Wal-Mart has a large list of BlackBerry devices that they’re offering for free with service plan conditions. While the retail giant doesn’t supply some of the high end devices such as the Bold and Storm, it does supply every device that would be in the lower to mid range of BlackBerry devices. These devices include the Pearl, Pearl Flip, Curve 83xx, Curve 8900 and the latest Curve 8520.
A big caveat with these deals is that they almost all involve signing up for 2 years worth of services that will cost you at least $125 per month. With some smart BlackBerry usage, you can generally bring your data and voice costs down to under $100 per month. This figure is easily attainable by watching over your voice minutes carefully, and leveraging SMS and email services for communication.
That means that you are committing to a $25 premium on your contract that will need to be paid over the course of 2 years (or 24 months). By those numbers, you are getting your free device at $600, when you could have it for around $200 with a contract. Like a credit card, you are paying an incredible premium for short term benefits.
While it’s not the first time we’ve seen the BlackBerry Curve go on sale for free with a contract, it may be the first time a carrier has partnered with a BlackBerry app to give them away.
Slacker has partnered with all the major carriers to discount the Curve to free with a new contract or a contract extension.
You may not be a fan of the BlackBerry Curve, but 52 year old David Fitzherbert sure is.
While skiing the glacier in the Matterhorn and Monterosa peaks when the snow gave way beneath him, sending him down towards the depths of the crevasse. “After 70 feet it narrowed and I became stuck like a cork in a bottle between the walls,” said Fitzherbert . “Fortunately the extra inches of the Blackberry were enough to block the fall.”
This weekend only, every BlackBerry Curve is free + Free FedEx Shipping at the BlackBerry Cool smartphone store. This deal includes the BlackBerry Curve 8900 for AT&T and T-Mobile.
This is an amazing deal and if you’re looking to buy a device, now is the time to take advantage.
Just look at what you’d be saving as an AT&T customer:
AT&T: BlackBerry Curve 8900 $149.99 – NOW FREE
AT&T: BlackBerry Curve 8320 $149.99 – NOW FREE
AT&T BlackBerry Curve 8310 $99.99 – NOW FREE
When we last wrote about Evernote, some readers were upset that the app was not available for the Curve. As one reader Nick wrote: “I can’t imagine why the number one selling phone, isn’t listed as a device that this is compatible with?”
Well the company was listening and Evernote is now available for the BlackBerry Curve 83xx series.
For those who don’t know, Evernote allows you to type out text notes, snap photos, or record voice memos on your BlackBerry then sync them to your Windows or Mac computer to have easy access on all devices. It works the other way, too. Clip a webpage or draft a blog post on your desktop and then search for and access it all on your phone.
Best Buy is offering some great deals on BlackBerry devices with the launch of their Best Buy Mobile stores. Best Buy Mobile will be a store within a store, offering the best mobile products at a discount.
The BlackBerry Storm on Bell will go for only $49.99 on a 36-month plan.
The BlackBerry Curve on Virgin Mobile will go for $49.99 on a 36-month plan. This is a great deal but it’s important to note that it has been free at WirelessWave for the past 2 months. Although it is technically priced at $99.99, they have an in-store promotion to make it free, with a 50 dollar credit on top of that for accessories.
RHex is a Tetris-like game where the object is to explode falling hexagons by connecting four or more in a row. Stack falling hexagons by rotating the central hex. The above YouTube video demonstrates the gameplay. It’s the standard falling puzzle game type that has become so popular on mobile.
This could be one of the most unique BlackBerry themes I’ve seen so far. The user defined homescreen including PipBoy from the Fallout series is both awesome looking and free!
BerryReview posted a free theme found over at the BBForums. The theme looks pretty nice and considering it’s free, is surely worth a try. The theme allows for all of your notifiers and indicators to be displayed neatly at the top. The only drawback is the wallpaper used is very basic. Hope you like it.
Rogers has been experiencing a $30 million budget shortfall and at the same time, Rogers recently enacted a price hike on the three-year contract prices for some of its most popular BlackBerry devices. The price increases saw the Curve 83xx go to $149.99 (up $50), Curve 8900 to $224.99 (up $25) and the Bold go to $299.99 (up $50). The following email from a Rogers exec, details the budget shortcomings:
On Wednesday, the senior executive team realized that they were over budget $30 million dollars on their cost of acquisition. How I don’t know why it took so long. [sic] They then did their knee jerk response. Your DBM’s and other local managers know nothing more than this and are in the dark as much as we are on this other than we were told VERBALLY that in market quotes would be honored for 30 days from today. The exception lists are due Monday and only for non named accounts. I have requested in every region for a positioning statement and to this moment have not heard a response. If it makes you feel any better the retail has even more uncertainty.
Is this a case of budget shortfalls being passed down to the consumer?
