While I was in Washington D.C. a few weeks ago, both on one of the BlackBerry® commuter shuttles and at the first Appy Hour event, I had a chance to help out with some more demonstrations of the BlackBerry® 7 OS and BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablets. Even though I use these devices on a daily basis, I love to explore the functions and tie the features into everyday business and personal use cases. Showcasing them to those viewing the devices and software for the first time makes it even better!

After walking through a few demonstrations of BlackBerry 7 smartphones and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets, I think a few of the biggest hits were remote control via BlackBerry Bridge, the overall interface of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet (including the intuitive bezel gestures), and the mini-HDMI output that allows you to present on a projector, TV, or monitor at full HD 1080p.

As for BlackBerry 7 OS, the liquid graphics certainly pack a punch – but beyond the performance and sleek hardware, built-in apps like the updated BlackBerry® Travel, BlackBerry® Maps (with new contextual deals), and BlackBerry® Mobile Conferencing make the devices a must have for business.

The truth is, many organizations and individuals are using BlackBerry® 6 smartphones – and while we all have a soft spot for our original BlackBerry devices, we still want to get the latest and greatest into your hands! Unpacking some of the features of the top-of-the-line BlackBerry 7 OS models was a great experience, and the responses were fantastic as all involved were able to easily see how these can translate into more productivity at work and more intuitive connections to friends, family, and colleagues.

Cool phones…but what I get isn’t up to me!

Hands-on demos are great and all, but with many organizations in government providing the devices for work use, how can you actually make an upgrade happen? We’re trying to help with that too. Head over to www.upgrademenow.com to get some help on making that business case, or to learn how you can trade up a personally owned phone for a newer model (there are some amazing deals that can come along with this if you’re eligible!). Check it out today, and let us know how it goes.

Have you upgraded from BlackBerry 6 to a BlackBerry 7 OS smartphone? What do you like best about the new model? Share in the comments below.