Posted on July 11, 2008, at 4:03 pm .
“I waited in line for 15 hours and all I got were unicorns and this lousy tee shirt!”
Some of you might not know about QuicklyBored, our sister site that covers all things mobile entertainment. Yesterday, QB Editor in Chief, Kyle McInnes, stayed up all night in line to buy an iPhone 3G, braving a storm that hit the Ottawa area, only to come back to work and blog about it. We’d like to give props to our resident Apple fanboy co-worker by pointing you to some of the more interesting pieces of content about his journey.
Buying an iPhone 3G – A Night to Remember
Kyle Goes Insane on Twitter
iPhone 3G Unboxing Pictures
But don’t worry, we still know how our bread is buttered. Check out a little bit of (humorous) BlackBerry love after the jump.
Click here to see Kyle’s true colors…
Posted on July 11, 2008, at 10:30 am .
$199 for the BlackBerry 9000. Yet another reason to compare it to the iPhone 3G.
After swinging by our local Rogers shop to gawk at all the iPhone 3G fanboys and have a bit of a run at the demo unit myself, one of the reps mentioned that the BlackBerry Bold would be priced identically to the iPhone. $199 for the BlackBerry 9000 sounds reasonable, and would put it on fairly even footing with the iPhone, it’s just too bad that it won’t be quite as cheap as T-Mobile Germany’s Bold. Regardless, the hype for the iPhone 3G is going to be hard to beat.
Posted on July 8, 2008, at 8:47 am .
According to the latest RBC Capital Markets report, 56% of consumers looking to pick up a smartphone in the next three months having the iPhone 3G at the top of their list, with the BlackBerry Bold following up at 23%. Ouch. So does this mean the iPhone’s features are wowing buyers? Not quite. The biggest factor influencing these decisions is the announced price cut of $199 on the 8 GB model and $299 for the 16 GB iPhone 3G. The extra speed from 3G was a close second point of interest, while GPS was the third most important factor. It’s bizzarre, considering the BlackBerry 9000 will be covering all of these bases, too – T-Mobile Germany’s price point for the Bold has been revealed, putting it in the same ballpark as the iPhone. Maybe if we had clearer information on BlackBerry Bold pricing, folks would be more inclined to consider it a competitor to the iPhone…
Posted on July 7, 2008, at 9:10 am .
Word has it that T-Mobile may be kicking their U.S. network up a notch come October, potentially supporting a whole slew of 3G handsets like the BlackBerry 9000. One of those handsets is said to be an Android device later this year, which I think everybody is excited to check out. Major American centres within the King of Magenta’s domain will be seeing the service with a rollout elsewhere in due course, but just keep in mind this is still in the realm of rumours and rumblings.
(TmoNews via BGR)
Posted on June 13, 2008, at 5:25 am .
Due to the great response to this question, we’re going to make it the Weekly Contest. Once again we’ll be offering the one two punch of a free BBCool tee shirt and Magmic’s THK3 to the person with the best comment. Feel free to comment again now that prizes are at stake. Also, try to factor in the Bold launching a mere 4 days after the iPhone (in Canada at least).
Reading this CN article about Apple’s new business model for the iPhone has raised a lot of questions at BBCool HQ. Unlike the release of the original iPhone, Apple is targeting massive consumer sales over carrier revenue. Apple has killed carrier exclusivity per region for the iPhone 3G, and it’s believed that they will only be taking the initial sale price, while operators will then keep 100% of the subscriber fees.
Now, this ‘new’ model in itself isn’t much of a big deal — in fact, it’s pretty much the model that every other handset vendor uses. However, when you factor in the lowered price point (USD$200), cheap unlimited data rates (USD$30, cheap for Canada at least!) and that Apple was able to sell 6 million devices in a year on just a few carriers, you have to wonder how this will affect the Waterloo boys and girls. As hyped as the Apple vs. RIM affair has been, I don’t expect the BlackBerry Bold to be launching for $200, do you?
Post a comment and let us know what you think. Also, for those interested in getting some iPhone love on their BlackBerry, check out Bplay’s slick iBerry 2.0 theme.
(image via Engadget)
Posted on June 11, 2008, at 9:28 am .
The Boy Genius continues to filter through the black swamp of tech rumors to deliver us the goods, this time with an update for the BlackBerry Thunder, the exclusive touch screen BlackBerry for Verizon he broke news of during WES.
A few things stand out: first, the Thunder will not have an external microSD slot, meaning you’re going to have to pop the battery to access it, as if it were a BlackBerry Curve. Once you’ve popped that battery, however, you’ll see a SIM card sitting next to it. BG has also heard that the BlackBerry will support CDMA 1x, EV-DO, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS and HSPA, making it a very slick hybrid device. Of course, North American readers can forget about unlocking it for use on, say, AT&T: like the BlackBerry 8830, the Thunder will only use CDMA coverage while inside the great US of A — which doesn’t matter much seeing as the BlackBerry will only support the international 900/1800MHz bands with 2100MHz WCDMA band anyways.
BG is still saying Q3 release this year for the Thunder. We keep you in the know as more information develops.
(via Boy Genius Report)
Posted on June 9, 2008, at 5:31 pm .
Well, it sure was an interesting day for those following the unveiling of Apple’s newest smartphone. 3G. AGPS. USD $200 on a two-year contract (8G model). 300 hours of standby time, 8-10 hours of 2G talk time, 5 hours of 3G talk time, 7 hours of video time and 24 hours of audio time. Our sister sites, QuicklyBored and SmartPhoneCool have been all over the coverage today; here are the links to some interesting posts:
iPhone 3G Country Launch List
iPhone 3G Hands-On Impressions
iPhone 3G and Mobile Games
Check out the content and let us know what you think of Apple’s black beauty. How does this stack up with the BlackBerry Bold?
(image via Engadget)
Posted on June 9, 2008, at 9:09 am .
Many people in the BlackBerry Nation don’t know anything about WWDC, Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. However, today just might be a good day to start learning, considering the ENTIRE FREAKING INTERNET is waiting on a 3G iPhone announcement that should be coming today from Mr. Jobs himself. Considering how hyped you all seem to be for 3G, and how iPhone vs. BlackBerry has always allowed for endearing saber-rattling, I must ask the question: are you in any way planning to follow today’s WWDC news?
Post a comment and let us know.
Posted on June 6, 2008, at 11:04 am .
The BlackBerry Bold is coming (someday. Sigh.) All the latest rumors seem to indicate that a 3G iPhone could be announced as early as next Monday. But the question remains: why do you want 3G?
Is it for faster web-browsing? Multiplayer gaming? MP3 and other media downloads? Because EDGE’s 2.5G seems so 2005? Post a comment and let us know how a 3G BlackBerry is going to change your life, and if it gives you pause for concern in any way. For example, while an entirely different technology than what will be in the Bold, my EV-DO BlackBerry 8330 is balls for battery life. Do you believe RIM’s battery life assurances?
Post a comment and let us know. The person with the best answer will receive a FREE COPY OF MAGMIC’S THK3: CONNECTED and a slick BLACKBERRY COOL TEE SHIRT, just because we like you so much.
Last Week’s Winner after the jump
Posted on May 12, 2008, at 12:42 am .
Well, we expected it, but it’s still exciting to get a press release for a new BlackBerry device right after the stroke of midnight. Yep, RIM has officially announced the release of the BlackBerry 9000 Bold. Expect the newest addition to the RIM family to appear sometime this ’summer’ on AT&T, then T-Mobile. We’ve got a quick hit of details below and the full press release after the jump. Also, make sure to check out www.blackberrybold.com, which has now gone live.
**Tri-band HSDPA
**Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g)
**Half-VGA (480×320 resolution) color LCD
**128 MB Flash memory plus 1 GB on-board storage memory
**2 megapixel camera with video recording capability, built-in flash and 5x digital zoom
**16GB microSD/SDHC card support
**Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0 support
**iTunes support via BlackBerry Media Sync
**5 hour talk time, 13 days stand-by
Full BlackBerry Bold press release
