The voice of the BlackBerry community.
As if the BlackBerry Cool 15 wasn’t enough of a reason to attend the BlackBerry Developer Conference. I just received an email from Verizon telling me that they’ll be displaying the BlackBerry Storm 9530 at DevCon!! Booth #501, baby! Expect a full hands on from BBCool at the show.
Maybe it’s because we’re in a holiday mood right now (and stuffed with, well.. stuffing and gravy), or maybe it’s because last week we asked for BlackBerry criticism and want to show the other side of the coin.
Regardless of motive, we want you to write a love letter to RIM and your BlackBerry. Tell us why you can’t live without your BlackBerry. Tell us how it’s better than all other smartphones out there. Tell us about the time your BlackBerry saved your life/job/marriage. Or maybe you can tell us how excited you are for the 13 million (approximate number) new BlackBerrys coming out this holiday season. The person that can best show how grateful they are for their BlackBerry will win a FREE OTTERBOX DEFENDER SERIES BLACKBERRY CASE to better protect their prized possession.
UPDATE: Just got an email from Rick Segal, member of the BlackBerry Partners fund, confirming that he can also participate as a judge! This is great news for all developers participating, as I’m sure he’s looking to break open the vault and cough up some term sheet love for the BlackBerry Nation.
We’ve had a long history of being excited about being excited for the BlackBerry Developer Conference since it was first announced back in May. Our excitement reached a high point last week, when we told you of our participation in the BlackBerry Partners Fund Developer Challenge and the What Makes a Great Mobile Application? panel. I’d now like to formally introduce another DevCon event that can’t have us any more excited: The BlackBerry Cool 15.
The BlackBerry Cool 15 is an event we’re running to give exposure to BlackBerry developers with innovative and “cool” software ideas while providing them with a relaxed forum to interact with other like-minded people. The BlackBerry Cool 15 is a celebration of the BlackBerry development community and a good excuse to have a great time! Here’s how it will happen:
* We’re looking for 15 registered DevCon developers willing to display their innovative, pre-1.0 software release in front of an audience at the BlackBerry Developer Conference.
* Each of the 15 selected developers will have 1-2 minutes to pitch their idea or application, followed by 2-3 minutes of questioning by a judges panel.
* After all the developers have made their pitch, the audience members will vote on the best BlackBerry application. The winner will receive some great prizes which will be announced shortly.
* The whole event will be filmed and eventually displayed on BlackBerry Cool for the entire BlackBerry Nation to see.
The BlackBerry Cool 15 is being sponsored by the BlackBerry Partners Fund, which will supply both the adult beverages and developer prizes (thanks guys!). Our judging panel is a ‘who’s who’ of the BlackBerry blogging world, comprised of Al Sacco from CIO.com, Kevin Michaluk from CrackBerry.com, Hayden James from Pinstack.com (unconfirmed) and yours truly.
The BlackBerry Cool 15 is going to be a great time so make sure to come. It will take place on Monday, October 20th after the DevCon opening reception (more specific details to follow). Are you a developer interested in making a pitch to a room full of VCs, RIM employees and peers? REGISTER NOW!!!
UPDATE: As you can see, we’re going to add all the relevant BlackBerry Storm news to this one post, so bookmark the post and keep checking back to make sure you stay up to date!
The BlackBerry Storm news is flying so fast that we’re writing a roundup an hour after it is officially announced. Insane. Suffice it to say, RIM/Verizon succeeded in building up some hype. Look out iPhone!
Verizon/Vodafone BlackBerry Storm official release
Telus BlackBerry Storm official release
BlackBerry.com/Storm Official Site
BlackBerry Storm specs and features
CONFIRMED: Bell to get BlackBerry Storm
Gizmodo BlackBerry Storm hands on
Engadget BlackBerry Storm hands on
PhoneScoop hands on
Laptop Mag BlackBerry Storm hands on
PC Mag BlackBerry Storm hands on
Note: The round up post was getting so big that it was messing with our site format, so we moved some of the news after the jump. Click now!
At this point, it’s hard to say exactly what an ‘official announcement’ means, but as the clock Struck 12:01 this morning, RIM, Vodafone and Verizon officially announced the BlackBerry Storm! You can see the full press release after the jump, but here’s a quick look at some of the official specs:
* 128MB of RAM, 1GB built-in memory
* 1400mAh battery with 15 days standby and 5.5 hours of talk time
* Dual-band 800/1900MHz CDMA/EV-DO Rev A
* Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, 2100MHz HSDPA
RIM also has the official BlackBerry Storm site now up:
After a few setbacks and delays (damn you, CTIA), the BlackBerry Cool Podcast is back! It’s also our 40th podcast, which is some sort of milestone, I guess, and a good place to implement changes. We’ve fiddled with the format a little, added some music and a new weekly podcast guest: Fake Ted Rogers. The BlackBerry Cool Podcast will also now be released on Mondays (apologies to all those who enjoy listening to podcasts while raking leaves on the weekend).
This week’s podcast is a bit of a catchup, as we discuss the major news of the past month: the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 and BlackBerry Storm, and Rogers new BES/BIS plans and BlackBerry Bold price drop. Coincidentally, we also discuss why RIM will never make a BlackBerry app store. Whoops. In fairness, the BlackBerry Application Center is the perfect compromise between what we said RIM needs and what they would never do, so give us partial credit. We also attempted to talk about RIM’s stock and the economy, but cut it because we had nothing significant to contribute on either subject.
Downloading/streaming options for the BlackBerry Cool Podcast can be found after the jump, as well as links to all the relevant news stories. Enjoy!
Special thanks to our new sponsor, Rove Mobile!
Wow, is this big news. And entirely unexpected. While the BlackBerry Nation has been clamoring for an all-in-one BlackBerry app store for a long time, few thought RIM would ever take the plunge and do it. This is big time: way to go Kevin!
According to our boy at CrackBerry, the BlackBerry Application Center will launch with the BlackBerry Storm’s OS 4.7. It will allow BlackBerry users find, browse and install/upgrade 3rd party BlackBerry apps hosted by carriers. The Application Center will display an up to date list of applications availalbe for download, along with description and marketing information about each application. Functionally, the App Center will consist of the device side client and a a server backend hosted by RIM that the application will interact with to retrieve up to date application list of applications hosted by the carriers.
Obviously, this is significantly different that Apple’s iTunes app store, in that it is designed to make it easier for carriers to display and sell their applications to users, rather than cut them out of the picture. I wonder if we’ll see a lightsaber application for the BlackBerry Bold… Kevin is hinting that RIM will make a major announcement about the BlackBerry Application Center during the BlackBerry Developer Conference (sweet!), so stay tuned for more info. Wow, BBDC has quickly turned into the must-go event of the year!
Boy has it been a trying time for the BlackBerry Nation. The economy is in the tank, the BlackBerry Bold has yet to arrive on AT&T and one of our most intensely debated Weekly Contests came when we asked if RIM was going to be okay. We need some fun!
Earlier in the week, you guys tore Gary Krakow a new one over a complaint about BlackBerrys that was easily corrected. However, I liked his style - he had an issue and he vented in the hopes of solving the problem. I think we need to get it all out, all those nagging issues that don’t stop us from loving our BlackBerrys, but maybe cause us to curse the smartphone gods every once in awhile. Issues like a BlackBerry Bold price drop six weeks after launch, or the inability to get OS updates for your BlackBerry. Perhaps you have a long-running hardware concern, or maybe you’re just tired of seeing unreleased BlackBerry teaser videos before you can get the Bold on AT&T.
Whatever the reason, post your most inspiring argument in the comments section about how you could make BlackBerrys even better with just a few minor tweaks. Maybe the smartphone gods will answer our prayers!
The two posters that come up with the best BlackBerry fix will win a FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TO WORLDMATE LIVE‘S GOLD SERVICE!
At this point, no one should be surprised that this Italian promotional video of the BlackBerry Storm has appeared on the Internet. However, what is surprising is just how sexy and chic the device comes across: it certainly looks as though the Storm can give any other handset a run for its money.
In addition to the exciting video above, CrackBerry.com has posted the latest ‘leaked’ information from the latest Verizon internal ‘Talking Up a Storm’ email mailout. You can read the mailout, which deals with the BlackBerry Storms’ global features after the jump.
(via CB)
Hot on the heels of the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 Best Buy release date, comes rumors from a variety of forums as to T-Mobile’s pricing and launch date for the FlipBerry.
* New Activation 2 Year Contract $149.99 (after $50 MIR)
* New Activation 1 Year Contract $199.99 (after $50 MIR)
* Full Upgrade 2 Year Contract $167.99 (after $50 MIR)
* Full Upgrade 1 Year Contract $217.99 (after $50 MIR)
* Partial Upgrade: TBD
* Retail Price: $349.99
The numbers aren’t much of a shock, considering the accidentally released Rogers promotion showed the same price, only with a three-year contract. In addition, there’s word on the Pinstack Forums that we may see the T-Mobile BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 by October 15th, 11 days before it appears in Best Buy stores.
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