Posted on July 24, 2008, at 10:56 am .
OS 4.6 software is getting fast-tracked in order to prepare for the imminent BlackBerry Bold launch, now with the updated Desktop Manager available from Vodafone Germany. With the 4.6 BlackBerry Java Desktop Environment released just yesterday, it’s hard not to think that some of the issues delaying the launch of the BlackBerry 9000 are getting resolved. If the OS is solid enough that the JDE and Desktop Manager can be offered publicly, I think we can look out for a release real soon. T-Mobile Germany was one of the first to throw out some pricing, and Vodafone had one of the earliest sources of Bold pictures, so at very least Germans have good reason to get excited. If software’s not enough of an indicator, there’s also a batch of presale German BlackBerry Bolds to be shipped August 6th to get your hopes up…
(via BerryReview)
Posted on July 4, 2008, at 11:06 am .
While Rogers and AT&T dates for BlackBerry 9000 launches have been ball-parked to late summer, we’ve heard little from the other side of the pond until now. T-Mobile’s German site is showing off the Bold due in “Juli”, and carrying a €550 ($US 860) pricetag without contract and as low as €90 ($US 140) with an agreement, which should give us a good idea of how much we can expect to dish out when the thing lands up here. Pretty affordable with the plan, and with rumours of the Kickstart’s pricetag, it looks like we’re looking at some competitive prices all around for the next batch of devices.
(via BBNews)
Posted on May 21, 2008, at 12:02 pm .
We talked with the young and talented ISEC7 crew back at WES, but neglected to mention their recent acquisition by solutions provider GPXS. ISEC7’s main product is a BES monitoring suite called B*Nator that includes spiffy BlackBerry remote control app for help desk operators, while GPXS offers a wide array of services, ranging from enterprise application deployment, to hosted BES. ISEC7 shows a lot of promise, and is definitely a good buy on GPXS’ part.
Posted on December 12, 2007, at 9:47 am .
Josep just pointed us to Beam it up Scotty, which chews up picture, document, music and video files and spits mobilized versions back at you via SMS download link. We aren’t getting any luck with a Canadian phone number, but considering it’s German, we might guess this is just for European users right now. (Edit: I’m a dumbass, just didn’t put 00 before my phone number.) Anyway, give it a shot and leave a comment letting us know how it works.
Posted on December 7, 2007, at 9:33 am .
Yeah, it sounds ridiculous, I know, but there are some companies that are putting iPhone before BlackBerry, such as German software developer SAP. Their latest mobile customer relationship management package will be coming out for iPhone before BlackBerry or Palm. It’s easy to fob this decision off as one company making a poor business decision, but the fact is RIM isn’t completely stone-walling Apple’s progress into the enterprise market. Even if Apple remains the underdog in enterprise mobility, not unlike its status in the computer market, they can still manage to nab a healthy slice of the pie. Nobody’s expecting BlackBerry to be ousted as Corporate King anytime soon, but there will be points where it’s rubbing shoulders with Apple. It’ll be interesting to see who else makes the switch as the iPhone settles in.
Posted on November 15, 2007, at 8:54 am .
I guess O2 wasn’t happy enough with a UK launch alone, so the Wi-Fi Pearl has come to Germany, too. External microSD slot, 2 megapixel camera with video capture and QWERTZ SureType are all on the plate for this one. If any Germans out there are looking for more info, we’ve dug up this datenblatt for your perusal. No prices available yet, but if you’ve got any questions, Pinstacker banthon has his mitts on one of these.
Posted on August 23, 2007, at 8:47 am .
In other international releases today, we’ve got the GPS-enabled BlackBerry 8310 coming to Portugal via Vodafone. It won’t take long for the 8310 to get all over Europe, considering rumors of an imminent UK release, and the initial German announcement. Of course, it’s pretty much standard that Europe gets all the shiny toys before us across the pond, just like it’s inevitable that the Orient will be doing crazier wireless things than, well, anybody else.
Posted on August 22, 2007, at 3:07 pm .
Word has it the GPS-enabled BlackBerry 8310 could be washing up on British shores sometime soon. Not to liken such a sleek, sumptuous device to the likes of mangled driftwood, or anything. No clues as to carrier, but seeing as how Vodafone was the first to bring it out in Germany, it wouldn’t be a stretch for them to be carrying it in the UK as well. We’ll be sure to let you know as soon as things get official.
Posted on August 10, 2007, at 6:58 am .
Austrian carrier Mobilkom A1 has announced their release of the BlackBerry 8310, offering it for €199. To make the deal a little sweeter, Mobilkom A1 will throw in 6 months of free GPS navigation software for anyone picking up the 8310 before the end of October. It’s typical for Austria to get devices just a little bit after Germany, and the BlackBerry 8310 is no exception. Mobilkom A1 also took the opportunity to offer free BlackBerry Connect software for the Nokia E90, Nokia E61i and the Sony Ericsson P1i.
Press release behind the jump.
Posted on August 3, 2007, at 9:12 am .
It has not been the best week to be a North American BlackBerry user. While we (in the form of America first, then Canada shortly after) usually get the best RIM devices first, this past week saw not one, but two separate launches of slick BlackBerry handsets in Europe rather than our side of the pond: the BlackBerry 8820 in the UK, and the BlackBerry 8310 in Germany. Sure, some may say that these are just updated versions of devices we already have — and that AT&T is hopefully getting the 8820 soon — but this means that our esteemed friends in Europe have been first to receive both the only relevant Wi-Fi BlackBerry, and the only 3G GSM BlackBerry (something that still burns our Rogers using hearts to this day).
So break it down for us, trusted reader: why is RIM showing Europe so much love? Do they feel the need to compete in a savvy European market with more fully loaded devices, or are they just trying to spread their product launches around? Or, is this a depressing sign that, like the BlackBerry 8707, there are just some BlackBerry devices that North American shores will never receive? Post the best answer as to why RIM has European fever this week (other than to just break our hearts) and you’ll receive a free copy of Magmic’s newest release, Chuzzle!
LAST WEEK’S WINNER was Ralf, who pointed out that until recently, BlackBerrys were (and still are, in some cases) behind in terms of consumer functionality. Enjoy your games, Ralf!
