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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 Inside BlackBerry readers! We’ve got another guest blogger for you today – Charlotte, who’s excited to give you all the details on the new BlackBerry® Traffic app. Here’s what she has to say about this new addition to the BlackBerry® smartphone app family:

There are several factors that can lead to frustration while driving – the main one being unexpected traffic congestion. The BlackBerry Traffic app has been developed to address this very issue. It won’t free up the traffic on the highway, but it can inform users of traffic up ahead. It can also provide information on alternate routes and users can quickly share their ETA with contacts via SMS, email, or PIN message before getting on the road. In this post we’ll show you how you can help provide detailed traffic information just by using BlackBerry Traffic.

Most people tend to take the same route from place to place on their daily commute, and the BlackBerry Traffic app aims to make this an easy ride. Users enter their home and work addresses, and the BlackBerry Traffic app will predict an arrival time based on current or historical traffic conditions. With a single click, the BlackBerry Traffic app automatically selects work as the destination in the morning or home as the destination in the evening. Users can also get an ETA to destinations from BlackBerry smartphone contacts, enter an address manually, or find new places using Bing™ search.

In order to make this app as easy and useful as possible, BlackBerry Traffic shows users their ETA, the time left to reach the destination and the distance left to destination clearly on the main screen of the application. Users can also select other drive views, including a visualization of traffic with incidents along the current route, and a list view highlighting the road names and maneuvers along the route they select. Additionally, users can now find location-based offers and promotions along their commute in a dedicated view.

Users of the BlackBerry Traffic app contribute information regarding current traffic conditions on their route by anonymously sending speed and position information back to the BlackBerry Traffic service. The real-time traffic information is immediately aggregated and combined with historical traffic averages and then distributed out to all users. This is how the BlackBerry Traffic app and service are able to predict an accurate ETA. The free application is available for download on BlackBerry App World™ today.

BlackBerry Traffic is available for GPS-enabled BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry OS 4.6 and above in North America.

Thanks for this, Charlotte! Readers – download the app and let us know how it’s helped your daily commute!