Research In Motion on Tuesday announced a major milestone for its on-device software portal BlackBerry App World: 1 billion downloads served. ”The BlackBerry App World storefront launched a little over two years ago, and over that time, we’ve made many feature improvements, enhanced the look and feel, and added a ton of compelling apps,” RIM’s Alex Kinsella wrote on the company’s blog. “BlackBerry App World is now in over 100 countries, seeing an average of 3 million downloads per day, and we recently crossed the 1 billion app download milestone!” While the achievement is still impressive, RIM did confirm to BGR that the 1 billion figure includes application updates, however, and not just initial application downloads.

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The Guardian has posted the full text of what is reportedly a LulzSec IRC chat room log from May 31st to June 4th. LulzSec — the notorious hacking group responsible for recent attacks on Sony, the CIA’s website, and the U.S. Senate — has fired back claiming that the room’s sole purpose is for recruiting new members. The Guardian reported that LulzSec’s members include hackers “Kayla,” “Topiary” — who runs the group’s Twitter feed and writers the press releases — and “Sabu,” who services as the group’s father figure and mastermind. The chat log, from a room called #pure-elite, is filled with text from other IRC users including “jopie91,” “Neuron,” “Storm,” “trollpoll,” and “voodoo,” but LulzSec’s press release said that those users just “hang out” with the group and aren’t involved with LulzSec. The IRC conversations run the gamut from comedic content to serious warnings. In one instance, the group’s alleged leader Sabu issued a command: “You realise we smacked the FBI today. This means everyone in here must remain extremely secure.” LulzSec affirmed that it’s still operating at full strength and added: “The Lulz Boat sails stronger than ever, nice try though. We are too sexy to be sunk, hacking continues as usual, u mad bros?” Read on for the full press release from LulzSec.

Dear Internets,

Herro! Recently some of you may have seen “LulzSec exposed” logs floating around. We’d like the time to say this: LOL. Those logs are primarily from a channel called #pure-elite, which is /not/ the LulzSec core chatting channel. #pure-elite is where we gather potential backup/subcrew research and development battle fleet members, i.e. we were using that channel only to recruit talent for side-operations.

Note that people such as joepie91/Neuron/Storm/trollpoll/voodoo are not involved with LulzSec, they just hang out with us in that channel. Also, “ev0″, who was allegedly arrested (?) was never a part of LulzSec or in fact the subcrew. We don’t even know who he is.

Despite the fact that we’re laughing heartily right now, we do take care of our subcrew, and as such the person who leaked those logs (m_nerva) has been completely hacked inside and out. We have all his online accounts, all his personal information, all the illegal things he’s done on record. We destroyed him so hard that he sat there apologizing to us all night on IRC for what he did. His mother probably spanked him after we wrecked his home connection. Uh-oh, m_nerva!

Our core chatting channel remains unaffected. Our core LulzSec team is at full strength. The Lulz Boat sails stronger than ever, nice try though.

TL;DR we are too sexy to be sunk, hacking continues as usual, u mad bros?

http://lulzsecurity.com/

twitter.com/LulzSec

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We unveiled nearly all of RIM’s 2011 lineup over the past day or so, and we wanted to highlight the devices as well as give you a bit more background and personal thoughts on them — and of course, more photos. For starters, though, let’s talk about RIM’s NFC implementation and its real world use cases… we have been told RIM is planning to use NFC for pairing and streaming control with accessories, in addition to peer-to-peer information exchange. What does that mean? Well, you’d hold up one BlackBerry to another BlackBerry to add that person on BlackBerry Messenger, transfer your vCard information, or even share files. Future NFC uses headed to BlackBerry devices, we’re told, include things as crazy as building access control (no more key cards!), ticketing, and of course, payments. Hit the break for the rest of our break down!

BlackBerry Bold (Dakota)

The BlackBerry Dakota is the creme de la creme of the 2011 BlackBerry family, and it will carry the Bold name. RIM has taken various shots at this form factor and the Dakota will be the first one to see the light of day. We’re glad the company took the time to get it right, because earlier prototypes we’ve seen definitely fell short. The Torch is a great phone for some, but those of us who live and die by the perfect QWERTY keyboard found on RIM’s Bold line had trouble dealing with the thin plastic keys and minimal tactile response on the Torch’s board.

Beyond the heaven-sent full QWERTY / touchscreen combo, the Dakota will feature specs that are definitely a solid bump over today’s Bold devices. By 2011 standards they’re not going to blow anyone away, but higher display resolution, RAM upgrade, NFC, mobile hotspot capability and thin form factor are sure to please the eager BlackBerry-toting masses. Toss HD video recording and OS 6.1 into the mix, and we’re looking at the likely king of Waterloo in 2011.

BlackBerry Curve (Apollo)

The BlackBerry Curve sits lower than the Bold on RIM’s device lineup totem pole, but with the newest Curve ready to debut later this year, people will be in for a treat. With a decent screen, HSPA, a 5-megapixel camera, and an 800MHz CPU, the brand new BlackBerry Curve definitely won’t be a slouch. The styling flows very well on the Curve pictured above with smooth angles and… curves. The phone also appears sleek and perfectly proportioned. RIM’s Curve line is by far its biggest, and we think this update will definitely help keep RIM’s enterprise sales moving in the right direction.

BlackBerry Torch 2

RIM called the first Torch its best BlackBerry ever, though many would take issue with that statement. The Torch did nothing for me, personally. In fact, all it really did was make using a BlackBerry device more clunky and painful. Part of this is the hardware’s vertical slide out design, but part of it was due to the slow processor and weak internals. But if all goes according to plan, one of the Torch’s two big strikes will soon be taken care of. The BlackBerry Torch 2 should scream with its 1.2GHz CPU, VGA-resolution screen and large built-in storage. Again, these specs aren’t going to make anyone’s head spin in Q3 2011, but they’ll definitely give the Torch the shot of adrenaline it so desperately needs.

BlackBerry Storm 3 (Monaco)

We have not confirmed that the BlackBerry Monaco will launch with the “Storm 3″ moniker, though if it did, it would be practically nothing like the first device in the series. The first BlackBerry Storm, internally referred to as an “Apple Killer” and arguably one of the worst handsets ever to created by Research In Motion (remember how we reported it would be terrible before release?), shares nothing with the upcoming BlackBerry Storm 3 — no SurePress screen, no clunky hardware, no slow processor. This new full touchscreen device will be powered by a 1.2GHz CPU and feature the highest resolution display to ever ship on a BlackBerry — 800 x 480 pixels. We’ll have to see how it plays out in the marketplace, though, because by the time it is released in Q3, there will be much, much more advanced handsets with much more robust operating systems.

We hope you BlackBerry-lovers out there are excited with the information we have shared over the past two days. RIM is definitely moving towards better-spec’d devices — we’ll just have to see if it’s going to be soon enough, and if it’s going to be enough to compete with the iPhone and Android juggernauts.

The Nielsen Company reported Monday that smartphones now account for 28% of the cell phone market in the United States. Nielsen’s report also states that 41% of cell phones purchased in the U.S. over the past six months were smartphones. In terms of smartphone OS share, Nielsen paints a very different picture compared to earlier data presented by the NPD Group and Canalys. Nielsen’s data shows RIM still at the top of the U.S. smartphone market with a 30% share. Apple sits at number 2 with 28% and Android follows with only 19% of the market. Reports from NPD and Canalys released just this morning, however, show Android passing BlackBerry OS and attaining a commanding lead in the U.S. while iOS and BlackBerry OS battle for the two and three slots. Both firms claim that Android now holds a massive 44% of the U.S. smartphone market, while iOS is number 2 with 23% – 26% and RIM’s BlackBerry OS is number 3 with 22% – 24%.

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It’s getting a little clearer now… We reported that the Storm 2 would be getting a follow up device that is very, very similar to the existing model. What is looking almost confirmed now, is that the follow up device is a Storm 2 refresh and not the BlackBerry Storm 3. A new leaked OS screen shot seems to confirm this by showing off a model number of 9570. If that sounds familiar, its because the current model number for the existing Storm 2 is 9550. It appears RIM really needs OS 6 to run on a minimum of 512MB of RAM, and a quick hardware refresh will buy some time while the company prepares and finalizes their next OS strategy in addition to having slightly better hardware on the market.

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BerryReview has been sent in an image of what their tipster is claiming to be the BlackBerry Storm 3. The device is reported to have a 3.7-inch display and 8 GB of internal memory; no processor, touchscreen, or other specifications were given. If the image is in fact real, we’re unclear as to why RIM would put an optical trackpad on a full-touchscreen device… your guess is as good as ours. Take a look at the above image and let us know what you think.

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Today, Verizon announced a new video application that will allow subscribers of their FiOS television service to watch live, linear programming on an iPad. Before anyone gets too excited, the application — which is scheduled to be released early next year — does have one fairly enormous catch. As reported by Gigaom, “subscribers with an iPad will only be able to watch linear programming within their own home, which allows Verizon to authenticate and make certain that the users have access to whatever content they have paid for.” Verizon has said that all the backend legwork to make the TV streams available has been completed; they are now woking on getting content providers comfortable with the idea of their precious shows being available on devices other than television sets.

Verizon also announced a new video-on-demand application that will debut in Q4. The application, “will allow subscribers to purchase and rent videos and watch them across multiple devices and multiple platforms,” including the DROID X, DROID 2, BlackBerry Storm and handsets running Windows Mobile 6.5 (wah?).

All pretty exciting stuff in the mobile entertainment realm. Our one question is: why would we want to watch TV on a 9.7-inch iPad screen when we’re in the same vicinity as our HDTV? Thoughts?

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It was mentioned in one of our whispers and now it’s here: Verizon has released a Push-To-Talk application for its fleet of BlackBerry smartphones. Free to download but requiring a monthly fee of $5 to use, Verizon’s BlackBerry PTT app allows for unlimited nation-wide calls to other PTT devices. Other key features include:

• Make group calls with up to 50 participants.
• Use Presence to see who’s available for Push to Talk calls.
• Manage Push to Talk contacts for your entire company online.
• Access email and the Web while you’re on Push to Talk calls.

For the price, we’d say it’s definitely a good deal if you have a lot of family/friends/co-workers that have a PTT capable device, but for everyone else it’s $5 that could better be spent on a pint. Now if only this app were released alongside OS 5.0…

Thanks, to everyone that sent this in!

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And just like that, today we have the third photo leak of the mysterious BlackBerry slider. Unlike the first time we saw it but much like the second, the device has been placed next to a Curve 8900 for the sake of a size comparison. On its side the slider is noticeably thicker than the 8900 , but today it has been turned on its side in order to let us know exactly how thick this sucker is. What this device is actually called is anyone’s guess, but the general consensus is that this is not the Storm3. So what then is it? Lately a rumor has been floating around that it is actually a Bold owing to its identical styling queues to the current Bold 9700. Adding to this rumor is a UAProf found on RIM’s website for a 9700a that lists a portrait HVGA+ display (as opposed to the Bold 9700′s landscape HVGA+ display) and this all seems rather possible. Of course dealing with prototypes things can and will change as needed, so it looks like we’re going to have to twiddle our thumbs a little while longer until some more information comes to light. Hit the jump for a pic of device’s rear sans battery cover showing off its brand new F-S1 battery.

[via CrackBerry]

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Read [UAProf]

You might have caught our report on the much-rumored sliding BlackBerry device a couple days back. Some pictures just surfaced at BBLeaks, and while we’re not able to confirm their authenticity at this time, they do match up with the product that has been described to us. Sadly, if the photos are real (we’re hoping for RIM’s sake they aren’t), it truly seems like RIM really is stuck in 2005.

UPDATE: BBLeaks told us they’re getting clearer images and video/s. This might be the real deal, folks. Single tear.

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This isn’t confirmed, but with RIM rumored to be exploring sliding-QWERTY devices for a pretty long time, one of our BlackBerry connects dropped some info on us and we wanted it to share it. Here’s what we know:

• It’s a portrait-oriented slider. While most people assume a device with slideout keyboard would end up being something like HTC’s devices, we’ve been told this particular handset is more like the Palm Pre in terms of layout.
• The phone will run BlackBerry OS 6.0
• The rumored device will 100% support Wi-Fi 802.11n
• The resolution unfortunately has not improved, it is still 360×480.
• No word on if this will have a touch screen, but we’d assume so, and our source alluded to this possibly being what the rumored BlackBerry Magnum/Dakota evolved into. Not saying there won’t be a Bold-like device with touchscreen, optical trackpad, and physical keyboard, but this might be released first.
• If it does have a touch screen, this could in fact be the mythical BlackBerry Storm slider — picture a Storm 9520 with a slide up Bold-esque keyboard.
• The phone will not be a Verizon exclusive — it’s supposed to be a GSM/HSPA device.

That’s all we’ve got for now, folks. What are you thinking? Does this remotely interest you, or could you care less about the hardware at this point and just hope that RIM can make some pretty big strides as far as their OS is concerned?

Image for illustrative purposes only.

Verizon seems to be planning on expanding its prepaid line-up and options for current and would-be customers by throwing BlackBerry into the mix. Word is that within the next three months, prepaid BlackBerry plans will become available, though we’re not sure if all devices would be included. Rumor is that the plan adds $35 on top of the voice package, which isn’t so bad when compared to other carriers and most post-paid plans. We’ve also received word that the prepaid bundles would match Verizon’s older ones, and that phones would run somewhere between the subsidized price and full retail cost. We’ll be sure to keep you guys updated on this as news comes our way!

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So far, all of the Black Friday leaks we’ve seen haven’t been all that friendly to smartphone lovers, but according to our sources, Wirefly will be picking up the slack come Friday with the following deals:

Verizon BlackBerry Storm2: $0.99 for new subs / $29.99 for existing VZW customers (Friday only) followed by $9.99 / $49.99 until Monday

AT&T BlackBerry Bold 9700: $0 / $29.99 (Friday to Monday)

Sprint Samsung Moment: $79.99 / $99.99 (Friday to Monday)

If none of those phones catch your fancy, there are still some savings to be had as Wirefly will be waiving activations for AT&T and Verizon phones until Midnight on December 1st.

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Just a quick  little heads up for our Canadians brothers and sisters that at this moment may or may not be doing battle with polar bears on glaciers the size of Manhattan — TELUS has released the BlackBerry Storm2. Retailing for $599.99, the Storm2 is also available at the subsidized price of $199.99 provided one is willing to take on a 3-year contract with a minimum of a $50 voice and data plan. So what’s it going to be, Canada? Yay or nay?

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Recently, TELUS issued a press release letting Canadians know that their handsets are now being offered through Black’s, the nation-wide digital camera chain. This news in itself didn’t interest us in the least, but for giggles we clicked on through to Black’s website just to see what handsets it was going to be offering considering the odd partnership. What did we see in the line up? None other than a TELUS branded BlackBerry Storm2. Unfortunately what you see above is all we have for now as this sucker has not yet been announced by TELUS, but we have a feeling that will change very, very soon.

Thanks, Tony!

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