Refresh Roundup: week of May 27th, 2013

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

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Switched On: BlackBerry’s depressing keyboard trends

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

DNP Switched On BlackBerry's depressing keyboard trends

In a March interview, Google chairman Eric Schmidt, whose company's smartphone ambitions led to his vacating a board seat at Apple, claimed that he didn't use either an Android phone or iPhone. Rather, he uses a Blackberry, citing his affinity for its keyboard despite a number of Android models released over the years integrating physical thumb keyboards.

RIM devices had keyboards even before they had email; the feature was part of the BlackBerry's predecessor, the RIM Inter@ctive Pager. Indeed, tactile feedback was so valued by the company that it tried to integrate it into the touchscreen with the BlackBerry Storm. In reviewing that phone for The New York Times, David Pogue noted, "A BlackBerry without a keyboard is like an iPod without a scroll wheel." Imagine such a thing.

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Mobile Miscellany: week of May 27th, 2013

Mobile Miscellany week of May 27th, 2013

If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week, a new addition to the LG L-Series surfaced in Russia, a Lumia 920 was sighted that'd make Oscar the Grouch flip, and TalkTalk added three new devices from Huawei to its roster. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that's happening in the mobile world for this week of May 27th, 2013.

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Refresh Roundup: week of May 20th, 2013

Refresh Roundup week of May 13th, 2013

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

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Refresh Roundup: week of May 6th, 2013

Refresh Roundup week of May 6th, 2013

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

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BlackBerry Z10, Q10 and PlayBook get DoD approval

BlackBerry Z10, Q10 and PlayBook get DoD approval

The average consumer may be able to thumb through FCC filings to get a peek at their next smartphone, but certain government employee's hopes lie in the hands of another agency: the US Department of Defense. Good news for federally employed BlackBerry fans, then -- the company just announced that BlackBerry 10 smartphones and PlayBook tablets running Enterprise Service 10 have been added to the Defense Information Systems Agency's approved product list. Finally, DoD employees can toss out that aging BB7 handset and pick up a modern OS. Check out the company's official statement after the break.

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Via: nerdberry

Source: BlackBerry

Refresh Roundup: week of April 22nd, 2013

Refresh Roundup week of April 22nd, 2013

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

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Refresh Roundup: week of April 8th, 2013

Refresh Roundup week of April 8th, 2013

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

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Is this a limited edition BlackBerry Z10 in blue or just a very nice custom paint job?

Is this a limited edition BlackBerry Z10 in blue or just a very nice custom paint job

Red might be the limited edition color of choice for the BlackBerry Z10, but how would you feel about a blue one? That's exactly what rapper (and avid BB10 fan) Lil 'E has flourished to his Twitter followers. Looking just as bright as the developer-only red version, we can't quite make out whether we're dealing with an (admittedly eye-catching) customized handset or a special gift to one of the company's biggest fans. We've reached out to BlackBerry to check, but until we hear back, there's another fuzzy shot to ogle after the break.

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Via: Ubergizmo

Source: @BTBREPRESENTA (Twitter)

BlackBerry Z10 users can Gogo to Delta for free in-flight WiFi

BlackBerry Z10 users can Gogo to Delta for free inflight WiFi

Dangling WiFi-carrot meet your BlackBerry-made stick: the Z10. Perhaps because its user base has traditionally courted strong enterprise support -- a lot that typically overlaps with the jet set -- BlackBerry's offering an incentive to adopters of its BB 10 pearl, granting gratis Gogo-powered internet access for all domestic Delta flights. The best part? Latching onto that free WiFi is as simple as logging in and firing up the browser on your Z10 when it's "safe to use your electronic devices." Will this tip your hand and get you to switch to BB 10? Probably not, but it's the sort of pot sweetening that should keep BlackBerry's (moneyed) customers around for the long-haul.

[Thanks, Jared]

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Source: BlackBerry