RIM has released a slew of updates to popular BlackBerry apps, incorporating BBM connectivity to make it even easier for BlackBerry users to connect with their contacts, share content and interact with their BBM community.

Facebook, Twitter, BlackBerry Travel and BlackBerry App World are just a few which received BBM injections, joining over 800 hundred BBM-connected apps currently in the market. According to Alec Saunders, VP of Developer Relations at RIM, one in every five apps downloaded on BlackBerry App World is a BBM-connected app.

I’ve updated Facebook and Twitter apps on my BlackBerry Bold 9790 and the BBM integration is a nice plus. With the new BlackBerry Travel, users can share travel plans and flight changes with selected BBM contacts, or share it publicly if they like.

With the new updates to BlackBerry App World and BBM, BlackBerry users can easily share info about their favourite apps to their BBM contacts or list of installed apps via BlackBerry Tag. BlackBerry Tag of course makes use of NFC capabilities of selected BlackBerry phones running BlackBerry OS 7.1 or higher.

“If it’s too good to be true, it probably is”. You’ve have most likely seen that “Stand a chance to win an iPad 2” advertisement your friends have been doing on their Facebook Wall, chances are, they probably fell for a scam. In recent studies by Symantec Security Response, scammers are flocking to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter as they are becoming extremely popular. With over 845 million active users to date on Facebook, it’s no surprise that these scams are becoming more apparent.

Here are some tactics used by scammers:

1. Providing links that redirect to affiliate sites
You’ve probably received replies from unknown Twitter accounts of new product giveaways. Many of these links actually lead to affiliate pages asking for personal information, such as email address and shipping information. Some scammers have also begun to send users to instructional videos on YouTube which guide the users through a step-by-step process to get their free iPad or iPhone. Scammers then use the video description section to link to the affiliate pages which then dupe users into sharing their personal information.

2. Setting up fake promotional user accounts
Unlike the previous examples, where a Twitter user posts about a certain brand and receives a targeted reply with a link, users are now being directed to fake branded Twitter accounts as shown below. If you are a Twitter user and receiving replies from suspicious Twitter accounts promising you something for free, protect yourself and others by reporting the account to Twitter.

For more information on the above, please visit Symantec’s Security Response blog post here.

Symantec recommends users be cautious when clicking on URLs without expanding them first using previews or plug-ins. Users should also never disclose any confidential personal or financial information unless and until it can be confirmed that any request for such information is legitimate.

For more info on Facebook’s Page policy, read this.

Not too bad for a company that still doesn’t have a proper business revenue model, raking in just $45 million in revenue last year primarily through advertising, and touching $100 million this year. This is puny compared to a monolith like Facebook, which generates revenues in the billions.

The San Francisco-based microblogging startup which was founded by Biz Stone and Ev Williams, has rejected several offers to acquire the company by interested parties — including Facebook for $500 million in 2008, Apple for $700 million, an informal $2.5 billion offer from Google and an even larger offer of $4 billion from an undisclosed bidder this year.

While nobody truly knows what’s cut out for Twitter, it is rumored that we may soon see monetization via ads in posts soon. How do you feel about that? Would you still use Twitter if there were ads? Would you pay for an ads-free freemium model?

Sony Ericsson unveiled a slew of new phones at CommunicAsia 2001 today, one being the fun messaging feature phone called the Sony Ericsson txt. A very apt name for a phone with a full view QWERTY keyboard and SMS shortcut key. This is a sister phone to the Sony Ericsson txt pro which was recently announced. The new phone almost resembles a Blackberry, one that has been injected with some Smurf DNA that is.

The phone runs Java and has close integration with Facebook and Twitter where the “friends” application allows users to see updates of their top five friends at a glance. The Sony Ericsson txt comes with a 3.2MP camera capable of video recording, and is Wi-Fi enabled. The handset will come in four different colours – white, black, pink and blue.

The phone is expected to be available in selected markets from Q3 2011. Pricing has yet to be revealed but is expected to be between $100 to $150 (RM300 to RM450).

More pics after the break

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from vernieman’s posterous

Is this the death of the ‘blog’ as we know it?

Who knows? I’m contemplating moving vernonchan.com to either Posterous / Tumblr permanently. What say you?

There was good buzz during the event and it was also a great platform for business networking and sharing – connecting like-minded individuals and entrepreneurs. I had the opportunity to meet Twitter friends (including Daniel Cerventes whom I met for the first time ever!) as well as familiar BNI faces – David aka blogjunkie, Evelyn Ang aka missy_blurkit, Takhoe, Evelyn.

Joan from Nomad Offices (who sponsored the venue) was also given a slot to tell us what Nomad offered and later organised a lucky draw for attendees. And what do you know, with some praying and positive thinking, Daniel drew my card and I received 3 months free subscription of the Nomad Virtual Office service!

Certainly a platform that I support and will participate actively in the future. BarCamp Malaysia too!

For more about Malaysian Entrepreneurs visit the official website and also Facebook page.