Last week we posted “Three Ways BlackBerry Connects You to South Africa this Summer”, but left out one of our favorite ways to show our team spirit: BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) Flags!

To display your BBM flag of choice, simply type in the related short code below (e.g. “*two letter country short code*”) into any text field. You can send your team’s flag to a friend (to brag, gloat, commiserate, etc.) or even add them to your BBM profile (see Douglas’ profile above). Here are the country short codes for all teams currently in South Africa:

What flag will you be adding in your BBM?

Here’s how Inside BlackBerry is staying connected to South Africa:

Staying Informed with BlackBerry Apps

BlackBerry® App World™ is full of apps to choose from – just check out this list! Here are just a few of the many apps available:

South Africa for BlackBerry is a free app that gives access to scores, push alerts for goals, and calendar updates for matches. This app also includes a BlackBerry® Messenger tie-in so you can share the experience with your friends!

Premierscores is allowing a seven-day free trial for the event. Premierscores features minute-by-minute commentary, stats and graphics.

The year-round Goal Mobile will of course be covering the games too! It delivers commentaries, interviews and photos.

The Find and Follow app is a great option if you are going to be in South Africa for the games. Of course, you’ll be able to access the latest scores, schedules and news, but it will also give you details on the best hotels, restaurants and transportation in the area.

Download the updated Twitter for BlackBerry Beta app

Twitter is a great way to stay in touch with those in South Africa during the games! Our updated Twitter for BlackBerry beta includes push message notifications and easy-to-use list functionality, so you can get all the most recent updates as quickly as possible.

The official Twitter Media site has got some great suggestions for hashtags to use:

• English: #worldcup
• Spanish: #copamundial
• French: #coupedumonde
• German: #WM2010
• Portuguese: #copadomundo
• Japanese: #jfa2010

They also have a Top Tweets list organized that will be buzzing with news all throughout the tournament, so be sure to keep an eye on it!

Show your pride with Themes and Wallpapers

Showing off our favored team’s national pride is a must! One great way to do so is with themes and wallpapers. (My parents hail from good ole England, so of course I’m sporting the UK theme – go UK!) If you’re looking for a theme for your team, you can check them all out here: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/search/world+cup/category/107

How are you staying connected to the games? What team are you rooting for? Please share with us in the comments!

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.