Posted on September 14, 2009, at 9:41 am .
Vodafone Italia and RIM have announced the BlackBerry Curve 8520 in Italy. Starting September 3rd, the device is available and costs €249 with no contract from Vodafone outlets and from Vodafone’s online shop.
At Wal-Mart, this device costs $399.99 without a contract, but with a contract, you get it for $49.99.
It’s pretty incredible how much money is knocked off the initial price given a contract. It’s hard to imagine why anyone would go out and purchase a device these days without getting a contract.
Are you in Europe? Here are a couple questions for you:
1) Do you regularly buy a device with no contract?
2) What do you think of the price for the 8520?
3) On average, how much do you spend per month on your phone bill?
Posted on April 28, 2009, at 1:00 pm .
I just got off the phone with Ahmed from Zenprise. Their clients are reporting some fairly widespread outages on RIM’s network across Europe.
If you are in Europe, let us know what your BlackBerry service has been like today.
Posted on March 10, 2009, at 8:52 am .
U2 is kicking off its relationship with RIM with The U2 360° Tour, sponsored by BlackBerry. The Tour is the band’s first stadium outing since the Vertigo Tour 05/06 and follows the release of their acclaimed album, No Line On The Horizon. U2 will be touring 14 cities across Europe including dates in Milan, Gothenburg, Amsterdam, Paris, Nice, Dublin, Chorzow, Berlin, Gelsenkirchen, London, Sheffield and Glasgow before finishing at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on 22nd August. The European tour will be followed by dates in North America beginning at Chicago’s Soldier Field on September 12th, 2009.
“This tour announcement marks the first stage of a relationship and shared vision between RIM and U2 that we expect will lead to new and innovative ways to enhance the mobile music experience on the BlackBerry platform for U2 fans. We look forward to sharing more details as the relationship unfolds,” said Paul McGuinness, the band’s manager.
Everyone remembers the long relationship U2 and Bono had with Apple and it seems to be the end of an era. There are rumors that U2 and UMG weren’t elated about the relationship with Apple. UMG’s chief Doug Morris late in 2007 claimed his company had been ensnared by the “golden handcuffs” of Apple’s music portal. The executive explained that Universal became dependent on iTunes after insisting on copy protection and then allowing Apple to use its own proprietary format.
Partnering with U2 is a great move on the part of RIM. Not only will it help solidify BlackBerry as a company that is in touch with a wide demographic, but Bono’s charitable causes make him a formidable representative of the company. We should expect to see some interesting developments come of this, including initiatives along the same vein as Product Red.
Click through to read about The U2 360° TOUR presented by BlackBerry
Posted on March 3, 2009, at 1:15 pm .
Now is the time to go skiing in Europe! If the financial crisis will turn out as bad as the media would like you to believe, you may as well go out and spend all your cash now. Soon we’ll be trading animal skins for precious metals and generally living in the dark ages. That being said, time to celebrate with a ski trip in Switzerland. To check out the skiing and snow conditions there, you can hit up m.myslopes.com on your mobile browser. The ski holiday portal gives you the current snow conditions of more than 1000 ski resorts in Europe, on your mobile phone.
Check out their site here.
Posted on February 9, 2009, at 10:51 am .
Press Release
Vodafone and Research In Motion today launched the BlackBerry Curve 8900 for Vodafone customers in Spain. The new BlackBerry Curve 8900 has an expansive feature set that keeps users easily connected with their office, friends and family. In addition to being an exceptional phone with email, messaging, organizer, web browser and multimedia applications, the new BlackBerry Curve 8900 features built-in Wi-Fi, GPS, a next generation processor (512 MHz) and a dazzling hi-resolution display, enabling customers to remain connected, productive and entertained while on the move.
Vodafone is selling the BlackBerry Curve 8900 for a flat rate of 18€ per month with BIS service. Those interested can head to Vodafone’s website or look at more BlackBerry Curve 8900 device specs after the jump.
Continue reading ‘Vodafone and RIM Launch the BlackBerry Curve 8900 in Spain’
Posted on February 2, 2009, at 11:23 am .
Press Release
Oslo, Norway and Waterloo, ON, Canada – Trigcom and Research In Motion today launched the BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphone in Norway. In addition to its exceptional phone, email, messaging, organizer, web browser and multimedia applications, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphone features global connectivity support, built-in Wi-Fi and GPS, a next generation 512Mhz processor and a stunning hi-resolution display.
“The BlackBerry Curve 8900 lets you stay easily connected with work, family, friends and the Internet using a beautifully designed phone that looks and feels great,” says Mark Guibert, Vice President, Corporate Marketing at Research In Motion. “It is perfect for people who want the renowned functionality, performance and usability of a BlackBerry smartphone in a compact design with a full-QWERTY keyboard.”
The BlackBerry Curve 8900 is available today from Trigcom for both business and personal customers. For more information, visit the Trigcom Business Centre at Kronprinsesse Märthas Plass 1 in Oslo, or go to the online shop at www.trigcom.no/no/nettbutikk for great offers.
Continue reading ‘Trigcom and RIM launch the BlackBerry Curve 8900 in Norway’
Posted on January 30, 2009, at 11:29 am .
Press Release
Milan, Italy and Waterloo, Canada – Vodafone Italia and Research In Motion today announced the availability of the BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphone in Italy. The new BlackBerry Curve 8900 makes keeping in touch with the office, family, and friends easy thanks to the smartphone’s extensive set of features, including: built-in Wi-Fi, a fast processor (512Mhz), GPS, and an astounding high resolution display.
The BlackBerry Curve 8900 is available now from Vodafone Italia retail stores and online at www.vodafone.it for the price of 429€. Tariff information is available after the jump.
BlackBerry Curve 8900 Tariff Information and Specifications
Posted on January 28, 2009, at 9:05 am .
Press Release
Paris, France and Waterloo, Canada – SFR and Research In Motion today announced that SFR will offer the new BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphone. Customers will be able to purchase the BlackBerry Curve 8900 from the SFR online store starting January 31st 2009 and in SFR retail outlets in February 2009.
The BlackBerry Curve 8900 is the thinnest BlackBerry smartphone yet, and sports a sleek, refined design that is extremely comfortable in the hand. In addition, it has a dazzling high-resolution display (480 x 360) and a fast processor for snappy performance. The BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphone is supported on BlackBerry Internet Service and BlackBerry Enterprise Server and will be available from €99 including taxes in conjunction with SFR’s Illimythics service plans and €109 excluding taxes with SFR Business Team Pro service plans.
Users will also be able to benefit from the Business Mail Illimité service plan and SFR Find & Go navigation services:
Business Mail special offer from SFR – available from January 21st to March 24 2009:
* Business Mail Illimité is available for €1/month for a 2-month period with the ‘Illimythics 3G+’ and ‘Pro’ service plans (then €4,90/month with the ‘Illimythics Pro 3 hours’ and ‘Illimythics Pro 4 hours’ service plans and €9 with ‘Illimythics 3G+’ service plan).
* Business Mail Illimité is also still available for free with the ‘Illimythics Pro 5 hours and more’ service plans
SFR Find & Go special offer:
* SFR Find & Go available at €1/month* for a 2-month period with the ‘Illimythics 3G+’ and ‘Pro’ service plans for 5€/month**
Business Mail and SFR Find & Go special offers are available from 21/01/09 to 24/03/09 for new subscribers of an Illimythics 3G+ or Pro service plan (on a 12 month minimum contract) with compatible mobile phones. More details are available at www.sfr.fr.
Continue reading ‘SFR and RIM Launch the BlackBerry Curve 8900 in France’
Posted on January 26, 2009, at 10:09 am .
Press Release
Bouygues Telecom and Research In Motion today launched the BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphone in France. The new BlackBerry Curve 8900 has an expansive feature set that keeps users easily connected with their office, friends and family. In addition to being an exceptional phone with powerful email, messaging, organizer, web browser and multimedia applications, the new BlackBerry Curve 8900 also features built-in Wi-Fi®, GPS, a fast processor (512Mhz) and a dazzling hi-resolution display, enabling customers to remain connected, productive and entertained while on the move.
Prices start from €149 including taxes (with a minimum 12 month subscription) on a Forfait Pro or Neo.2 three-hours or more voice plan. To mark its launch, between 26 January 2009 and 22 February 2009, customers will be able to purchase the new BlackBerry Curve 8900 for €79 including taxes (sales price of €129 in store with a €50 discount).
The BlackBerry Curve 8900 is available for corporate clients from €179 excluding taxes (with a 24 month minimum subscription). Details available at http://www.enterprises.bouyguestelecom.fr. To mark its launch, between 26 January 2009 and 31 March 2009, corporate customers will be able to purchase the new BlackBerry Curve 8900 for €59 including taxes (sales price of €109 in store with a €50 discount) in conjunction with the Neo Mail Entreprises data plan.
BlackBerry Curve 8900 specifications
Posted on January 22, 2009, at 12:49 pm .
Belgian company arrowUp announced today the launch of its eID PKI (electronic Identity Card Public Key Infrastructure) application for BlackBerry. The application enables quick checks to be conducted of Belgium citizens’ eID on BlackBerry smartphones connected to a BlackBerry Smart Card Reader using Bluetooth.
Jean De Coster, Sales Manager, arrowUp comments: “This application is unique and has been exclusively developed for the BlackBerry platform. In Europe there is no comparable application available and as a leading company in the field of e-Identification, we are extremely pleased to offer this application with the BlackBerry solution.”
arrowUp’s eID application is intended for government and medical organizations, as well as insurance and security companies. Interested organizations can learn more at http://eid.arrowup.be/arrowup/en/arrowup/.
