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The Apple AppStore has reached another milestone as it easily passed by the impressive 25,000 available apps mark today.

You can pick and choose from several categories and basically if you can think of it an app it probably exists. Since launching on July 11, 2008 with only 500 apps, then we crossed the 10,000 marker on November 30th… 15,000 apps and 500 million downloads mark on January 16th. The 20,000 mark was reached last month on February 11th.

So in eight short months there are 25,000 apps. I say we’ll hit the 50k mark July of this year.

Finally, now that RIM has announced the BlackBerry AppWorld and Palm will release their Store, how will this change the game for everyone?

Source: MocoNews

In our ongoing quest to find the latest deals on great devices in Canada, we found that Best Buy has dropped the price on the BlackBerry Bold and Curve 8900.

You can now save a sweet $75 when you buy the Bold on  a 3-year contract. The offer is good until March 12th and you can get the Bold for a stellar $174.99. However, it has to be a new activation with a minimum $45 a month voice and data plan. (Rogers has the Bold available through them for $249.99 on a 3-year)

If the Bold does not speak to you, maybe it’s a bit big for you and want to scale down in size. Check out the BlackBerry Curve 8900. This only has WiFi (no 3G) but comes in at a stellar price of $149.99 on a 3-year contract. Also must be new activation with a minimum $45 a month voice and data plan…  To compare the savings, Rogers has the Curve 8900 available through them for $199.99 on a 3-year.

More here at Best Buy

We’ve been given word that the recently launched Samsung m320 by Solo Mobile has some “Software Incompatibility”… only for those who purchased the device in Alberta and Quebec.

The document says “Exclusively in the provinces of Alberta and Quebec it has been discovered that there is an issue with the internal activation procedure on the recently launched Solo Mobile Samsung m320.

Solo Mobile has investigated the issue and has discovered that it is a result of a software incompatibility with the latest PRL (Preferred Roaming List). This software incompatibility can be simply fixed by flashing the mobile phone and installing the proper software.”

This is not that big a deal as most likely not many devices were actually sold. But always good to be aware. If you did purchase the m320 in Alberta or Quebec, call your local Solo location and see if this impacts you.

Remember Lynx mobility? This is the joint venture that is equally owned by an Aboriginal group Naskapi Imuun and OmniGlobe Networks. Well it seems they are expanding and will be holding a ceremony in Quebec on March 12th to celebrate. They are expanding into Kawawachikamach, Schefferville, Matimekush and Lac John.

Dr Jason Neale, President, Lynx Mobility said “This is a very exciting time for us as we prepare to deliver our cellular service to small communities across Canada. We believe that our affordable and reliable service will act as a tool to diffuse the social and economic implications of the digital divide”.

SaskTel has a new plan available that offers customers the opportunity to go all in. Similar to the carriers in the US who are offering Unlimited Everything for 99 bucks, SaskTel has done the same with their “All For One Plan”, but the price tag is a bit higher starting at $129.

Sprint’s “Simply Everything” plan has Unlimited voice calling, text, web, email and picture mail for $99.99 USD. The basic SaskTel All for One Plan” has:

Included with all Plans:
- Unlimited Cell Airtime in Saskatchewan.
- Unlimited Cell Long Distance to Canada and the U.S. for calls originating in Saskatchewan.
- Unlimited Text Messaging.
- Enhanced voicemail, call display, and detailed billing.
- No hidden fees. System Administration Fee and 911 Fees are included in the price.
- Low flat rate for calls originating outside of Saskatchewan ($0.25 per minute) to anywhere in Canada and the U.S. (includes airtime, roaming and long distance charges).
- Free Call Waiting
- Free Three-way Calling
- Free Call Transfer
- Pay-per-use Picture Messaging
- Pay-per-use Voicemail to Text

Although a $25 Activation fee will be charged to your bill the first month it is kinda a good deal if you use your phone a lot. The prices increase once you get your BlackBerry involved.

For $149 a month you get all the above plus unlimited Internet, personal e- mail, and BlackBerry Messenger. Another option is the whopping $189 a month charge that sees the above, plus Unlimited data service.

More here at SaskTel

With all the ongoing leaks that have hit the web, to protect their intellectual property RIM has taken matters into their own hands by recording all employee conversations.

In an interview with ZDNet.com.au, RIM CIO Robin Bienfait said “Everything I have that’s on RIM is recorded and retained as RIM. So if they want to have a chat with somebody and it’s not a chat that’s within RIM’s domain, then they may want their own personal device. Everything. I record everything”.

Apparently employees know what they are getting into when they join RIM, Bienfait goes on to say “They’re doing business inside of RIM. Everything they can say or do can be patented…We’re not violating anybody’s privacy. They’re aware that their information is transparent and in visibility. Their running anything on the RIM network or in our space is something that we have to capture because of disclosure”.

Fan of the TELUS animals?

Below are 2 commericals, one in English called “The Pieces Fit”. The Song is called “Got Me” by Stars & Crosses. The second is in French called “Casse-tête” with the song Ensemble by Coeur de pirate.

The commercial features some current smartphones including the BlackBerry Storm, and Curve, HTC Touch Pro and the upcoming BlackBerry Pearl 8230 Flip. Check it out here:

For those who use Opera Mobile to surf the web you’ll be happy to know that a new add-on has just been released. This one is called “Opera Fingertouch” and makes surfing a great deal easier.

If you have a mobile phone that sometimes shows all the links all jumbled up together and by accident you click or tap a couple times to get the right one… Fingertouch will help you miss that step as it opens a confirmation screen of the link you clicked before moving to the next web page.

Check out the demo video and download it here.

Source: IntoMobile

Thanks to CrackBerry we finally some actual images of the upcoming BlackBerry 9630 Niagara! This is CDMA full-QWERTY keyboard BlackBerry is a cross between the BlackBerry Curve 8900 and BlackBerry Bold 9000.

It’s always good to see what other countries are doing and more importantly how they launch devices. Here in Canada we’ve seen the launch party for the BlackBerry Bold, Storm and 8350i.

Over in Shanghai, Nokia released the 5800 XpressMusic at its Flagshipstore at 5:80pm on February 21st. Check out this video of the launch party:

Hopefully us Canadians will see this device soon
(let’s just make sure all the reception issues are fixed by then)