While I won't receive my precious BlackBerry PlayBook for a few more, long, painful, lonely days.. Okay my point, RIM as released Facebook for PlayBook v2.1 this morning which includes many aspects that many people were hoping for as soon as possible. Some fun new changes include:

Interact with friends and more on Facebook for PlayBook with all the fun of doing so on your BlackBerry, but with a bigger screen! Remember, if the update isn't immediately available to you, just give it a few hours, this app is hot off the press!

When I woke up this morning with the little option to upgrade Foursquare I could not have been more excited. I had had my fair share of mishaps and what not with the app, but it looks like most of them have finally been resolved. Version 3.5 of Foursquare includes these fixes:

If you haven't ever heard of Foursquare, it allows you to explore the world around you by enabling you the chance to meet up with friends, find new places to go and save money on random specials posted by other Foursquare users! While on the go, you can easily share with your friends where you are, post pictures that they can comment on as well as insider tips and reviews that you wouldn't otherwise been inclined to hear about. You earn points and badges for going to your favorite places. Plus, you can post all your activity to Facebook and Twitter! Sound like the app for you?

The bug which prevented users from adding a new tablet to the BlackBerry Bridge has apparently been fixed with this new version. The small update from 1.0.7.4 to 1.0.7.5 might not necessarily indicate a new PlayBook Tablet OS but it'd be a nice present right before the holidays for us.

Suggesting that RIM needs to ditch its BlackBerry handset business seems to be quickly gaining favor among a small amount of RIM's shareholders. It may seem like a bold statement, but that's what technology experts and investors are saying.

Poor sales and decreasing stock value have gotten many investors a little nervous about the future of RIM. Jaguar Financial an activist shareholder for the company stated that the "road map to value restoration lies in a sale of RIM whether as a whole or in separate parts," These parts to include its handset business. Jaguar also suggested a change within RIM's leadership stating that the company needed a new "transformational" leader.

Let's face it, we have heard these kind of bold predictions and statements before. What makes this one any different from the ones we have heard?

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One of the areas in which BlackBerry has been struggling severely is marketing its products. BlackBerry 7 smartphones have completely gone under the radar for many, as commercials, posters and general advertisement has been completely lacking in the U.S. markets, including even carrier stores. One of the only BlackBerry commercials we've seen in the U.S. has been this Torch 2 9810 commercial from AT&T the day after the release of the Bold 9900. All of us die hard BlackBerry fans have been extremely disappointed, to say the least, about the lack of carrier cooperation towards advertisement for our new devices.

With the last conference call getting many worried about the future of BlackBerry, a $100 million advertising budget was promised for Q4 of 2011 in order to help boost sales of both BlackBerry devices and PlayBook tablets. I know, I'm thinking the same thing, this should've been done back in Q3 or Q2 instead but at least something is getting done.

Many have, rightfully, wondered where this huge advertising budget would go. If you think about it for example, most movie advertising campaigns are, on average, around $50-$60 million. If RIM is going to be investing almost double the average in one quarter it should suggest that we will be bombarded with BlackBerry "stuff" over the next couple of months.

One of the first avenues in which RIM is inserting the BlackBerry brand is the NBA. The basketball season will officially get started this Sunday, December 25th with a series of extremely highly anticipated games throughout the day. The 3 main ones (ORL vs OKC, MIA vs DAL, and LA vs CHI) will be sponsored by BlackBerry. There have been a couple of commercials being aired which show off the logo a little better and we're hoping to see an increase in these as the day gets closer.

This to me is extremely exciting. I personally have never been a fan of BlackBerry sponsoring concerts or obscure events that most people will never watch. This ends up being completely the opposite as these games are going to be extremely popular in the U.S. specially. As a die-hard Miami Heat fan I will be glued to the TV on Sunday rooting for the Heat and waiting to see how much BlackBerry "stuff" we see all around.

BlackBerry Beta Zone is finally rolling out beta apps that are compatible with the 7.1 operating systems! If you're an app junkie and always inclined to have the latest and greatest, whether it be apps or operating systems, you can now have both and not have to pick. Grab your USB cords and plug your device into your computer if you can update to 7.1 because now you can download the beta apps too!

While I have not yet been lucky enough to get this recent Twitter for BlackBerry update, one of the other BBOS bloggers pointed me in the direction so those that are having to wait like me are well aware that the update is coming for you! If you're a Curve or Pearl user, you may have been unable to access a Twitter users profile page from the Mentions tab, but that has changed! This version's change log has stated that this fix as been added and you will finally be able to. While App World may not be showing the recent update for you just yet, please be patient and know that it will be shortly!

• Download BBM Music v1.1 via Beta Zone
• Discuss Findings/Fixes in our Forums

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