I guess $499 is the catchy price for tablets nowadays.  Apple kicked it off first with the iPad starting it off at $499, both last year for the first generation, and this year in the second.  Next we have the BlackBerry PlayBook, which RIM hasn’t even came out the closet yet on pricing, but based off of leaked documents we saw a starting price of $499 as well.

Then there’s the HP TouchPad (which has a UI lookin’ just like the PlayBook) which also starts at $499.  All three with that starting price get 16GB of internal memory, and then you’ve got all other specs that vary in your favor.  In a non-biased perspective, which tablet has all of what you want?

We let you know about Nic Nac Noe coming to BlackBerry smartphones over a month ago.  The cool part about it is that the game was originally for the BlackBerry PlayBook, as we saw video demos which featured the game, then later came out to mobiles.  Nic Nac Noe is based off of Tic Tac Toe, a game that has been around forever using O’s and X’s to line three in a grid with 9 spots.  The difference here is you have these 3D ninjas instead of the X’s and O’s, making the game a bit more interesting.

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Rumors have been circulating about the next generation iPhone (iPhone 5 I guess) not sporting any NFC inside.  Now I’m not going to say that BlackBerry smartphones have the latest and greatest technology, but with all the leaked specs we’ve seen for future models, they are quite competitive under the hood with faster processors, more memory, and of course NFC.  The NFC SDK leaked already for BlackBerry and it’s exciting to see what will come up from developers, and all the banks who will go fully mobile with the technology.  It’s a shame Apple is planning to cap off on the technology (if the rumors are true), meaning we’ll probably see them roll out NFC in the sixth generation iPhone – jeez that’s a long time.

Read more on the iPhone 5 with no NFC rumors >>

Just when I found out AT&T was putting out free calling to Japan, Verizon and T-Mobile hopped on the same wagon.  However, each carrier ends its free calling to Japan promo on a different date:

• Verizon Wireless -Until April 10th
• AT&T – Until March 31st
• T-Mobile – Until March 31st

An article over at Business Insider talks about some news from the past on how RIM saw the Apple iPhone and strongly believed it was “badly flawed.”  RIM execs even tried convincing superiors to go towards devices with better web experiences and larger screen devices but was denied.  At that point in time, RIM only saw secure email and physical QWERTY keyboards to be essential in smartphones.

Look where we’ve reached today.  Thankfully RIM has rolled out many new devices which do compromise to better web and application experience.  They’re not at the finish line yet with the not-so-new hardware now, but they are getting there, and we have a tablet launching anytime soon in the near future.

We still got long way ahead, but it looks like the white BlackBerry Bold 9700 from Rogers is being discontinued officially on June 1st.  I guess there really is no need for the Bold 9700 anymore when the carrier has the Bold 9780, which is physically identical in dimensions but sports more memory and a 5MP camera.  Also keep in mind from the 2011 roadmaps for BlackBerry that there are a lot of goodies coming around this year, and hopefully oS 7 by summer time!

Source: MobileSyrup

This is quite clever.  I noticed puZZed in the our app store moments ago and noticed something very unique about it.  It’s not your typical easy one touch snooze! You have to go through a series of math problems to actually go ahead and snooze.  Features include:

• 5 puzzles to solve to keep you from falling asleep (2 free + 3 paid)
• Similar user interface as native Alarm app
• Shuffle those puzzles!
• Free future updates for paid version!

puZZed is currently on sale for only $2.49, where it’s normally $3.99.  Click the link below to grab a copy!

Check out puZZed for BlackBerry >>

After the BlackBerry webkit browser was hacked the other day at Pwn2Own 2011 on a BlackBerry Torch 9800, RIM was of course in shock, and for that reason recommends to all you Berry users to disable JavaScript in your browser to block vulnerabilities and security threats.  You can read all about it in the BlackBerry Knowledge Base.  I guess it was a big shock for RIM to see their device hacked just like that, especially a BlackBerry 6 OS device.  Time for an “effective immediately” OS update?

Here’s an interesting concept for an application.  WikiSaver launches when your BlackBerry is plugged in via USB or charger.  When launched, you’ll see Wikipedia articles come up randomly,  so you can learn a lot while your BlackBerry charges now.  WikiSaver is $1.99 over at the PocketBerry Store.  Hit the link below to check it out.

Check out WikiSaver for BlackBerry >>

Finally.  RIM announced the BlackBerry Messenger Social Platform back in September at DEVCON 2010, and we’re just seeing it now release in public beta.  I’m glad we saw it roll out at least as we’ll be seeing a lot of exciting applications roll up with BBM integrations.  Some of the key features include:

• Contact list – allows users to choose from their BBM contacts from within another application in order to initiate social interactions such as chatting or initiating game play
• BBM user profile – an application can insert application status updates into the user’s BBM profile allowing it to be launched or downloaded from BBM by the user’s friends
• Application-specific communities – users can create BBM friend groups specific to an application
• Data Transfer – allows users to transfer pictures, audio, video and other content directly from an application to their BBM contacts or groups
• Invitations – allows users to invite new friends to BBM, invite their friends to interact within or download an application, and accept invitations, all from within an application

Continue reading for more info and the full press release from RIM.

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