By popular demand, we’ve got round two of our interview with the preeminent tech blogger Boy Genius. BlackBerry Cool’s EIC Doug Soltys yaks it up with the Big BG about leaks, carriers, manufacturers, advertisers, MVNOs, and the iPhone. Without further ado, here’s the podcast for your listening pleasure. (Also on iTunes, if that’s your bag.)
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BlackBerry Cool podcasts come out less often than we’d like, but when we the ‘Cool does get around to it, we like to try and make them as awesome as possible. And what could possibly be more awesome than an interview with the Boy Genius? Sure, we’ve done text interviews with him before, but live from BG HQ is an entirely different matter.
BlackBerry Cool EIC Douglas Soltys went 10 rounds with the BG, clocking in more than 2 1/2 hours of audio (!), so look for part two to come soon. Until then, enjoy us talking about RIM’s recent product lineup, the 9000 series BlackBerrys, BES/OS 5.0, whether or not RIM understands cool, and oh yeah, BG’s plans to work with RIM.
P.S. This podcast was recorded the day before we broke the news on AT&T neutering the BlackBerry 8820, so it wasn’t addressed in the podcast. However, be amazed at how ominously pertinent our conversation regarding the Apple/ATT&T/RIM triumvirate was.
Listen to the BlackBerry Cool podcast after the jump
Hooboy, it does exist. It’s been a long, hard waiting period for Verizon customers who wanted some sweet, CDMA BlackBerry Pearl goodness. According to these snatched images from the Boy Genius, it looks like RIM has delivered in a big way, with none other than the BlackBerry 8130 — which looks a lot like the BlackBerry Pearl 2. We’re talking 3.5 mm headset jack, 2 Mpx camera, and MicroSD support (is it external? Why no MicroSDHC?), all rapped up in a neat 1xEVDO package. Although, without the rumored Wi-Fi and 3.2Mpx camera in the Komet, you might call it the BlackBerry Pearl 1.5.
Verizon customers (and maybe Sprint too?) are set to receive the device sometime in November, 3 months after the GSM Pearl 2’s launch (makes perfect sense). So tell us guys, does it look like it was worth the wait?
Check out another picture after the jump.
Leave it to Boy Genius to drop a little bit of BlackBerry rumor to hold us over on a lazy Friday in the dog days of summer. According to his “very friendly RIM informants”, and supporting what we’ve thought all along, the Comet BlackBerry Pearl 2 will be arriving by the second week of September in a variety of colours… to AT&T first. That’s right, T-Mobile just got punk’d (although they apparently will still be getting the Pearl 2 eventually). Here’s a question: what does this mean for the rumored CDMA Pearl 2 for Verizon?
BG was also able to confirm that the much rumored Papa Bear is in fact the BlackBerry 8310, which is disappointing news to those who were hoping that the big bear would have both GPS and Wi-Fi. According to BG’s sources, the reason for no Wi-Fi is the fact that RIM can’t cram both Wi-Fi and GPS into such a small case design. This kind of makes sense; the Pap Bear never had a device number attached to it like the other devices in the “Bear” family — one would assume it would have been called the 8330 if RIM had been able to get the job done.
Hey BG, did you leak this news because RIM didn’t send you the BlackBerry Summer Survival Kit? Revenge is a dish best served by Internet informants, I guess.
Obviously, take this with the grain of salt that all rumors deserve, but over the past year we’ve come to trust Boy Genius when he drops a date in our laps (even while he’s smacking us around like the BlackBerry-happy punks that we are). The straight word coming from an AT&T insider is that the BlackBerry 8820, with all it’s Wi-Fi and MicroSDHC goodness, will launch on North America’s largest GSM carrier by August 13th or 14th.
Considering that we haven’t heard a peep from AT&T enterprise users about a soft-launch, it seems like we got it half right last time. Oh well, that’s what we get for being BG wannabes. The biggest question now, however, is how quickly can we get our informant friend to send us an unlocked 8820 for use on Rogers?
Poor Boy Genius. The guy has so many sources on the inside that sometimes their “hot tips” conflict with each other. Take the impending release of the BlackBerry 8820 (mmm, sweet Wi-Fi goodness) on AT&T, for instance. One BG devotee claims that AT&T will be launching the 8820 as early as this week, for $299 on a 2 year plan. The launch will coincide with a “phase out” of the already passé BlackBerry 8800. Others, citing “internal AT&T training documents”, are claiming that AT&T will have exclusivity on the BlackBerry 8820 (sorry, T-Mobile), but not until August.
With RIM’s official press release failing to offer a firm date, it’s no wonder there’s so much confusion. For our money, it’s most likely that AT&T is soft-launching the BlackBerry 8820 this week for enterprise customers (a common carrier tactic), with a full consumer rollout to hit in August. Only time will tell, however. Keep your ear to the ground, BG, but do your best to filter out the noise.
In a recent feature by the Toronto Star, RIM’s Co-CEO Jim Balsillie offered commentary on Apple’s relationship with AT&T regarding the iPhone. His comments have sparked some debate across the Internets, most notably on the Boy Genius Report, where several staff members (including the BG himself, of course) have taken different stances on what Jim Dog’s words mean.
The quote in question refers to the surprising (to some) amount of control Apple featured over the iPhone’s launch: for example, a lack of AT&T branding on the device, and activation via iTunes rather than through AT&T. Here’s what Balsillie had to say:
“It’s a dangerous strategy,” says Balsillie. “It’s a tremendous amount of control. And the more control of the platform that goes out of the carrier, the more they shift into a commodity pipe.”
Find out what we think after the jump.
Those crazy cats at the Morning Paper, who also broke news on the Palm Gandolf, are now bringing word of a CDMA Motorola Q9h, which has only recently been seen on the GSM side of the fence. Dubbed the Motorola “Nelson” (which should ring bells to anyone who knew the Q9h as “Norman”), the device should be rocking WM6, 2.0 Mpx camera, miniSD expansion, Bluetooh, EV-DO and “ultra thin” stylings.
Sprint’s rumored as the featured carrier, but nothing is as yet confirmed (does anything ever get confirmed anymore?). All we know is that our boy the BG is raving over the Q9h, so we’ll keep tabs on this BlackBerry competitor.
On an icky Thursday in Ottawa, there’s really nothing that can brighten up your day like screens of new devices from the Boy Genius. BG’s got his bling’d out hands on the new Motorola Q9h and Samsung’s i620 (think BlackJack 2) and delivers his usual brand of impressions. While he digs the new keypad on the Q9h, he laments Samsung’s decision to keep the BlackJack’s terrible design. However, it seems as though the i620 is packing Wi-Fi, HSDPA, and a front facing VGA camera (2 Mpx cam on the back) to compensate.
Not bad at all, but also not really anything to make us forget about the BlackBerry Curve. Thoughts, people?
Hah, we’ve heard that one before. The Boy Genius is sticking to his original assertion that AT&T is going to be trying to get be the BlackBerry 8300 out the door before the end of the month. Obviously we don’t question the legitimacy of BGR’s sources – if the Curve doesn’t come out tomorrow, then it’s more likely due to an internal inability to meet targets rather than a single unreliable snitch.
UPDATE! It’s a-coming, boys and girls! May 31st. is the confirmed date for AT&T’s Curve release, and will be costing you $199 with a two-year plan and mail-in rebate. The Genius wins!
UPDATE 2! The hour has arrived! Anyone able to report from the front lines on the unruly mobs haranguing clueless AT&T reps for their devices?
BGR’s leaked press notes compared to released ones behind the jump.
Continue reading ‘CONFIRMED: AT&T Curve released!’
