BlackBerry App World 3.0 Beta now available to try

Team RIM and the 'boys in the labs' have been working on the latest iteration of the Blackberry App World, version 3.0 and it seems that they're pretty pleased with the results.



 
The new App World home screen design
The changes are apparent from the off with a completely redesigned home screen which has re-prioritized functionality in the form of the new App World search bar. The search system allows you to sort by app name, price, rating, newest, best match and popular, in an attempt to streamline the search process. Underneath this sits the spotlight banner; showing the latest and most popular apps, akin to both the App Store and Android Market on their respective devices and rounding off the new home screen, there are now five new icons down at the bottom which are referred to as 'top level channels'. Two of the upper three icons, 'Games', and 'Themes' denote the most popular categories typically searched on the App World and the new 'My Account' option gives users easier/faster access to things like their BBID and payment options, handy.



 

You can scroll sideways to see extra app info and sharing options
Information on each app has now been consolidated into a single screen which you can swipe left or right with, in order to see its summary, screenshots and reviews. The 3.0 update coincides nicely with the announcement of three new devices alongside the launch of BB OS 7 and as with the enhancements to the OS, App World 3.0 has a focus on sharing. Team BlackBerry have tried to make it easier for users to share apps with their friends, with quick access to popular social services like Twitter and Facebook or SMS, email and BBM sharing.
It's a welcome improvement that helps move the Blackberry image forward and brings its app store more inline with its main competitors. RIM still need to think about how they can drive the 'cool' factor a little harder but this design definitely brings them up to date.
If you want to try BlackBerry App World 3.0 for yourself, it's currently available on the Blackberry Beta Zone. As such it's only available in certain countries but the download is available here once you've signed up and if you want to know which countries are supported you can see the list here.
Tell us about your experiences and thoughts on the new look App World in the comments below.

Samsung Galaxy

Another one of the Samsung Galaxy S II variants has been discovered and it is making its way to the TELUS network in Canada. The picture below was snapped by MobileSyrup.com who attended a VIP event in Canada, where this phone was spotted.






Known as the “Hercules”, the phone looks similar to the standard Galaxy S II, Nexus S and the Infuse 4G. It was said to have a display bigger than the Galaxy S II and more in line with the 4.5-inch display on the Infuse 4G. The device will be running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 1.2GHz dual-core processor and could be the first dual carrier 42Mbps smartphone in Canada. It is also said to have an 8 megapixel camera on the back capable of recording 1080p videos and 2 megapixel front facing camera.
Since there has been no official announcement there is no price and launch date to report but we shall keep an eye out for them

Samsung Galaxy S II

LTE-enabled Samsung Galaxy S II Celox leaks 

We've uncovered an image and some specs on an upcoming Galaxy S II smartphone carrying an LTE radio. The information, originally from Korea, claims that the smartphone codename is Celox.
And the LTE radio (100Mbps/50Mbps downlink and uplink) won't be the only things that set the Celox apart from its mortal Galaxy S II sibling. According to the rumor, the new smartphone should be based on the Qualcomm APQ8060 chipset, which features a dual-core 1.2GHz processor. The Celox should also have a larger, 4.5-inch , WVGA SuperAMOLED Plus display and a 1750mAh battery.



 The rest of the specs should be similar or identical to those of the regular Galaxy S II - 8MP camera, TouchWiz 4.0, Android 2.3 Gingerbread and so on.
As far as the styling is concerned, the Celox looks like a mixture between the I9103 Galaxy R and the I9100 Galaxy S II.
We'll certainly be keeping an eye out for more rumors about this one, so stay tuned!

Nokia WP7

The Nokia Sea Ray may be expecting company - a leaked promo video shows off what is supposedly a Nokia phone powered by Windows Phone 7 and it looks different than the Sea Ray. Of course, it could be fake (though pretty well-made) or it could be some internal promo video.
Remember the first images of Nokia WP7 phone that turned out to be nothing but mockups? The video shows two models, one of which looks almost exactly like the mockups that leaked originally. The other model however is different from those and from the Sea Ray.



 

The two models from the leaked video
Here's the video in question:

                                            !Click For Video!

We can't be sure that the origin of this video is Nokia (the tipster who sent it to MyNokiaBlog claimed to be from Microsoft, but sent the tip from an Ovi Mail account).
And even if it is from Nokia, we can't be sure if it's an actual device rather than a generic mockup for a promo video. The ending of the clip, which shows a futuristic device that is obviously intended for promo purposes only gives some weight to the second option.
Especially, if you compare this frame from the video with this Nokia-made mockup.

Nokia N9

In a move that is going to break the hearts of a lot of people, Nokia has decided against launching the Nokia N9 in the US as well as the UK.

The company was contacted by Engadget and The Inquirer regarding the availability in the US and UK respectively and in both the cases they were met with a negative response. Although Nokia is delighted with the positive response the N9 has received from everyone they also made it clear that they currently have no plans for launching the N9 in these markets.
The carrier-centric nature of these markets could be the reason why Nokia doesn’t feel it is a good idea to launch the N9 there. Or they simply don’t want to take the focus away from their upcoming Windows Phone 7 devices. Whatever the reason is, we are disappointed to see Nokia take this move. After a long time a Nokia phone had generated so much interest in the public and a lot of people were really looking forward to it. We guess they will have to find other ways to get their hands on the phone now.

Nokia Symbian S40

As Nokia gears towards the launch of their first Windows Phone 7 device, the Finnish giant has announced that it will be pulling their Symbian and S40 phones out of the North American market.

This information was relayed by the Nokia Inc. President Chris Weber in an interview with AllThingsD. According to him, Nokia will be out of the Symbian and S50 business in the North America when they launch their Window Phone 7 devices. Their focus will then be just on the new phones and their accessories. Nokia knows that this may be their last chance at a comeback and if that fails anything else won’t work either, as has already been proven by the mediocre success of Nokia’s other platforms in the North America.
As for the Windows Phone 7 devices, Weber mentioned that Nokia is putting a lot of effort and investment into them and the phones are being developed in and for the North America and will be sold globally. We hope for their sake that their efforts aren’t in vain.

Acer...

Acer Iconia Smart, the super-long gadget we saw at the MWC, is taking its sweet time to get to the European market, but we finally have an estimated arrival date. Acer Germany posted on its Facebook that the Iconia Smart will be arriving on German shelves in September.
In case you've forgotten, the Acer Iconia Smart is an Android smartphone with a whopping 4.8" screen with ultra-wide 19:9 aspect and 1024x480 pixels resolution. It will launch with Android Gingerbread, running on a Snapdragon chipset with a 1GHz Scorpion CPU. It also features an 8MP main camera. For more, check out our hands-on encounter from our MWC 2011 coverage.
The Iconia Smart will sell for €499 ($710) and at least one German web shop has it listed. Exansys UK's web site also has the Iconia Smart for pre-order, but they've announced no details (price, release date, etc.).
If you find the Acer Iconia Smart somewhere else, drop us a line in the comments.

Acer Iconia

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