addition to English, the XING app supports German, Spanish, Turkish and Italian. The app requires OS 4.2.1+ and at least 64 MB device which rules out the 8700…