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Yup, that's right. CrackBerry Birthday week festivities are going the FULLLLL week. Next up, the good folks at PhantomSkinz are offering up some clear scratch protection! 15 lucky winners will be able to choose their pick of available Phantom Skinz for BlackBerry devices. You can click here to check out their BlackBerry offering.

To enter the contest, just login to CrackBerry.com and leave a comment to this blog post. We're going to make you work a bit harder for this one though... in your entry comment, let us know the #1 factor you look at when buying a clear skin for your mobile device. Is it the Cost? Protection? Manufacturer? Recommendation of others? Design? Ease of Installation? Something else? Let us know! Thanks Phantom Skinz, and good luck!!

CrackBerry.com's feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. Birthday Contest: 15 BlackBerry PhantomSkinz Up For Grabs!

(The CrackBerry World needs to see a photo of a real 9630...
If you have one you can send it in here!)

BGR posted some new details yesterday about the eagerly-anticipated upcoming full-qwerty BlackBerry, codenamed "Niagra".

Word is the device model for the Niagra will be the 9630. The device is a bit of a Bold/Curve 8900 hybrid, so both 9030 or 8930, while sorta logical device model extensions, don't quite fit the bill. The 9630 model number makes me really curious as to what the branding of the device will ultimately be. I sort of always assumed this would be the CDMA Bold, but maybe it will go to market otherwise.

Other BIG news for at least the Verizon version of the 9630... it'll be a World Edition phone and apparently will NOT have WiFi. We know that at least some pre-production versions of the Niagra have had WiFi on them, so if Verizon releases it without WiFi you know it's not a technical limitation on RIM's part.

BGR's source also said the OS on the device is version 4.7.1, though depending on release date it could hit as the re-branded OS 5.0 (tied to the release of BES 5.0). 4.7.1 seems a little strange to read when you think of the Storm's touchscreen OS as being version 4.7, but it makes sense when you take the Application Center (not app storefront) into account. Thinking back to my interview with RIM's Jeff McDowell at Dev Con, it was said that the Application Center would ship on all devices with 4.7 and newer, and I'm sure Verizon and other carriers will want it on this device.

No word on official release date yet. Jump over to BoyGeniusReport for more details.  

CrackBerry.com's feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. "Niagara" is the BlackBerry 9630 World Edition

This bit of news took me by surprise when I read it. Japanese carrier DoCoMo just recently launched the BlackBerry Bold and only seven days later is dropping it like it's hot... literally!

Of the 4,000 Bolds sold right off the hop, some 30 DoCoMo Bold owners have complained that the device's keyboard area has been heating up. DoCoMo hasn't hurt of anyone suffering burn injuries or BlackBerry Bolds catching fire (yet!). RIM ruled out any kind of battery problem, but is still investigating the issue. In the meantime, DoCoMo has halted sales until the issue gets sorted. No other market's Bolds have been affected.

I've always known BlackBerry smartphones to be killer devices, but I have never known of a BlackBerry that had the potential to be an actual killer. For some reason this reminded me of an article we ran back in '07... New Uses for Old Berrys. Check it out for a chuckle!

[ Source ]

CrackBerry.com's feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. Japanese BlackBerry Bold: Drop it Like its HOT!

This one has me excited because I’ve always been a fan of my 8830 World Edition even though its been replaced by several newer models. Boy Genius got new details about the rumored BlackBerry Niagara, which in the past was rumored to be called Bold 9030 or 8930. Well it’s not going to be either [...]

This is only some of this post that originated at BlackBerrySync.com. To see the full post visit BlackBerrySync.com

Obviously it was no secret it was coming but today Bell announced the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 in both black and pink. Within the next few days you should be able to pick it up for 29.95 with three year term or $499.95 without contract. As a bonus Bell is offering a free 2GB memory [...]

This is only some of this post that originated at BlackBerrySync.com. To see the full post visit BlackBerrySync.com

Now this will be a wicked CrackBerry Birthday present to one lucky member of CrackBerry Nation. The folks at Schlage are providing us with a Schlage LiNK system!

In case you're not familiar with this awesome and useful piece of technology, Schlage LiNK allows you to remotely monitor your doors and grant entry to your home. From any computer or cell phone with an internet connection, you can unlock your door, monitor who's coming and going, and even receive text message alerts from the system.

The winner will be able to choose their pick of hardware (deadbolt or lock) and can pick the finish. To enter, just login to CrackBerry.com and leave a comment to this post! If you're looking for something to comment on, why not tell us a time when having Schlage LiNK in place would have saved you some hassle.

For more info, head on over to Schlage's website or check out the video after the jump. Good luck! And THANKS SCHLAGE!

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CrackBerry.com's feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. Birthday Contest: Win a FREE Schlage LiNK System!

Personally I am not a big fan of EA Mobile games for BlackBerry but I thought this was worth a mention. They have released Wolfenstein RPG for BlackBerry that really got my memories flowing. I remember playing Wolfenstein day and night for years… Now you can play it on your BlackBerry. The only thing that worries me is that EA Mobile BlackBerry games are notorious for having bad controls and not supporting the trackball but here is to hoping this game is different. I am still deciding if I should get it myself but let me know if you pick it up!

Its available for $9.95 at this link @ Handango

BTW EA Mobile also released American Idol for BlackBerry if you are into that kind of thing…

Chris let me know that Alphatrade has a professional real time mobile stock quotes application called E-Gate Mobile for BlackBerry. There are free alternatives for viewing your portfolio but this seems to be more of a professional application. It starts at $17 and then has more addons based on what information you want such as NYSE, NASDAQ, OPRA, & S&P Cash Indices. Things can get pretty expensive but I thought it was worth a mention. If the free alternatives like E-Trade, MarketSimplified, & iStockManager don’t cut it for you this is definitely worth a look. They offer a 14 day free trial after which you have to select the pricing plan you wish. I am no stock guru but this looks pretty useful if you can stomach the cost.

Check out the details at this link

The BerryReview Store Presidents Sale ends tonight. I almost forgot to mention it until one of our readers, Paul, reminded me. So consider yourself reminded. You can save 15% off using the directions & coupon below.

To get the discount:

• Head on over to store.berryreview.com 
• Add software to your cart
• When done click the checkout button on the top right
• Enter in the code BRPRESIDENTS in the promotion code box

That is it. Enjoy the savings!

Note: The coupon code expires on February 27th 2009 and will not combine with already discounted or specially priced items.

My gal Tiffany, over at Black Light Themes, sent this baby in to me and I gotta say, this is one cool looking theme. Though I don’t have the Storm to test this on, Futurist from theme designer Synergie, has all the looks and style of a futuristic space adventure on your Berry. Luminous blues and sharp ’space age’ images are the main elements in this theme and the ‘bold like’ icons go perfectly with the overall design. There are more features than I am mentioning however, so I’ll do you a favor and just list them as they were provided;

FEATURES:
-Designed to look like a futuristic display like in a spaceship etc.
-Hidden Today items show up in the box when you touch the icons.
-Today icons are hard coded (calendar, Messages, Call Log, and Profiles) Messages and SMS are combined.
-The dock at the top is customizable (your top row of 4 in apps)
-Today Items (side dock) spring in from the left when touched, and the dock icons at the
top bounce when touched.
-Apps screen focus is a small blue triangle that points up to the icon.

Futurist is available for free (you must register to download) at Black Light Themes.