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BlackBerry 6 Now Available to Vodafone Users

Announcement posted by BlackBerry 29 Apr 2011

Sydney, Australia, 29 April 2011 – Research In Motion today announced that BlackBerry 6, the newest operating system for BlackBerry smartphones, is now available as a free software update for Vodafone's BlackBerry smartphone users in Australia.

The software update is available for the BlackBerry Bold™ 9700, BlackBerry Curve™ 3G and BlackBerry Pearl™ 3G smartphones.

Users can get the update for their handset by connecting their BlackBerry smartphone to their computer through a USB connection, then visit www.blackberry.com/update from their computer, click “check for updates” and simply follow the on-screen instructions.

BlackBerry 6 retains the trusted connectivity features that distinguish the BlackBerry brand while delivering a fresh, approachable and engaging experience that is both powerful and easy to use. The new operating system features a redesigned interface that seamlessly works with a trackpad and a touch screen, expanded messaging capabilities that simplify managing social media and RSS feeds, an advanced multimedia experience that rivals the best in the industry, a convenient new Universal Search tool and a new and efficient WebKit-based browser that renders web pages quickly and beautifully for a great browsing experience.

“We believe that BlackBerry smartphone users will love the fantastic communication, browsing and multimedia enhancements that BlackBerry 6 offers. The new operating system includes great features such as the Universal Search tool and expanded messaging capabilities that enrich a user's overall experience, so we are excited to offer the update to BlackBerry Bold 9700, BlackBerry Curve 3G and BlackBerry Pearl 3G users,” said Adele Beachley, Managing Director Australia and New Zealand for Research In Motion.

Visual, Fluid Interface
BlackBerry 6 has been redesigned making it easier and more intuitive, with clean, sleek visuals and natural, fluid navigation. Designed to be both fresh and familiar, the new interface enables a productive, fun and highly satisfying user experience whether using a trackpad and keyboard or a touch screen.

BlackBerry 6 offers multiple views that help users better organise their applications and content. Icons are arranged on the Home Screen in five customisable views (All, Favorites, Media, Downloads and Frequent) that are navigable with simple swipes. Users can organise where they want their icons to appear, and can add contacts or web page shortcuts directly to the Home Screen.

Also new to BlackBerry 6 are visually-rich, context-sensitive Action Menus. Within a given application, by clicking and holding the trackpad or through an extended touch of the display, users can bring the most common actions or tasks of an application to the surface. In addition, users can seamlessly multitask by holding down the Menu key, which pops up a visual grid of all the applications currently running, so users can instantly switch between applications.

A powerful Universal Search tool is accessible from the Home Screen. By simply clicking or tapping the Universal Search icon, users can search for any content on their handset, the web or in BlackBerry App World™.

Fast Rich Web Browsing
BlackBerry 6 integrates a new and efficient WebKit-based browser that renders web pages quickly and beautifully for a great browsing experience. It features tabs for accessing multiple sites simultaneously, and a zoom feature that can intelligently wrap text in a column while maintaining the placement of a page's key elements.

Social Feeds and Text Messaging
The new Social Feeds application simplifies the management of social networking and RSS feeds and provides integrated access to the native BBM™ (BlackBerry Messenger), Facebook, Twitter™, MySpace™, AOL Instant Messenger™, Google Talk™, Windows Live™ Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger applications for BlackBerry smartphones. Social Feeds streamlines the user experience, provides an integrated view of friends’ activities across multiple social networks and lets users post updates across multiple networks simultaneously. Users can also easily add their favorite RSS Feeds from the Social Feeds application or directly from a website while browsing.

Engaging Multimedia Experience
The multimedia experience in BlackBerry 6 is designed to give users a more engaging and streamlined experience with album art everywhere in the new music and video players. The new BlackBerry Desktop Software 6 integrates media sync for easily syncing photos and videos as well as iTunes and Windows Media Player music with the smartphone*. It also includes Wi-Fi Music Sync, a unique feature that allows users to view their entire iTunes or Windows Media Player music libraries from their BlackBerry smartphone, create and edit playlists, as well as select music for download. When in range of their home Wi-Fi network (or via USB), the changes are synced with iTunes or Windows Media Player and the songs are automatically downloaded to the smartphone.

BlackBerry 6 also gives users access to a range of camera modes that can help them capture better images. Editing, organising and sharing shots are amazingly simple, with intuitive options for grouping pictures.

For more information on BlackBerry 6, visit www.blackberry.com/6. To view screen shots, visit the Inside BlackBerry Blog.

Media Contacts:
Antoinette Trovato - Research In Motion
0437 763 316
atrovato@rim.com

Spectrum Communications
02 9954 3299
blackberry@spectrumcomms.com.au