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This week at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, we’re excited about the new OS update for BlackBerry® smartphones. A few of the fantastic features include mobile Wi-Fi® hotspot, BlackBerry® Tag, FM Radio, contextual deals via BlackBerry® Travel™ and BlackBerry® Maps, voice navigation in BlackBerry Traffic, and Wi-Fi calling. This update truly shifts the BlackBerry smartphone experience to the next level, and combined with the upcoming BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS 2.0, you’ll have a fantastic combination of communication, business, and lifestyle tools.

With access to some of the people at Research In Motion® (RIM®) who work behind the scenes to develop and craft BlackBerry® products and software, we thought we would take the opportunity to provide an insider perspective on this OS update as well as the philosophy behind the BlackBerry smartphone platform. I managed to grab Annu Dawar, Senior Product Manager for BlackBerry® 7, here at CES to give us the full scoop. Check out the video above!

• Wi-Fi hotspot
• BlackBerry Tag
• FM Radio
• Contextual deals via BlackBerry Travel and BlackBerry Maps
• Voice navigation in BlackBerry Traffic
• Wi-Fi calling

Pick the feature from above that you’re most looking forward to, and tell us in the comments how it will impact the day-to-day use of your BlackBerry smartphone!

The BlackBerry 7.1 OS update will begin rolling out from carriers around the world beginning today and over the coming weeks, and offers some great new features that we wanted to highlight here:

• Mobile Hotspot: Turn your BlackBerry 7.1 OS device into a Wi-Fi® router anywhere, anytime! The new OS seamlessly provides Internet access for up to five Wi-Fi devices, including laptops and tablets.
• Universal Search: For this new release, we wanted to focus on the intelligence of our system and our apps – in other words, we wanted to create an intuitive experience that does the thinking for you. For example, Universal Search now has a new auto-suggest feature that that intelligently filters Bing® search results to offer you a variety of relevant Web sites based on your search terms.
• BlackBerry® Tag: Share contacts, media and files, and even invite friends to BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM) through a simple touch. BlackBerry Tag unlocks near field communication (NFC) capabilities for everyday use and makes sharing a lot faster and much more personal.
• Wi-Fi® Calling (where available): With BlackBerry 7.1 OS, you’ll be able to make Wi-Fi calls using your carrier’s Wi-Fi calling service (aka UMA-lite or GAN-lite). Wi-Fi calling allows you to save your talk time minutes and make phone calls over any Wi-Fi network. Not all carriers offer such a service so check with your carrier for availability.
• FM Radio: The BlackBerry 7.1 OS update will let BlackBerry® Curve™ 9360 and 9380 smartphone customers enjoy FM radio. The Curve models include a built-in FM radio so you can tune in to local FM radio stations. Simply plug in your headset to boost the reception (it acts as the antenna). Plus, no data usage or data plan required!
• BlackBerry® Maps:

When you launch the new BlackBerry Maps you’ll be able to discover special offers, coupons and discounts from nearby vendors – and, of course, you can act instantly by calling about the deal, finding the best route to get there, or grabbing the coupon code.

But that’s not all the surprises we have in store for you today – along with the new OS update, we’ve also released updates to a number of other popular BlackBerry smartphone apps! We’re continuously taking steps to enhance your social experiences on your BlackBerry smartphone. We are making the apps you know and love even more intelligent and intuitive with upgrades to help you manage your daily tasks or plan for your next big adventure.

Here’s what we’ve got for you:

BBM is now 6.1

It’s the BBM you know and love, taking your social experience to a whole new level. Now with BlackBerry Tag integration, you can invite a friend to BBM by simply tapping your NFC enabled BlackBerry smartphones against each other. Also, by popular request from our BBM community, we’ve added more ways to personalize your messages and your profile. BBM 6.1 is now out of beta, so check out our BBM 6.1 blog post for an in-depth look at the newest features.

BlackBerry Travel

Are you a frequent flier or avid traveler? The updated BlackBerry Travel app virtually plans your trips for you, from airport pick up and drop off to accommodations and scheduling. You’ll be able to find deals on hotel and car rental options, or arrange for limo service to and from an airport. Plus, you can rest easy knowing that the BlackBerry Travel app will quickly notify you if your flight is delayed or cancelled, and that it can help you find a new flight right away. No matter where you do your booking, the automatic trip scanning feature can pull your trip details into the app, so you don’t have to. See all your travel updates in one place as they happen, and don’t worry about double and triple checking your itinerary; if you’ve missed anything, BlackBerry Travel will let you know!

BlackBerry Traffic

Getting where you want to just got easier with the new update of BlackBerry Traffic. The updated app now provides you with turn-by-turn voice guidance so figuring out how to get there is easy and hands free. BlackBerry Traffic provides you with your route and your estimated time of arrival (ETA) based on current traffic conditions – right on your BlackBerry smartphone.

So as you can see, we’ve got a whole bundle of goodies ready for #TeamBlackBerry to enjoy. We’re confident that this collection of intelligent apps will help you connect with your fellow BlackBerry smartphone users, because life is better when it’s shared in real time.

For more information and to download the new versions of BBM, BlackBerry Traffic and BlackBerry Travel visit BlackBerry App World and don’t forget to leave us a comment and let us know what you think about BlackBerry 7.1 OS and the new app updates!

For those of you attending this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2012) come visit the BlackBerry booth (South Hall 3 Booth # 30326) to see these new updates and more firsthand!

Hey everybody! It’s my pleasure today to introduce guest blogger Rob, Team Lead for BlackBerry® Maps. He’ll be going over the newly revamped BlackBerry Maps 6.0 and the features that make it a must-have app for your BlackBerry® smartphone. Take it away, Rob! – Ed.

Are you the kind of BlackBerry smartphone user that’s most comfortable with a map in front of them for navigating? Then you’ll be happy to know that when BlackBerry® 6 OS was launched, a new version of BlackBerry Maps was released with it! The release of the BlackBerry® Torch™ 9800 smartphone with BlackBerry 6 gave us the perfect opportunity to re-architecture the application and underlying platform to allow for new features and lots of future features.

The revamped BlackBerry Maps 6.0 has many changes from its predecessor. Let’s check them out!

Revamped Features in BlackBerry Maps 6.0

We have spiffy new high-quality maps that include more information, including hospitals, parking, and shopping centres. There’s also higher road density which fills out the gaps at some zoom levels. Combine this with strong colors and an easing of street line weights – you will now see multiple lanes! – and you’ve got a great app to help you get from point A to point B.

Speaking of finding a destination, if it’s a specific place or address you’re looking for, then you’ll be glad to hear that the Search engine in BlackBerry Maps 6.0 has been optimized to assist you in your trip. Plus, the look of Search has been updated and is solidly consistent. (Also, to our UK users: We’ve now got your address covered!) The new version of BlackBerry Maps also integrates with the new Universal Search feature in the BlackBerry® 6 OS, which is designed to allow users to mark locations on the map as a favorite. These favorite locations are then searchable within Universal Search.

Also, by utilizing the power of BlackBerry 6.0 OS and its touch screen support, we were able to incorporate pinch-to-zoom – in BlackBerry Maps 6.0, you can use the pinch gesture to zoom the map in and out.

Using BlackBerry Maps 6.0 to Find Your Location

Another cool new feature is that BlackBerry Maps will always know where you’re located, as long as you have cell service and a view of the sky. After all, one of the most important features you can ask for in a mapping solution is the user’s current location!

In BlackBerry Maps 6.0, we have taken advantage of the advances in cell-tower triangulation and GPS to lower the location-retrieval time to seconds. As well, the app continually keeps itself up to date with the user’s location, so a particular location will always be available.

BlackBerry Maps 6.0 Functionality

We have completely re-tooled the UI for BlackBerry Maps, and several aspects of the UI were optimized for the best possible experience. The search screens now allow users to search both addresses and local search (for places such as businesses) at the same time, and the Get Directions wizard is highly intuitive – great for helping you out when you’re stuck. All this information is clearly laid out for you to use!

Also, BlackBerry Maps 6.0 comes fully integrated with your BlackBerry smartphone’s native apps. BlackBerry Maps can be launched from numerous platforms: an email, a geotagged photo, Universal Search, BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™), and any generic text field (for example, typing in an address can launch Maps).

BlackBerry Maps 6.0 currently comes bundled with all new BlackBerry smartphone devices running BlackBerry 6.0. To check and make sure that the BlackBerry Maps icon is present on your device, please visit http://www.blackberry.com/maps.

Cheers, Rob! Readers: please post a comment and let us know how you use BlackBerry Maps!

If you are using BlackBerry® Messenger, we have a neat way to send your location to your friends. Choose “Send Location” while you are in the conversation screen.*

Your friend will receive a visual description, with a map and a pointer to where you are, in the conversation window of your friend. 

If your friend does not have the latest version of BlackBerry Messenger or BlackBerry Maps installed, they will receive the location information as a URL. If they plug the URL in any desktop internet browser, it will display a map and your location in the browser.

*Note that you and your contact need a device with 4.6 and above with BlackBerry Maps installed to take advantage of this feature.