YouTube link

The official BlackBerry YouTube channel features a pretty cool video demonstrating the benefits of the BlackBerry platform for enterprise. The video does a good job of explaining in simple terms why an organization should use the BlackBerry “platform”.

The video also has some interesting testimonials including:

• BlackBerry saves us 100 days in productivity per year. (VW Financial Services)
• BlackBerry provides an ROI of 560%. (Forrester Research)
• BlackBerry saves enough time to make another car. (A company CIO)

Check out the video and let us know what you think.

© BlackBerry Cool for BlackBerry Cool, 2010

YouTube link

BlackBerry App World 2.0 is now available in the BlackBerry Beta Zone as an invite-based beta. If you’re registered for the Beta Zone, you’ll hopefully get a beta invite. App World 2.0 will launch with the following features and enhancements:

• Supports OS 4.5 and above
• 4.4 and below to still support App World 1.1
• App World 2.0 app is smaller than 1.1 (in KB). This is due to dropped 4.4 and below support as well as general optimizations
• Improved image caching so there will be icons and apps when you load it up right away
• New BBM-style menu hierarchy categories with a new themes section (the whole system is called top 25). The top menu items are: Recently Updated, New, Top Free, Top Paid, and Themes.

App World is now available in 65 countries worldwide and in six languages. RIM boasts over a million downloads per day which is really good considering it’s relatively new to the space. Join the beta zone at blackberry.com/beta and hopefully you’ll get your invite.

© BlackBerry Cool for BlackBerry Cool, 2010

YouTube link

The BlackBerry Bold 9780 is a pretty slick looking device that is basically the Bold 9700 but with some minor tweaks to the look and running BlackBerry 6. The above video of the 9780 gives a 5 minute walkthrough of some of the features including a preloaded facebook and podcasting app. This particular video shows off some of the Webkit browser which is one of the most highly anticipated features. Enjoy!

© BlackBerry Cool for BlackBerry Cool, 2010

The domain BlackPad.com has been registered by RIM and it looks like it could be a precursor to the launch of a BlackBerry tablet. We have heard the tablet could be named the Cobalt but maybe this means BlackPad is the final name.

It should be noted that RIM owns 4,280 other domains and a domain purchase isn’t necessarily proof of anything. Research in Motion also has registered BlackBerryPorn.com but that doesn’t mean they’re getting in the porno business.

© BlackBerry Cool for BlackBerry Cool, 2010

BerryGoodThemes let us know that they’re having a great sale right now for the month of July. From now until the end of the month, all BerryGoodThemes are on sale at $1 each – that’s 75% off!. The company has some cool themes that are definitely worth checking out including a Super Mario Bros theme.

Check out all of the BerryGoodThemes in our store and search for some great deals.

© BlackBerry Cool for BlackBerry Cool, 2010

Today ParkVu is announcing updates to Music WithMe, the BlackBerry app that lets you wirelessly sync your iTunes playlists with your BlackBerry. Tracks are downloaded via cellular network or Wi-Fi, stored on the media card and played from the BlackBerry’s own media player. On a side note, since its launch a month ago, Music WithMe has processed over 1,000,000 iTunes tracks.

Music WithMe new features include:

• Support for iTunes playlist folders – sync your playlist folder on your BlackBerry and any subsequently added playlists to the folder are automatically synced to the device
• New playlist info – In playlist screen, select ‘playlist info’ to view the number of tracks in the playlist that can be played, the number of unsupported tracks due to format or DRM protection as well as the number of tracks in the cloud, tracks needed from iTunes and tracks that can’t be found
• Support for network attached storage/media servers

Check out Music WithMe in App World for more information.

© BlackBerry Cool for BlackBerry Cool, 2010

We keep hearing that 512MB of RAM is the minimum requirement for OS 6 and while this hasn’t been confirmed by RIM, it’s good to know that devices such as the BlackBerry Bold 9650 will also be getting BlackBerry 6. It’s very possible that the OS 6 rollout could be like when OS 5 was released. We could probably expect a similar lineup of devices and backwards compatibility.

© BlackBerry Cool for BlackBerry Cool, 2010

We have talked a lot about RIM’s presence in Indonesia and the success of BlackBerry in Southeast Asia. The powerful and professional BlackBerry brand goes a long way when selling young Indonesians on the smartphone. Also, in Southeast Asia, smartphones are an effective means of getting Internet connectivity where land lines are difficult to implement.

Today RIM announced the BlackBerry Pearl 3G launch in Indonesia. There doesn’t seem to be any mention of price or carrier availability, but these announcements should be coming shortly.

Until then, read our review of the BlackBerry Pearl 3G.

© BlackBerry Cool for BlackBerry Cool, 2010

Up until fairly recently users have been asking us where to get an app that allows someone running OS 5 to send more than the CDMA defined 160 characters in an SMS. Beyond160 has been a great app for allowing users to do this but it was not available for OS 5 devices – until now. Beyond160 lets users on Verizon, Sprint, Alltel, US Cellular, Bell, Telus etc. exceed their 160 or 140 character SMS limit. When your SMS field is full, simply hit Menu>Go Beyond160 and you can continue typing as long as you like. This app also lets you send to multiple recipients or groups you’ve created.

Check out Beyond160 in the store as it comes with a fully functional 14-day trial.

[Thanks for the tip Tom!]

© BlackBerry Cool for BlackBerry Cool, 2010

UPDATE: It’s worth noting that you can only customize the missed call and charging light colors, not phone/email/SMS/whatever alerts. This app concentrates more on adding functionality with LED notifications.

MissingLight is a custom LED alert app that has recently been updated to version 2.0. The app is similar to BerryBuzz in that you can customize the LED colors based on certain applications in order to have your BlackBerry communicate with you better. BerryBuzz seems to offer more in terms of features and functionality, but the price point is set a little higher. For those looking for particular features at a lower price, MissingLight could prove to be a good alternative.

MissingLight features include:

• Custom missed call light: makes the LED blink (purple by default) if you miss a call.
• Custom charging light: makes the LED blink (yellow by default) when the battery is charging. This lets you know when your phone is fully charged (LED stops blinking).
• Force backlight on: prevents the screen backlight from auto-dimming for a preset time. Use this when you want your screen to be visible for longer than the 3 minute maximum timeout.
• Reset LED: turns the blinking LED off if some runaway alert won’t stop blinking by itself.

The LED colors for the missed call and charging lights are now customizable.

Check out MissingLight in the BlackBerryCool store.

© BlackBerry Cool for BlackBerry Cool, 2010