It is great that RIM is looking ahead and wants to make Theme Studio available for the new platform, but what about the current OS that has been in market for over a year now? If Theme Studio for BB7 is not released at the same time as the one for BB10 I am going to lose a fair amount of confidence in RIM and their promises made to developers.  With the Keynote happening tomorrow, hopefully we will have some answers very soon.

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They also replyied to a tweet @alketbihamad that they are working on a Linux NDK for Cascades development for Linux users! This is set to be released with the launch of beta 3 this month. RIM also updated the flight board/roadmap for the Android Runtime for BlackBerry. You can see more here: Android Runtime

Via: BerryReview

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viaBBCool

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Theme developer’s and theme addicts like myself are super excited about this matter!

Keep an eye out on the Inside BlackBerry Blog for more!

Via: The Berry Fix

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Another interesting tidbit for BlackBerry developers: Though a compatibility issue with the new “Liquid Graphics” engine in the BlackBerry 7 OS has kept RIM from releasing BlackBerry Theme Studio tools for the latest BlackBerry OS, Saunders says these tools will become available mid-2012, he says. (RIM has an internal theme building tool, which is how the company built the custom “Porsche” theme used on the new, limited edition BlackBerry P’9981 device, but the tool is not available to developers outside of RIM, according to Saunders.)

As one theme developer put it:

They don’t need anymore bad press and they make money off of theme developers…they are restricting the developers ability to generate income yet they are the ones who have solicited developers to come on board! They don’t want a group of people on their front lawn with the press there. Besides themes have always been a part of blackberrys and the consumer who buys their devices are not getting all the options RIM promises to them… RIM has solicited developers…we have come on board and now they are refusing to provide the tools to develop… that the consumer is not getting what they are paying for…its like buying Windows and having no programs available…all we are asking for is what they advertised to developers, yes even us lowly theme developers! That’s the way RIM is treating us right.

BBE Kris:

Kris here, from BBE. I’ve been chatting with fellow BlackBerry users, blog writers, theme devs over the recent theme delay issue. We feel that this is unacceptable. Between all of us, we need RIM to hear us out and know that this is unacceptable. We want to petition RIM for OS7 themes NOW! I feel we have a good shot at getting heard with this petition!

I have been speaking with several theme developers as well as other BlackBerry bloggers and we agree we need to stand up for what we have been promised from RIM! Please retweet this post an use the hashtag #OccupyRIM

[[petition-1]]

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Another interesting tidbit for BlackBerry developers: Though a compatibility issue with the new “Liquid Graphics” engine in the BlackBerry 7 OS has kept RIM from releasing BlackBerry Theme Studio tools for the latest BlackBerry OS, Saunders says these tools will become available mid-2012, he says. (RIM has an internal theme building tool, which is how the company built the custom “Porsche” theme used on the new, limited edition BlackBerry P’9981 device, but the tool is not available to developers outside of RIM, according to Saunders.)

I am actually pretty shocked that RIM hasn’t been able to make this happen sooner, especially due to the fact that BlackBerry users tend to really enjoy theming their phones.  Personally I am a huge theme fan and usually go through a few a week as I look for something new and exciting.  We feel bad for all those Theme developers that make a living off themes for BlackBerry and will now lose a huge amount of time with no products for the latest BlackBerry devices to hit the market.

In a time when RIM is facing drastic drops in stock value, and it seems like more and more faithful BlackBerry users, including myself, are being drawn away by what other platforms can provide a new Theme Studio 7 could have helped to keep eyes from wandering for a little while longer.  Please share with us what your thoughts on this is, and don’t be afraid to be angry about it…. we don’t blame you in the least!

CIO via Crackberry

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OS6.1 leaked not to long ago with some nice icons. The new ones are quite a bit different from the Precision on 5.0 and the newer 6.0 icons. You can get this new set via Megaupload here

MegaUpload Link

These are going to make some pretty themes happen for people. It seems like RIM is finally getting the message from people to step it up. We have all seen Android and iOS icons and know they are very colorful. I really hope RIM plants its foot down for this one and makes a nice comeback in the tech wars.

OS6.1 is supposed to give the ability to change homescreen panels, a definite bonus to the deal.

Source

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As a Torch owner and a lover of themes this is truly the day I have been waiting for since I got my Torch back in August.  The first beta version of the Blackberry Theme Studio for Blackberry 6 and the Torch is finally available for download.  I believe there are a lot of possibilities for theme developers to make some very cool themes with Blackbery 6 and the Torch.  Hopefully we will start to see some within the next few days or weeks.  RIM did however put a small disclaimer with the download;

BlackBerry Theme Studio v6.0 beta only supports the BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphone and BlackBerry® 6 OS. This version is recommended for experienced users who want to experiment with the latest BlackBerry technology and don’t need a full set of documentation (the software comes with a description of the new features only).

If you are a theme developer and are interested please click the link below to download the new Theme Studio.  Please remember that you will still need Theme Studio 5 for all other devices.

Download Theme Studio v6.0 Beta 1 Today

Source: Crackberry

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Source: Berry Review

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