I have been telling my contacts at RIM since App World launched that they need to add themes. It would easily take the 2,000 apps in the app world and double them. It would also be interesting to see since developers would have to pay a submission fee for each theme so they would have to be very careful about what they submit. Especially considering the fact that it costs $200 per 10 submissions.
Still this could open up a whole new demographic for the App World. Kyle over at BBCool got word that the App World is going to start offering themes on Nov 9th. I have been hearing rumblings about that for months and it looks like the time is near!
So any theme developers excited to feature their themes in the App World? Or will RIM’s $200 entrance fee keep you away?
UPDATE: mallinj corrected me and let me know that there IS login support in this version!!! I just am still trying to figure out what it lets you do! Hopefully it saves your favorites…
Google has just released Google Maps 3.2 and its a pretty nice upgrade. I was really hoping they would finally tie it into your Google account but no luck. Version 3.2 brings layers to the table which are kind of like overlays on your map.
Layers are useful because you can overlay transit maps or even Wikipedia entries over a map. I was just disappointed to find that I could not get the NYC subway map to show up over Manhattan. I am really hoping Google adds that feature. If its there and I missed it let me know!
Download 3.2 at: m.google.com/maps
Thanks to Nanu, Michael, & Jason for sending this in!
PS: That dot is me shopping at Macys Herald Square for a pair of jeans. Just got my first pair of Kenneth Cole jeans and am loving them…
Mblware let me know about their latest BlackBerry app mblVault that sounds kind of cool. It lets you encrypt files and filenames on your BlackBerry so they are unreadable by anybody else. I know you could always use the built in BlackBerry encryption but that is usually more cumbersome and I don’t want to encrypt all my files, just a few documents. All files and filenames are stored in mblVault and are password protected. I would still keep a backup since you never know when you might lose your device but I can see the app being useful. All in all it is a pretty cool app for $3.99.
Giveaway Details: Mblware has kindly offered 50 free copies of mblVault to readers who comment on this article. Just leave your name and a valid email address and if you are randomly selected you will win a free copy of mblVault! Comments must be left before Oct 26th at 11:59PM EST to win and winners should hopefully be notified shortly thereafter. Only one comment per user will be accepted!
From the description:
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Thanks to ToySoft for a great iconManager contest. You can see the full list of winners after the jump. ToySoft’s iconManager is a collection of a few widgets that show up as homescreen icons. The idea is really cool but currently there are only 2 icons available but more will be coming as a free upgrade to the $1.99 application. Hopefully the next icon available will be creating your own website shortcuts.
In case you did not win you can pick up a copy of iconManager in the store for $1.99 at this link. Congrats to all the winners below! You should be contacted by ToySoft shortly! Don’t forget to thank them in the comments!
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Alright, I gotta admit that I’m a sucker for Zebra patterned themes but that isn’t the only reason I love this hot new theme from CherriChiodo (AllThingsBerry.Com).
The colors are vibrant, the images sharp and the icons are eye-popping. This is a very practical theme that has all the wild looks I love. There are a few versions of this theme (Zen and Hidden Today) and each comes in your choice of Blue or Pink colors.
Zebra costs $7.99 and though I love Cherri’s themes…that’s a little high for themes these days considering many designers are keeping prices lower. However, if you were looking for a quality Zebra style theme you can feel comfortable buying this one as it works extremely well. For details and to purchase visit All Things Berry.
The sharp eyed team @MobileCrunch spotted a RIM job posting on LinkedIn that is hopefully a sign of the times. RIM is looking for a WebKit developer with expert C++ knowledge. The job was posted on October 7th and is looking for a full time mid-senior level employee.
I am really praying this means that RIM is planning on totally overhauling the current browser because these gradual fixes/improvements are not working. They have still not fully fixed JavaScript speed in OS 5.0. I truly hope they find somebody who is fully qualified to create a browser that will put all other browsers to shame. Come on RIM we believe in you!
This one line in the description gives me hope:
…the successful candidate will be working in a fast-paced, dynamic development environment to develop a WebKit-based browser for the BlackBerry Platform.
Check out the full job description after the jump or at this link
via BBcool – Thanks DavidB for sending this one in!
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RIM PR were kind enough to point out that AT&T has also officially announced the BlackBerry Bold 9700 along with Rogers Canada. AT&T is saying that it will be “available in the coming weeks” for $199 after $100 rebate. You can register to be notified of updates at this link for AT&T. Rogers has also made their announcement saying that the Bold 9700 will be available in the “coming weeks” for $299.99 with a 3 year voice and data activation of $45+.
Anybody else wondering what “coming weeks” really means? More than one week but less than a month? Especially since RIM’s announcement pegs the launches to start in November.
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RIM broke their mold today by not announcing their latest device at midnight EST like they always do. Together with T-Mobile they announced the BlackBerry Bold 9700. I am so glad it was not called the Bold2. While T-Mobile gets the title for the first BlackBerry with 3G and UMA Wi-Fi calling AT&T is conspicuously missing from the announcement. I really hope this is not another Verizon/Storm2 situation.
T-Mobile plans on selling the Bold 9700 “in time for the holiday season” whatever that means for $199.99 with a 2 year contract. You can catch more at www.blackberry.com/bold9700.
In RIM’s press release the specifically mention the two different flavors of the 9700. One for T-Mobile and one for the rest of the world. This is because T-Mobile runs their 3G over the non-standard 1700Mhz AWS band. That means the different configurations will have:
- UMTS/HSDPA 2100/1900/850/800 MHz and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM
- UMTS/HSDPA 2100/1700/900 MHz and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM
So who wants one of these as badly as I do?
