A while back, we let you know what you could expect in BlackBerry App World 2.0, though there wasn’t much solid information available as to when we could expect it. As of this morning, App World 2.0 has officially been made available in the BlackBerry Beta Zone.

Among the changes is a new Top 25 list, sorting into multiple categories including Newest, Recently Updated, and Themes, in addition to the new BlackBerry ID which makes it easy to manage purchased applications from any BlackBerry handset. It looks like carrier billing hasn’t been implemented as of yet, but it isn’t surprising considering this is the first beta release of v2.0.

Want to join the BlackBerry Beta Zone? Head here to register.

Update: It seems like RIM’s servers are having a hard time keeping up with the number of people trying to sign-up, but they’re working to resolve the issue soon.

Check back shortly, screenshots after the break!

Lately there has been an abundance of speculation as to which devices will get BlackBerry 6, with no solid information being released from RIM to satisfy our questions. Speculation has pointed to the Bold 9650 getting the update, since it has 512MB of RAM, which has been confirmed thanks to screenshots of the device running the new OS.

Unfortunately, this still doesn’t answer the undying question – will the 9700 get the update? Considering it only has 256MB of RAM, it’s looking less and less likely, as 512MB seems to be the minimum requirement.

via BBLeaks

Thanks to leaked screenshots from Bell’s internal systems, we know they intend to launch the BlackBerry Curve 9300 on August 12th, only a couple short weeks away. The 9300, which many know as the “Kepler”, is a slight upgrade from the existing CDMA Curve models, offering up 3G connectivity on Bell’s HSPA network. The form factor and software all remain the same, posing no real benefit to upgrading the handset over the existing 8530.

If you’re still looking to grab a 9300, expect it to hit Bell August 12th. Unfortunately no pricing information is available as of yet, but considering the lack of substantial upgrades, it shouldn’t be too expensive.

What do you think? Are you going to be picking up a Curve 9300, or holding out for something a little more fresh like the 9800? Let us know in the comments!

via CrackBerry

Android handsets have seen an update today that adds Places pages, in addition to new search results. Luckily, BlackBerry users shouldn’t be left behind for too long, as a blog post on the Google Mobile Blog states the new features will be coming to BlackBerry soon.

The new Places feature will allow users to search for specific types of businesses in your area, much like Poynt has been doing for some time now. You can search for restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and even more using the upcoming feature, and can even enter your search term using nothing but your voice. Along with the Names and Locations in the search results, users will also be able to check out reviews, photos, pricing, parking information, and even menu links for some restaurants.

No word on exactly when the update will be made available, though the blog does advise BlackBerry users to expect it sometime soon.

via Google Mobile Blog

You may have noticed the addition of barcodes to application pages in the BerryReporter Store, making it even easier to download applications and games OTA. The barcodes, which are actually QR codes are available for each application and lead you to the mobile version of the same page.

To scan the barcodes, you can use one of many QR code readers. Here are 3 of the most popular QR readers available:

NeoReader

BeeTagg

ScanLife

Hope you find this new addition useful, happy scanning!

Our BlackBerry’s Phone and Contacts applications have several built-in features, though many users go months without realizing what the integrated capabilities are. Among these often-overlooked features, are call timers built in and accessible right from the phone application. You can also view activity history by contact from the Contacts application, which displays interactions from SMS, calls, and even e-mail.

To access call timers, enter the phone application by pressing the call button, or selecting Phone from the applications menu. Once opened, press the Menu key and select Status

Here, you’ll see the duration of the last call made, as well as the total duration of all calls made since you last reset the timer

You can clear the timers by highlighting the one you’d like to reset to 0, pressing Menu key, and selecting Clear Timer. Alternatively, you can clear all timers from the same menu.

To view a list of all interactions with a specific contact, head to your Contacts application and open the contact you wish to view the history from. Press the Menu key and select Activity Log

You’ll now see all interactions with the contact through native BlackBerry applications. Third party apps most likely won’t be listed, so messages sent through CrunchSMS for example won’t appear here.

Quick Tip: To Delete Multiple call logs from the Phone application, hold down Shift and highlight the numbers you wish to erase. Press the Meny key and select Delete

So this was some pretty cool information that we got today.  We have all been hearing rumors about the next BlackBerry Bold 9700 and when we will be seeing it.  Well we learned today that the next Bold 9700 will actually be a Bold 9780. Thanks to Salomonarin we got a nice little picture of the Bold 9780. Looks like the same as the 9700 with a darker housing. it’s said to have 512MB of on board memory, 5MP camera. This device will have OS 6 standard on it, so this leaves us to question is the 9700 getting OS 6? For all the current 9700 users would you upgraded?

Source: Salomonarin

UberTwitter has undergone a series of improvements and updates to help meet the needs of BlackBerry users looking for the best Twitter experience possible. While still in Beta, this application has continually served as an excellent solution for Twitter services, and has seen yet another update, bringing UberTwitter to Beta 8 v0.98.

This new version includes a new, redesigned user-interface, and adds a few features and capabilities popularized by other Twitter applications.

Among the features UberTwitter offers are:

• Integrated ability to upload pictures to a site dedicated to serving ÜberTwitter users
• Ability to optionally update your Google Talk status with your last tweet, making your tweets reach a wider audience than just people following you on Twitter
• Automatically update your location based on the cell tower information provided by your phone, no GPS hardware required
• Send videos embedded in your tweet
• See everyone who is tweeting near you

Head over to the UberTwitter site to download UberTwitter Beta 8.

via NerdBerry

Well this is pretty shocking news. Today AT&T completed a purchase of some assets from Verizon Wireless. Those assets were 79 service areas here in the United States.  In English, this means that people living in the 79 service areas are now AT&T customers. For some this is a good thing, for other this might be a bad thing. You should be getting information if you live in any of these areas from AT&T. Could AT&T and Verizon Wireless be merge? That would be interesting!

Source: BGR

* Disclaimer!!! Now before you read the rest of this article let me start by saying that this is considered a rumor. Nothing has been officially confirmed by RIM or Verizon Wireless. So BlackBerry Storm2 users don’t start throwing your Storm against the wall, burning the RIM headquarters down, or anything like that

There have been rumors going around today from the good people from Gizmofusion that Verizon has stopped testing of BlackBerry OS 6 on the BlackBerry Storm2. Apparently Verizon didn’t like the way the Storm2 performed with OS 6 on it.  Seems like it was running sluggish with the new OS on it. Now we have all been thinking that there would be a cut of point with devices with certain onboard memory and seams like 256MB is that point.   Now I know this is kind of a let down for most of you Storm2 users but you might want to look at it this way. Would you rather have your device run slow and sluggish?  I want to get the most out of BlackBerry OS 6. Now what RIM could do is put the web Kit browser on the Storm2. We will keep you informed.

Source: Gizmofusion