Since I’ve been using my BlackBerry Z10 for some time now, I’ve had the chance to try out lots of new apps. While my BlackBerry Z10 is a productivity workhorse, I’m also having a lot of fun with the games, music and photo apps available in BlackBerry World. I wanted to share a few of my top apps to get everyone as excited as I am, so read below for details on apps that will truly rock your device!

For games, one of my favorites is Snake by Jan Hoffmann. The interface stays true to the game’s original build, but has the enhanced experience of the touchscreen on the BlackBerry Z10. I also like to remember my days in grade school by playing The Oregon Trail American Settler by Gameloft inc. – a game about conquering the Oregon frontier. While the interface on the BlackBerry Z10 is slick, it’s still challenging to cross rivers to take care of your oxen. And when you want to stay inside on a rainy day, try WordHero, a great cross-word puzzle app by Sven Studios.

When it comes to music, there are tons of options for finding your favorite artists and songs. You can download full albums or songs directly from BlackBerry World or stream music through free apps like Songza by Songza Media, Inc., a must for those who love curated playlists. You can also use Slacker Radio by Slacker Inc. for access to a great radio stations from across the globe.

You know I like to take photos, as evidenced by the many appearances of my dog George on Twitter and here on the Inside BlackBerry Blog. Now, my BlackBerry Z10 has some great native photo editing capabilities, but I also like using Photo Studio PRO by KVADGroup. I love the filters like “Old School” and “blur” (plus more than 100 other options), frames, and even making collages. And because every artist needs an audience, I’ve used BBM Integration to share my masterpieces with my social networks.

These are just a few of my favorite BlackBerry Z10 apps. Based on what you’ve seen so far, what are your favorites? And remember, you can create your own favorite app for BlackBerry 10 using the BlackBerry App Generator!

Image by fauxto_digit via flickr creative commons

Movie fans, rejoice – this is a big weekend for you. With all eyes on the Hollywood film industry, where will you be tuning in on Sunday night to see who walks home with an award? (Topical: in case you missed it earlier this week, we talked about which BlackBerry apps we would turn into feature films!)

If I could assign a trophy for “best gadget,” it would undoubtedly go to my new BlackBerry Z10. I’m having so much fun with it, and like a lot of you, I enjoy using my BlackBerry device to BBM, tweet and download apps while I’m watching TV. This Sunday will be no exception. With movies on the brain, I wanted to share great apps, wallpapers and music that play into the glamour of this annual event.

I kicked off the award show weekend early by listening to the Academy Studio Orchestra soundtrack. It includes lots of songs from this year’s Best Picture contenders. Next, I downloaded the Popup for IMDb app for quick access to info on actors, directors and movies. Even a film buff like me gets rusty on her trivia! On Sunday afternoon, I’ll start checking out the trending topics on my Twitter app so I can start taking part in the conversation – from the red carpet to the after-parties.

What will you be doing Sunday night? If you’re looking for new media, check out BlackBerry World before the big event. And don’t forget to leave us a comment to tell us what you found!

I’ve got to say, my BlackBerry Z10 is amazing, and with BlackBerry World it’s truly a pocket-size tour de force. BlackBerry World brings movies, music, games, apps and themes – in other words, a comprehensive gateway to all of my media needs.

With so much new content in BlackBerry World, I thought you might enjoy a rundown of what I’ve been downloading and how I use the platform. While Melanie and I recently told you about the first apps we downloaded on our new BlackBerry Z10 smartphones, I wanted to share some of the new movies and music you can download from BlackBerry World.

Since I was getting ready for my trip to Amsterdam for BlackBerry Jam Europe, I was excited to download the first four seasons of Modern Family. (I also downloaded Flight, but then realized it might not be the best movie to watch while flying overseas.) Luckily I downloaded some of my favorite music and checked out some new albums, and of course songs from our very own Global Creative Director at BlackBerry, Alicia Keys. No matter your taste in music and movies, you’ll find what you want in BlackBerry World.

We’re constantly working with great developers to bring BlackBerry 10 apps to BlackBerry World, so keep checking back for new additions! What apps do you want to see?

Halloween isn’t just a North American holiday — it’s celebrated all around the world. It’s a fact that people just love getting scared. This is why we find long lines at haunted houses and movie theaters, and a few more late-night visitors to cemeteries around this time of year.

How else do we celebrate? We dress up, of course! We put the kids into costumes, the dog wears a hotdog suit, and the house gets a Halloween extreme makeover. Well, what about your BlackBerry ® smartphone? I’ve got you covered. I’ve put together a list of some great themes for your BlackBerry devices that are sure to keep you in the Halloween spirit all month:

Official Halloween Movie Theme – Animated with Ringtone by Cellfish Studios LLC.: Customize your BlackBerry smartphone with the theme from the cult classic movie Halloween. This theme includes original imagery, an animated homescreen, and a ringtone of the infamous theme song.

Gollum Scared Monster Theme by BB Theme Studio: High definition backgrounds and customized spooky icons look stunning on your ‘precious’ BlackBerry smartphone.

Halloween Bats by Value Apps: This Halloween theme will make your BlackBerry smartphone batty, adding a spooky twist to your smartphone with matching color thematic.

Monster Theme by R K Theme Lab: Very fast, simple to use and looks great in HD quality.

In true Inside BlackBerry fashion, I’ve asked our community managers at the office to share what they love most about Halloween:

Carolyn ^CH – I love the over-the-top ridiculous horror movie marathons.

Melanie ^MM – I get a kick out of the way little kids have difficulty walking in their costumes. It’s adorable.

Me ^DH – I personally love getting to eat a ton of peanut butter cups – it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

And Kerri ^KB – is decidedly the self proclaimed Grinch who stole Halloween.

Share your favorite BlackBerry smartphone Halloween themes and other spooktacular apps with us!

We’re very excited to bring a new feature to the BlackBerry App World™ storefront that is designed to make publishing and discovering amazing apps on the BlackBerry® platform much safer for everyone involved. On Wednesday November 30th, 2011 we will be performing a server upgrade that will bring content rating to the storefront. Our content rating system has been planned out based on input from our carrier, consumer, and developer partners to make sure we’ve implemented a content rating system that helps parents control what types of content their children have access to.

After the upgrade is complete, all applications and themes in the BlackBerry App World storefront will receive a default rating. The majority of apps will be rated G (General). If your app or theme is in one of the categories listed below, it’ll receive a rating of T (Teen).

Read more at the Inside BlackBerry for Developers Blog »

The new BlackBerry® Theme Studio 6 Public Beta 2 is now available for download on BlackBerry® Developer Zone, providing extensive support for new (and upgraded) BlackBerry® smartphones with BlackBerry 6 OS, as well as robust import functionality for theme projects created using previous versions of BlackBerry Theme Studio.

This beta release supports theme development for all BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry 6, that are currently in-market, as well as simplified theme export for BlackBerry App World™ in order to quickly submit your BlackBerry 6 themes.

In addition, the Import feature has been expanded to allow for importing previous theme projects that targeted devices running versions of BlackBerry Device Software prior to BlackBerry 6. For instance, if a theme project was created in BlackBerry Theme Studio 5.0 targetting the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9700 smartphone series, you can follow three simple steps to import your theme settings from that project (such as icons, menu/dialog background patterns, fonts, and so on) to a BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone series project in BlackBerry Theme Studio 6:

Read more at the Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog »

BlackBerry Messenger Groups: Start One Today!
Need a quick way to keep in touch with family and friends during the busy holiday season? Create a BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) Group!

BlackBerry Style 9670: Meet Product Manager Randy Carson
BlackBerry Torch 9800: Meet Product Manager Annu Dawar
The two newest members of the BlackBerry smartphone family, the BlackBerry® Style™ 9670 smartphone and the BlackBerry® Torch™ 9800 smartphone, would make excellent stocking stuffers! Get all the details on both devices in these comprehensive interviews with their respective product managers.

BlackBerry PlayBook and iPad Comparison: Web Fidelity (VIDEO)
Here’s the perfect thing to add to your Christmas list next year (or maybe ask Santa for a belated gift?) — the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet! See how it performs in this video post.

Inside the CSO Team!
It’s no secret that the BlackBerry CSO Team is definitely on Santa’s Nice list — they’re always around to help BlackBerry® smartphone users all year long! Read our interview with CSO Community Manager Michelle here, and find out more about what they do!

As for me, my most memorable moment of this year was the Wordle post – so much fun coming from our community! That’s what I’ll remember the most about 2010.

If you’re looking to keep the holiday spirit going, why not update your BlackBerry smartphone with one of these free BlackBerry smartphone holiday themes from Research In Motion® (RIM®)? There are three festive color options to choose from – red, blue and green. (My BlackBerry smartphone is donning the green “Share the Joy” theme!) Also, be sure to check out the hundreds of other great holiday themes available in BlackBerry App World™ for your BlackBerry smartphone.

That’s it from us for now! We’ll be back in full swing (and then some as we prep for the 2011 Consumer Electronics Showcase in Las Vegas) starting January 4th.

We hope all of our readers have a safe and happy holiday. And don’t fret – the @BlackBerryHelp team will be around if you have any questions.

See you in the new year!

It has been an amazing year so far here at BlackBerry App World™ HQ. Twenty-five million of you have downloaded BlackBerry App World and are experiencing some of the great apps available for your BlackBerry® smartphones. There are some really popular apps out there, and judging by the response to our blog posts, Inside BlackBerry readers are also really excited about the Twitter® for BlackBerry smartphones beta currently in BlackBerry App World Test Center.

We’ve been hard at work getting ready to bring some great new features to BlackBerry App World and today we’re excited to share them with you.

Top 25 Themes and Top 25 Apps

Let’s get started! You’ve asked and we’ve listened – you enjoy your BlackBerry smartphone themes, but you want to see them listed by themselves. You also asked to see what’s new and what’s been updated recently in BlackBerry App World, and we’re happy to deliver.

In our new “Top 25” screen, you can see the Newest apps, Recently Updated apps, Top 25 Free Apps, Top 25 Paid Apps, and Top 25 Themes. These lists update every 24 hours, and are based on a combination of number of downloads and user ratings.

BlackBerry App World Barcode Scanning

Another cool feature we’re adding is the ability for our developers to use a QR barcode to promote their apps. BlackBerry App World 2.0 will have a new menu option called “Scan a Barcode” – which works just like scanning a barcode for a new contact or group in BlackBerry® Messenger 5.0. Just point the camera of your BlackBerry smartphone at a QR barcode and the details page for the app you’re scanning pop right up!

More Billing Options

In addition to the ability to purchase apps with a PayPal® account, we’re adding support for two new billing methods to BlackBerry App World. To access these new billing options, you will be able to simply log in and choose ‘Payment Options’ from the menu.

Credit Cards

We know that many of you will be happy to hear that you will soon be able to use a major credit card (cards vary by region) to purchase apps. If BlackBerry App World credit card payments are available in your country, you’ll see the new “Credit Card” option where you can securely enter and save your credit card information for all your App World purchases.

Carrier Billing

We’re also excited to tell you that we’re working on integrated billing with various carriers to enable carrier billing as a payment option in BlackBerry App World.

PayPal

If you prefer the simplicity of paying with PayPal, then just choose the PayPal option. You’ll be asked for your PayPal account email and password once, and then all your purchases can be made using your PayPal account.

Introducing BlackBerry® ID

We’re also proud to introduce the new BlackBerry® ID, a device-independent user identification. With your BlackBerry® ID, you can easily download and purchase apps, then manage them in My World. Also, if you ever need to switch to a new BlackBerry smartphone, logging in with your BlackBerry ID will bring all your apps to your new BlackBerry smartphone so you can always have the apps you need, when you need them!

We’ll have more information on how you can be one of the first people on your block to try the BlackBerry App World 2.0 beta, so stay tuned!

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!