RIM's BBM Social Platform going to open beta, lets devs bake BBM into BlackBerry apps

Announced at BlackBerry's 2010 Developer Conference last fall, BBM Social Platform has just become available to interested third-party devs in beta form. Of course, you might be hoping that it opens BlackBerry Messenger to other (read: non-BlackBerry) platforms via API... but yeah, that's not happening quite yet. Instead, the SDK allows folks developing for BlackBerry OS to integrate BBM capabilities into their own apps, and the list of capabilities is pretty extensive: you'll be able to read and update user profiles, embed BBM chats inside your app, and transfer files, just to name a few of the big ones (with the user's permission, of course). The current beta works for Java apps, while RIM's hard at work crafting a new version for release in April that'll add WebWorks web app compatibility.

BlackBerry Protect moving to wider beta, ready to secure your stuff

After a limited beta last year, RIM's BlackBerry Protect service has been opened to a wider test audience with tweaks based on feedback collected in the first round. As you might recall, Protect is a fairly standard-issue suite of security features to put your mind at ease in the event your phone meets its maker or the hands of a thief, including location capability, a remote alarm, wireless backup, and -- of course -- the doomsday remote wipe option. It's available in North America and parts of Latin America for the moment through App World's Test Center, though RIM promises to open it to additional regions "in the next couple of months."

Leaked RIM Roadmap Mentioning BlackBerry OS 7

Scanning from left to right on this leaked roadmap, things may seem a bit… unexciting, at first. The Flickr product is reaching the end of its life? Meh. TicketMaster 2.0? Mega meh.

But then you get down to the end of the right side, and it’s just chillin’ there all by its lonesome: “BB 7 SN Core Integration (OS 7.0)”

So, what the heck is that? To be honest, your guess is as good as ours. It’s obviously something to do with BlackBerry OS 7.0 (given that it, you know, says “OS 7.0″) — but to assume that this would be the actual launch of OS 7.0, as some sites are running with, seems a bit.. daft. That talk of “Core Integration” is just vague enough to leave us hanging — is it an internal target window where all devices being worked on internally should be running 7.0? Might this be when they begin sending out minor patches to prep devices for the migration to 7.0? It is, unfortunately, a bit of a mystery.

Hell, pretty much all of OS 7.0 is a bit of a mystery at this point. Outside of the fact that RIM was (at least up until recently) considering it a “stepping stone” to QNX (the platform that runs on the BlackBerry Playbook) rather than a complete jump, there’s really not much known.

Shoppingkoo: Android leapfrogs BlackBerry among US smartphone subscribers to take first place in market share

Last time we checked in with ComScore's report on smartphone platform market share among US subscribers three months ago, Android was doing a little happy dance as it overtook iOS for the number two spot overall. Well, the cuddly green bots have self-replicated yet again, enough to overtake RIM this time thanks in part to a 5.4 percent decline on BlackBerry's part (down to 30.4 percent in January) coupled with a 7.7 percent boost on the Android side, moving up to 31.2 percent. We imagine ComScore's next report -- covering the period through March -- will see a little boost on the iOS side thanks to Verizon's iPhone launch, but RIM's knight in shining armor might be further out; we still don't know when QNX-based phones are going to happen, after all, and devices like the Monaco don't really seem like cure-alls.

RIM's chief marketing officer resigning

We won't read too much into this, but it comes at an interesting time -- with only a month left before RIM is expected to debut the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, the company's chief marketing officer has resigned. TheWall Street Journal reports that RIM CMO Keith Pardy (formerly with Nokia) will leave due to "personal reasons" after a six-month transition period is up. The publication's anonymous sources add that Pardy actually made the decision a month ago, and that the move "reflects larger turmoil" within RIM -- as opposed to any sort of knee-jerk reaction over the iPad 2 launch, we suppose. To be frank, we're a little worried about the fate of the PlayBook if it's indeed close to launch -- when we tried a prototype at the Game Developer's Conference this past week in San Francisco, the hardware was still pretty solid, but the software was a bit sparse, and what was there felt like it needed more than a few coats of polish.

RIM now preparing to bring BBM to iOS and Android, change everything again?

Woah, now here's a juicy rumor to start your Thursday morning off with. BGR reports word from multiple trusted sources that RIM intends to take its BlackBerry Messenger outside the cozy confines of the BB ecosystem and straight into its competitors' app stores. BBM is reputedly all set to make its debut as a messaging app on both iOS and Android, though the specifics of what it might cost you have yet to be ironed out. It'll come in a stripped down version, you'll still need to own a BlackBerry for the full-flavored BBM experience, but that should nonetheless be extremely welcome news for folks finding themselves torn between platforms. The Android version is expected this year, say the sources, while the iOS app may take a little while longer thanks to Apple's more capricious approval requirements.

BlackBerry Messenger Now Coming to Android, iPhone?

Research in Motion (NSDQ: RIMM) may be contemplating offering a version of one of its most popular applications—BlackBerry Messenger—for a rival phone.

So say little birdies whispering in the ear of the Boy Genius Report, which wrote Thursday that RIM is getting ready to release a version of BlackBerry Messenger for Google’s Android software, and is also contemplating porting the app to Apple’s iOS. Representatives from RIM declined to comment, but the move makes a certain amount of sense.

BlackBerry is still huge in North America, tied with Apple in the U.S. when it comes to smartphone share measured by hardware vendors. But this is a market it once owned, and it’s fair to say that there has been a lack of enthusiasm and excitement around BlackBerry for quite some time as Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and Android rose to prominence among consumers and developers.

Still, there’s one thing that RIM and the BlackBerry do really well: group communication. BlackBerry Messenger is an app that lets BlackBerry subscribers trade instant messages, photos, and other updates with one another, and at the moment it’s only available to BlackBerry owners.

But opening up BlackBerry Messenger to other phones could allow RIM to get a lot more new people using its services. GigaOm rightly wonders if “a move to open up BBM may be a sign that RIM realizes its strengths now lie in its network and in providing back-end services to enterprise users, and not in making phones, at least not anymore,” comparing the possibility to IBM ditching PC hardware in favor of concentrating on providing services to big businesses.

At the moment RIM is trying to move past its good-hardware-crappy-software reputation by focusing on its QNX software that will run atop the forthcoming Playbook tablet. But selectively bringing the most compelling parts of the BlackBerry experience to other phones might be an interesting way of creating a spark without having to make a huge investment.

Hot : BlackBerry PlayBook app may hint 17 hours of battery

A PlayBook Battery Assistant app found for the BlackBerry PlayBook ahead of its launch has hinted that it will have very long battery life. Comparing the battery life at 50 percent and at 20 percent, BerryReview heard the tablet would get roughly 17 hours of battery life in web browsing and a still healthy eight hours for video playback. Full 3D gaming could still last for six hours.

The numbers are likely to vary somewhat depending on the usage and may not necessarily reflect the final numbers. RIM may have supported the claims itself since it has loaded the PlayBook with an unusually high-capacity battery and has estimated that it could match or beat the iPad despite the smaller size.

RIM still hasn't committed to a ship date for the PlayBook six months after its debut and is rumored to be rushing an April launch that would need a patch even as it arrives in stores, although this hasn't been corroborated by other sources. Battery life may have been one of the points needing improvement and is one of the frequent optimization tweaks necessary in the late stages of a product launch.

ShoppingKoo Interview: Ryan Bidan, BlackBerry PlayBook senior product manager

RIM held a little PlayBook party here in New York yesterday, giving us a chance to hang out with Ryan Bidan, the company's senior product manager for the seven-inch tablet. In addition to chatting with us about battery life, connectivity, and pricing, Ryan clarified the PlayBook's app development model -- although devs can choose to work with native code, Java, Adobe Air, and HTML5 / WebWorks, the idea is for the ultimate user experience to be seamless, and RIM is considering offering standard UI widgets for each environment. We also had to ask about those swirling rumors of Android support, and while we commend Ryan for his practiced non-answer, we can't help but feel we detected a hint of a smile on his face. Or was that just another tray of snacks going past? Check the video and decide for yourself.

Sprint's Total Equipment Protection app searching out lost Androids and BlackBerrys

Joining AT&T and Verizon in offering some software-based data security for owners of its handsets, Sprint is today introducing its Total Equipment Protection app. Funnily enough, it uses the same Asurion software as the aforementioned other carriers, which would be why its functionality mirrors them so closely. With the TEP app, you'll be able to track your phone via a web interface, force it to sound an alarm even if muted, lock it, and finally wipe your contacts (which can later be restored once you get your handset back). The app itself, compatible with Android and BlackBerry devices, is free, however you'll need to be signed up to Sprint's Total Equipment Protection program, which costs $7 a month. You'll find more details in the press release after the break. 

Bentley Collection iPad, iPhone, and BlackBerry casing are made of rich, non-Corinthian leather

If you'd like to give your iPad the same cosseting your posterior receives when you slot into the sport buckets in your Continental GT then you, good chap, are in luck. Bentley's "luxury leather partner" Ettinger, which ensures no surface of the vehicles is bereft of animal hide, is releasing a line of gadget cases to cover your iPad, iPhone, or BlackBerry -- though it's unclear exactly which model for the latter. Prices? You're looking at £45 for either of the phone holsters or £89 for the iPad-sized model. That's about $73 and $145, respectively, and a lot of cash for a little hide. If you're still not dissuaded there's another image of the tablet-sized version and a press release below. Those, at least, are free. 

PlayBook Android app supporting mentioned during demo at MWC, old BlackBerrys show up in ShopSavvy's BlaAndroid logs

As far-fetched as it may seem, rumors that RIM is working on some sort of Android app support for its QNX-based PlayBook tablet have persisted in various forms for months now -- and they've turned up once again in a video posted by development community MobileMonday's Rio chapter taken at MWCearlier this month, where a RIM rep seemingly says "we will also support Android apps" after talking about Java-based offerings. Of course, this could've been staged by some rabble rousers or a rep could've simply been echoing back the rumors he's seen on the interwebs -- but regardless, it adds fuel to the fire. Follow the break to see the video of that.

But it gets weirder. ShopSavvy -- which makes versions of its app for iOS and Android -- has started turning up a couple of older BlackBerry devices in its Android build's usage statistics on Flurry: the Curve 8300 and 8520, to be specific, along with an 8600 model that doesn't exist (at least, not yet). The 8300, in particular, is pretty ancient at this point and we're having a hard time wrapping our brain around RIM's game plan in porting Dalvik (or a Dalvik-like) VM and associated libraries over to it; if anything, Flurry could be confused. Then again, a next-generation full-touch BlackBerry that just happens to run a full suite of Android apps in a sandbox could be a pretty compelling product, indeed.

[Thanks to everyone who sent these in] 

Twitter for BlackBerry 1.1 hits beta, adding new notifications and geotagging

The official Twitter app for BlackBerry has gotten a nice little bump today -- though you'll need to be a member of RIM's BlackBerry Beta Zone to get it at this point, since it's not quite gold yet. The new version adds a bunch of "features users have been asking for" including support for geotagging tweets, new push notifications for mentions, threaded direct messages, integration with BlackBerry OS' Social Feeds functionality, support for gestures on touchscreen devices, and new languages (Polish and Czech, it seems). As long as you've got a data plan and a device with BlackBerry OS 4.5 or higher, you should be good to go.

Twitter for BlackBerry 1.1 hits beta, adding new notifications and geotagging

The official Twitter app for BlackBerry has gotten a nice little bump today -- though you'll need to be a member of RIM's BlackBerry Beta Zone to get it at this point, since it's not quite gold yet. The new version adds a bunch of "features users have been asking for" including support for geotagging tweets, new push notifications for mentions, threaded direct messages, integration with BlackBerry OS' Social Feeds functionality, support for gestures on touchscreen devices, and new languages (Polish and Czech, it seems). As long as you've got a data plan and a device with BlackBerry OS 4.5 or higher, you should be good to go.

BlackBerry Monaco making brief video appearance with Verizon branding

Needless to say, the Storm 2's past its prime -- if it ever had a prime -- and if Verizon is going to continue with the touchscreen BlackBerry theme, it needs to re-up fast. That would be where the so-calledMonaco comes into play, a phone that's been leaking under various names for over half a year now, and now we've got it captured on a brief, moderately blurry video with a Verizon logo clearly and prominently featured around back. It's looking pretty laggy here, but it's unclear how close the phone is to production -- both the hardware and software (said to be BlackBerry OS 6.1 with mobile hotspot capability, among other features) could be extremely early or near final. RIM's still got some repenting to do for the original Storm, so it'll be interesting to see if the Monaco (which could come to market as the Storm 3, or some other name altogether) fits the bill. Follow the break for the video.

BlackBerry Dakota / Montana spotted in the wild, now sporting threads of carbon

So how's our little leaked friend the alleged BlackBerry Bold Touch doing as Canada's winter continues to rage? Looks like he's all wrapped up and toasty in a tasteful carbon fiber weave. N4BB nabbed the first real-life photos of the triple-input-device OS 6.1 smartphone, which confirm its 640 x 480 VGA screen, though the publication says it's also gained storage space (6.5GB flash) and lost memory (512MB of RAM) since the last time we heard its specs. There's apparently still a 5 megapixel camera to be had, as well as a magnetometer, accelerometer and proximity sensor, and -- as the rumor mill whispered in January -- integrated NFC. Still no word on processing power, but it sure sounds like it'll mop the floor with the Torch either way.

LG Optimus 3D's OMAP 4 benchmarked, pulling ahead of Exynos and Tegra 2

Which dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 system-on-a-chip rules the roost? It's probably too early to tell, but if you're looking for a preliminary verdict, AnandTech has benchmarked all three of them now. Texas Instruments' OMAP 4430, NVIDIA's Tegra 2 and Samsung's Exynos 4210 went head to head in a gauntlet of browser and graphical benchmarks, and it looks like the LG Optimus 3D's OMAP 4 came out on top, boasting minor but significant improvements practically across the board. Good news for the BlackBerry PlayBook, no? Oh, and if you're wondering why the iPhone 4 and Atrix 4G fall behind their older brethren in the image above, remember that they both have to render images at a higher screen resolution. More graphs at our source link below.

Samsung working with Sybase and Cisco to make Galaxy S II enterprise friendly

BlackBerry may be the go-to enterprise smartphone platform, but Samsung is positioning its newly unveiled Galaxy S II as new contenders for the crown. To get there, Samsung's working with Sybase to bring far more advanced security to the handsets than stock Android offers, including control of individual applications and ports and also allowing for remote administration -- including admin-pushed app updates. Samsung also talked up the phone's Exchange compatibility and, with help from Cisco, the phone offers WebEx compatibility, VPN support, and VOIP calling. Know what this means? Your next corporate phone just got a lot more interesting. 

BlackBerry PlayBook Price, Release Date Revealed

Do not tell major electronics retailers any important secrets.

Less than a week after Best Buy jumped the gun announcing the release date of the Motorola Xoom, Office Depot has let the price of the BlackBerry PlayBook slip.

BlackBerry's offering to the upcoming tablet onslaught will retail for $499.99, which barely keeps RIM CEO Jim Balsillie's promise that the PlayBook would cost under $500. The leaked Office Depot price sheet specifies that this price will be for the 16 GB PlayBook. This puts the PlayBook at exactly the same price point as Apple’s iPad with the same amount of storage.
RIM is also offering 32GB and 64GB PlayBooks, and if its price structure continues to mirror Apple’s, the versions with more memory could be expected to cost $600 and $700, respectively.

Office Depot’s leak also included a rough release date for the PlayBook, somewhere around the very end of March or very beginning of April. This will give the tablet a head start on HP’s recently announced TouchPad.

The PlayBook is being marketed as an enterprise-friendly device, offering pairings with BlackBerry smartphones, corporate data access, and increased security over what the iPad offers. But RIM is also attempting to draw in consumers, with features like a 3 MP front-facing camera and 5 MP rear-facing camera (both HD), a 1GHz dual-core processer, and a 7-inch LCD screen with 1024 x 600 resolution.

Check back to TabletPCReview for updates on the PlayBook as they become available.