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]

BlackBerry Q5 coming to Koodo

The BlackBerry Q5 is the lower-cost model designed for emerging markets and a way for BlackBerry to bring the BB10 OS ecosystem to users of older devices like the Curve and Pearl lines whcih are still favoured in Asia-Pacific and Europe. Canadians will soon be getting the Q5 from Koodo.

The Q5 is listed at Koodo's website as coming soon on and will cost $50 with the Koodo tab plan or $350 outright. That sounds like a fair deal for what looks to be a solid smarpthone with a decent QWERTY keyboard and all the glory of BB10.

DHL App for iOS, Android and BlackBerry Simplifies package tracking

DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist within Deutsche Post DHL, now offers customers a mobile app to track their ocean and air freight shipments. Among other features, “DGF Cargo Mobile Tracking” shows users their shipping history and the status of their current shipments. The app provides global access and is available free of charge in the respective app stores for iPhone and iPad, Android and Blackberry smartphones.

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TomTom renews contract with BlackBerry to remain the default mapping engine for BlackBerry 10

In a move that should surprise no one, TomTom has announced that their agreement with BlackBerry has been renewed, thus maintaining their mapping engine as the defacto for the BlackBerry 10 OS (Z10 and Q10 respectively in North America). 

“Having accurate and up-to-date traffic information integrated in BlackBerry Maps is an important feature for customers, and TomTom is a recognized leader that provides traffic data to many companies in the market,” said Adrian Gould, VP of Handheld Software Product Management at BlackBerry. “We are pleased to expand our relationship with TomTom in support of BlackBerry 10 customers.”

More via TomTom here