If using both a phone and a tablet together is a hot tech trend this year, April’s BlackBerry Fan of the Month is ON TREND.

Meet Sergio – a lean, mean, BlackBerry PlayBook-ing-machine. Sergio knows how to work hard and play hard and he uses his BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to make the best of both worlds. In his personal life, Sergio’s BlackBerry PlayBook helps him stay in touch with his loved ones – his wife, in particular (say it with us – ‘awwww!’)! And in his professional life as a successful business owner, Sergio can’t live without his tablet. It allows him to remotely manage inventory for his robotic pool cleaning company and print invoices on demand for customers. The Evernote app on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is perfect for taking notes and pictures while on the job. And, best of all, he can use it as a phone whenever he needs to. Sergio is one of the original Super Users in the Spanish BlackBerry Support Community Forums. He is extremely helpful and passionate about the BlackBerry PlayBook with impressive stats in the community:

• Total Posts: 3,704
• Total Kudos: 215
• Total Accepted Solutions: 107

Like we said, lean, mean, BlackBerry-PlayBook-ing MACHINE. Ladies and gents, I present to you, our April FOTM, Sergio(@icemanswimmer):

1. How many years have you been on Team BlackBerry?

I have proudly been part of Team BlackBerry since 2010. Honestly, I have to tell you that it has been a great experience. I never imagined my passion for BlackBerry would lead me here to be part of FOTM.

1. How many BlackBerry devices have you had in total? Could you list them all out for us?

I have had four – BlackBerry Storm 9530, BlackBerry Bold 9700, BlackBerry PlayBook tablet (I really love this one) and now I’m getting a super sexy BlackBerry Z10!

1. How many BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) contacts do you currently have?

On my BBM, I only have a select group of people, 24 right now. But I’m sure BlackBerry 10 will put me back in touch with all those that I miss.

1. What is your favorite BBM emoticon?

Definitely the laughing one. Haha.

1. What is the best BBM you ever received?

One from a customer saying that the deal was closed in our favor, definitely the best!

1. Sergio, if you could BBM your BlackBerry, what would you say? How do you think your BlackBerry would respond?

Sincerely? Please don’t tell my wife, though. I would say, I love you and I can’t live without you.

Of course the BlackBerry would answer: Me too!!

1. Sergio, we know you own your own company, selling pool products. Tell us more about how and when you started this company!

Sure, it’s a long story but I will try to be brief.
My pool business started about six years ago, I never imagined that I would be doing this. Six years ago, I was selling VoiP solutions. One day my partner met some guys that were involved in the Robotic Pool Cleaning business. They showed him all the beautiful things that robots could do, it was awesome and a really great business opportunity in a market that was not existent in Mexico at the time.

We weren’t sure where to start, but, lucky for me, I’m a swimmer and I knew people that own swimming schools or are Coaches in Acapulco or Cuernavaca, so I used that network to start selling this technology and give the business a shot!

But wait, the story doesn’t end there. Customers didn’t just want the robots to clean their pools. That was just the beginning, later they wanted more from us – they wanted chemicals, equipment, accessories, services etc, so this business has been growing as a result. Now we have more customers than we could have expected and work on some of the main pools in Mexico City.

I need to say that BlackBerry has been part of that story. These devices have been so useful for my business. Thank you guys.

1. Sergio, how does BlackBerry keep you organized with your work? (Especially since you’re one busy man!)

Well, my BlackBerry and my BlackBerry PlayBook are really my main computing devices, but the BlackBerry PlayBook has sort of won me over because I can do so many things with it.

On the PlayBook, when I’m not at the office I use remote access to check inventory or create invoices. Sometimes I also access email and Docs To Go using my BlackBerry PlayBook.

I use Evernote on the PlayBook for updating the notes I take at each customer visit. This also involves taking pictures so I have a record of water clearness or turbidity, chemical parameters, etc. These notes can be shared immediately with the customers or my suppliers when there are product issues.

Of course, presentations are part of this business, too. I edit my presentations on the PlayBook using an Office app. Sometimes I display these presentations on a LCD or LED TV and use my BlackBerry smartphone as my remote control with BlackBerry Bridge. It is so cool and it looks so profesional that customers are amazed each time I do this. In fact, when I finish the presentation, they often want to take a look at the BlackBerry PlayBook and play with the remote control feature. Haha.

Check this, one of the coolest things I do on the PlayBook is placing calls through VoiP, this turns my tablet into a ‘phablet’ but also helps me reduce my phone costs as much as 40% on local calls and 80% on international calls. I do this when I’m at my customer’s facilities, coffee shops, restaurants or when I’m traveling. The phone function even works through the internet using a modem, but the voice quality isn’t always the best.

Of course, e-mail is one of the things I use most during the day. I probably split by time on e-mail between my two devices evenly.
Getting access to web sites related to the business are part of every day tasks and I mainly do this on the PlayBook.

Those are some of the areas in which BlackBerry helps me a lot.

1. What did you think about the launch of BlackBerry 10? Did any announcement in particular stand out?

More than seeing this as BlackBerry deserving another opportunity, I thought you guys did this once, why can’t you do it again? BlackBerry 10 has all everything you need to succeed. I’m so sure of that. I believe!

About announcements, yes, of course, there were some that stood out – those about the apps that customers could expect to see and use. There are so many! Congrats to your Developer Relations Team, they are doing a great job!

1. And finally, we just have to ask: Are you prepared to handle the fame that comes with being our Fans of the Month?

Hahaha, I hope to enjoy it! Bring it on!

Be sure to check out the other awesome members of the BlackBerry Fan of the Month (FOTM) club:

January – Brian (@newshutr)
February – Ivan (@IvanSHarris)
March – Jane (@photosfromabb)
April – Josh (@BBbrodyBB)
May - Mark (@AllAboutMyBB)
June – JT (@jt_teran)
July – Kimberly (@kmcooley)
August – Mike (@flash0p)
September – Jon (@nerdologist_jon)
October – Guido (@FuriousGuido)
November – Ange (@Afl2277)
December – Zalman (@Zalman5K)
January 2013 – Arisham (@arisham2003)
February 2013 – Julie and Andrew
March 2013 – Gino (@eugenbaban)

Keep sharing your FOTM suggestions with us, either by leaving a comment below, tweeting to us @BlackBerry on Twitter, or posting on our Facebook page. Stay tuned – our April FOTM could be YOU!

In 1984, a leap year which began on a Sunday, Research In Motion (RIM) was founded in Waterloo, Ontario. Best known for the development of the BlackBerry product line, RIM, now in its late twenties, has grown up with users born that same year.

During that time, RIM has put smartphones, software and the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet in the hands of users all around the world. Mobile access to email, apps, communication and information that matters most are things that BlackBerry customers have grown accustomed to regardless of when they grew up.

Since RIM is still in its late twenties, I’d like to hear from loyal #TeamBlackBerry members under 30 years old. How has mobile technology changed in your lifetime? And what do you expect from your new BlackBerry 10 smartphone?

Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Via Flickr Creative Commons – by Tara Angkor Hotel

Last year, I wrote about BlackBerry Apps for Runners, which my wife and I have used while getting into running. Now I am by no means a hardcore diet or exercise fanatic, but I definitely care about staying in shape. So, I’ve equipped my BlackBerry smartphone with apps that help me monitor my fitness progress, and hopefully stick to my 2013 resolution.

Healthy living enthusiasts, here are some great apps available in the BlackBerry App World storefront to keep you going (or get you started).

• Calorie Counter and Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal, LLC: Monitor your food intake and exercise, plus set goals and view progress charts with this mobile app for your BlackBerry smartphone. A media darling, this mobile app has been featured in the news for its database of nearly 2 million foods and more than 350 exercises. And since I spend a good part of my day at my desk, a great bonus is that I can access my profile from the web too.

• Diet and Calorie Tracker by SparkPeople, Inc.: A major determinate of successful weight management is the setting and meeting of goals. This app excels in the ‘goals’ category, and really plays to the lazy guy in me by providing daily meal plans that keep me tracking towards my objectives. Since I like variety and get bored of the dieter’s ubiquitous chicken breast and grilled veggies, I use this Free Healthy Recipes app, also by SparkPeople, Inc. (FREE), for more than 200,000 dish ideas.

• Health Meter – Health Tracker Fitness Calculator by Pace MobiTech: This app allows users to quickly calculate their daily caloric needs by measuring BMI (Body Mass Index), BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), Body Fat and Hip-to-Waste Ratio. Other than my yearly check-up at the doctor or sporadic use of the scale at my gym, I have very little insight into these measurements. Having an app that does the math for me is a great help!

There are countless other BlackBerry device fitness apps in BlackBerry App World. Let us know some of your favorites in the comments below.

Let’s make sure that we keep ourselves—and our BlackBerry devices—warm and dry during the coming winter months by keeping an eye on the forecast with BlackBerry weather apps:

WeatherEye HD by The Weather Network: Local weather and alerts are sent straight to your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet through the WeatherEye HD app. You can receive active weather coverage and detailed forecasts for thousands of locations in cities through the U.S., Canada and other locations throughout the world.

e-Mobile Weather by e-Mobile Software, Inc.: This weather app offers live, detailed weather on your BlackBerry smartphone. You can view real-time weather reports, forecasts, trends and radar images. E-Mobile Weather also supports international cities for your trips abroad.

Weather by Simply Apps: With this app you can get day-to-day weather details and weekly weather outlooks on your BlackBerry smartphone. You can save battery life by choosing to refresh weather details automatically or manually. You can even use the GPS on your BlackBerry device for hyper-accurate weather reporting.

How do you use your BlackBerry smartphone or BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to keep tabs on Mother Nature? Let us know in the comments!

One of my favorite things about the drop in temperatures is that the holidays – and holiday meals – aren’t far away. We do a lot of planning and preparing of festive, traditional holiday meals. If you’re like me, you might even keep photos of delicious meals on your BlackBerry ® smartphone to remind yourself how the final product should look—or as a trophy for a job well done. This year, I decided not to dust off the old cookbooks, but instead prepare a gourmet holiday meal using only my BlackBerry ® PlayBook ™ tablet.

Step 1: Finding Recipes – I store cookbooks on my BlackBerry PlayBook tablet through the Kobo by Kobo, Inc. reader app. Since we make so many holiday dishes simultaneously, it’s nice that I can reclaim some counter space by having all the recipes I need on one device.

Step 2: Measuring Ingredients – It’s great to think on the fly, but when it comes to replicating a family recipe, a unit conversion app helps to ensure you’re adding the right quantities to your dishes. This will especially help if you’re travelling across borders and cooking in unfamiliar kitchens with different utensils.

Step 3: Crises Aversion – Sometimes I need to call my grandmother, mom, or mother-in-law, for a cooking tip to avoid an emergency situation. Since “showing” is always better than “telling” when it comes to food, we use the Video Chat app on our BlackBerry PlayBook tablets. They can tell me exactly what to do, and it’s often something I’ve never considered.

Step 4: Capturing the Final Meal – After developing a masterpiece, it’s important to document it. Use the camera on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to photograph your meal. Using an app like Scrapbook, create a collage with customized colors and text.

So, when cooking with a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, what recipe would you try first?

If we talked history of long-form content consumption, we’d have to debate printed periodicals replacing hand-written newssheets back in the 17th century…and who wants to have that discussion again?

I recently wrote on the Inside BlackBerry ® Blog about how we use our smartphones more for viewing and sharing social content, while we save longer form content like articles to view on tablets. Many news apps such as The Economist on BlackBerry ® PlayBook ™ tablet are formatted for easier reading on the larger screen of your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet — but if that’s not your cup of tea, then what else do you enjoy reading on a tablet over a smartphone?

Do you have any favorite news apps for your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet or BlackBerry smartphone? We’d like to hear your thoughts.

What an exciting time of year for sports fans! Football is in full swing, and the Fall Classic starts today in the world of baseball after another exciting postseason. During this time of year, with so many different sports to keep track of, I use my BlackBerry ® smartphone and BlackBerry ® PlayBook ™ tablet to stay updated. If you’re a sports fan, you’re probably doing the same. According to a survey by Motricity, 55 percent of sports fans surveyed admitted to checking game info on their devices at dinner, 50 percent while using the restroom, and 42 percent while at work. I’ve done all three!

For sports enthusiasts who are constantly on the go, here are some impressive apps for your BlackBerry smartphone or BlackBerry PlayBook tablet that will help you keep track of your favorite sports:

• MLB.com at Bat 12 by MLB Advanced Media, LP: This is the official app of MLB, which makes it the closest thing to having a sportscaster in your back pocket. One of the app’s standout features is live radio broadcasting of both home and away games, which brings the game to you wherever you happen to be.

• ScoreMobile for BlackBerry by Score Media Ventures: This app has all the bells and whistles that hardcore sports fans require to keep track of their favorite teams while on the go, like up-to-the-minute stats and live updates. My favorite feature is the exclusive blog posting during live events, which I can reference when messaging about the game with friends through in-app BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) integration. This app includes coverage of MLB, National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), National Hockey League (NHL), college football and basketball, and more!

• ScoreMobile Tablet by Score Media Ventures: I like this app because it’s optimized exclusively for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, which means it delivers all the same features and sports coverage as the smartphone app with video commentary, in both portrait and landscape views.

How do you follow your favorite sports team on your BlackBerry smartphone or BlackBerry PlayBook tablet? Let us know in the comments!

With the release of BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS 2.1 for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, several new features have been added including the ability for BlackBerry® Bridge™ users to access text messages (aka SMS messages) on their tablet devices. In order to access your text messages on your tablet, you’ll need to ensure you have BlackBerry Bridge 2.1 installed on your BlackBerry® smartphone.

Here’s a quick overview of how to ensure you are running the latest version of BlackBerry Bridge on your smartphone and upgrade it if needed.

Read more at the Inside BlackBerry Help Blog »

Great news for all you BlackBerry ® PlayBook ™ tablet fans out there. We have updated the operating system software to version 2.1 and packed some new features and functionality in to the already powerful OS. If you enjoy the multitasking, social integration and strong communications functionality in the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, you’ll love what’s new. Here are my three favorite changes:

1. Updated BlackBerry Bridge: Now you can view, respond and compose new SMS messages on their BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet when connected to a BlackBerry smartphone over Bluetooth®. You’ll also enjoy increased performance and speed of other BlackBerry Bridge functions as well. So you can do more, more efficiently. Txt away, my friends.
2. Email and PIM Enhancements: You’ve asked for it and we’ve delivered portrait support for email, calendar and contacts, giving you the option to use your tablet in either orientation to message. This will definitely come in handy for those of you who enjoy thumb typing in portrait mode like I do.
3. Improved Android Application Support: Includes Multi-Window Applications, Camera Support and In-App Payments. We all love a richer app experience, and with the improvements to the Android runtime, that’s just what you’ll get. Running the applications in separate windows allows you to multi-task between Android apps easier, and in-app payments will make it easier for you to enhance your app content. Game on!

There are also a ton new features on the enterprise side so you can separate your work from personal data, check out Luke’s post on the Inside BlackBerry for Business blog for more details. We’ve added more apps and content as well including an update to the Print to Go app and the Canadian video store now comes preloaded into the OS so there’s no need for you to download it from the BlackBerry® App World™ storefront.

The update is available starting today for the WiFi® versions of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and availability for the 4G LTE™ BlackBerry PlayBook is expected within the next month, upon carrier approval of software.

How to update your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet:

You will automatically receive a software update notification on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet status ribbon, or you can check for the software update at any time by going to the settings menu under “Software Updates” and tapping “Check for Updates”. Then follow the steps to update.

Learning more and obtaining support:

For those that have some additional questions or need additional support, visit the BlackBerry PlayBook support website. To find the support website for your specific location, visit the following link and select Get Support next to your preferred language & location.

Have a BlackBerry PlayBook? Check out the update and let us know what you think in the comments.

We recently took a look at U.S. consumer mobility trends of smartphone usage. Today I’d like to switch gears to focus on mobility trends with regard to tablet usage. Data shows that people use tablets for games, as a social tool, as e-readers, or a combination of all three. So how does your tablet usage compare?

Let’s dive in to some fun tablet stats to see how your tablet habit compares with that of your friends and neighbors:

1. 25 percent of smartphone owners also use a tablet.
2. The average tablet user spends 90 minutes on their tablet every day.
3. Over 60 percent of tablet owners use their tablet for at least 2 hours per day, and 11 percent say they use their tablet “constantly.”
4. 80 percent of tablet users say that tablets have improved their work/life balance.
5. 70 percent of tablet owners play games on their device. (I’ll raise my hand for this one, as I’m a frequent gamer on my BlackBerry ® PlayBook ™ tablet. Madden NFL 12, anyone?)
6. 60 percent of tablet owners use their device to read e-books. With larger screens than smartphones and a nearly unlimited supply of books, the ability to curl up with a good (electronic) book is becoming increasingly popular on tablets.
7. 34 percent of tablet owners use their tablets for shopping during the weekends. 46 percent of those said they would turn to a competitor’s website instead if they had a poor tablet shopping experience.
8. 35 percent of tablet owners say they have used them in the bathroom. Now that’s just gross.

Sources: ComScore, Staples, Zmags

If you have a tablet habit, I’d like to hear your thoughts about why you own a tablet and, if so, how and why you use it. Feel free to share, comment, and submit questions in the comment section below.