I know many of you have installed BlackBerry unite after we mentioned it yesterday. We also mentioned some of the issues in our last FYI. It turns out that this is more of a full release that really needed some testing. So far people have been liking the functionality but their happiness has been hampered with some serious bugs and unknown consequences.

The list so far – Feel free to add to it with comments:

• Once you install Unite you get an IT policy on your device that you have to wipe your BlackBerry to remove
• You also have to deal with Errors such as the one below where it says “Browser is disabled by IT policy”

• You will also find that it makes your browser bookmarks no longer work unless you delete and re-enable them.
• It can lock up a nice machine on and also gives quite a few of Unite File Sync errors
• The calendar is missing recurring events and the ability to change reminders
• The file upload/download aspect is awesome in theory, but the 1 meg limit renders it useless
• Your device may lock up now every time you hit the CNN.com home screen shortcut or others
• This program may make your browser, Facebook, Viigo, and most other applications unusable due to the IT policy error
• You also cannot sync your desktop outlook calendar to Unite. Nor anything else from your desktop

Thanks to the brave souls who brought this to our attention. Hopefully version 1.1 will be coming out soon. It seems like RIM rushed this out before WES.

Keep those numbers above. May 12th is promised to be the official release date of the new Blackberry 9000. It’s the very first date of WES 2008, in Orlando, FL, where Berry addicts will congregate and get lots of new information first hand, not to mention their own eager hands on lots of brand new lawful Berry drugs. Boy Genius also says that Mike Lazaridis himself will be present at the event to “pull a Jobs” on the crowd. Since RIM has announced two new phones already, I certainly expect him to say “one more thing”. And that one more thing had better be the release of Blackberry OS 4.whatever to all and sundry. What else could be holding it for so long?!!!

I can’t go, it’s a bit too far from where I live. If you can’t go either, well, just stick around and you will be properly informed of all the news. At any rate, the new 9000 model should be available on the 12th, also known in many places worldwide as “Monday”. Piggy banks of the world have a lot to fear.

I was going to write up a full blown review on this one but since it’s still in Beta and a little hard to get hold of then I will wait until the full version gets released. 

Miutunes. Take out the ‘M’ and the ‘U’ and you have ‘iTunes’. Sound familiar? Well it will certainly look familiar. If you like the ‘iPod’ (Touch or iPhone) style of media player then you are going to love this one. 

Simprit Pty Ltd are on a winner with this application. Whilst still in Beta, the Miutunes integrates perfectly with the controls on my 8310 Curve giving you the standard selection of; Albums, Artists, Songs, Genres and Years (when the music was made). The difference is the layout is in a ‘Circular’ format and spins around to your selection when you flick your trackball either way.

When you first load the application you get the option to sync all your music from the other files on your Berry. Once imported, you’re away. With all the song selection options you get a list view kind of like the iPod Classic style most have grown accustomed to but in the ‘Artwork’ selection mode you get the same sort of interface as Apples new ‘Coverflow’. Being a bit of an Apple fan, I love it…(yes I know I’m going to cop it in the comments section as far as being an Apple fan and writing for a BlackBerry site but anyone who has ever used Leopard OSX will understand). Again just flick through your album artwork (cover art) with you trackball , press to select the album which then flips over and just scroll through the list of songs. Easy. Simple. And Seamless.

You also get the standard options of making playlists, shuffle and repeating songs as well as standard volume controls. The only area that I found it lacking was the absence of an equalizer (Ronen wont be happy) but apart from that this is an excellent media player…

Now the hard part. Getting hold of it. I had a reader send me an invite to test the beta version of this so it made life easy but from what I have heard the waiting list is long. Go to http://www.miutunes.com/ and add yourself to the beta testing list or just wait a bit for the full version to be released. 

Remember when Facebook changed the status updates from “Ronen is” to just “Ronen”? Well they finally convinced RIM to do it in the mobile Facebook application. They just sent an email to many users about this update.

That is about it that they updated. You can pick up the latest version by going to:

OTA Download Page or Desktop link

Thanks Raffy for sending this tip in!

I just got an email from the developer of Poker Odds Calculator telling me about the new application. The application allows you to calculate the odds of winning with each hand you could possible have. You can pick up the calculator for $9.95 from the Store if you are interested.

From the feature description:

Learn the exact odds of all possible hands. Know when to bet and when to fold by determining whether you have a strong or weak hand. Find out how your odds look before and after the Flop, after the turn, and after the River.

Features:

• Real time Poker Odds Calculator
• Accuracy within 1%
• Supports unknown hands

Truthfully I can’t think of anytime this would be useful but if you have any ideas let me know. I just think it would take the fun out of the game. Not to mention that it would probably have you thrown out of a casino or even a guys night out game. I can just see people switching back and forth between Texas Hold’em 3 from bPlay and this calculator.

I know many of you rushed out and installed BlackBerry Unite when we broke the story last night. I am hearing reports that you should backup your BlackBerry before you install BlackBerry Unite. This is because Unite adds an IT security policy just like a corporate BES and you need to wipe the handheld to remove it. So Backup Backup Backup…

Just thought I would share that since quite a few people were sending that tip in.

Let us know if you find any cool undocumented features. I know some readers are trying to see if there is a way to connect the Unite calendar to an Outlook calendar. Any idea’s?

The main developer for Empower, Ani, just let me know that they have released an update to their very useful BES Mailbox application. You can pick up version 3 at this link from your BlackBerry or from the BerryReview store.

With this latest release, BES Mailbox now works with OS 4.1, 4.2, & 4.3. I find it to be a very useful application to separate my BES work emails from my private emails.

If you don’t already have it you can pick up a copy for $19.99 from the BerryReview Store.

This is likely to become the talk of the day among the great Blackberry fanboyhood. RIM decided to make and air their own advertising on TV and  Omie07 has been quick to post it at YouTube.

Every once in a while someone complains that RIM should advertise more and make the Blackberry more visible and widely-known. I think that is absolutely true here in Brazil and probably other countries, but… in North America? Who in North America has never heard of the Blackberry?

Anyway, the commercial is pretty good and maybe there is no such thing as too much publicity. Stay tuned to this post, we will add updates here or in the comments section when we get a better copy of the ad.