BlackBerry Curve 85xx Stops Bullet from Victim’s Boyfriend

A Dayton woman escaped injury after he BlackBerry Curve 8500 series smartphone stopped a bullet. The woman and her boyfriend were out for dinner, and as they were leaving the boyfriend went to put his jacket on… While he was putting his jacket on it caught on his handgun and fired directly at the woman. The bulletin nailed the woman’s BlackBerry which was in her pocket. The BlackBerry Curve is no longer usable, and now the woman needs to replace her Curve and green Barely There Case from Case-Mate. But she she just has minor bruising and a whole in her jeans, instead of a whole in her.

RIM to announce “BESX” on Tuesday? Will offer free Personal BES-like Solution?

I’ve been using a BES server for a while now, and honestly I don’t really need it, except I love the remote backup/restore feature. According to Boy Genius, RIM is getting ready to make a “huge” announcement on Tuesday in Barcelona. RIM’s co-CEO Mike Lazaridis is said to be announcing a new refreshed version of BlackBerry Enterprise Express (BESX) for free, with unlimited BES users. This will allow consumers to hopefully do remote backup and restore on the go, plus OTA (over the air) syncing. Apparently the new services will launch on March 1st. I guess we will have to wait until Tuesday for more information…BlackBerry

TweetGenius gets updated to version 1.1.3

TweetGenius, one of my favorite Twitter apps, just updated today. TweetGenius’ new update is v1.1.3. So far I noticed the “Fetch New Tweets” at the top of each section. One of the reasons I love TweetGenius is the nice colors

and how easy sending pics is, but also for the “poof” when you send a tweet.

I noticed the update when I was checking my Twitter, and it alerted me of an update, I clicked and was taken by browser to the update download

. I had to reboot after the update and was happy to see that Tweet Genius had that surprise today. If you have TweetGenius, now’s a good time to update. If you don’t have it, TweetGenius is available for $7.99. TweetGenius is the creation of Boy Genius and has collaboted with beejive as well. Tweet smart, TweetGenius.

If you have TweetGenius, download the latest updated version here

Here are the features of TweetGenius:

• Send tweets
• Automatically fetch new tweets in the background
• Save tweets as favorites
• Delete tweets
• Send your GPS location
• Send photos to numerous online photo services
• Shorten URLs with bit.ly
• View trends
• Search in real time
• Mark messages as read when you’re done reading them
• Customize themes and fonts
• View photos
• View user profiles and timelines
• View users by both username and real name

Technical notes are as follows:

• Supports WiFi
• Tested on BlackBerry OS 5.0, 4.7.1, 4.7, 4.6.1, 4.6, 4.5, and 4.3
• Supports both QWERTY and touchscreen devices (SureType devices, e.g. Pearl and Flip Pearl, are not supported)
• With free updates until version 2.0

You can grab a copy of TweetGenius while it’s still on sale for $7.99 here

If you have TweetGenius, let us know what you think. If you’re curious about it and would like to know more, let me know and I’ll post a review. If you’re not interested in TweetGenius, let us know what your favorite Twitter app is and why.

BlackBerry Gets A Step Up

foursquare is the latest app/game for BlackBerry that if you have a Facebook or Twitter, you’ve had to wonder what it is if you don’t already have it. foursquare updated to v1.0.12. This new update brings the option of adding friends by Twitter, email, and phone numbers.

I’m barely learning how to play and I’ve been trying to remember to check in. It reminds me of Monopoly, a treasure hunt, and loopt all in one. You have the chance to unlock badges, become mayor of certain places, and see where your friends are. There’s also certain places and vendors that also participate. It’s another social networking app that makes it fun. The more friends you have and more places you go, the more fun it can be.

If you’re interested in foursquare, you should check it out, especially since it’s free!

Grab your free updated copy of foursquare here

I’m going to do a little more on foursquare later when I get a little more acquainted with it, but I’d like to know if you have it and what you think of it so far, or why you’re not interested or curious if you haven’t tried it yet. Do you dare to foursquare?

SIRIUS/XM App For BlackBerry

I had the chance to check out the SIRIUS/XM Radio App and I have to admit, I can see where the die-hard SIRIUS/XM users are thrilled. The app is free to download and free to use for seven days, but to use beyond that means you have to subscribe to the service. The app actually works great with the SIRIUS/XM’s Premium Online content. Ready to get more Sirius?

So what is SIRIUS/XM? SIRIUS XM is Satellite radio, from which you can listen to what you want when you want. It’s 100% commercial-free. There are over 130 channels available, sports, news, talk, and comedy channels. It has crystal-free coast to coast coverage. But for the BlackBerry app, it’s slightly different. So let’s see what the SIRIUSs XM app has and does.

The SIRIUS/XM app for BlackBerry states it has over 120 channels, slightly shy of the full satellite radio.

So these are the main features:

• Surf through over 120 channels of SIRIUS XM Premium Online Programming on the go.
• Bookmark SIRIUS XM internet channels for fast, easy access through a “Favorites” function.
• View the current channel plus what is playing on all other channels via the “Lookaround” function.

BlackBerry with compatible devices can download the app for free and register for a free 7-day trial to SIRIUS XM Premium Online on the smartphone. If you want to listen past the 7-day trial, you will have to either subscribe or be a current subscriber to the service.

I installed the SIRIUS XM app for BlackBerry on my BlackBerry Tour 9630, running 5.0. It installed quickly and easily onto my Tour. I had the page to sign in, and it was that easy. For some reason, the first time I ran it, it made my phone heat up to the point where it wouldn’t charge and I had to do a battery cool and wait a few so my BlackBerry cool down a bit. But after the first day and the battery pull, it hasn’t done that again.

When you open the app, you can see your battery life and time on the top left and the bars of service on the top right. The SIRIUS/XM bar is after thant and you see: Home, Categories, Channels, Favorites, and Settings. Home will show you what channel you’re on and what’s playing. Categories list the following: Pop (15 channels); Rock (21 channels); Dance & Electronic (5 channels); Hip Hip/R&B (7 channels); Country (7 channels); Christian (3 channels); Jazz, Blues & Standards (8 channels); Classical (3 channels); Latin & World (3 channels); Sports (6 channels); Entertainment (9 channels); Family/Health (3 channels); Comedy (4 channels); News & Public Radio (9 channels); Talk (7 channels); Religion (4 channels); and Showcase (4 channels).

I’ll give you an example of the stations

• SIRIUS XM Hits 1
• The Blend
• SIRIUS XM LOVE
• 40s on 4 (Big Bands and Swing)
• 50s on 5
• 60s on 6
• 70s on 7
• 80s on 8
• 90s on 9
• BBC Radio 1
• The Pulse
• Alt Nation
• SIRIUS XM NU Indie Rock

and more

And of course all kinds of sports and talks shows including: MLB Home Plate, SIRIUS NFL Radio, NHL Home Ice, PGA TOUR, Mad Dog Radio with Chris Russo, CNN, Fox News Talk, NPR, The Foxxhole channel presented by Jamie Foxx, Blue Collar Comedy Radio, The Virus featuring Opie & Anthony, Playboy Radio, Rosie Radio, Oprah Radio, and Martha Stewart Living Radio.

Music is clear, and there’s a great selection out there. I was even happy to hear George Carlin on the comedy channel. You can find FAQs and Tips through your settings. I loved that I could find The Alan Parsons Project, the Beatles, even old ACDC. I liked the app, the music and the quality.

Cons: What I didn’t like about the app is the bit of a long pause when the radio is interrupted by some sort of incoming message. And I know I’ve been used to Pandora as SIRIUS is a true radio as the song is playing in real time. Only a 7-day trial then you must pay or be a current subscriber to go beyond. Of course, if you love SIRIUS, there’s no contest.

Pros: Music is clear, There’s quite the variety. You could listen for hours with the variety that is offered. This is the perfect compliment to having SIRIUS at home and in your car. Be SIRIUS and make it mobile.

The SIRIUS XM app is compatible with the following BlackBerry Devices: Curve 8500, Curve 8900, Bold 9000, Bold 9700, Storm/Storm2, and the Tour 9630.

SALE: 50% off Shape Service’s Top 10 Selling BlackBerry Apps 2010

Shape Services is known for their awesome BlackBerry apps, including IM+, IM+ for Skype, RDM+ Remote Desktop for Mobiles, and others. This weekend Shape Services has decided to offer 50% off their top 10 selling apps, until Saturday. You can save up to $19.98 on some apps, and all you have to do is follow the link below to visit the BlackBerry Sync Store.

More Proof Fido’s getting the BlackBerry Curve 8520 Shortly…

We’ve been hearing for a while that Fido will be releasing the entry level BlackBerry Curve 8520. The guys over at MobileSyrup have been doing some poking around trying to find it, and it looks like they did. If you look hard enough on Best Buy Canada’s website you will find a picture of the Fido branded BlackBerry Curve 8520. The Curve 8520 is expected to replace Fido’s aging Pearl 8100 smartphone, which they launched with their BlackBerry service well over a year ago. Pricing is expected to run about $50 with three year contract (on voice and data plan) or $400 without. The latest rumors indicate we might see the Curve 8520 hit Fido around February 22nd, but Fido is still yet to say anything. Stay tuned we will update you when we find out more…BlackBerry Curve