Usually when a new BlackBerry smartphone is close to launching, we see a simulator pop up on the official BlackBerry website.  We have the same scenario here as the new and unreleased BlackBerry Curve 9320 has a simulator online to download.  For those who decide to download, it’s a bit funny of an installation.  You have to download the installer first, then you’ll be rerouted back to your browser for the download, and lastly you’ll have the installer app pop up where you click next-next a bit until it completes.  Visual C++ 2008 is required where you’ll be prompted to download it in the middle of the installation if necessary.  Any way, this is just a OS simulator, so don’t expect to get that virtual hands-on with the device you might be looking for.

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Source: N4BB

An awesome sale is headed to T-Mobile!  TmoNews grabbed a screenshot showing that T-Mobile has a special offer coming on February 11th where new and current customers can get some popular smartphones free.  While browsing through the devices pictured, I noticed the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and BlackBerry Curve 9360 are both listed.  So if you were looking for that upgrade soon, it might be worth waiting until February 11th, the Bold 9900 obviously being the better choice.

For those who missed out on the BlackBerry DevCon Europe 2012 keynote yesterday, you can watch the whole thing online as RIM provides a streaming player on the BlackBerry DevCon site to do so.  The keynote includes various demos including the “Open On” feature where you can use your BlackBerry smartphone as a remote for your BlackBerry PlayBook.  Also check out keynote speeches by the new CEO of RIM Thorsten Heins and Director of Developer Relations Alec Saunders.

BlackBerry DevCon Europe 2012 Keynote >>

RIM has released a new expansion pack in Scrapbook for BlackBerry PlayBook for Valentine’s Day.  The expansion pack includes hearts, kisses and various backgrounds to tag onto your photos.   Time to impress your loved ones!

Scrapbook for BlackBerry PlayBook >>

Source: BerryFix

The BlackBerry Bold 9790 finally received some OS 7.1 love last night.  This one’s 7.1.0.247, a newer OS than seen on other BlackBerry 7 smartphones.  There doesn’t seem to be any official features available in this version but let us know what you spot! Download mirrors below..

• DepositFiles
• BitShare
• RapidShare
• zShare
• FileJungle
• JumboFiles

Source: N4BB

France – SFR and Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 in Pure White will be available February 7, 2012 to SFR customers through the SFR online store (www.sfr.fr). All other SFR points of sale are expected to have the attractive new model from mid-February 2012. As a limited time launch promotion from SFR, the Pure White model will be available for €49,90* with an Edition Spéciale Carré Absolu International service plan. The new model will also be available to SFR Business Team** customers.

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Verizon recently rolled out a new update for the BlackBerry Bold 9650.  Of course no OS 7 love since it is an older BlackBerry device.  This update is OS 6.0.0.719, and hopefully decent for those not satisfied with the current OS on their Bold 9650.  You can download it officially from Verizon’s website.

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Thanks Bogizo for the tip!

It looks like T-Mobile is officially rolling out OS 7.1.0.205 for the BlackBerry Bold 9900 now.  Previously we saw leaks for 7.1.0.205 and 7.1.0.190 and now the .205 got the official release.  This includes Mobile Hotspot and yes WiFi calling at at last, which is a key feature to T-Mobile smartphones and was missing since the device launched.  For now it looks to be an over the air update from your smartphone but it should show up on T-Mobile’s website soon.

Source: BerryReview

We were wondering if Research In Motion’s new CEO Thorsten Heins would be making an appearance at BlackBerry DevCon Europe.  It seemed appropriate since he just came into his CEO role and many are still curious how well his involvement will be now.  It appears Heins gave the opening speech for BlackBerry DevCon Europe today,  which has about 2,000 attendees in Amsterdam.  Here’s the full press release:

7^th February 2012 – Thorsten Heins, President & CEO, Research In Motion (RIM), today opened the BlackBerry® DevCon Europe conference in Amsterdam. Admission to DevCon Europe 2012 is sold out with more than 2,000 attendees expected from across Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA) and beyond.

Delegates at the two-day event will learn how to leverage the strength of the BlackBerry® platform in order to build high-quality apps for more than 75 million BlackBerry users worldwide. Attendees will also receive a free BlackBerry® PlayBook™ to help with tablet application development.

The conference will focus on showcasing the opportunities that the BlackBerry platform presents to developers and how they can most effectively drive revenue streams from their apps. RIM’s developer relations team will be on hand to demonstrate the simplified process for building apps for the BlackBerry platform and offer guidance on working with a number of innovative technologies, including:

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We’ve already been publicly informed by RIM that BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 will be officially launching this month.  It’s nice to see they aren’t quietly launching this update as stores in the United Kingdom have begun receiving advertisement banners for it.  Above is one of the ads spotted by the folks over at N4BB.  PlayBook OS 2.0 is bringing along a lot of goodies including native email and ported over Android applications.  It’s just a matter of time until we get the official date of its release this month.