Posted on August 15, 2007, at 10:57 AM .
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.
Posted on August 7, 2007, at 8:08 AM .
Qualcomm’s fight against its US chip ban takes a hit, as the Bush administration sticks by the ITC’s decision. Earlier, Qualcomm was really hoping that federal intervention could get them back in the saddle, but it looks like they’ll have to find another way around the issue. The ban is on select power management chips, so they can still do business in the US (heck, they’re the number one chip maker), but this is still a serious blow. While more appeals are likely to follow, sooner or later Qualcomm will run out of authorities to turn to. We’ll keep you posted on what happens next in this ongoing struggle.
Posted on July 20, 2007, at 10:12 AM .
Sprint and Qualcomm might be getting chummy to slug it through this power management chip ban in the U.S., but Verizon’s going with the other side, and is liscencing Broadcom’s opposing patents for $6 per 1xEVDO device. Broadcom stands to make up to $200 million from the deal, maxing out at $40 million per quarter. With that, it sounds like everybody’s got their tag teams set up and the battle lines are drawn. In the red corner, we’ve got Qualcomm and Sprint, in the blue corner Verizon and Broadcom. Bush has sent an aide to look over the International Trade Comission ban, which could end the fight early if in Qualcomm’s favour, and should have an answer by August 6th.
Full press release behind the jump.
Posted on July 6, 2007, at 8:48 AM .
A Canadian carrier being quiet about new services? I’m SHOCKED. According a tipster at BGR, Telus should have their EVDO network upgraded by Monday or Tuesday. While Telus might not be getting their mitts on Bell, they’re still a major player in the Canadian wireless game. If there are any Telus users in the house who can confirm the transition, feel free to shoot us an e-mail at info at blackberrycool.
Posted on July 5, 2007, at 8:28 AM .
Yesterday’s BlackBerry 8830 release was just as telling as we had thought. Not only is Sprint carrying a Qualcomm processor in the BlackBerry World Edition, but it looks like the two companies will be working together to find an alternative technology in case the ban on certain chips can’t be stayed. If the embargo sticks, then Qualcomm’s future EVDO and WCDMA chips would need some serious reworking to get over the border. As is, some of Qualcomm’s chips are stepping on a Broadcom power management patent, forcing Sprint to use a temporary software patch to keep their devices legal in the U.S.
Sprint product manager Brita Horton said in an interview that the company would be unaffected by the ban and can bring out as many new devices as it wants this year as a result of a software update it received from Qualcomm. “Qualcomm gave us a software patch that … lets us keep shipping,” said Horton, who noted that while the software patch creates extra work for Sprint, it would not increase costs.
That’s nice that they’re trying to put on a nonchalant face, but if the dispute was really a non-issue for Sprint, they wouldn’t have any reason to help Qualcomm out. The reality is, this patch probably just disables the offending functionality, which Sprint would rather keep than scrap.
Posted on July 3, 2007, at 8:24 AM .
Man, I thought Friday was slow for BlackBerry news. Though the iPhone’s come rumbling in at the 700,000 mark by the end of the weekend, Verizon’s made sure to have something to brag about, too. Not only have they completed transitioning their EVDO network to rev. A, they’ve also busted out some tantalizing unlimited plans (although we all know what “unlimited” means). With a network like that, we can see why Apple went to Verizon first – it’s hard to imagine getting better use out of an unlimited text, picture, video and instant messaging plan at 3 Mbit/s than on an iPhone, an experience which Europeans may be enjoying sooner than later. In any case, those brave souls who weathered the storm and stuck with Verizon will have some good service to chew on for awhile.
