[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

If you love making music, be sure to swing by the BlackBerry App World™ storefront to check out the award-winning MorphWiz-Play application. I’ve been using the app for about a month now, and my favorite synthesizer patch by far is called “Rush Analogue” – check it out!

Have you been using MorphWiz-Play? Be sure to let us know what your favorite patch is in the comments.

It’s that time of year, #TeamBlackBerry students — you’re cramming to make the grade, and hopefully you’ve got all the right credits to ace your finals and graduate (with honors!). But what about life after school? Have you thought about what you’re going to do in the “real world”?

Sorry if I gave you a bit of a scare there (or sounded too much like your dad). While you ponder your future, check out my top 5 apps for grads to help you along:

1. Evernote: Life is busy and your brain is stuffed to the brim with knowledge. Evernote is simple to use and helps you keep track of all your notes, files, pics, and audio notes as they happen. Click on over to Evernote for BlackBerry® smartphone and Evernote for BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet, so you can give your memory a rest. Also works great as a study aid for that final exam!

2. SideSwipe: The world is busy place, and as you embark on your next adventure, you’ll definitely want to keep tuned in to worldly events as they happen. SideSwipe is a nice news aggregator for BlackBerry smartphone.

3. Top Gear: Now that you’re all grown up, you might be looking for a new car. The ones featured here may be a bit out of budget, but that’s also another thing you need: motivation! A grad can dream, right? In the meantime, you can practice driving your dream car with Top Gear for BlackBerry smartphone and Top Gear for BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

4. InstaPhoto: Unless you have a superhuman memory, those magical moments of graduation won’t last a lifetime if you don’t capture them. InstaPhoto is my favorite way to customize your images and share them with your friends, family, and the world via social media. I, for one, happen to think that my pictures look way better with trendy filters on. Snap this one up and snap away!

5. Poynt: After you graduate, you may find yourself in a brand new city for a new career or your next adventure. Poynt is designed to help you find what you need and keep you connected to where it’s at. You can even make in-app purchases on things like movie tickets, make reservations at local restaurants and take advantage of local deals. Wherever you go, you’ll want to make sure Poynt goes with you by using Poynt for BlackBerry smartphone or Poynt for BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

You may not have locked down what you want to do with your life, but rest assured these apps will help you enjoy the journey a little more. Got a favorite app that you couldn’t have survived school without? Let us know in the comments.

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

Evernote® is a mobile app that allows you to save ideas and notes, access them from the cloud, and synchronize them across multiple devices including both desktop PC’s and mobile platforms. Recently I caught up with Seth Hitchings of Evernote® Corporation at BlackBerry® DevCon Americas 2011 to chat about Evernote for the BlackBerry® PlayBook™, as well as how the tablet form-factor caters to an intuitive user interface. Check out the video above for the full interview.

#1 – Poynt

(YouTube link for easy mobile viewing)

Poynt received the most mentions among #TeamBlackBerry, and is definitely one of my must-have apps. With Poynt, you can quickly find restaurants, movie theaters and other businesses around your current location – and easily call or email them right from the app. Their BlackBerry PlayBook tablet version is amazing, too – and works with the BlackBerry smartphone version to do some cool things. For example, check out the video above to see how you can find the phone number of a local restaurant using Poynt, and then push the phone number to your BlackBerry smartphone to start the call!

Download Poynt for BlackBerry smartphones
Download Poynt for BlackBerry PlayBook tablet

#2 – BlackBerry Travel

It doesn’t matter if you’re a serious “no checked baggage” business traveler or a “seeing the world” backpacker, BlackBerry® Travel is a must-have, second only to your toothbrush. When you receive an email from your travel agent, BlackBerry Travel can automatically import the details and create a trip record for you. If there are any flight changes, BlackBerry Travel is designed to alert you right away and can even suggest alternate flights. The recently released BlackBerry Travel v1.1 even allows you to book a rental car right from the app.

Download BlackBerry Travel for BlackBerry smartphone

#3 – Tube Map

This is great app suggestion from our #TeamBlackBerry UK members. Whether you live in London or plan to visit (for holiday, for the Olympics, or for a decent cup of tea), you can easilynavigate London’s subway with Tube Map. Tube Map is designed to provide you with more than just static maps, you get live updates of train delays and schedule changes, too.

Download Tube Map for BlackBerry smartphones

#4 – foursquare

Foursquare isn’t just for becoming mayor of your local watering hole, it’s also my go to tool for finding cool things around me when I’m traveling. I can launch the app and see what my friends are up to, or use the ‘Explore’ section to see what’s trending around me. The locals always know where the best places are, and there’s no better way to find out where they are then with foursquare!

Download foursquare for BlackBerry smartphones

#5 – Navita Translator

Nothing is worse when traveling in a foreign country than not being able to ask for directions or for a recommendation from a local. Navita Translator makes sure you never have to go through that (again) by designing the app to let you quickly translate any phrase and even read the phrase back to you in languages like English, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, German and Russian. ¿dónde está el baño? Nice!

Download Navita Translator for BlackBerry smartphone and BlackBerry PlayBook tablet

Post a comment and let us know of any great travel apps that may have been missed. Make sure to send us more top 5 ideas for future posts too, either in the comments or with a tweet to @BlackBerry / @BlackBerryBlog.

If you’re like me, you must find yourself checking the BlackBerry App World™ storefront on your BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet everyday to see what’s new, what’s popular, and what’s featured. I recently tweeted that I was going to write a post for the Inside BlackBerry blog on what your favorite BlackBerry PlayBook tablet apps are…and the responses were both awesome and overwhelming! Based on the feedback, I now present the Top 5 BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Apps – as chosen by #TeamBlackBerry.

#1 Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook tablet

The Facebook® for BlackBerry PlayBook tablet app was the most mentioned app and a personal favorite of mine. It also received a nice update recently, so read more about that here: Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Update Now Available. With BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.5, we’re also preloading Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook on all BlackBerry PlayBook tablets now. Current BlackBerry PlayBook tablet users who update to v1.0.5 will automatically receive the updated Facebook app. Alternatively, you can grab the update to the app from BlackBerry App World, of course!

#2 Poynt for BlackBerry PlayBook

Need a recommendation for dinner? Want to buy movie tickets for a date night? Well, the awesome Super App – Poynt for BlackBerry PlayBook – is there for you. #TeamBlackBerry ranked this the #2 BlackBerry PlayBook tablet app – and for good reason. Beyond the awesome BlackBerry PlayBook tablet version features, it also integrates with Poynt on your BlackBerry smartphone – allowing you send a restaurant’s address and phone number directly to your contact list. Watch this video to learn more:

[YouTube link for easy mobile viewing]

#3 Doodle Blast

#TeamBlackBerry gamers love a challenge, and nothing quite delivers like the addictive Doodle Blast from FlexibleAIR. You have to use your doodle drawing skills to get all the marbles into the cup – without running out of ink (not as easy as it sounds! – Ed.). I’ve spent many a conference call playing this game. Uh, I mean intently paying attention.

#4 Need for Speed™ Undercover

One app that really kicked off excitement for BlackBerry PlayBook tablet apps is the Need for Speed Undercover for BlackBerry PlayBook. Personally I love Electronic Art’s TETRIS® for BlackBerry PlayBook more – but I’m biased towards puzzle games.

#5 GeeReader

I wasn’t surprised by the fact that GeeReader is another #TeamBlackBerry favorite – I believe this is one of the best RSS readers out there, especially with its awesome Google Reader integrations. You just sign in with your Google account and boom – all your favorite feeds appear in one easy-to-read view. If you like GeeReader, you might want to also check out the recently released BlackBerry® News for BlackBerry PlayBook app.

Here’s your next assignment, #TeamBlackBerry: It’s June and that means vacation time for many. What are your top 5 apps for travelling? Post a comment here and tweet @BlackBerry with your favorites and you’ll see a new Top 5 post soon!

We’re excited to announce the availability of BlackBerry® News for the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet in the BlackBerry App World™ storefront! We’ve optimized the news reading experience to accommodate the larger screen size the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet provides, as well as leveraged all gesture support to help immerse you in your news.

With BlackBerry News, you can add any RSS feed from your favorite news sites, favorite blogs, or other popular sites with syndicated content, so all the news you’ve subscribed to comes to you in one place. This application is an extension of the BlackBerry News Feeds application currently available for BlackBerry smartphones.

This application is currently available in the US and Canada, and will be available in other countries later this year.

Accessing and reading feeds

BlackBerry News takes advantage of your BlackBerry® ID, so if you are a BlackBerry News Feeds user on the BlackBerry smartphone side, your subscription will be automatically brought over and synced up between both BlackBerry smartphone and BlackBerry tablet applications.

First-time users of BlackBerry News – specifically those using the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet – will notice curated news feeds in specific categories, where we’ve chosen multiple content providers to populate content. The curated feeds come in the following categories: Arts & Entertainment, Business, Health & Lifestyle, News Headlines, Science & the Environment, Technology, and Travel. These news feeds are exclusively available for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet version of the BlackBerry News app, and can be found in the “News Categories” section of the app if you’re looking for a way to subscribe to those feeds.

Clicking on a subscription then gets you to an abbreviated summary view of articles within that news feed, so you can quickly scan headlines, view images and a short description of the article to determine if you want to read more of the article. You can swipe to the left to get the next page of articles, and repeat the gesture to get to the last available article.

Once you find an article you want to read, just touch on the article and you’ll be presented with a full article view.

If you’re going to be in a place where network access is unavailable, the BlackBerry News application also provides offline access to your previously downloaded feed content, so you can still read downloaded articles while you’re out of range from a Wi-Fi® signal. Acquiring new content requires connection to a Wi-Fi signal.

Adding new news feeds

You can add your own subscriptions to RSS feeds by hitting the “News Library” button. Once in the News Library, you can either search for a specific feed that you’re looking to add, or you can browse through the content library to find some of the more popular and well-known feeds. As search is currently limited to feeds indexed in the content library of the application, it’s possible you may not be able to find the RSS feed you’re looking for. In those cases, you can input the URL of the site that has the news feed that you want to add, and the app will detect if the news feeds are available for you to subscribe to.

Your subscriptions will be synced up with your BlackBerry ID, so if you’re on the go without your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, you can always catch up on the news through your BlackBerry smartphone by using our BlackBerry News Feeds application available in BlackBerry App World.

Unsubscribing to news feeds and updating content

From the “My News” home screen in the BlackBerry News application, you can use the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet bezel drop-down gesture to pull up an options menu, where you’ll be able to update your content or edit and delete any subscriptions you don’t want anymore.

You can get the recently launched BlackBerry News application for your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet in BlackBerry App World at the link below. We encourage you to post any feedback you have for us in the comments section below or the BlackBerry Support Forums, as your feedback is important to us.

Happy reading!

BlackBerry News for BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet in BlackBerry App World

Not only did we release an update for the BlackBerry® Tablet OS today, but the Facebook® for BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet app has been updated as well! The update is available as part of the OTA (over-the-air) BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.5 update and will also become available for download from the BlackBerry App World™ storefront over the next 24 hours. Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook tablet users are sure to love the new features that have been added since the initial release last month, including:

• Video uploading
• Facebook Search enhancements
• Improved access to Pages
• Message deletion
• News Feed improvements

Let’s go over the new additions!

Video Uploading

We think Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook tablet users are going to love this new feature. Using the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s high-resolution video recorder, you can shoot a video and upload it on the spot, or select an existing video from your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s media library and upload it to Facebook. How cool (and easy) is that?

Facebook Search Enhancements

Facebook Search has been enhanced with a more intuitive access point and improved search capabilities. From the new Search icon on the Notifications Bar, you can filter your Friends list using the Friends Search, find that long lost childhood friend that you’ve been meaning to connect with using the Everyone Search, and even become a fan of your favorite band’s Facebook Page using the Pages Search.

Improved Access to Pages

A new Pages tab is accessible from the Friends list where you can view My Pages and Pages You Like and seamlessly link to them to view and interact with their Wall, Info, and Photos.

Message Deletion

You can now delete a Facebook message. Simply press and hold the screen until a delete button appears, and then tap the delete button to remove the message. (Note: Deleting a Facebook message from the Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook app will also permanently delete it from your Facebook account, so use this feature wisely!)

Photo Upload Album Selection

Organization of your Facebook albums just got easier. When uploading a photo, simply select the album that you would like to upload the photo to.

News Feed Improvements

You’ll also notice that you can interact with your News Feeds via the More button to Like or comment on posts without having to leave the News Feed view. Extra convenience is a key focus in this update!

Options and Help Center

Lastly, we’ve removed the Options icon from the Notifications bar, but don’t fret: you can still access Options – as well as the Help Center and Logout button – by swiping down from the top frame of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet screen to reveal these options.

As we mentioned earlier, this update will become available for download from the BlackBerry App World storefront over the next 24 hours, and is also included in the newest OS update for the BlackBerry PlayBook – v1.0.5. Be sure to check out this exciting new release – then come back and post a comment to tell us what you think!

Michael here again with more exciting news for BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet owners: a new BlackBerry® Tablet OS update is now available! BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.5 introduces a variety of new features and enhancements, so similar to our BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.3 update post, I’ve compiled a handy list of important need-to-know information so you can hit the ground running with your updated BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Let’s do this!

Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Update and Preload

In addition being available on the BlackBerry App World™ storefront, the first tablet-optimized Facebook® application will come preloaded within BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.5. The Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook tablet app has been updated to include video uploading, Message deletion, Facebook Search enhancements and more! There’s so much in the Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook tablet update that we gave the app its own post, so click the link and check it out!

Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Update Now Available!

In-App Payments Support

The BlackBerry App World storefront now enables BlackBerry PlayBook applications with in-app payment support. Whether it’s buying another level in a game, or a new edition of a magazine, in-app payment support means dynamic possibilities for BlackBerry PlayBook applications and better apps for users. Developers should read this important post, Introducing the BlackBerry Payment Service and BlackBerry Payment Service SDK, to learn more about updating and submitting their apps to include in-app payment support.

Additional BlackBerry Tablet OS Enhancements

BlackBerry PlayBook Charging and Battery Pop-up:

• The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet can now be charged even when fully powered down.
• BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.5 now alerts you if you are using an incorrect charger with your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. For example, if you accidentally plug an incompatible BlackBerry smartphone charger into the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet you will now receive an alert on the screen to let you know that this charger will not charge your tablet.
• After touching the battery indicator on the top right corner of the home screen, a pop-up will appear and you can now choose to restart the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, turn it off, or put it into standby mode. You can also adjust the screen brightness from this same pop-up.

Additional Language Support:

With BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.5, we have added support for the following languages: French, Italian, Dutch, German, Spanish, and UK English.

Video Chat Connectivity:

We’ve added support for the TURN (Traversal Using Relay NAT) protocol, which enhances Video Chat connections between users when their call is crossing between a public network and an enterprise network behind a firewall.

Wi-Fi Hotspot Detection:

Automatic Wi-Fi hotspot detection in the BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.5 makes it easier to connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot (at a coffee shop or airport, for example) during the set up process.

Headset Audio Boost:

This new option allows you to add an extra level of volume to help maintain an enjoyable audio experience with your headset in noisier areas, such as airplanes.

How to upgrade to BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.5

Users who purchase and activate a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet on or after Tuesday, June 7th, 2011 will be automatically updated to v1.0.5 as part of the BlackBerry PlayBook setup process. Existing BlackBerry PlayBook users will be presented with a software update notification on the BlackBerry PlayBook status ribbon, or they can go check for the software update at any time in the Settings Menu under Software Updates.

Post a comment and let us know what you think of these new features added to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet!

With the recent launch of the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet, there has been a lot of excitement and activity around developing Web content for the platform as well as using the BlackBerry® WebWorks™ SDK to produce fully-featured standalone BlackBerry® applications.

I wanted to share details about some of the available debugging and profiling tools that you can use to improve the quality of your content by troubleshooting bugs, tuning changes, and optimizing performance.

Read more at the Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog »

(YouTube link for mobile viewing)

Hot on the heels of Monday’s Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook app announcement, I decided to catch up with our friend, fellow blogger and BlackBerry App World™ Project Manager, Alex Kinsella to show us the ins and outs of the new app. If you’ve got your BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet in hand, the app is available for download from BlackBerry App World right now!

Let us know what you think and feel free to post a comment if you have questions you’d like us to ask Alex! Don’t forget to check Monday’s post for more information:

New Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet App