Hello world of BlackBerry, rezn here this is our first of many posts titled “Beryfication Exclusive News & tidbits.” Every week ending we will throw this post up. Hopefully instead of keeping all the dev news to myself we can begin to share more with the world every week!

We do believe we have an official release date for the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0! Yes you read that right. No names will be revealed but our sources are some of the very best. So there’s that.

The first little tidbit is about Kisai Labs very popular Twitter client for PlayBook – Blaq! Since the last version [1.6.0] hit BlackBerry App World, Jerome & Co have been working very diligently to bring some awe-inspiring features to the PlayBook tablet. We’re not going to ruin the surprise. But a couple features we’ll let you know about are:
*TweetMarker – this is a feature that place a very attractive blue ribbon on in your timeline to bookmark last tweet across Twitter clients. and the other feature is
*Portrait View – this is a great addition, one of the most popular new features users have been asking for. There’s plenty of cosmetic changes and oodles of new treats, some better than you can imagine!

Next up is Cocky Culture. I’m sure your all familiar with the name. Tony & Co are behind many classic themes including our own exclusive Berryfication theme. Lately Tony has been working on some awesome applications (read: games) for iOS and BlackBerry PlayBook. The first game is..
*Pocket Ninjas - Your Ninja Lair is under attack! Too bad for them you’re the baddest Ninja there is. Swipe your finger across the screen to hack and slash your enemies while dodging shurikens, ditching Geisha, and ducking bad Sushi! This game is already available for iOS now here, and will be coming to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet post OS 2.0. The other game is already 20 levels deep, and will hit the PlayBook first!
*Love Birds – Not all birds are angry! A physics based game I’m working on. Hopefully drops sometime in February! Actually Tony did let me know he hopes for a VDay release, even if the game only launches with the 20 levels that are ready to go! Pretty darn cute and fun mechanics! See the YouTube video of Love Birds for BlackBerry PlayBook here.

The third treat we have for you is about the BlackBerry PlayBook ..Well PlayBook tablet OS 2.0 [official]. There’s a lot of talk about it launching soon. I’ve been scouting around, listening carefully and can’t help but notice how little BlackBerry exclusive apps have come out lately, even the BlackBerry Beta Zone has been a ghost town. This is great news actually! I think RIM is pulling all resources into the PlayBook and the official release date will be..
**BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 – February 7th, 2012.

This is according to what some very good resources are telling us. Seems like they would wait for Valentine’s Day the following Tuesday. But I think we’ll all be okay with this date here. What do you think?

Stick around Berryfication.com, we will continue with these posts every week with more exclusive news & tidbits!
-rezn out!

You wake up in a cold sweat and realize that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, yet you’ve done nothing to prepare for it. Whether you’re a week, a day or even an hour away from celebrating with that special someone, we’ve got step by step plans to help your readers deliver that romantic Valentine’s Day moment.

Our Step-by-Step Plan for one week out:

Your significant other may hope you’ve been planning for the magic moment since… oh… last Valentine’s Day… but with this fool proof plan, she’ll never know the difference

° Step 1: There’s nothing she’ll find more romantic than a surprise retreat to a romantic location. Book a quick getaway with the BlackBerry Travel app. Book transportation, lodging, etc., all while you’re pretending to be sending out a very important email during staff meeting

° Step 2: To locate a hot dinner spot at your destination, use the OpenTable app.  OpenTable will show you real-time table availability at nearby restaurants. Refine your search by cuisine, price, or reservation time, and then make your reservation from your BlackBerry. If you’re feeling more adventurous , check out the 101 Best Date Ideas .

° Step 3: Next up? The perfect gift. To narrow your options, use the Giftopia BlackBerry app where you can track her sizes, favorite colors and brands. For a little something extra, use the 1-800-Flowers app to browse floral arrangements and find the perfect bouquet.  They’ll be waiting for her when you arrive.

° Step 4: Your Valentine’s Day is booked with time to spare, but if you want to ensure the romance continues, check out the 101 Romantic Ideas app for tips and tricks to keep the fire going throughout the whole trip (and beyond)!

° Step 5: Remember to BBM her first thing in the morning on February 14 to wish her a Happy Valentine’s Day, tell her to pack her overnight bag, and meet you for a Valentine’s Day surprise. Last step? Pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

Source: RIM Media

Just got an email from Ninja Otter, you’ll remember them from their popular Talking Alarm Clock app Wakeful here. Well now they’ve built a pretty darn clever app called Compilr for BlackBerry PlayBook that enables devs to write code directly from the PlayBook itself!

Patrick says, “the idea behind the app is to remove all hassles around development.” “And the easiest way to do that is to push the experience to the web, removing almost all friction for the developers!”

I saw the email and wasted no time starting my roundhouse of advertisement. These guys are pretty clever and if your looking to get into development, I’d say there’s no better time than now!

According to Ninja Otter, they’ve already seen the product grow to 80,000 users and the BlackBerry community is responding very well.

Compilr is an online integrated development environment for programming languages like PHP, C++, Ruby, Java, C# and Visual Basic. Check it out below!

Download Compilr FREE to your PlayBook here!

The PlayBook is becoming a lot more popular. RIM is offering & supporting great tools to Android, iPhone and of course their own developers everyday. It can be intimidating to sift through all the new apps and games in BlackBerry App World. But one didn’t get by me recently.. KAMI RETRO by Paw Print Games Ltd.

KAMI RETRO is compatible for BlackBerry PlayBook tablets 1.x OS & up. The game was originally built for the iPhone though performance is awesome on my tablet running the OS 2.0 beta.

I’ve only had a little over 24 hours with the game so I can’t give it a full review yet but I can say that it is pretty genius. Combining the classic Nintendo fanboy in me with a well balanced diet of pharmaceuticals prescribed to a teenager with hyperactivity! The screen is popping with action all over the place, music is chiming, stars, chickens & cows are dancing.. Your a  cool ramboo looking dude just trying to survive by not becoming a crocs b-fast.

Cool gestures move you around sprite levels. Each new feature, gesture gets a fair little intro giving you enough time to get the hang of it. The price is $4.99 which may be too steep for some, but I was not going to pass down rainbows and rambo’s because a game is a couple dollars more than some of the others in App World.

I did try very hard to get a screenshot of all the action taking place with gestures, bandana’s and free love. It’s not an easy task let me tell ya! This game is best live with oatmeal and a cold glass of orange juice! Check it out below!

Grab KAMI RETRO in BlackBerry App World here!

I’ve only just discovered Incipio products in the last 2 years. Once thing that draws me towards them is the candy-like architecture of some of their cases. The latest they sent over is their feather Hard Shell Case for BlackBerry Bold 9900-9930.

This is the third feather Hard Shell I’ve used from Incipio and it is by far my favorite. It’s a Built for BlackBerry product and fits like a glove. The feather is available is 5 different colors and sells for a reasonable $24.99. I took a go at the Black version myself.

Features – Info

° Ultra Light Polymer
° Soft Touch Matte Finish
° Less Than 1mm Thin
° Surface Protector Kit [included]
° Cleaning Cloth $ Smoothie Card

The colors are Black, Pink, Iridescent Dark Gray, Iridescent Turquoise and Iridescent White. The Pink and Iridescent Turquoise colors are very “cotton-candy-like” as you can see from the images.

Now if your an accessory hound like I am, you might tend to categorize cases by style, ruggedness, protection etc. In that retrospect I put the “feather Hard Shell” in the lightweight style category. It’s not the case I’d choose from them if you moonlight as a monster truck driver, but if you love to command your audience while enjoying the original form of the Bold 99xx series this is your case.

Taking a little turn back, if you are looking for something with more protection, I’d easily suggest their SILICRYLIC Hard Shells for Bold 99oo series and prior. I haven’t had a chance to try the new Bold one, but given the opportunity I would jump on it.

Other notable features I would point out is easy access to the side buttons, and all ports. The matte finish gives the case a good grip in your hands, keeps the finger prints/grease a bit less noticeable. Easy on/easy off. Your Bold sits on a pillow-like cushion which adds a little comfort and eases the mind of creating any case damage. A nice case especially for the price!

Check out all Incipio’s products here http://www.myincipio.com

Grab your own feather Hard Shell for BlackBerry Bold 9900-9930 here

No this is not another instant messaging service. Ekboo – Crypto Chat is much more clever than that in my opinion. Ekboo is all about data confidentiality. The application communicates using encrypted messages with RSA asymmetric key algorithm.

Sounds a little confusing, I know. But the idea is pretty slick. Especially if you prefer to keep your BBM’s private. Maybe your working on a Startup, or plain don’t like the idea of the people in your office, home reading your BBM messages.

Features

° Communicate using encrypted messages with RSA asymmetric key algorithm
° Exchange of keys on the fly
° Notifications, in a transparent manner to the user, communicates the receipt and reading of every message sent to the recipient even in case of temporary unread messages
° Textbomb
° Remote Clear Chat
° Panic Button
° Pin Lock Chat

From jump street you open Ekboo and connect to BBM. Once connected you can invite friends to use the crypto chat. The app requires an initial reboot upon installation which it may not ask you for. My suggestion is the same with any app, go into your permissions and set them to ALL.

Once you have another user to chat with you can then begin a BBM conversation that’s as safe as the New York Federal Reserve.

Ekboo offers even some more surprises underground buried with the already safe RSA asymmetric key algorithm encryption. The exchange of keys on the fly allows users to generate new keys at any moment. Textbombs are exactly what they sound like, except nobody dies. A preset timer will self destruct a BBM to your recipient should they fail to read the message in a timely manner.

The Remote Chat Clear is brilliant – Ekboo users has the option to cancel the conversation with another user through a command in the menu of the conversation even without the user’s permission – Ekboo Ltd

Add in another great feature, the Panic Button – pressing a configurable digit for more than 5 seconds Ekboo allows you to cancel and close all the currently undergoing conversations.

Then Pin lock chat allow you to configure a pin to block access to chats to unauthorized users of course. And the last hoorah, with Ekboo all conversations and contents generated are NOT stored anywhere on the device. Whenever the device or application is rebooted all Ekboo data is lost.

I didn’t spend a lot of time with the app. It could use a little more polish, notifications don’t seem to be sized correctly for the BlackBerry 7 screensize. But considering the “presidential feature-set” it’s hard to frown on this type of security. Want to keep your BBM’s safe? Buy Ekboo, ’nuff said!

Try or Buy Ekboo in BlackBerry App World here

SHAPE Services hit us yesterday with a cool update to an already highpowered instant messenging service. IM+ Instant Messenger previous v10 bumps up to v10.1 with a nice little list of updates and bug fixes.

Check out the New Features & Fixes

° Arabic localization
° “Disable Beep” option
° Optimization of app launch
° Scrolling history bugfix
° Configurable Inbox integration
° UI improvements
° Some additional bug fixes and performance improvements

Grab IM+ Instant Messenger here!

Nailed it! BBThemes took the stock 7.x OS tray style and hammered down one of the sickest themes I’ve had the pleasure of using. Seven Point Five is compatible with BlackBerry Bold 99xx series and has been on my device 99% of every day since he sent it over.

Admitting I am very snooty when it comes to my themes. I don’t mind the stock theme on BlackBerry 7 now, but I prefer to have the option to change the look of my device at any given second. Seven Point Five combines the look of the PlayBook OS2 icons/folders, BBM Music plus some sexy custom features most of you have never seen before..

A nice tight small banner runs across the top of your homescreen. You won’t see duplicate service icons on the top banner while you rummage around in your messages folder or anywhere else. He’s nixed that annoying bug that many builders are seeing. Unfortunately there’s still no way to show the “Mobile Hotspot” icon in custom themes as far as I know. I believe this is an issue with the lack of a real Theme Studio 7. RIM will have to fix these things soon. Which I don’t imagine will be to tough.

Anyways, did I mention that I love this theme? BBThemes is one of the few builders that has made so many of my personal favorite themes. Just look at those folders! He’s customized the Compass, Calculator, the Media Player plus your icons are hot!

This theme maintains a fun aspect while remaining highly professional if you don’t want to look like your having too much fun, (in a meeting, job interview etc).

Seven Point Five is only $0.99, worth every penny. Compatible with BlackBerry 7.x devices including Bold 9900, 9930, P’9981 with support for Curve 9350, 9360, 9370 and Bold 9790 coming soon. Grab your copy in BlackBerry App World below.

Pick up Seven Point Five for $0.99 here!

CrackBerry recently posted some of the coolest news we’ve seen in our entire existence.. (almost 3 years I think). Yeah that’s right, this is the real deal. The first images of an actual BlackBerry 10 Superphone code name: London.

I know how freaking pumped I am on this device considering we share 2 BlackBerry PlayBooks in our home, my wife and I have BlackBerry 7 devices and our children see RIM as a future form of technology that they too will embrace one day.

I don’t really have any words. I love every single BlackBerry device I’ve owned. My wife has loved every single device she has owned. As I type this I have a BlackBerry PlayBook on my lap, and Bold 9930 on my thigh. My lady April has a BlackBerry PlayBook glued to her hands and a Torch 9850 sitting an inch away. We do every thing in our nature to correct people and boast about the RIM’s biggest achievements. Sure they didn’t “Press Release” this info. And at Berryfication, I’ve kept things like this off the blog. Reason being, as a professional blog we have seen a lot of “leaks” or “unreleased news’ hurt developers. That is not our goal hear. Hits, comments, and sales are great but not at another’s expense.

Time’s are changing. RIM has begun to really listen to the consumers. This started back when we all started noticing business users carry around a BlackBerry for work and an iPhone for play. This must change. And so far, post BlackBerry 99xx it has. But that’s not good enough. And these big blogs that are still roasting RIM for whatever reason, need less kerosene to pour on the flames.

According to CrackBerry the “London is actually slated for the UK (go figure), while two other models — “Laguna” and “Lisbon” are in development for the US market targeting AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. We wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Laguna and Lisbon actually launched prior to London” – Kevin Michaluk http://crackberry.com

Kevin goes on to talk hardware, which is the most exciting factor if you ask me. Keep in mind RIM usually makes different chipsets for separate carriers since AT&T, T-Mobile use GSM, whereas Sprint & Verizon use CDMA. He goes on to say, the “TI OMAP5 and Qualcomm chipsets are being tested (1.5GHz dual core processors). If we look ahead by looking at BlackBerry history, it could be that Qualcomm is for the CDMA carriers.” - Kevin Michaluk

Who’s pumped about this!

Source: CrackBerry

Research In Motion [BlackBerry] let us know today of the general availability of BlackBerry® Business Cloud Services for Microsoft Office 365. BlackBerry Business Cloud Services delivers a simple and affordable way for companies to manage BlackBerry smartphones with Microsoft® Office 365!

BlackBerry Business Cloud Services is available to Microsoft Office 365 Enterprise Plan subscribers at no extra charge! This is a secure service, hosted by RIM, directly links Microsoft® Exchange Online with BlackBerry smartphones to offer reliable, mobile access to synchronized email, calendar, contacts, tasks and memo pad. Get the full scoop here.

This is a new service for business and government organizations that extends Microsoft Exchange Online to BlackBerry® smartphones and allows customers to manage their BlackBerry deployments in the cloud. The service is available at no additional charge to current medium-sized or enterprise subscribers of the Office 365 suite or standalone Exchange Online, and works with BlackBerry smartphones on business or consumer data plans.

In November 2011, Microsoft announced that already, 40 percent of the global Interbrand list of the 100 top brands use Office 365 or related cloud productivity services from Microsoft.  Combined with over 90 percent of the Fortune 500 already using BlackBerry, the announcement today provides even more convenience for the growing number of businesses using BlackBerry devices and Microsoft Office 365.

See the full Press Release: http://press.rim.com/release.jsp?id=5359

Source: RIM