BlackBerry OS 5.0 Screenshots

I finally got thru in installing 5.0 OS on my BlackBerry 8900 Curve ! The version I've managed to get onto the device is 5.0.0.411 [Platform 5.2.0.31]

Let the screenshots speak !

More blue ! Have a look at the gradient on the highlighted icon

Seperate Media folder

Customizing is a go !

Music Player overhaul, again gradients on the buttons

The biggest by far, Threaded SMS !

Some other things I've noticed:

• New startup animation with the BlackBerry logo and a progress bar
  
• Slick animation when moving from one image to the other in the Pictures app
• Faster UI overall
• Secure wipe of the device has a place of its own now

There may be more, I'll add them as I find out :)

UberTwitter Beta 6 Out, Spices It Up

The guys at UberTwitter let go of a pre-beta release today. Its basically the Beta 6, but is a pre-release, meaning its still under developement, and carries the tag, 'Use at your own risk' :P

Here's a list of features Beta 6 will have when it comes out during the next few weeks:

• Lists, Lists, Lists !!! - You can create, delete, subscribe, add members, view members, all the functionality you would expect of an Über mobile client!
• Retweets - We will support the old method and new method, you decide!
• Find People - You can search for people, just like the 'Find People' link on Twitter's home page.
• New Icon - We love it!
• Saved Searches - Fully integrated with Twitter's saved search capability.
• Update Twitter Profile - Yes, you will be able to update your Twitter profile directly from your phone.
• Profile Picture - We have heard you, we will allow you to upload a picture for your Twitter avatar right from your phone!
• Über Bar - We couldn't resist the name! This is a tab bar at the top of the screen, the neat thing is that you can add your own tabs! A list can be a tab, a saved search, and later other types of timelines.
• Report Spam - One menu selection to report a tweet as a spam, and optionally block the user.
• Twitter Geo-Tagging - We will directly support Twitter's new geo-tagging capability. You can decide whether to still use myloc.me URLs, Twitter Geo-Tagging, or both!
• Twitter name menu - Type '@' and a list of your friends automatically pops up allowing selection
• Larger Avatars - Click the profile picture, and view a larger version!
• Various bug fixes. 

They have releases for 4.5, 4.6, 4.7 and 5.0 versions of the Blackberry OS. Its also got a makeover, a really sexy one at that ! They've changed the icon, and the color scheme too !

Image courtesy: Crackberry.com ©

Bowtie, iTunes Controller On Your Desktop

Bowtie is a free application that allows you to control iTunes with shortcuts, submits your songs to Last.fm, and sports a very simple, yet very powerful, xhtml + css + javascript based theming system

Alright then ! Bowtie is basically an iTunes controller that sits neatly on your desktop, allowing you to not open iTunes to play/switch tracks. It has some beautiful themes to begin with ! As it says above, the app has Last.fm integration. Last.fm is a online service which tracks the songs you're playing, provided you're using a media player that supports Last.fm feed, Bowtie in this case.

The theming system in Bowtie is the ultimate level for a developer as well as the end user. There are endless possibilities with the kind of coding you can do with xhtml + css + javascript.

You can also search for music that you have on iTunes using this simple search box:

As is with every other OS X app, you have a bunch of preferences too !

Here's what it will look like when using the MinimalMod theme by Jerome Verzier !

There are a bunch of lovely themes around, all of which you can find archived at one single location: iconpaper. If you're a fan of "iDecorateMyDesk" and "iListenToMusicAllTheTime" then, this one's definitely for you !

Have fun trying this out ! Any queries/suggestions, leave a comment and I'll get back to you or hit me up at ashrith at a5hr1th dot com

PS: Bluetech