I have exciting news for BlackBerry® smartphone users crazy about apps! BlackBerry App World™ 2.0 is now available in BlackBerry Beta Zone as an invite-based beta – make sure to sign up for a Beta Zone account so you can receive a beta invite! If you’re interested in learning more about what’s new in BlackBerry App World 2.0 – including new Top 25’s, barcode scanning, new billing options and more – check out my BlackBerry App World 2.0 preview.

Also, check out my video above and tell us about the top five apps you’ve downloaded with BlackBerry App World. BlackBerry App World is now in 65 countries worldwide (in six languages!) with over one million apps being downloaded each day, so we’re really excited to hear what you have to tell us about your favorite apps!

Hey my fellow Canadian BlackBerry® peeps! While attending your favorite music festivals this summer across Canada, you might notice images like the one above scattered across the venue. You will likely also notice a tent filled with BlackBerry representatives demonstrating the latest BlackBerry® smartphones and generally spreading good cheer.

If you see a barcode like the one in the lower-right of the above image, make sure to scan it using BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM®)! Your new BBM friends will let you know how to skip the long show lines, access exclusive content for your favorite bands, and maybe even how to get free tickets, VIP passes or a Nissan Cube. Isn’t making friends fun?

Click the link below to find out even more places where you can make friends with BlackBerry this summer while checking out cool tunes. Those looking for more info can also check out http://www.bbmefordeets.mobi/NBB.rbml – and be sure to visit the official BlackBerry Flickr account to see photos from the shows.

Will we be seeing you at any of these events? Let us know in the comments!

As you may have already seen in the sneak peek video, the Home Screen in BlackBerry® 6 has undergone a makeover. To get the inside scoop on some of these changes, I reached out to Joey Benedek, Director of UX Research at Research In Motion® (RIM). Check out the interview below.

First, can you tell us a bit about what you and your group do at RIM?

I am a Director in the User Experience (UX) group, and I run the UX Research team. The UX organization is responsible for understanding user needs and desires and translating those into interface designs. We then work with the various software development teams to iterate those designs – with end-user feedback as our guide – prior to releasing to market. Bottom line, our team is responsible for defining the on-device experience that our customers interact with and making sure those experiences are not only usable but also desirable.

If there was one thing you want our readers to know about the Home Screen redesign, what would it be?

I’d say that the redesign of the Home Screen in BlackBerry 6 is fresh, but familiar. When you look at it, it still looks like a BlackBerry Home Screen (for example, wallpaper selection continues to be a key attribute of the visual design), but it’s been updated – much like a home renovation still ‘feels’ like home, but is actually new.

With BlackBerry 6, we are introducing a host of new features in the design, evolving the look and feel and enabling the user to really customize the Home Screen. Overall, the visuals are cleaner and sleeker, and movement between and within the applications is more fluid, allowing users to navigate their BlackBerry smartphone in a much more intuitive and interactive way.

What is the biggest change in the Home Screen design?

In BlackBerry 6, there are now five separate views that a user can easily switch between using the Navigation Bar, depending on their preference and the type of information they’re looking for. These include: “Frequent”, where your most frequently-used apps are automatically placed for easy access; “Favorites”, where you can choose to add not just your favorite applications, but also to create shortcuts to particular Contacts or web pages (making the important people and information in your life just one click away!); “Media”, for all your media-centric content; “Downloads”, for all the apps you download; and “All” – this is the big vertical list that you can scroll through, similar to the Home Screen today. Users will be able to simply slide left and right (the touch-screen or trackpad, depending on your BlackBerry smartphone model) to quickly get to any of these new view panes.

Can you give us an overview of some of the other important BlackBerry 6 design updates?

In trying to deliver an optimized experience for how people use their BlackBerry smartphone – and how they search for information on it – we are introducing two new ‘quick access areas’ that are built into the Home Screen.

One is designed to allow you to have quick access to the Connections, Alarm and Options screens – things that we found people frequently want to adjust or change – with one click from the Home Screen. With BlackBerry 6, this will be done by simply selecting/tapping the top of the Home Screen. A drop-down panel then appears that allows you to change these on the spot.

The other quick access area on the Home Screen is designed to enable you to view your most recent messages (such as email, text, BlackBerry® Messenger), phone calls, upcoming appointments, Facebook® and Twitter® notifications simply by tapping the Notification Bar in the middle of the top of the Home Screen. If you click on the Notification Bar, it drops down to show who the notifications are from, along with the first few words from the title. This feature makes it much easier to prioritize which notifications you want to respond to first.

The BlackBerry Home Screen also now includes a powerful Universal Search application. It’s never been easier to find content on your BlackBerry smartphone, regardless of whether you’re looking for contacts, messages, music, pictures or appointments. Universal Search was designed to be tightly integrated with your BlackBerry smartphone: simply tap on the Search icon in the top right-hand corner of the Home Screen – or just start typing – and it searches the whole device. As you type, we instantly bring back your results using icons.

Maybe even more exciting is that the same search query can also be used to search the web as well. If you search your device and can’t find what you’re looking for, you can simply tap other available icons, such as YouTube®, Google or BlackBerry App World™, to extend your search further.

How did your team come up with the design and layout for the BlackBerry 6 Home Screen?

The Home Screen is really one of the most used areas of the BlackBerry smartphone, so we spent a lot of time researching how people access data and where they naturally would look for things. The research included focus groups, usability testing, gathering feedback from forums, customer feedback and much more.

For example, we found that users were overwhelmed by all the icons and details on the initial Home Screen, so we implemented the five views and swiping pane for easier viewing. We also found that it wasn’t always intuitive where to find newly downloaded applications, so we created the Downloads view on the Home Screen. Another great example was Universal Search – the team had users keep diaries of any searches they did in any domain over a few weeks, which helped us learn behavioral patterns, what order people want content coming back to them, and so on. This had a big influence on how the Universal Search application was designed.

If you had to pick your favorite new aspect of the Home Screen, what would it be?

It would have to be either the new Notification Dropdown (it’s great for multitasking) or swiping between application panes (I like watching the animation — it’s fun!).

Today I am very happy to share some exciting news about the upcoming BlackBerry® Desktop Software v6.0 release this summer. We did some major changes to the product inside and out, all to make it a true part of the overall BlackBerry® 6 experience. The first invitations to join our BlackBerry Desktop Software v6.0 Limited Beta will start going out today to some of you who have already joined BlackBerry® Beta Zone. If you haven’t joined BlackBerry Beta Zone yet, sign up at www.blackberry.com/beta.

Stay tuned for more posts here at Inside BlackBerry from myself and Vikram, where we will dive into the detailed feature sets and user interface walkthroughs for all the new goodness we added in BlackBerry Desktop Software v6.0. For now, here are a few screenshots to give you an idea of the new look and feel of the software – let us know what you think!

Our team has been working hard to enhance the overall multimedia experience in BlackBerry® 6, and we’ve packed a lot of changes into the upcoming release. I’m very excited to be able to provide some more details about this aspect of BlackBerry 6 today.

In pulling together this update, the multimedia team focused on delivering an intuitive multimedia experience right out of the box – so whether you are a power user or new to mobile multimedia on BlackBerry smartphones, you can easily find and use the enhanced multimedia features.

There’s too much to talk about in just one post, so with that in mind, I picked some of my favorite new BlackBerry 6 multimedia features. Look for the Inside BlackBerry team to dive deeper into some of these features in future blog posts.

Music Album Art and Discovery

The minute you’ve loaded your music library to your BlackBerry smartphone via BlackBerry Media Sync, you’ll notice that we’ve added album art virtually everywhere for instant and easy recognition of your favorite albums. You will be able to navigate your music by using the interactive carousel to swipe through the album art. You will also quickly find other selections from the same album/artist by selecting the album or artist name for the song currently playing!

Organize Your Photos

With BlackBerry 6, we will also provide multiple dynamic ways to view and organize your photos, so thousands of photos can be organized intuitively. For example, photos will be able to be grouped by event or by date. You will be able to view the full picture or a slide show of pictures with transitions. BlackBerry smartphones with touch support are designed to easily zoom in on an area of interest with the “Pinch to Zoom” feature. BlackBerry 6 will also allow you to select groups of pictures to share, copy, paste or delete.

Streaming, Sharing and Searching for Videos

Searching through videos on your BlackBerry smartphone has been made easier in BlackBerry 6 with the new thumbnail view. There will also be more ways to view videos in BlackBerry 6. You will be able to opt to play video in various sizes (Original, Fit to Screen, Full Screen), plus instantly share your videos with the world using the new integrated YouTube® video uploader. Or perhaps you want to watch some online videos – no problem! The new universal search feature in BlackBerry 6 has been designed to enable you to search Internet video sites such as YouTube, and to enjoy higher quality YouTube videos when using Wi-Fi.

New Camera Controls and Supported Scene Modes

With BlackBerry 6, we focused on perfecting the point and shoot experience. Users can capture photos quicker and better than ever before with a variety of new features in BlackBerry 6. New onscreen controls means there is no need to hunt through menus for your favorite options. You will be able to access and review camera pictures, set popular options and pick from a variety of scene modes, all directly from the camera screen. You will also be able to capture video using the video camera application on the device.

New Podcasts App!

With the BlackBerry podcasts service, users will be able to experience the convenience of searching, subscribing and playing entertaining audio and video podcasts directly from their BlackBerry smartphone. This service will be preloaded with BlackBerry 6 in North America and is completely mobile (so no PC required) – and all of the content is available for free! Stay tuned to Inside BlackBerry for an upcoming post on the BlackBerry podcasts app.

Finding New Multimedia Content and Apps

If you have not yet loaded any multimedia content onto your BlackBerry smartphone or are looking for something new, no problem. Select “Explore Music Apps”, “Explore Video Apps” or “Explore Picture Apps” from the main menu screen within the media player, and you will be provided with a direct link to quickly discover popular media apps from each of those categories from the BlackBerry App World™ storefront (app availability dependent upon your region and carrier). This is one of many ways to start enjoying media right out of the box.

BlackBerry Desktop Software and Media Sync

On top of continued support of iTunes & Windows Media® Player music sync and 2-way photo sync, BlackBerry 6 has been designed to enable you to sync videos to and from your BlackBerry smartphone (BlackBerry to PC, or PC to BlackBerry). Plus there are now greater music sync options: in addition to playlists, users will have more flexibility and will also be able to sync by individual artists or genres. Stay tuned to a future post on Inside BlackBerry about BlackBerry Desktop Software with Media Sync.

I’m very excited about the new multimedia experience that will be offered in BlackBerry 6! Post a comment and let us know of the multimedia features that you use today, or those that you’re most looking forward to in BlackBerry 6.

Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation. RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage.

One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry® smartphone to maintain proper connectivity. Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple.

Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie

After getting a new BlackBerry® smartphone, one of the first things you’ll want to do is add your email address so you can receive email on your device. Integrating your email address will allow you to receive messages in near real-time, reply and forward, filter message by sender or subject, and much more.

To integrate an email address with your BlackBerry smartphone, just complete the following steps:

1. Locate and click on the Setup folder.
2. Within the Setup folder, click on Email Settings and if prompted, review the Terms of Agreement.
3. A listing of various email providers will now be displayed:
• If you are integrating a Yahoo!, Gmail, AOL or Windows Live email address, highlight the appropriate icon and click Next.
• If you are integrating an email address from another provider, select Other.
4. Provide the email address and password and in most cases, you’re done!

For example, let’s say you want to integrate your Hotmail email address with your new BlackBerry smartphone. The steps to complete this would be as easy as selecting Windows Live™ (Hotmail, MSN®, Live) from the listing that appears after selecting Email Settings and specifying your Hotmail user name and password. After entering this information and clicking Next, you will have successfully integrated your Hotmail email address. It really is that easy to get your email delivered to your device!

Do you have a question? If so, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment!

Recently, I was at a friend’s house when they handed me their BlackBerry® smartphone and asked why they had received a message from blackberry.com stating that their email account required re-confirmation. The message they received stated the following in the opening paragraph:

“You must confirm your email account password on your BlackBerry device by July 1st, 2010 to continue sending or receiving email messages for this account. Microsoft Corporation requires Windows Live email account users who use mobile devices to validate their accounts every 360 days. Other email accounts on your BlackBerry device will not be affected.”

My friend wondered what this message meant exactly, and why they had received it. Here’s what I told them, to help clear up any confusion:

If you are using a Windows Live™ (Windows Live Hotmail, MSN or Bell Sympatico, for example) email address with the BlackBerry® Internet Service, you must re-validate your account every 360 days for security purposes. Three days prior to re-validation, Research In Motion® (RIM) will send a PIN message to your BlackBerry smartphone to let you know that re-validation is required.

The steps to re-validate your account are listed below:

1. Locate and click on the Setup folder.
2. Within the Setup folder, click on Email Settings.
3. Highlight your Hotmail email account, click the Menu key and select Edit.
4. Enter your Hotmail password and press Submit.

Completing these steps will re-validate your account and allow you to continue sending and receiving your Hotmail email messages on your BlackBerry smartphone.

If you have a Windows Live email address – or any other email address – that you would like to integrate with your BlackBerry smartphone, please check out my previous post “How to set up a personal email account on your BlackBerry smartphone”.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment!

After getting a new BlackBerry® smartphone, one of the first things you’ll want to do is add your email address so you can receive email on your device. Integrating your email address will allow you to receive messages in near real-time, reply and forward, filter message by sender or subject, and much more.

To integrate an email address with your BlackBerry smartphone, just complete the following steps:

1. Locate and click on the Setup folder.
2. Within the Setup folder, click on Email Settings and if prompted, review the Terms of Agreement.
3. A listing of various email providers will now be displayed:
• If you are integrating a Yahoo!, Gmail, AOL or Windows Live email address, highlight the appropriate icon and click Next.
• If you are integrating an email address from another provider, select Other.
4. Provide the email address and password and in most cases, you’re done!

For example, let’s say you want to integrate your Hotmail email address with your new BlackBerry smartphone. The steps to complete this would be as easy as selecting Windows Live™ (Hotmail, MSN®, Live) from the listing that appears after selecting Email Settings and specifying your Hotmail user name and password. After entering this information and clicking Next, you will have successfully integrated your Hotmail email address. It really is that easy to get your email delivered to your device!

Do you have a question? If so, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment!

After getting a new BlackBerry® smartphone, one of the first things you’ll want to do is add your email address so you can receive email on your device. Integrating your email address will allow you to receive messages in near real-time, reply and forward, filter message by sender or subject, and much more.

To integrate an email address with your BlackBerry smartphone, just complete the following steps:

1. Locate and click on the Setup folder.
2. Within the Setup folder, click on Email Settings and if prompted, review the Terms of Agreement.
3. A listing of various email providers will now be displayed:
• If you are integrating a Yahoo!, Gmail, AOL or Windows Live email address, highlight the appropriate icon and click Next.
• If you are integrating an email address from another provider, select Other.
4. Provide the email address and password and in most cases, you’re done!

For example, let’s say you want to integrate your Hotmail email address with your new BlackBerry smartphone. The steps to complete this would be as easy as selecting Windows Live™ (Hotmail, MSN®, Live) from the listing that appears after selecting Email Settings and specifying your Hotmail user name and password. After entering this information and clicking Next, you will have successfully integrated your Hotmail email address. It really is that easy to get your email delivered to your device!

Do you have a question? If so, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment!