BBM for iOS and Android reaches BetaZone, release imminent

Since BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins made the announcement at BlackBerry Live in May about BBM going cross-platform, the internet (and BlackBerry fanboys) have been in a tizzy about when the switch would be finally flipped. 

Well, wait no more, BBM for iOS and Android is literally around the corner.

What you're looking at above is an email from BlackBerry's BetaZone team to one lucky user being invited to try the application out on their ICS(or higher)-powered Android device. All they're asked to do is fill out a form and they'll be "granted access" to a pre-release build. This often means that a final public version is just around the corner.

As I anxiously await my invite, I ask if any of our readers have received the faithful golden ticket seen above and if they've had the time to get on the program and download it. Let us know!

[via BBOS]

Google Calendar for Android updated, now syncs notification dismissal

This is one the smartest updates to be released in while. Google Calendar - which I live off of, might I add - for Android has received a staged roll-out update that intends on adding efficiency to those of us running more than one Android device at a time: multi-device notification dismissal. In English? This means that if you've decided to take your Nexus 4 out for the day and left your Galaxy S 4 at home, or forgot your Nexus 7 tablet on the coffee table when running out in a hurry, you don't have to worry about going through dismissal notifications when you get back. As long as you've updated the app across all devices (staged update means it'll take a bit longer than normal for the app to be available to everyone), every calendar dismissal done on the device in use gets synced to the other stagnant ones at home! The only caveat? And this isn't even the biggest deal: the update will not dismiss notifications for skinned calendar apps on devices like the aforementioned Galaxy S4 or HTC One, of course, so you may just want to fully disable notifications for such apps and use Google Calendar exclusively at this point. I mean, why not?

If you don't have Google Calendar you can download it via Play here. Again, be patient if you don't receive the update; staged ones take longer because they're rolled out sporadically. 

[via AndroidPolice]

iPad with retina and iPad mini now available for purchase at Bell

As expected, Bell has officially cut the rope and put the iPad with retina display and iPad mini for sale in their retail stores across Canada. Pricing is the same as you would expect at an Apple store with the LTE iPad with Retina display running for $629 (16GB), $729 (32GB) and $829 (64GB) – in both black and white. The LTE-enabled 7.9-inch iPad mini is also available in black and white, coming in 16GB ($429) and 32GB ($529).

Pick one up from Bell here

Huawei Ascend Y300 destined for Bell Mobility and Virgin Mobile

Bell Mobility and Virgin Mobile now offer the cost-efficient  4G-enabled Huawei Ascend Y300 Android smartphone.

Huawei is one of the largest telecom solutions provider in the world, ranking  at no. 3 in smartphone shipments at the end of 2012.  This is the third device that Huawei has launched with a tier one Canadian carrier this year (last month, they launched devices with TELUS and Bell through Virgin).   

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