RIM Reveals BlackBerry 10 Movie, TV and Music Partners

RIM will reveal the final version of BlackBerry 10 on Wednesday and it’s already starting to provide new details on what to expect. The company on Monday revealed its music, TV and movie partners for BlackBerry World, the firm’s new ecosystem that includes apps, videos, music and more.

On the movie front, you can expect films from: 20^th Century Fox, Entertainment One (eOne), Lionsgate, MGM, National Film Board of Canada, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (U.S.), Starz Digital Media, STUDIOCANAL, The Walt Disney Studios, Universal Pictures (U.K.) and Warner Bros.

TV shows will be available from: ABC Studios, BBC Worldwide, CBC/Radio-Canada, CBS, DHX Media, ITV, National Geographic, NBCUniversal (U.K.), Nelvana, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (U.S.), Starz Digital Media, Twentieth Century Fox Television, Univision Communications Inc. and Warner Bros. Unfortunately it looks like shows from HBO and Showtime are off the list for now.

Finally, music will be available from “all major and independent” record labels, including: 4AD Records, Domino Recording Company, finetunes, Matador Records, [PIAS] Entertainment Group, Rough Trade Records, Sony Music Entertainment, The Orchard, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, XL Recordings and Zebralution.

RIM’s music store will only be available in 18 countries at launch and videos will only be available for purchase or rent in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Be sure to check out our in-depth video of BlackBerry 10 for a closer look at what to expect.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

BlackBerry Z10 Price Unveiled in Alleged Carphone Warehouse Inventory

We’re just days away from seeing RIM finally unveil its last hope, BlackBerry 10. From what we’ve seen, we’re genuinely impressed with what the Waterloo company has accomplished—the extra time and care put into the mobile OS seems worth the wait. Needless to say, we’re very excited for the final Jan. 30 unveil, where we’ll probably see the company’s BlackBerry Z10.

With that said, the device has popped up in Carphone Warehouse inventory, possibly indicating what U.K. hopefuls might need to hunker down to get the handset SIM-free. According to the listing, the Z10 will run consumers £480, around $758 here in the U.S. Remember, this is off-contract pricing, so obviously there will be a subsidy in place when the device hits carriers. We’re so very close to RIM’s big day. So very close.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

BlackBerry 10 sees 15,000 app submissions in less than two days

RIM will be facing an uphill battle when it does eventually launch BlackBerry 10, but the company is making sure it’ll have a healthy selection of apps from the get-go by incentivizing developers. RIM recently hosted two Port-a-Thon events to encourage developers to submit their games and general apps for BlackBerry 10, offering $100 for any app approved to the store. Naturally, the promise of cash seems to have worked: 15,000 apps were submitted over the course of 37.5 hours.

Money wasn’t the only incentive, though, as BlackBerry hardware was also on offer. The first developers submitting between two and five approved apps were promised a free PlayBook, while those writing more than five approved apps were entered into a random draw to receive a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device. It’s doubtful that every app will be approved for the store, but RIM needs as many submissions as possible if the company hopes for a successful launch.

[Source: TheVerge]

Opera Mini for BlackBerry and feature phones catches up with download manager update

A mere six months since its last update to feature phones and Blackberrys, Opera Mini has refreshed itself again, this time offering up an improved download experience, both in regards to speed and file management. The new web browser is available to download now, with users able to pause and resume their downloads, customize exactly where files are saved and -- would you believe it -- download multiple files at the same time. But in all seriousness, it's hard to complain as Opera continues to roll out additional functionality for its data-savvy browser even on humbler hardware. Those looking for a quick install should point their phone's browser to m.opera.com.

[Source: Engadget]

Blackberry PlayBook 3G+ now available in the UK, 1.5GHz dual-core, 32GB storage

It was over a year ago now that we first heard about RIM's plans to release a 3G PlayBook, but it looks like it is finally here, popping up on the UK BlackBerry site. Of course, since then it's gone one better and delivered an LTE version, but if you're in the UK, and want a little PlayBook action with data to go, you can order one today. Much like its LTE sibling, it comes with 32GB of memory, and gets the same faster 1.5GHz processor too. (The original was 1.0GHz.) The kicker here? The price, at around £420 (about $690 by conversion) this is only £30 ($48) shy of Apple's 32GB WiFi and cellular iPad mini (at UK prices). On a positive note, while RIM might have had the 3G model lingering for some time, it did beatits own projections. But, with the UK now enjoying LTE, perhaps those interested in a PlayBook might campaign for the faster model to be added to the roster also.

[Source: Engadget]

Facebook Messenger for BlackBerry reaches App World, sates compulsive chatters

If you own a BlackBerry, it might not have been immediately apparent that Facebook Messenger has been an option since October; unlike with Android or iOS, you had to track down the download on Facebook's website. We don't know why it's been kept out of a more accessible channel, but that ends today with Facebook's chat-focused app arriving on BlackBerry App World like most any other title. There don't appear to be any new tricks included with the expanded availability, although we'd say that the wider exposure is enough of a highlight for an audience that just needs to get by until BlackBerry 10. Those who don't use BBM for all their instant messaging can find what they need at the source link.

[Source: Engadget]

BlackBerry outage affecting users in Europe, Middle East and Africa (update: service restored?)

While the two events are entirely unrelated, a major service outage coinciding with potentially the biggest mobile of the year hitting stores worldwide is just plain old unlucky. Users of RIM's BlackBerry service in the EMEA region are at the wrong end of a network problem affecting BBM, email and internet. At the moment it doesn't appear to be of the vast and crippling scale as last time, but small consolation if you're one of the unlucky ones. RIM has acknowledged the issue, and you can bet the farm on the fact there is more than a handful of slightly stressed engineers on the case, hoping to keep customers from making that impulse purchase. Let us know in the comments if you're affected.

Update: We've just received this official statement from RIM in the UK:

"Our apologies to any customers impacted by the BlackBerry service issue today. We can confirm that services have been restored and are now operating normally

[Source: Engadget]

Geek Competition Results - the finalists

The results of the Geek Competition were announced earlier today. It now gives us great pleasure to share the three finalists with you here. Click through to see their channels & of course subscribe if you like what you see (I am sure you will). A big thank you to all the companies involved in supplying prizes too.

First Runner-up is houlker199 who wins a Belkin Tri-Fold Folio & PowerPack 4000 (thanks to Belkin).

 Second Runner-up is TechMeOut who wins a Belkin Tri-Fold Folio & PowerPack 4000 (thanks to Belkin).

The Grand Final Winner is TechnologyGadgets who wins the following;
Blackberry Curve 9380 (thanks to Blackberry UK).
Editors Keys SL150 Mic & FCPX Keyboard (thanks to Editors Keys).
White Sennheiser HD228 Headphones (thanks to Purely Gadgets).
Belkin Conserve Surge Protector (thanks to Belkin).

Is This The 10-Inch BlackBerry PlayBook?

Photos of what could be the 10-inch version of BlackBerry’s PlayBook tablet have surfaced on Vietnamese forum Tinhte.  If real, the tablet looks very much the same as its smaller, 7-inch brother, with a simple, black design, relatively wide bezel and a BlackBerry logo on the bottom.  The device sports a SIM card slot and a sign that says “BlackBerry4G PlayBook,” which imply cellular connectivity of the fastest order. Other than that, no specifications have been revealed.  Check out many more photos of the device over at Tinhte, including a comparison with the 7-inch PlayBook and several photos of the device’s insides.

[Source: Mashable]

BlackBerry 10 gets homespun picture editor to reduce Instagram-envy (video)

BlackBerry users who routinely feel left out while friends share retro pictures of coffee and pastries on Instagram will soon have their own BB alternative. Slides released by N4BB reveal that a Scalado-powered photo editing app has been baked into BB10, which is due early next year. The software will let you tweak and enhance your casual snaps, but also offer a carousel of aged filters you can drag onto shots of your own taste-appropriate snack goods. After the break we've got an early hands-on with the app from the folks at Crackberry, which walks you through a non-working prototype.

[Source: Engadget]

Viewer Smartphones Survey

Following on from yesterdays short poll, it would be awesome if you could complete this short survey. Your answers will be covered in a forthcoming video on the Geekanoids Channel.

What type of Smartphone do you use?

I always love to learn more about my viewers & readers, so it would be awesome if you took 10 seconds out of your day and let me know what type of mobile phone you use.

Many thanks to all who took part, you can see the results below.