The voice of the BlackBerry community.
UPDATE: We’ve added some more photos of the BlackBerry Storm that have turned up on the CrackBerry Forums after the jump.
Not one to let Verizon have all the fun by themselves, the Boy Genius has posted screen captures and renders of a Vodafone branded BlackBerry Storm. Nothing much to say here other than it looks slick and I want it. Oh yes, the text-input graphics look much improved over previous screenshots we had seen.
(via BGR)
Bad news rumors are coming from BGR today, which is reporting that Bell Canada might follow the lead of Verizon Wireless and cripple GPS on select BlackBerrys. Here’s what BGR had to say:
Bell may be increasing the GPS lock time (2-10 minutes) and resolution (1-2.5KM) of Third Party applications while maintaining the speed (10-15s) and accuracy (10-25m) of their own GPS Nav program. These changes are presumably meant to force lure customers into using Bell’s
crappysuperior GPS Nav program instead of the built-in Blackberry Maps or the free Google Maps. You knew this was coming…
BGR states that the BlackBerry 8830, BlackBerry Pearl 8130 and BlackBerry Curve 8330 are the devices to be affected. Bell charges $10/month or $3.50/day for their GPS Navigation service, by the way. Thoughts?
(via BoyGeniusReport)
Ooh boy, this is starting to get out of hand. Doesn’t an NDA mean anything any more? The gadget hounds over at EngadgetMobile have gotten their hands on the slide presentation used by National Account Managers to sell devices to key customers, giving us the most information (and the prettiest images) about the the BlackBerry Storm 9530 seen in one place.
Items to be gleamed from the slide presentation? An 8GB MicroSD card is now confirmed as a pack in, visual voicemail will be available after launch, and despite earlier reports from today, the BlackBerry Storm 8530 will feature auto flash as well as auto focus.
Dig in folks, but at this point, BBCool HQ readily expects Verizon to start mailing out devices interested people as early as yesterday.
(via EngadgetMobile)
CDMA users have had a fun time trying to get their hands on the latest BlackBerry software, but now they won’t have to resort to Rapidshare to get the new OS. The Canadian carrier MTS Mobility has OS 4.5 available for public download from RIM’s site. If you’re looking to try it out, just grab the file, install, make sure you have the latest Desktop Manager, and plug in your BlackBerry via miniUSB when it’s open. Don’t worry that it’s from another carrier, you should be fine after deleting the vendor.xml file on your computer. OS 4.5 features rich text e-mail viewing on supporting BlackBerry Enterprise Servers, among other goodies like a variety of attachment download capabilities and free/busy calendar lookup. Folks packing the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition might still be out of luck, although there are torrents out there for unreleased versions of the software. CDMA subscribers can head on over to RIM’s site to get upgrading their Pearls and Curves.
(via Pinstack)
BlackBerry Cool writers have the privilege of being in constant contact with a variety of wireless industry players. Naturally, we often get in heated or hilarious discussions over recent news. We’ve decided to start posting some of the more interesting conversations, in the hopes that it will spur greater debate. Our test run is a hearty debate over the value of a CDMA carrier switching to GSM, how long until 4G becomes anything more than a ‘wet dream’ and myths about call quality. Enjoy, and please post a comment with your thoughts.
Note: My interlocutor was uncomfortable with being identified, so let’s just call him Fake Ted Rogers.
Fake Ted Rogers: Isn’t saying Bell/Telus is going to GSM kinda like saying Verizon should?
Douglas Soltys: Well, different countries mean different biz scenarios.
Fake Ted Rogers: I’d like to see what the subs are for Tel/Bel compared to Rogers. As in the states Verizon has more than AT&T.
Douglas Soltys: Some would say that Verizon is run much better than Tel/Bel.
Continue reading BBCool’s compelling conversation with Fake Ted Rogers
A recent paper from UBS Investment Research is claiming that Canadian carriers Telus and Bell may be switching from CDMA to the popular GSM archietecture. It’s a big move that could cost upwards of $480 million, but when you look at the amount of exclusivity Rogers is enjoying with the iPhone, you can bet the competition won’t want to miss the next boat. This is good news for Canadian BlackBerry users, as it could mean no more waiting months on end for the CDMA versions of devices to come out. Where Bell and Telus sit on 4G remains uncertain – it’s entirely possible that they’ll skip the existing 3G HSDPA and go right to LTE.
Bad Behavior has blocked 25755 access attempts in the last 7 days.