Earlier this evening 5.0.0.743 was leaked for the BlackBerry Bold 9700.  Shortly after we posted the leak, Optus Mobile made the OS release official..  This is quite a substantial jump from 5.0.0.680 for you 9700 owners that have been waiting for an OS upgrade.  Now your wait is over so have fun with this one.

Make sure to delete the vendor.xml file before you load this OS.

Please leave your feedback and share your opinions for the rest of us.

5.0.0.743 Official OS

I wanted to take a few minutes to see just how many of our BlackBerry aficionados have found in the usefulness of this outlet. And by chance open a channel for those who may not be aware of what Research In Motion purposes as an opportunity to sign up for beta programs and be among the first to try out new BlackBerry software.

The BlackBerry Beta Zone is a feedback platform to provide responses, reactions, comments, criticisms, in general any and all feedback so RIM developers can gauge the performance of software that BlackBerry users use on a regular basis. From time to time, these "beta" testers will be asked to complete surveys of which could help to develop a more responsive or more user friendly piece of software. That would be just one of the many aspects of helping to progress an already existing application. Unveiling new applications that are nearly complete could be an interest as well.

Of course the application to join is free. If you haven't signed up to participate, be sure to select the link in the image above. If you are currently a member of the BlackBerry Beta Zone then I bet you have shared your conclusions to the Nth degree. And don't hesitate to offer up your take here in our Zone.

Download from App World

BlackBerry Smartphone Users Can Now Access the Power of Dragon to Dictate Directly into Email, Providing the Ultimate in Flexibility, Speed and Accuracy

Nuance Communications, Inc has updated its Dragon for E-Mail application to v1.6.2 with a fix for the BlackBerry Tour.  This application was first released this past April, and got very good reviews, with the exception of Tour owners. On the Tour the app did not run very well, if at all.  The folks at Nuance have stated that with this new version installed on the Tour, it runs smooth as silk.

With Dragon for Email, spoken words are instantly transcribed, giving users the power to simply “say anything” and see their message appear up to five times faster than typing.  Dragon for Email is integrated directly into the BlackBerry Email application giving people a natural, flexible way to interact with their device.  People can use voice and text input interchangeably at any time to enter the contact name, subject line, or full message body.

Dragon for Email, which is based on Dragon Naturally Speaking, the desktop dictation software trusted by millions, joins Nuance’s broad product portfolio of speech and predictive text and search solutions found in billions of phones and millions of automobiles and consumer electronic devices.  Nuance’s mobile products are trusted by the world’s leading handset manufacturers and mobile operators, making them among the most pervasive mobile solutions on the market today. 

The folks over at Afandi Apps have released an app that allows you to use your BlackBerry smartphone like a walkie-talkie. The app is Push2Talk v1.0

Push2Talk uses Blackberry PIN messages to communicate, however, Push2Talk  does not simply record voicenotes and send them after they are recorded, Push2Talk uses an advanced algorithm to transfer your voice while it is being recorded, simulating a real walkie talkie feeling and performance.

Push2Talk allows you to send messages of 10 seconds in length at a time, and thanks to its unique algorithm, Push2Talk can transfer your messages with very small delays, only a few seconds in good connection conditions.

There are a couple of things to be aware of though:

• Push2Talk overrides the left side convenience key, which works as a Push-to-Talk button. No other function should be associated with this key for Push2Talk to function properly.
• Push2Talk transfers messages at a rate of approximately 15 kilobits per second, so unless you have an unlimited data plan, or on a Wi-fi connection, using Push2Talk can affect you data allowance.

Push2Talk is available at BlackBerry App World for $4.99. This is a one time charge, and there are NO hidden charges.

So if you have the need  to have push to talk capability on your BlackBerry, or simply the desire to fiddle around with it...Push2Talk is an inexpensive way to satisfy both emotions.

Please leave your feedback and share your opinions with the rest of us.

BlackBerry App World ~ Push2talk

WHERE for BlackBerry has been updated with a NEW look and NEW and improved features.

• WHERE now has a better looking home screen with the most popular widgets added.
• WHERE has improved it's check-in widget.  Check-in page will show number of people checked in to last 24 hrs.
• WHERE has Improved it's gas price details page. Now you can even report price of the gas if you find any discrepancy.
• WHERE weather got an enhancement.  In time of weather alert, Notification icon will appear besides “forecast” button. If you click notification icon it will take you to alert details page.

I have used this app in the past and I liked it pretty well,  I just always felt it needed a little fine tuning. Maybe this update is just what was needed.

Try it out. It's FREE and available at BlackBerry App World.

BlackBerry App World ~ WHERE

GOAL.com - Brings you the World Cup to your Device

BeeJive for BlackBerry Beta v2.1

Time to kickoff some giveaways here at TBZ. If you are like me then you probably have a Bellshare app or two on your BlackBerry. This developer makes some of the the most useful apps available. Bellshare makes apps such as BerryWeather, BerryBuzz, BerryMail and BerryPopup. I own almost every app they make and honestly could not live without my BerryWeather or BerryBuzz. So...let's give away some of those apps shall we?

We have 10 free copies of BerryWeather or BerryBuzz to give away to our TBZ members. All you have to do is leave a comment below and specify if you want BerryWeather or BerryBuzz. Simple as that. The giveaway will run through Friday at 6pm and I will announce the winners that night. So stop messin around and go leave your comment! And after you are done, make sure you let your other Berry friends know how cool TBZ is. More giveaways will be coming soon!