DISA Mission Partner Conference, Tampa, FL - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced DoD-wide approval for the use of BlackBerry® 7 smartphones. Working with U.S. Army and Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) sponsors and partners, BlackBerry 7 smartphones have undergone successful testing through Army labs leading to a subsequent listing on DISA’s Unified Communications Approved Product List (UCAPL).

• BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 and 9930 (touch screen with keyboard)
• BlackBerry® Torch™ 9810 (touch screen with slide out keyboard)
• BlackBerry® Torch™ 9850 and 9860 (full screen touch screen)
• BlackBerry® Curve™ 9360 (keyboard)

A few weeks ago we let you know about RIM putting out 17 free applications for BlackBerry 7 users in the United States.  According to CrackBerry, it seems to be extended out to Canada as well now.  Some of the application titles include Fixmo Tools, BeWeather, ScreenMuncher and more! Head over to BlackBerry App World on your OS 7 device and get your freemium apps on.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today launched four new BlackBerry® smartphones powered by the BlackBerry® 7 Operating System (OS) for customers in Cambodia.  The new BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900, BlackBerry® Bold™ 9790, BlackBerry® Curve™ 9360 and BlackBerry® Curve™ 9380 will be available beginning tomorrow from BlackBerry authorized partners.

“We’re pleased to bring these four new BlackBerry 7 smartphones to customers in Cambodia,” said Nicholas Horton, Managing Director, Indochina at Research In Motion. “The BlackBerry solution offers an industry leading mobile communications experience that customers love and we think they will be thrilled by the faster performance, enhanced browsing, richer multimedia and localized support delivered by the powerful new BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Curve smartphones.”

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It’s a bit mysterious to know exactly what RIM and T-Mobile are up to here.  According to TmoNews who received the leaked invite image, the event will feature “sneak preview of Blackberry’s latest and upcoming technology.”  At the same time, we see a BlackBerry 7 logo on the invitation which throws us off a bit.  Will we be seeing more BlackBerry 7 devices or is this for BlackBerry 10 smartphones?!

BlackBerry 7 and 7.1 OS Achieve FIPS 140-2 Certification

Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced that BlackBerry® smartphones running on the powerful new BlackBerry® 7 and BlackBerry® 7.1 Operating Systems (OS) have been awarded FIPS 140-2 certification by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC). FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) 140-2 is recognized by the U.S. and Canadian governments and is required under the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA).

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So RIM does not exactly have the BlackBerry Theme Builder updated for OS 7 just yet.  Instead, they are encouraging the unofficial hack for Theme Studio which theme builders have been using for a few months now to get themes running on OS 7 devices.  You can see a whole section now available in BlackBerry App World.  Some are familiar as we’ve let you know on their releases in the past.  The P’9981 theme even got approved!

BlackBerry 7 users have been left out of themes since launch.  Apparently there were issues building themes and releasing an appropriate theme builder for the operating system.  Shortly folks found a way around it and have released a few themes for OS 7 devices.  RIM stated on Twitter yesterday that they will be making announcements this month on themes for BlackBerry 7 devices.  We’re coming along towards the end of the month now, so we should be seeing announcements made anytime soon.

Magmic has done it again and launched another theme compatible with BlackBerry 7 smartphones.  If you feel left out in the theme department, check this new one out.  Cosmos is a outer space style theme with home screen icons offered diagonally and all your notifications on the left side of the screen.  Might not be the exact theme you’re looking for but it’s still a nice face lift for your BlackBerry.  Check it out and download it for free at BlackBerry App World.

Download Cosmos >>

Thanks ecivon for the tip!

RIM has anounced five new BlackBerry 7 smartphones in Philippines this week.  Those devices are the BlackBerry Bold 9790, Curve 9380, Torch 9810, Torch 9860, and the white Bold 9900.  Devices will be available today in stores of the region.  Below is the full press release from RIM.

 

BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry Curve 9380, BlackBerry Torch 9810, BlackBerry Torch 9860 and Pure White BlackBerry Bold 9900 available in stores January 13

Manila, the Philippines – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced the launch of five new BlackBerry® smartphone models based on the BlackBerry® 7 Operating System (OS) in the Philippines. The latest additions to the BlackBerry 7 product lineup are BlackBerry® Bold™ 9790, BlackBerry® Curve™ 9380, BlackBerry® Torch™ 9810, BlackBerry® Torch™ 9860 and BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 in Pure White. The five new smartphone models are expected to be available from carriers and authorized retail channels in the Philippines on January 13.

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NFC-enabled smartphones from Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, and Research In Motion approved for use with Visa payWave, Visa’s mobile application for payments at the point-of-sale

SAN FRANCISCO, January 10, 2011 — Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) and Visa Europe today announced that NFC-enabled smartphones from Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Research In Motion (RIM) have been certified for use with Visa’s mobile application for payments at the point-of-sale, Visa payWave. The Samsung Galaxy SII, LG Optimus NET NFC, BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900, BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry® Curve™ 9360 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 have been added to the list of Visa compliant payment products available for commercial deployment by financial institutions.

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