Over 70,000 BlackBerry 10 apps are available at launch

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BlackBerry 10 launches today, and there are already more than 70 thousand apps available for the platform. That includes mobile apps such as Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Kindle, and Angry Birds.

The company says there are more than a thousand “top” apps already available in the new BlackBerry World… which gives the new platform a bit of a leg up on some competing mobile operating systems which often launch with few apps available.
In fact, Ubuntu Phone OS won’t even have an app store when it launches. Instead the folks at Canonical plan to focus first on the core apps that will come built-in, adding support for a third-party app store down the line.
One of the reasons BlackBerry 10 has such a large amount of apps at launch is that the company made it easy for Android app developers to port their apps to run on BB10. In fact, many Android apps can run virtually unmodified. They just need to be repackaged as Android apps.
During a recent port-a-thon, developers ported 19,000 apps in just one weekend.
That said, there will also be many native apps including media apps, games, business apps, travel, health, and finance apps.
BlackBerry World is also now a place to purchase music and videos in addition to apps — the company says there are movies and TV shows from 8 studios and all the major US music labels.
Whether any of those new apps, or the new operating system and hardware are enough to convince customers to stick with (or switch to) BlackBerry remains to be seen. There are an awful lot of excellent choices in the smartphone space at this point.

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News : BlackBerry 10 beta 3 released, shows revamped UI

At a special event yesterday RIM unveiled the BlackBerry 10 beta 3 running on the company's new test device, the Dev Alpha B.

The UI look and feel of this latest BlackBerry 10 build is what RIM will be putting on its final BB10 devices in early 2013. And according to those, who've tried it, it really has the potential to grab people's attention.

Let's start with the new UI features. Starting with the new beta, to wake the device, you simply swipe from the bottom of the screen. Then, you are welcomed with the traditional batch of homescreen panels.

However, there's a twist. The first homescreen isn't really a homescreen in the sense that it holds widgets and app shortcuts. Rather, it houses the so called "Active Frames". You can have up to 8 of them and they represent currently running applications. Mind you, only four fit on one screen, so to view the other four, you'd have to scroll down.

RIM has done good job of backing in gestures in its OS.For example, you can jump straight to the homescreen from any app by swiping from the bottom up. Making the opposite swipe (top down) brings up the settings menu or another contextual menu, depending on the app you're in.

   
BlackBerry 10 SDK Beta 3 in action • Photos by TheVerge

What's really interesting is the new BlackBerry Hub. This is RIM's unified messaging service. It integrates all your email accounts, messages from social networks (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) and puts them in one place.

It's accessible by a sort of weird gesture - swipe up and to the right (think of it as a reversed L). Once you access it, you can see your notifications alongside the aforementioned emails and messages.

Back to the homescreens, swiping right of the Acitve Frames, reveals the classic list of App icons. They can be manually moved around and sorted to your liking. RIM has integrated an interesting feature allowing you to switch the device into personal or work mode when you swipe down from top of the screen when viewing the App icons screens.

Choosing Work mode allows you to launch an app in a secure mode. For example, a company might restrict copy and pasting in certain secured apps.

TheVerge was at the developer event, and made a user interface video of the latest BlackBerry 10 SDK Beta 3 build. Check it out below.

Judging from the footage, the latest build of BlackBerry 10 looks very promising. It's very fast and fluid, and packs a lot of interesting UI features that its competitors just currently lack.

As for the new device, it features a 4.2-inch display with RIM's standardized resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels. As TheVerge points out, its speaker grill, cameras, microphone and buttons really resemble the recently leaked BlackBerry 10 L Series phone.

What your take on RIM's progress with BlackBerry 10 so far?

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Leaks : BlackBerry 10 L-series phone image leaks again

The BlackBerry 10 L-series phone is out in the wild again, except this time someone bothered to switch it on. This image first found on Instagram shows a person who really needs a manicure holding what is unmistakably the phone previously known as 'London' that we have seen again and again in the past.

The phone is showing the application launcher but it seems the icons are on the homescreen itself, à la, the iOS. You can see there are several of these screens although there are not that many apps so it seems it also lets you keep those tile shaped widgets we have seen in the past.

This is probably just an early prototype considering the BlackBerry 10 devices aren't going to launch until next year. A lot of things could change till then so there is not a lot of point pondering over this image.

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Upcoming BlackBerry 10 devices leak out, show their screen specs

With the availability of the first BlackBerry 10 devices quickly approaching, some additional details about the first two handsets have emerged. Courtesy of a leaked internal slide from RIM, we now know the alleged resolution and screen technology implemented in the first two smartphones, which will boot RIM's upcoming OS.

The BlackBerry L-series will be the first handset to break cover. The smartphone will offer touchscreen-only experience - right in line with previous rumors on the subject. The first L-Series smartphone will offer an OLED screen with the impressive resolution of 1280x768 pixels (think BlackBerry 10 developer alpha unit here). The density of the aforementioned pixels is bound to be even more impressive at 356ppi. The screen of the first L-series smartphone is expected to be 55mm wide.

The BlackBerry N-series on the other hand will be available with a RIM purists pleasing, hardware QWERTY keyboard at some point in Q1, 2013. The first member of the BlackBerry N-series will also sport an OLED display. In order to make space for the hardware keyboard , the unit's resolution has been trimmed to 720x720 pixels. The pixel density however is almost as impressive as in the L-series device at 330ppi, while the unit's width is in the 52-53mm range.

We are quite curious to see these two in production attire, given the fact that the fate of the company's handset's business likely depends on them. Naturally, we'll keep you posted as soon as we find out more details.

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How to sideload Android apps to BlackBerry PlayBook (rooted)

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If you’ve already rooted your BlackBerry PlayBook, you may have encountered a screen like the one above. Unlike a run-of-the-mill Android tablet, there’s no box to check that lets you install Android apps from “unknown sources.”
Instead, you can install Android apps that have been converted to BlackBerry PlayBook apps by downloading them from the BlackBerry App World or another location. Or you can root your tablet and install the Android Market to download apps.
But there is a way to sideload apps that aren’t available from the Android Market.
On my PlayBook, for example, I used the method described below to loadFirefox Nightly and Google Currents — an app which isn’t available in Canada’s Android Market yet.
Prerequsites
Before you get started, you’ll need to make sure your PlayBook is rooted usingDingleberry. Have a look back at the tutorial and follow the steps if you haven’t done that yet.
You’ll also need PlayBook OS 2 beta installed in order to run Android Apps and Android launcher app installed from the list at Playbookbars.com (Zeam and Launcher Honeycomb work quite well) that has been pre-packaged for use on the PlayBook (otherwise you won’t have a way to launch your sideloaded apps).

Sideloading Android apps
Now, launch Dingleberry on your computer. On the main screen, click the Dingle SSH button near the top. Next, enter the IP address and password for your PlayBook into the blanks and click the connect button.
You should see a window like the one above. When the black command prompt window appears, your PlayBook is ready for SSH connections.
Next, launch WinSCP on your computer. If you don’t have it or aren’t sure why it’s needed, take a look at the tutorial on installing the Android Market on the PlayBook for some insight.


Once WinSCP has connected to your PlayBook, browse to the /data/appfolder in the right-hand pane of the file transfer window. On the left, browse to the folder on your desktop where you’ve saved the .APK of the Android App you want to install.
Click and drag the app over to the /data/app folder and release your mouse button, and let WinSCP copy the file.
Now pick up your PlayBook and simply tap the launcher app you’ve installed and tap the apps icon to pull up the full list of Android apps you have installed on your PlayBook. Your new app should appear automatically!

Before you get too excited…both Angry Birds apps force close and the Amazon Appstore isn’t able to install apps just yet.
Hopefully that will change soon, as more people root their Playbooks and figure out new tricks. In the meantime, you can use Dingleberry and WinSCP to load Android apps on your BlackBerry Tablet to see which ones work.

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How to install PlayBook OS 2.0 Beta

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There are two things that have people (some of them, anyway) talking about the PlayBook OS 2.0 update coming in February 2012. First, it’s going to add the missing native BlackBerry email, calendar, and contacts apps. Second, the Android Player will finally make its debut, allowing users to run thousands of Android applications on BlackBerry’s tablet.
If you’re willing to install a beta version of OS 2.0, you can take an early look at the Android Player right now. Why bother? For starters, there are a ton of converted Android apps that you can load onto your PlayBook. And if you can handle a bit more hacking and root your PlayBook using Dingleberry, you can even install the Android Market and download Android apps directly onto your PlayBook.
We’ll have details on rooting the PlayBook and installing the Android Market soon, but for now let’s start with installing BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0.

1. Go to this page to register for beta downloads for RIM
2. Find your PIN number. On your PlayBook, go to settings > about and then tap the drop-down menu and choose hardware. Your PIN will appear on the first line
3. Enter your PIN and email address, check the box to agree to RIM’s terms, and then wait for the update notification to arrive on your PlayBook
4. Install the update when the notification appears — if you’re waited more than 15 or 20 minutes and haven’t seen it, try registering again

When your PlayBook has rebooted, you’ll be able to install the converted apps that are indexed at PlayBook BARs.
Once you’ve got some BARs downloaded, the easiest way to install them on your PlayBook is by using the DDPb Installer (full instructions at the link).

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How To :: Root A BlackBerry Playbook

before you start, you’ll need a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, the Blackberry Desktop software for Windows, and DingleBerry.
There’s one big asterisk here: Dingleberry currently only works on Windows. A Mac version is due soon, but for now you’ll need a Windows PC to root your BlackBerry tablet.

Prepare your tablet
1. Using BlackBerry Desktop, make a full backup of your PlayBook.
2.Head to your PlayBook settings screen > storage and sharing and turn on file sharing, wi-fi sharing, and make sure password protect is off.
3. Tap security and then tap development mode. Flip the off slider to on, and enter a password when prompted (jot it down or remember it, you’ll need it later).
4. Tap about, select network from the dropdown, and make note of your PlayBook’s Wi-Fi IP address.
Use Dingleberry to root the PlayBook
1. Download Dingleberry, unzip it, and then double-click dingleberry.exe.
2. Click continue after the main Dingleberry window appears and follow the instructions (I’ll list them here, too).

3. Enter the IP address and password you noted in previous steps.
4. Click the jailbreak button. Press continue once you’re prompted to do so.

5. Press the choose button to select the backup you made in step 1.
6. Dingleberry will modify that backup and create a new one in the same directory (typically under documents\Blackberry\backup).
7. Using BlackBerry Desktop, restore the Dingleberry-created backup to your PlayBook — choose custom, and make sure only settings is checked.
Voila! You’ve got a rooted PlayBook.

To see if the process was actually successful, click the Dingle SSH button to see if Dingleberry can establish a connection to your PlayBook. If the blue box reads like it does in the picture above, you’re good to go (you should also see a black SSH session window open and display a # prompt).

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HOW TO :: Install Android Market on BlackBerry PlayBook

Ok, you’ve installed the PlayBook OS 2 beta. You’ve rooted your PlayBook. Now it’s time to get the Android Market up and running on your PlayBook.

Why?

Because while it’s certainly cool that PlayBook OS 2 lets you run repackaged Android apps that have been converted to RIM’s .BAR format, it’s way cooler to just install them as if you’re using a regular old Android device via the Market. It’s also a lot easier and makes a wider selection of Android apps available for the PlayBook.

If you haven’t already rooted your PlayBook and installed PlayBook OS 2 beta, go do that now before attempting to install the market. You won’t get anywhere if you skip those two steps.

You’re also going to need an SCP client like WinSCP (use the first link labelled ‘installation package’) and PuTTYgen. Download and install them on your computer before following the steps below, too.

The following instructions assume you’re using a Windows computer, because for now the only way to root a PlayBook is to use a Windows PC.

1. Download the current Google Apps package from CyanogenMod.

2. Extract the contents of the .zip file (you’ll need them later).

3. Download an Android launcher app packaged as a .bar file from PlayBook Bars and install it using DDPb Installer (mentioned on the PlayBook OS 2 tutorial. (Just choose any of the apps with “Launcher” in the name such as Android Launcher, Launcher, or the Honeycomb Launcher).

4.Tap your launcher app to initialize the Android Player on your PlayBook (it should appear on your PlayBook homescreen near the bottom).

5.Launch PuTTYgen on your computer, press the load button, and browse to your Dingleberry folder. Change the file type dropdown to all files and double click the file rsa to select it.

6.Click OK when you see the PuTTYgen notice above and then click save private key. Name your file something easy to remember (like playbook.psk) and save it.

7. Log into your playbook as root with an scp client (eg: WinSCP for windows). Use your PlayBook’s IP address for the host name and root for the username. Under private key file, click the … button and browse to (and select) theplaybook.psk file you just saved in PuTTYgen.

8. When the WinSCP file explorer opens, your computer appears on the left and the PlayBook appears on the right. In the left pane, browse to the folder where you extracted the CyanogenMod Google apps.

9. Copy the META-INF and system folders to the root directory of your PlayBook (the system folder will merge with the existing system folder on your PlayBook).

10. In the right pane, browse to /system/app/ and deleteSetupWizard.apk. Now click the folder icon with the up arrow (again, in the right pane)

11. Again in the right pane, browse to/apps/sys.android.XXXX.ns/native/scripts [enter]. XXXX is different for every PlayBook, and it’s a LONG number.

12. Once you’ve changed directories, click the black box icon that says HOM to open a command prompt in WinSCP.

13. Type ./android-player-cmd.sh kill-android-core.sh [enter] to kill the current Android Player process on your PlayBook.

14.Launch the launcher app you installed in step 3.

15. Using the launcher app, tap through to the full apps listing (often in the top right corner of a launcher’s main screen). Tap Android Market (or another Google app), and enter your Google account details.

16. If Google logs you in, you’re done! If not, retrace your steps.

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