BlackBerry has posted their BlackBerry Live 2013 Keynote on YouTube in 4 segments to make it a little easier to watch versus over two hours in one video.

Segment 1:

Segment 2:

Segment 3:

Segment 4:

Google has released their very popular Hangouts app for iOS. Google is literally taking over iOS devices with their large selection of productivity apps.

Hangouts replaces Google Talk (gTalk) to allow users to share text, pictures and live video. The service works between iOS, Android and Chrome (PC & Mac). This brings unified messaging across platforms to Google users. You will need a GMail / Google + account to use the service which are all free services.

Here is a video describing Hangouts and its features:

Vic Gundotra who runs Engineering at Google started the event off with welcoming 6,000 attendees to the 6th annual Google I/O event in San Francisco, California. He also took the time to thank developers for building great applications.

Sundar Pichair who heads both Android and Chrome followed Vic Gundotra and shared a video with talking about the number of activations Android is experiencing. In 2012 they activated over 400 million Android devices, bring the total number today to 900 million.

Continuing with numbers, Hugo Barra took the stage to talk Android application development and downloads. Google Play has had over 48 billion apps installed with 2.5 billion being installed in the last month alone.

Google also announced they will have a Samsung Galaxy S4, Google Edition. The smartphone will be going on sale in the Google Play store on June 26th. The handset will be running Android 4.2.2. This will be a true Android experience without all the overlays and bloatware many manufactures install.

Google’s version of the Galaxy S4 will be an unlocked GSM model that works on AT&T and T-Mobile and will cost consumers $649.

Google also unveiled their music subscription service for $10 a month. There is a 30-day trail to give it a test drive. If Google Play Music All Access sounds like your cup of tea and you subscribe to this service before June 30th it will only cost $7.99 a month. Consider it a gift for being an early adopter.

Towards the end of the event keynote, Google showed off their next major version of Maps for Android. The new look will have a bigger search bar and has a much smoother look to it. There will also be Google Offers built into the redesigned app. This will allow for offers to be saved right from the Maps app and redeemed at the destination. The new Google Maps is set to arrive this summer.

Also announced was Goggle Hangouts for iOS, look for an individual write-up on that.

There have been rumors for at least 5 years that BlackBerry Messenger would make its way to additional platforms. Today the rumors have been squashed as BlackBerry has officially announced that BBM will be coming to Android and iOS this summer.

Minimum system requirements will be iOS 6 or higher for Apple devices and Android 4.0 or higher for Android devices.

The downloadable BBM app will allow for group chats up to 30 people per group, offer the same privacy controls already available on the BlackBerry including Read and Delivery notifications as well two-way opt in to become friends with someone.

Currently 60 million people actively use BBM sending over 10 billion messages per day. This may be an app that actually gives WhatsApp a run for its money.

When a release date is announced we will provide additional details.

BlackBerry has announced that starting today BlackBerry OS 10.1 will begin rolling out from carriers. If you are a U.S. based customer we are still a few weeks away from being able to upgrade.

Highlights of BlackBerry 10.1

BlackBerry Hub helps you stay organized, in control and on top of all of your conversations, and with BlackBerry 10.1, it just keeps getting better. You can now view emails that are attached to another email, get contact suggestions when you start addressing a message, and send PIN to PIN messages for direct communication between BlackBerry smartphones.

�Personalize your Notifications

BlackBerry 10.1 allows you to set up personalized notifications for your contacts and accounts. Customize ringtones, vibrations and the LED light for calls or message from each of your friends, family or colleagues. You can also set up a different notification for different accounts (such as for different email accounts, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

Click to call

You can now click on a phone number in an email or BBM message to call the number or copy and paste it right onto the dialer screen in the phone app.

Better cursor control

BlackBerry 10.1 offers better cursor control making it easier to accurately place the cursor and select text. Just tap once to bring up the cursor control, grab the blue circle and drag it around to the insertion point that you want. Improved visual feedback lets you know where you’re pointing. You can also tap either side of the circle to move forward or backward one character at a time.

Improved picture capturing

BlackBerry 10.1 adds an HDR (high dynamic range) shooting mode for taking beautiful images in tricky lighting conditions. High Dynamic Range (HDR) mode takes multiple pictures at different exposure levels and layers them automatically to produce a single photo that combines the best of the dark and light areas. It also includes improved red eye and golden eye reduction in the picture editor.

More to discover with BlackBerry 10.1

You’ll find a number of new enhancements across the BlackBerry 10 OS like landscape support for the calendar, easier international dialing and so much more. The first step to discovering these new features on your BlackBerry Z10 smartphone is to update your BlackBerry 10 software.

Updating is easy

Updating to BlackBerry 10.1 is free and easy to do. To update your BlackBerry Z10 smartphone to BlackBerry 10.1 look for the alert in the notifications section of the BlackBerry Hub. You can also check for software updates through the software updates section in the Settings menu or through the BlackBerry Link desktop software. The download will happen in the background and the update will be applied without needing to back up your smartphone. All of your information remains safe. For more information on how to update your BlackBerry Z10 smartphone, visit www.BlackBerry.com/update..

BlackBerry has started off the keynote with the announcement of the Q5.This phone is designed to be an entry level BlackBerry in emerging markets. BlackBerry is describing the device as “youthful” by offering it in a variety of colors.

The Q5 features a 3.1″ Touchscreen with QWERTY keyboard and will start shipping in early July.

Can’t make it to Florida for BlackBerry Live? You can watch the keynote live right now. Just follow this link.

Today Google released Google Now on iOS. “The right information at just the right time”, states the demo video. From our experience with the Android version this is going to be a welcome addition to iOS.

Google Now gives you information at your fingertips, before you even ask for it. Google Now also gives you weather, traffic alerts, as well as live updates on sport scores, news, and updates on stories that you have been following. The more you use Google Now, the more relevant information it provides to you.

Google Now is built into the Google Search app update and is available via this link from the app store.

Below is a video of Google Now and you can follow this link to download the app.

The final piece of the puzzle has been put together as MetroPCS stockholder agreed to the merge with T-Mobile. After going through many obstacles from the Department of Justice and FCC, everything is now set for T-Mobile and MetroPCS to move forward as one.

Today Deutsche Telekom put out a release applauding MetroPCS shareholders for approving the merge.

“This is a major step for Deutsche Telekom,” said Rene Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom Group. “We have accomplished a lot in the USA recently, for example our network modernization and the new T-Mobile USA management team, which has seen considerable success. And we have finalized the contracts with Apple and MetroPCS. The merger with MetroPCS is extremely important, since it enables us to be more aggressive in the USA.”

For more information on what this means to current MetroPCS customers, follow this link.

Verizon Wireless has announced that consumers will no longer have to worry about purchasing a smartphone or tablet on Big Red’s network for full cost anymore, sort of. Consumers will now be able to activate service and pay for their smartphone or tablet in monthly payments.

Like everything in the wireless industry there is a lot of fine print. Here is an overview of what is required.

• Full retail priced smartphone or tablet price must be a minimum of $349.99.
• Pay for the full retail priced smartphone or tablet in 12 payments.
• Finance charge of $24, which is $2 per month.
• Device Payment Plan customers can take advantage of Share Everything pricing and data sharing.
• First payment, including $2 finance charge, due at time of purchase. Your next payment will appear on your next Verizon Wireless bill.
• Maximum of two open Installment Plans per customer.
• $1000 combined Installment Plan balance limit per customer

To find out more check with your local Verizon Wireless store. This program can be very beneficial to someone wanting a new phone but not qualified for an upgrade.