The LinkedIn app update makes it even easier to stay connected on the go by allowing you to sync and merge your LinkedIn connections with existing BlackBerry contacts in your address book. And, with the new “Groups and More” tab, you can view saved and recommended jobs and access, add, view and participate in the groups that matter to you most.

Jobs

The new LinkedIn “Groups and More” tab allows you to access even more key areas of LinkedIn right from the navigation screen, including jobs. With this feature, you can easily access the jobs you’ve saved and browse ones that are recommended for you. And remember, when you’re done looking at jobs you can get back to the main navigation screen by tapping the LinkedIn logo at the top left-hand corner of the app.

Groups

LinkedIn 2.1 makes it even easier to stay up-to-date with the groups that are most important to you. The “Groups and More” tab makes it simple to access groups that you’ve already joined and participate by viewing and adding content. You can also easily view pending group memberships and access a list of groups that LinkedIn recommends for you and join them with just one tap.

Contact Sync

With the new Contact Sync feature, finding out detailed professional information about the colleagues in your next business meeting is as easy as looking them up in your address book. The app allows you to connect your existing BlackBerry contacts with your LinkedIn connections, and where no contact exists, the app can optionally create a new one for you. This helps to make keeping track of your business connections and interactions easier than ever.

We can’t wait for you to try these new features that make the new LinkedIn app even more interactive and in turn make you more productive. Download LinkedIn 2.1 for BlackBerry smartphones today to ensure that you have the latest tools to put your professional network in the palm of your hands.

Once you’ve gotten the update, check out our BlackBerry for Business discussion group on LinkedIn – a place for professionals, administrators, and business owners discuss the latest on BlackBerry solutions and trends, as well as a touch-point for you to speak with us directly.

Which new feature are you most excited to try out? Let us know in the comments below.

Note: The LinkedIn app for BlackBerry smartphones requires BlackBerry OS 6 or higher, as well as a Wi-Fi connection or data plan in order to function properly. Learn more about regional availability and language preferences on the BlackBerry World storefront.

Today a free software update has been made available for Wi-Fi® BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablets. This release brings with it many new features for business customers and IT administrators that make the tablet a seriously enterprise-ready device and a productivity powerhouse. Combined with BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion and the coming BlackBerry® Enterprise Service 10, managing BlackBerry PlayBook tablets just got a whole lot more functional. I’m excited to walk through what’s new when it comes to both management and security as well as features for business end users. Read on for the full scoop!

Features for Business End Users

Print To Go® across Wi-Fi networks

Judging by our LinkedIn® recommendation page, there are quite a few fans of the Print To Go app out there. We’ve also had a lot of suggestions for additional features since the initial launch. With BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1, you now have the ability to deliver documents from your PC to a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet that may be connected on a completely different network, providing a true solution for rapid document transfer to your tablet.

Text Messaging with BlackBerry Bridge

Text messaging or SMS is now supported as a BlackBerry Bridge™ application. Head to the BlackBerry Bridge folder on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s home screen and get started interacting with SMS.

Improved Android Runtime

One of my favorite features on my BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is the Android™ runtime and all of the fantastic apps that it places at my fingertips. With BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1, the experience is improved and even more seamless with features like multi-window applications for a feel consistent with the overall OS, support for the HD cameras on the tablet, and in-app payments for value added experiences.

Portrait Orientation for Messages, Calendar, and Contacts

I often use portrait mode when I’m reading e-books on my BlackBerry PlayBook tablet or playing games like Cut the Rope HD – and now this functionality extends to the native mail, calendar, and contacts applications. This gives you the flexibility and choice in how you want to view information and interact with the tablet. The layout intelligently arranges the data onscreen to display critical information in portrait mode, and automatically returning to the expanded view in landscape mode.

Folder and Sync Management

Folders within an email account connected through ActiveSync can now be synchronized individually. You can quickly toggle on/off for each folder to round out the mail management experience on the device. If you use an IMAP email account, you can also now get full access to your mail folders. These features together with the current functionality provide a complete mail organization tool in the Messages app.

Streamlined setup and software update experience

When setting up a brand new BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and running through the out-of-box experience, a Wi-Fi connection is no longer required. Software updates can also be delayed until a later time – and when you do need to update your software, patch-based updating is now supported, which significantly lowers the file size of the updates and increases the speed of the operation.

Management and Security Features

Over-the-air (OTA) enrollment with BlackBerry Mobile Fusion

Employees using BlackBerry PlayBook tablets for work can now enroll with BlackBerry Mobile Fusion wirelessly. Once connected and enrolled, enterprise configurations such as email, Wi-Fi, VPN profiles, or enterprise apps can be pushed directly to the device by IT administrators. With this new feature, you can bring BlackBerry PlayBook tablets onto your corporate network quickly and easily.

New IT policies for added security

IT policies are crucial for enabling IT administrators to manage the wireless devices at play within their organizations. We’ve added new IT policies that administrators can take advantage of through BlackBerry Mobile Fusion. These include the ability to enable full device encryption and to disable development mode for enterprise-connected BlackBerry PlayBook tablets.

ActiveSync Certification Management

Certificate-based authentication can now be configured in order to allow access to work email, calendar, and address book data. These can be securely installed to the tablets over the air with BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, which utilizes Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol (SCEP).

Full device encryption, including personal data

From the Options menu on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, you can now enable “Full Device Encryption” by navigating to Security and then Encryption. This secures the data on both the work and personal perimeters of the device with AES 256-bit encryption for ultimate data protection.

What are you waiting for?

Get the update! You will automatically receive a software update notification on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet status ribbon, or you can check for the software update at any time by going to the settings menu under “Software Updates” and tapping “Check for Updates”. Then follow the steps to update.

What’s your favorite feature in the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 update? Share in the comments below.

A free service pack update is now available for BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion. The service pack includes enhancements to further help you manage mobile devices in your organization. Updates include BlackBerry® Device Service 6.1, Universal Device Service 6.1, and BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion Studio 6.2.

BlackBerry Mobile Fusion is designed to allow you to manage and secure BlackBerry®, iOS, and Android™ smartphones and tablets. The management tool is a unified web-based console called BlackBerry Mobile Fusion Studio. A few of the features include application management, setting user and group policies, and support for BlackBerry® Balance™ technology for BlackBerry devices. BlackBerry Balance technology helps add a layer of security and is designed to allow a user to use a BlackBerry device for both work and personal purposes by helping to keep business information secure and separate from personal information.

New Features Contained in the Service Pack 1 Update

Universal Device Service

• Improved iOS 5 support, including new features for Wi-Fi®, VPN, Microsoft® ActiveSync®, and managed app distribution
• iOS enterprise app distribution via web client
• Simplified error messages and notifications for updates
• Enhancements to iOS device enrollment
• iOS 6 compatibility
• Touchdown email configuration for Android devices (requires update to the BlackBerry Mobile Fusion client from Google Play – available today)

BlackBerry Device Service

• Over The Air (OTA) enrollment directly from a BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet. Once enrolled, enterprise configurations such as email, Wi-Fi, VPN profiles, and enterprise applications can be wirelessly pushed to the device
• Full device encryption option as a new IT policy (including personal and work areas)
• Developer mode can be disabled on enterprise-connected BlackBerry PlayBook tablets
• Support for Microsoft ActiveSync certificate-based authentication

Note: Updates for BlackBerry Device Service that involve functionality for managing BlackBerry PlayBook tablets will become functional after the upcoming release of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1

Regional availability of BlackBerry Mobile Fusion has also been expanded to include additional countries in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. To find out if it’s available in your country, check the list of BlackBerry Mobile Fusion availability.

Stay up to date and get ready for BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10! Download Service Pack 1 today.

Does your organization embrace a BYOD policy? What are some of the challenges that come along with it? Share in the comments below.

For many organizations, BlackBerry® Enterprise Server or BlackBerry® Enterprise Server Express is the essential platform for mobilizing employees worldwide, and Research In Motion® (RIM®) continues to make improvements and enhancements to the solution. BlackBerry Enterprise Server is recognized as the gold standard in Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), which also encompasses Mobile Device Management (MDM).

Features and Enhancements

BlackBerry Enterprise Server version 5 Service Pack 4 is available today for Microsoft® Exchange and IBM® Lotus® Domino®, and coming in November 2012 for Novell® GroupWise®. This free update introduces new features for both administrators and end-users. The service pack and all feature updates apply to both BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express deployments. Check out the details below:

Improvements for administrators

• Access control rules for groups
• BlackBerry Administration Service improvements
• The latest security patches and bug fixes are included

Improvements for the End User experience

• Improved handling of HTML email messages
• Support for larger email attachments
• Improved graphics rendering for Microsoft® PowerPoint® attachments
• Support for Microsoft Office password-protected attachments
• Calendar & message enhancements

Enterprises that utilize Novell GroupWise as their business email platform will be pleased to learn that BlackBerry Balance is now available to address the needs of their employee-owned BlackBerry® smartphones, or to extend the full BlackBerry experience to their corporately-owned BlackBerry smartphones. The BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0.4 update will be available for Novell GroupWise in November of 2012.

Getting ready for BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10

We’ve heard it from our customers – your enterprise mobility management needs are changing as you face new trends and challenges, and as you prepare for the future. We’re expanding and consolidating our enterprise product portfolio alongside you to make sure that you’re well prepared, by releasing solutions like BlackBerry Mobile Fusion and designing BlackBerry® Enterprise Service 10.

While these are exciting changes, RIM does remain firmly committed to supporting the BlackBerry Enterprise Server well into the future with care and attention paid to keeping security and management up to date with service packs and maintenance releases.

Upgrading to BlackBerry Enterprise Server version 5 Service Pack 4 prepares you for BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 which will be launching with BlackBerry® 10 smartphones, with an update planned for BlackBerry World™ in May 2013. The May update is designed to enable BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 to be installed on the same physical server that is currently running BlackBerry Enterprise Server version 5, enabling organizations to securely manage all of their BlackBerry smartphones & tablets, in addition to iOS® and Android™ devices, from a single platform.

Get the Service Pack Today

This Service Pack is available at no additional charge for existing BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5 customers, and can be downloaded from www.blackberry.com/besupdate

There is no change in server or Client Access License (CAL) pricing. If you currently run BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4, you can upgrade to the latest version of BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5 for $999 USD (plus any applicable fees/taxes), or for free for those with Advantage or higher BlackBerry® Technical Support Services subscriptions.

Need help upgrading to the latest Service Pack? Don’t forget that you can always contact BlackBerry Technical Support Services to assist you. BlackBerry Technical Support Services offers both incident-based pricing or annual subscriptions which provide 7x24x365 end-to-end technical support for BlackBerry Enterprise Server, BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, and BlackBerry smartphones and BlackBerry® PlayBookTM tablets. For more information on BlackBerry Technical Support Services, check out www.blackberry.com/btss

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More and more enterprises – especially in financial services, healthcare and manufacturing – are turning to BlackBerry Mobile Voice System to help them address their regulatory compliance needs, improve productivity, and reduce their telecom costs. We have some great customer success stories from Mitel, Nomura Bank, Bank am Bellevue, University Hospitals Birmingham, London Health Sciences Centre, and LTT Vending at www.blackberry.com/mvs. (For similar stories on a wide range of BlackBerry products and services, check out the newly redesigned BlackBerry Customer Success Story website!)

Here is how some of the new features in BlackBerry Mobile Voice System v5.2 can address an enterprise’s Unified Communications & Collaboration needs:

• Call forwarding – incoming calls can be automatically forwarded to a different phone extension or a different phone number altogether.
• Enhanced reliability in areas of poor or no mobile data coverage – BlackBerry Mobile Voice System is designed to support the placing of calls on mobile networks that have little or no data coverage. This is especially important when roaming internationally and it is a distinct advantage since many competitive systems require a data connection to complete a phone call.
• Additional business phone systems support – BlackBerry Mobile Voice System v5.2 now supports these additional phone systems: Cisco Business Edition 5000 and 6000 and Siemens OpenScape v5.

Did you know that BlackBerry Mobile Voice System can support multiple phone systems on the same server? This is a common occurrence in enterprises that operate in multiple locations with different phone systems, and BlackBerry MVS can support systems from Cisco, Avaya, Nortel, Siemens, and Mitel. Check out the video below to learn more about BlackBerry Mobile Voice System, how it integrates with the existing systems that many organizations have, and the benefits overall.

For more details on BlackBerry Mobile Voice System, head over to http://www.blackberry.com/mvs.

Does your business use BlackBerry Mobile Voice System? How has it benefited your organization in terms of increased productivity or cost reduction? Share in the comments below.

For those that are unfamiliar with Docs To Go, it is a powerful mobile office suite that allows you to view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel®, and PowerPoint® files and attachments on BlackBerry® smartphones and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets. You also have the ability to present PowerPoint documents from your BlackBerry PlayBook by plugging into a projector or TV via an HDMI connection. While in presenter mode, speaking notes are visible on your PlayBook, while your presentation itself is visible from the projector or TV. Updates to BlackBerry® Bridge™ in PlayBook OS 2.0 further enhance this feature by allowing you to control “back” and “next” functionality using your BlackBerry smartphone.

Feature Improvements to the Docs To Go Suite

• Editing text within Microsoft PowerPoint documents is now supported
• The suite now supports BlackBerry® Balance™ for keeping corporate documents and data secure
• Find & Replace functionality has been added to the Microsoft Word and Excel feature list
• Bluetooth® keyboards and keyboard-shortcuts are now supported
• You can now clear files from the “Recently Used Files” list
• Password-protected Office 2010 files can now be accessed
• When presenting, you can now use your BlackBerry smartphone with BlackBerry Bridge as a remote control to move forward and backward through your presentation

Specific enhancements have been implemented for individual applications within the suite.

• While editing Microsoft Word documents, you’ll have the ability to create and edit both bulleted and numbered lists.
• Editing Microsoft Excel files includes functionality which allows you to copy, paste, and resize cells, rows, and columns. Additionally, you may view and update embedded charts and chart sheets. Lastly, a new formula wizard has been added for easy entry of over 110 supported functions.
• Working with Microsoft PowerPoint files will include editing of text in in both .ppt and .pptx file formats, and also allows you to hide/show slides with basic HDMI presenter-mode optimizations. Lastly, viewing of charts within PowerPoint .pptx files has also been improved.

Introducing Print To Go version 1.0

Print To Go eliminates the hassle of mountains of paper files by wireless printing from your laptop or PC directly to your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet with the simple click of a “print” button. With an easy-to-install Microsoft® Windows® application, Print To Go is added as a printer to your system. You can view, sort, and manage digital printouts from various sources like web pages, documents, emails, or other applications – all within a very slick and intuitive user interface that mimics physical sheets of paper, which was inspired by our friends over at The Astonishing Tribe (TAT).

For example, before jumping on a plane to attend CES 2012 in Las Vegas, I printed all of the planning documents and schedules that I had kept on my PC, right to my BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, which allowed me to reference these files while en route. I did the same with a map of the city, as well as my flight and hotel booking information. In the office, I have the ability to quickly transfer a document to my BlackBerry PlayBook tablet for use in a meeting or a coffee shop conversation with a colleague. Taking your work on the go is quick and functional with PlayBook OS 2.0 and the Print To Go application. For solutions that allow you to print documents from your PlayBook tablet to a physical printer, look no further than BlackBerry App World™.

On to the specifics!

Print To Go version 1.0 includes the following:

• A Microsoft® Windows® application that installs a virtual “Print To Go” printer onto your computer that can be accessed from any application that allows printing (e.g. Microsoft Office, web pages, image viewers, and more)
• Secure wireless peer-to-peer printing from your PC to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet over Wi-Fi®, including end-to-end encryption of the documents
• If you have BlackBerry Balance in use on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, all printouts are automatically sent to the secure “Work” partition
• Secure printing using your BlackBerry ID
• Notifications on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet when new printouts arrive
• A Print To Go app on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet that allows you to view, sort, and manage printouts as if they were physical stacks of paper on a desktop
• A virtual paper shredder for deleting the digital printouts from your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet

These enhancements to the Docs To Go office suite, as well as the addition of Print To Go, will truly push the abilities of mobile work far forward. Working from your tablet, especially when using a Bluetooth keyboard or an HDMI monitor connection, now provides a higher level of functionality and capability when creating, editing, presenting or sharing documents. We hope that Print To Go will not only save paper, but also help you to unclutter your work life by keeping your desk clean and allowing you to use your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet as a resource for handling printed documents.

How will you use Print To Go in your daily work? Share in the comments below.

The BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900/9930, BlackBerry® Torch™ 9810, and BlackBerry Torch 9850 smartphones are now supported by MVS 5.1, which allows businesses to extend their phone system to their mobile workforce. By enabling “Voice over Wi-Fi®” or “Voice over Mobile” calling on the leading business phone systems from Cisco®, Mitel, and Avaya®, BlackBerry MVS was designed to extend the functionality and capability of a desk phone to a BlackBerry® smartphone virtually anywhere in the world. Now employees can be reached in the office or on the road through a single phone number, reducing the likelihood of missed calls. Even when a call is routed to voicemail, end users will have a single voicemail account to manage. Calls can be routed securely over Wi-Fi when available, in order to help reduce a company’s overall telecom costs. Lastly, the handoff is automatic – calls are seamlessly transferred between Wi-Fi and mobile networks without interruption. (You can learn more about BlackBerry MVS from our previous blog post on the launch of version 5.1.)

New expanded support for the AudioCodes Mediant 3000 VoIP gateway allows businesses that operate the Avaya® Communication Manager and Nortel® Communication Server phone systems to take advantage of BlackBerry MVS. In addition to supporting the AudioCodes Mediant 1000 and 2000 series VoIP gateways, BlackBerry MVS also supports the Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Mitel® Communications Director phone systems. Designed to encompass most widely used VoIP and phone systems, BlackBerry MVS has your business covered.

BlackBerry MVS 5.1 is just one component of RIM’s Unified Communications & Collaboration portfolio, joining BlackBerry® Mobile Conferencing, BlackBerry® Client for Microsoft® SharePoint®, BlackBerry® Chalk™ Pushcast™ Software, and BlackBerry Enterprise Instant Messaging in providing a comprehensive suite of voice and collaboration solutions that are managed through the BlackBerry® Enterprise Server platform.

We’re excited about the new support for AudioCodes® and BlackBerry 7 OS devices, as well as wider availability. BlackBerry MVS is now available through Research In Motion® (RIM®) distribution partners in over 25 countries including the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Australia and Mexico. To learn more about BlackBerry MVS features or to contact a reseller, head over to www.blackberry.com/mvs.

Question: How often do you miss calls to your desk phone in any given week, and how could BlackBerry MVS help you? Share in the comments below.