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The BlackBerry Niagara 9630 now has an official name and it’s the BlackBerry Tour 9630. The device is likely to be promoted alongside the U2 360 Tour which RIM is sponsoring.
The leaks come from a BGR tipster who says the device is to be released in early summer. Also of note, the Web addresses BlackBerry9630.com and BlackBerryTour.com are not only tied to the same IP address, they were both registered on the same day.
What do you think of the new name?
[Al Sacco CIO]
The BlackBerry Niagara 9630 has been spotted on none other than Niagara street. The photos taken of this device are great. Normally when these pics hit the internet, they’re of really poor quality and don’t really show you what the device looks like. In these pics, we get a really good look at the device and I’m loving it.
Click through to see another pic of the BlackBerry Niagara
According to recent rumors, the BlackBerry 9630 will be ready for Verizon soon. The CDMA carrier should have the device as early as May. Pricing and other details remain vague, though the existing 8330 sells for $170 before special discounts.
The Niagara is a sweet looking device and depending on release dates, might actually help Verizon gain a few subscribers.
Would you switch carriers for a device as nice as the 9630?
[Via]
Got the word from IM that the CBForums have video of the BlackBerry Niagara 9630. The video is of pretty terrible quality and looks a little like it was filmed with a cameraphone. I noticed a slight difference when I pressed the HQ button on YouTube, but it’s not as satisfying as you’d like. Whenever these videos are uploaded, they need to go on Blip or Vimeo, because they can serve up much higher quality video. In any case, the device is running OS 4.7.1.10 and it’s very buggy. The phone still looks great!
[Via]
CB has posted another pic of the BlackBerry Niagara. This time the device is turned on so you can see a few of the icons as well as it makes the pic a little better. The BlackBerry Niagara 9630 is shaping up to be one of the nicest looking devices in RIM’s product line.
[Via]
It seems the BlackBerry Niagara somehow made it all the way to Winnipeg to hang out with Kevin at CrackBerry. I didn’t know they even got reception out there. The CDMA BlackBerry looks like a cool hybrid of the Bold and the Curve. Also, the device is said to be a “World Edition” model, so connectivity comes in with GSM/GPRS/EDGE/HSPA and CDMA 1xRTT/EV-DO Rev A. There’s also said to be GPS and 3.2-megapixel camera but no Wi-Fi.
[UPDATE: My bad, the device isn't in house, Kevin just has pics of it. If it were in house, it would have been photographed on his green trampoline (what is that thing?)]
[Via]
Sometimes you need to post a poorly researched rumor in order to get the real details. Recently, an engineer at Sprint confirmed the following details about the Sprint BlackBerry Niagara:
Â
The BlackBerry Niagara is slated to launch in Q3 and will have the following specs:
EVDOrA
GSM 850, 900,1800,1900and UMTS 2100 (japan)
International Data will support GPRS, EDGE, UMTS & HSPA
3MP Camera
1400 MA Battery
Â
Verizon will launch the device before Sprint because they are basically just paying for the Broadcom patent infringement to use the chipset in its existing form. Sprint wants the re-engineering effort to happen so they don’t have to pay the Broadcom fee so their launch will be a little later.
Thanks for the tip. Remember, send any rumors and tips to kyle (at) blackberrycool (dot) com.
UPDATE: Niagara closely follows the Javelin ID and styling. Most unique characteristic will be the battery cover with a gray/black dot matrixed print scheme with chrome accent “flying bb’s”. JavelinNiagara will simply be a CDMA version of the 8900.
While pretty much any GSM subscriber in the world that wants a BlackBerry Bold can now easily get one from their carrier, things have not been so easy for those CDMA subscribers. Our poor friends on Sprint and Verizon (and Telus and Bell) have been waiting patiently for world on release dates of the BlackBerry Niagara (the CDMA Bold/8830 successor), but news has been slim since early October.
Thankfully, Engadget Mobile is reporting that Sprint is looking to release the BlackBerry Niagara sometime this quarter. The CDMA Bold variant would feature a 3.2 MPx camera, aGPS, Wi-Fi, EV-DO Rev. A, a gorgeous HVGA screen and possibly an updated design to make it similar in style to the BlackBerry Curve 8900 and BlackBerry Storm. Obviously, ‘this quarter’ is fairly vague, but I know it will make at least one person happy. We’ll post more as it comes!
|via Engadget Mobile|
CDMA BlackBerry users have a history of getting the short end of the stick: fewer and later devices, generally worse battery life… etc. Based upon what BlackBerry News is reporting, CDMA BlackBerry now users have a lot more than the BlackBerry Storm to be excited about — here comes the BlackBerry Niagara and the BlackBerry Apex.
First up the BlackBerry Apex, which will be a CDMA Rev. 0 version of the Kickstart or BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220. Look for this BlackBerry to come out in 2009.
Next up is the BlackBerry Niagara, which is a slightly more complicated pickle. BlackBerry News is stating that it is a CDMA Rev. A successor to the BlackBerry 8830 rather than the CDMA counterpart to the GSM BlackBerry Javelin, which is an upgraded version of the BlackBerry Curve. Confused yet? Instead, BlackBerry News claims that the CDMA Curve update will be codenamed ‘Jupiter‘ featuring EVDO Rev. 0.
However, a quick look at one of the slides released by the Boy Genius (seen after the jump) shows that RIM is still considering the BlackBerry Javelin and Niagara in the same breath. Hopefully we’ll be able to sort out this mess of BlackBerrys sooner or later.
(via BlackBerry News)
RIM BlackBerry Niagara and BlackBerry Apex slides
Some concepts of a BlackBerry modeled after the 9000 dubbed “Niagara” have surfaced, supposedly minus 3G capabilities. The form factor is a little off from the BlackBerry 9000 shots we’ve already seen, so it’s possible this new model will be the next iteration in the 9000 line. The 9100 is already looking like it won’t be packing 3G, pointing to an ongoing trend of stripping features for the sake of battery life. Cutting features has the added benefit of lowering costs, which could do the rumored pricetag of $800 a considerable favour.
UPDATE: Our main man Boy Genius has taken the time to quell the confusion surrounding his report of a 3G-lacking BlackBerry 9000. Apparently, there are two different codenames swirling over at RIM HQ: the Javelin and the Niagara. BG is reporting that the Niagara is actually an EV-DO BlackBerry coming to Verizon in May of 2009. The Javelin is the previously mentioned 3G-less BlackBerry 9000. Everyone got that? Good. BG was also able to scrounge up (unconfirmed) specs for both devices, so check those out after the jump.
Click here to view specs on the BlackBerry Niagara and Javelin
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