Today we issued a software update for BlackBerry 10 smartphones that’s focused on your feedback. It’s already available from some carriers and we’re working closely with all our carrier partners to get it to you as soon as possible.

It’s almost been a month since we officially unveiled the new BlackBerry 10 smartphones and many of you already have a BlackBerry Z10 in hand. You’ve been using it for weeks, and we’ve been listening to your feedback, and have been working on an update just for you. Here are just a few of the improvements you can expect after updating your software.

1. 3rd Party App Performance

   We’ve improved performance for 3rd party applications, so developers can build apps that run fast and smooth for you. With this update, you might want to keep an eye out for some fresh new app launches in March, like WhatsApp.
   

   Guess what’s up #TeamBlackBerry? WhatsApp Messenger is coming to #BlackBerry10 in March ^DH

   — BlackBerry (@BlackBerry) February 24, 2013

2. Phone, Calendar, and Contacts

   Among the top improvements and features are fixes for Gmail calendars on BlackBerry 10. You’ll also find improvements in the BlackBerry Hub for logging calls log and how conversations are handled. We’ve also made general improvements to importing contacts from online sources.

3. Camera

   We’ve optimized the camera for better photos in low-light situations. You’ll love the difference this makes for photos where you don’t use a flash – like the Time Shift Camera feature.

4. Browser and Media

   With more and more of you using the gorgeous screen on the BlackBerry Z10 to consume online videos and media, we’ve made a number of improvements to the software in the way the browser handles video playback to provide a fantastic experience.

5. Battery Life

   The software team has included a number of battery life optimizations with over 60 battery saving improvements since launch to keep you moving. These combined improvements are designed so that you see improvements in battery life and heavy users especially should see a longer average usage per charge cycle.

How to update your software on BlackBerry 10

Software is available over the air (OTA). Typically, you’ll get a notification about new updates, but you can manually check to see if it has been made available by your service provider and install it in a few simple steps.
Settings> Software Updates> Check for Updates> — then follow the on screen steps to install.

The download is approximately 150MB in size, so I recommend updating when connected to Wi-Fi.

There you have it – the first OTA update to your BlackBerry 10 smartphone. We’ll be rolling out the update with all of our carrier partners around the globe over the coming weeks. Be sure to check it out when it’s available and let us know what you think in the comments below. Your feedback is always welcomed and we will continue to listen as we update and improve BlackBerry 10.

The BlackBerry PlayBook OS v2.0.1.358 contains many updates including:

• Browser enhancements to address performance with some websites
• Improvements to support Android apps
• Optimizations to Video Chat, PIM and BlackBerry Bridge applications
• And much more!

How to update your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet

Users will automatically receive a software update notification on the BlackBerry® PlayBook tablet status ribbon, or they can check for the software update at any time by going to the settings menu under “Software Updates” and tapping “Check for Updates”. Users who purchase and activate a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet on or after April, 17 2012 will automatically be updated to v2.0.1 as part of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet setup process.

The BlackBerry PlayBook OS v1.0.8.6067 contains the following fixes and updates:

• Daylight savings time updates
• Security updates as outlined in the BlackBerry Security Advisory KB29191

How to update your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet

Existing BlackBerry PlayBook tablet users will automatically receive a software update notification on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet status ribbon, or they can check for the software update at any time in the settings menu under “Software Updates”. Users who purchase and activate a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet on or after December 5, 2011 will automatically be updated to v1.0.8.6067 or later as part of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet setup process.

For users who are already running BlackBerry PlayBook v1.0.8.4985 or higher, the update to this new version (v1.0.8.6067) will include only the updates outlined above and is expected to take only a few minutes to install.

The BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet browser is far more than a simple application for viewing web pages. It has been carefully designed to provide an enhanced tablet experience, complete with options for customizing the browsing experience, private browsing, bookmarks management, HTML 5.0, Adobe® Flash® and JavaScript® capabilities, location-aware features, and so much more. Consider this powerful tool to be a window into not only viewing and interacting with a variety of web sites, but to also access powerful enterprise web applications.

There are a number of complete and secure web app solutions that you and your business can take advantage of – apps that are designed to offer new ways to collaborate in real time. Access to your internal enterprise network may also be possible from your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet through supported VPN suppliers.

Research In Motion® (RIM®) has a large number of enterprise software partners in the mobile industry, and we are constantly working with them to deliver apps and access to web-based hosted solutions optimized for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. This means that employees will be able to use existing tools while on the go.

I’m sure at this point you’re looking for examples. Well, here are seven of our favorite enterprise apps that are BlackBerry PlayBook tablet browser-ready!

Read more at the Inside BlackBerry for Business Blog »

The second most important announcement for South Africa after FIFA World Cup 2010

In the rest of the world (outside Canada and the U.S.), soccer seems to be an incredibly popular sport. As a North American, I don’t understand any game played without a large amount of protective gear and cheerleaders, so you’ll have to excuse me for my ignorance. David Beckham? He plays soccer, right? He’s married to Posh Spice. That’s about all I know.

ANYWAY – South Africa is hosting the FIFA World Cup 2010 in 9 host cities, and one great way to keep track of how your team is doing is by using ScoreMobile – available today in BlackBerry App World™!

“But Alex, BlackBerry App World isn’t available in South Africa.” SURPRISE – it is available now! Visit http://worldwide.blackberry.com/za/appworld today to download BlackBerry App World to your BlackBerry smartphone.

We’re really happy to announce another launch and we’ll continue to bring BlackBerry App World to every country where BlackBerry smartphones are available.

It’s time once again for more BlackBerry App World™ goodness! My goal today is to answer a variety of BlackBerry App World-related questions submitted by you, the readers, as well as a few gleaned from the MyBlackBerry community. In future posts we’ll walk through BlackBerry App World and BlackBerry App World web store features to maximize your app searching experience. Let’s get started!

Note: Comment error has now been fixed on this post. Get commenting! We’d love to hear your feedback.

Help! BlackBerry App World does (insert issue here) when I (insert action here). I have a (insert BlackBerry smartphone here).

While I’ll be answering a few questions of this nature today, I wanted to take the time to promote our Inside BlackBerry sister blog, Community Post. Community Post is the dedicated support blog of Research In Motion (RIM), and the go-to destination for your BlackBerry smartphone-related issues. Check it out! They’re very helpful and did not bribe me with lunch to say that.

How do apps get in the Top 25?

The “Top 25″ is based on downloads in a twenty four hour period. We’re always looking for new ways to improve the user rating system to help make sure that great applications get the recognition (and downloads) they deserve. Speaking of the “Top 25″…

Why is BlackBerry App World in the Top 25 Free Apps?

“BlackBerry App World” is actually a listed application in BlackBerry App World – that’s how we can send you a notification when there’s a new version of BlackBerry App World available. Because a large percentage of users consistently download BlackBerry App World updates, the app often places quite high in the “Top 25″.

Based on user feedback, BlackBerry App World will be blocked from appearing in the “Top 25″ in an upcoming release.

Help! I switched BlackBerry smartphones and now I have no apps.

Yes you do, you just need to log in!  Launch BlackBerry App World and go to “My World”.  Within the menu, select “Log In” and enter the PayPal credentials (email and password) you used to buy your apps.

BlackBerry App World will quickly verify your account and then you’ll see the apps you previously purchased.  You can then download and install them and be back to using great applications on your BlackBerry smartphone!

Every time I upgrade, I have to read through the EULA and it is LONG. I’m talking Homer’s “Odyssey” long.

Yes, it is long – but selling applications is a complicated business and the End-User License Agreement (EULA) contains important information for you to read. For anyone who says “hey, no one ever reads the EULA” – cast your eyes on this tweet:

People do read the EULAs and they tweet about it. Coolness!

“What does everyone think about BlackBerry App World? I know there are still some flaws with it, but I really think that RIM is moving in the right direction, but they really need to bring the amount of memory it requires down……it’s obnoxious!” From MyBlackBerry

We’re always working on making our apps better and we’re definitely working on making BlackBerry App World smaller and faster.  Stay tuned to Inside BlackBerry for future announcements!

Anyone looking to free up memory on their BlackBerry smartphone can read my previous post regarding archiving apps using BlackBerry App World. Archiving: all the cool kids are doing it!

“Has anyone seen the BlackBerry App World standee from the 3rd floor?” Various RIM interns.

Yes. Yes, I have.

“So my phone has the little icon/alert at the top that says I have three new updates in my BlackBerry App World application, but I already did the updates this morning. When I go into the application there are no new updates, but the alert/icon won’t go away! I’ve restarted my phone by removing the battery. Please help!” From MyBlackBerry

We identified a problem with BlackBerry App World notifications and it has been fixed and available today in BlackBerry App World 1.1.0.20

Please post a comment below with more BlackBerry App World related questions or your favorite BlackBerry application!

It’s Wednesday. Do you know where your BlackBerry App World is launched?

Has it only already been two weeks since BlackBerry App World™ launched into South and Central America? Although we’ve launched in Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and Mexico, we’re starting to feel antsy over here at BlackBerry App World headquarters, so let’s go ahead and launch in some more countries.

!Para los usuarios de BlackBerry en Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, y Republica Dominicana – vaya a nuestro sitios mobile o desktop para descargar BlackBerry App World™ hoy!

My fellow BlackBerry App World product manager Tamara is from Kingston and she is extremely excited for us to announce that BlackBerry App World is now also available in Aruba, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago!

Users in all of these countries will be able to download BlackBerry App World v1.1 and choose from English, French, Italian, German, or Spanish versions. At this time the catalog is composed of free applications, with paid applications to follow. Make sure to also check out the BlackBerry App World web store and keep checking Inside BlackBerry for updates!

Download BlackBerry App World v.1.1 (Desktop and OTA download) 

BlackBerry App World web store

Being a product manager means a fair amount of travel, and everything that comes with it – lots of time spent in planes and taxis.  I’ve always relied on music to get me through a trip.

I used to have to carry a couple of devices while traveling – my cell phone and then an mp3 player to play my tunes. Now I just carry one device – my BlackBerry® smartphone – which allows me to listen to my music and carry out my work-related tasks. Using BlackBerry® Media Sync made my life a lot easier too, because it makes it extremely simple to transfer your music onto the smartphone.

The neat thing about BlackBerry Media Sync is that I can use either iTunes® or Windows Media Player to create my playlists and then transfer them using Media Sync. No need to install another media management application on my PC. And Mac users don’t need to feel left out as there is a version for them too! 

I am a pretty big user of playlists. Occasionally, I’ll listen to an entire album (if it’s a new one) but generally it’s an aggregation of tracks from a few albums into one playlist. Media Sync also imports album art, so it’s nice to see the graphic on that snazzy screen while listening to music or while browsing through my collection.

I like the fact that I can reserve space in memory to keep free and fill the rest of it with random music. It also means that I might have a surprise in store for me occasionally by getting Indian classical music along with some ‘classic rock’ on my device.

How do you organize and listen to your music? Post a comment and let us know!

It seems it was only yesterday that we opened up a world of possibilities with BlackBerry App World™.  We’re proud to announce the launch of BlackBerry App World 1.1!;

BlackBerry App World 1.1 New Features

• You can now view the Top 25 Free and Top 25 Paid applications!
• When searching for applications, you can now filter by newest, name, price, vendor, popularity and relevance.

With BlackBerry App World 1.1, you’ll now be able to archive your downloaded and purchased applications on a microSD™ Card.   Click the “Continue Reading” link to read a brief FAQ and step-by-step guide on how to archive applications on your BlackBerry® smartphone.

Where do my apps go when I install them?

Any app you install on your BlackBerry smartphone (from BlackBerry App World or anywhere else) is installed in flash memory.  Each BlackBerry smartphone has a different amount of flash memory – and this is what determines how many apps each device can have installed.  With the new archiving feature, you can store the app on the microSD™ card and restore it when you want to use it.

What will happen to our current applications?

All the apps you’ve downloaded and purchased from BlackBerry App World are currently stored in your “My World” account.  After upgrading to BlackBerry App World 1.1, you can still archive the app – it will just be quickly downloaded again and then stored on your microSD™ card.

How to Archive Applications on your BlackBerry:

In “My World”, you now have the new menu option “Archive”. 

When clicked, BlackBerry App World will uninstall the application from the device memory and store it on the microSD™ card.

Some apps require a reboot – some don’t – it all depends on the app.

The icon for the app will still appear where ever you have it (default on 4.5 and below is the home screen, on 4.6 it is the Downloads directory).

The icon will have a green arrow in the bottom corner indicating it’s been archived.

You can click on the icon and you’ll be prompted to see if you want to restore the app.

You can also restore from inside BlackBerry App World.

We’re also launching BlackBerry App World today in Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Portugal. I tried to justify that my team needed to travel to each country for launch – but management didn’t agree with that.  No one can blame us for trying. I’m personally excited for Ireland – now all my cousins back home have another reason to love their BlackBerry smartphones.

Keep checking back to Inside BlackBerry – I’ll be covering these new features in depth and also explaining how our review system works. For now, don’t forget to download BlackBerry App World 1.1!

Download BlackBerry App World 1.1(Desktop and OTA Download)