It’s no secret that Research in Motion has been working on their own Twitter for BlackBerry Smartphones client for some time now. Word of it has popped up on the blogs a few times now and we’ve seen it make tweets and it has even been mentioned at recent BlackBerry launch events. Twitter users will be happy to know that today Twitter for BlackBerry has taken a big step closer to becoming a reality for users out there has RIM has announced it in beta form and made it avaliable for invite-only download from blackberry.com/twitterdownload. And you can sign up to receive updates from RIM on the availability of the Twitter for BlackBerry Smartphones atblackberry.com/twitter. Right now, the invite-only beta is available in six languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese and it’s looking like the beta should last “around a month” after which I can only imagine it will soon become available to everyone.

While Adam goes to work whipping up a video review of the new Twitter for BlackBerry Smartphones client as part of his Ultimate Twitter Client Roundup (we’ll report back soon with more), here’s an exciting contest…

Win an Invite Code to Try the Official Twitter for BlackBerry Smartphones App before everyone else:Yup, that’s right, we were able to get hooked up with some extra invite codes and we’re giving them away to lucky CrackBerry readers. We’ll be spreading this one out.  We have a couple we’ll give away tomorrow and a bunch more we’ll announce to winners over the course of next week. To enter, just leave a comment to this blog post that contains your twitter user ID. While you’re at it, why not tell us what features you value most in a twitter client. GOOD LUCK!

CrackBerry.com‘s feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. Twitter for BlackBerry Officially Announced in Invite-Only Beta; Contest: We’ve Got Invite Codes We’re Giving Away!

RIM patches ‘critical’ BlackBerry PDF flaw
ZDNet UK
RIM has released a patch for a security flaw in BlackBerry Enterprise Server that exposed corporate networks to hackers via maliciously crafted PDF documents.

RIM issues patch for serious BlackBerry flaw Register
all 5 news articles »

Techtree.com

RIM Patches PDF Attachment Vulnerability
Techtree.com
In a pro-active move, RIM recently announced that it has managed to patch a vulnerability in their BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

Formerly dubbed the ‘Bold’ (yes, like the washing powder) it actually has few surprises following leak , after leak, after leak , after leak but what’s most impressive is the Bold has delivered on all these and more besides…

Probably the biggie of the bunch is this is RIM’s first HSDPA enabled handset and it comes with WiFi and GPS backing it up. A 480 x 320 pixel display is also the densest in the company’s history while it features a style makeover and heavily redesigned software interface courtesy of BlackBerry OS v4.6. The 624MHz CPU at the heart of the Bold is also the fastest RIM has employed to date.

A full page rendering web browser is in there too and for multimedia fans it will play all the usual audio and video codecs while the new ‘BlackBerry Media Sync’ will sync with iTunes for non-DRM infected files. Call life is good as well at up to five hours talk time and up to 13 hours on standby (no doubt with WiFi, Bluetooth et al turned off). At 114 x 66 x 13mm and 133g, the Bold is also no more bulky than an iPhone.

So any negatives? Well there’s no touchscreen tech in there and the 2MP camera is kinda weedy in this day and age. Furthermore the 1GB of internal memory isn’t overly generous in these days of 4GB and 8GB handsets, though it can be bolstered by the ubiquitous microSD slot.

Interestingly, RIM has only described the BlackBerry Bold as being “available this summer” which seems rather vague for such a major release. It is indeed running scared of the 3G iPhone? If so there’s no need to be…

In a related news RIM has also announced the ‘BlackBerry Partners Fund’ in conjunction RBC and Thomson. $150m has been invested towards development of applications and services on the BlackBerry OS platform. Apple announced a similar ‘iFund’ of $100m provided by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers when it unveiled its SDK in March.

On top of this a new partnership with Microsoft will see tighter integration of Windows Live Services (including MSN and Hotmail) on all BlackBerry smartphones. BlackBerry owners lowering themselves to use Hotmail, whoever heard of such a thing?

Link:
Product Page