The voice of the BlackBerry community.
The new BlackBerry Storm 2 is now available at TELUS on their 3G (CDMA) network for $199.99 on a 3-year contract. You can also buy the device sans contract for $599.99, but it’s rare that anyone commits that much cash up front these days. In any case, we’re hoping this device does well for TELUS.
See the TELUS site for more details of the upcoming BlackBerry Storm2.
The Bell Blackberry Bold 9700 has a new lock on it called the Service Provider (SP) lock. Both the original “Network” lock aka MEP2, and the new SP lock aka MEP4, are needed to unlock the Bell 9700 now. We’ve found 2 methods to do it and blogged about it on our site.
Through the eyes of a cell phone unlocker, it seems that RIM is always making an effort to tighten security on their new Blackberry devices. This time it has gone beyond RIM, with Bell and soon TELUS adding new locks on their Blackberry phones.
We like to call them “MEP4? locks instead the old MEP2 that we’ve grown so fond of. It has already been implemented on the Bell 9700 which has 2 locks – the network lock and the Service Provider (SP) lock. Unlock code developers, crackers and hackers are still in the process of developing a quick and “Instant” method for unlocking these MEP4 codes. Although we are able to unlock the Bell Blackberry Bold 9700, it’s interesting to see that RIM, Rogers and T-mobile are still using MEP2 codes for the Rogers Blackberry Bold 9700 and T-mobile Blackberry Bold 9700.
Continue reading about the BlackBerry unlock process vis a vis the 9700
BlackBerry Cool readers are very familiar with the application Beyon160. It allows you to use more than the 160 character limit, imposed on BlackBerry users by Verizon, Sprint, Alltel, U.S. Cellular, Bell, Telus, and all other CDMA carriers.
I have to say, Verizon made my day/weekend with their official BlackBerry Storm 9530 OS 5.0.0.328 update. While I am not using the latest OS build on a Verizon 9530 (actually TELUS), installing it on any 9530 is very easy.
If you’re a Verizon customer, you can simply grab the update from Verizon and install it like you would any OS. If you’re on another carrier, you have to remember to delete the vendor.xml file, allowing you to use the OS update for your carrier. You will find the XML file at:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\AppLoader
Click through for more about the latest OS update for the BlackBerry Storm 9530
Samano, a Howardforums.com contributor has noted that the BlackBerry Storm is no longer available on the Telus website. There is a lot of speculation as to when the Storm 2 will be released on Telus and Verizon. When old devices get quietly discontinued, a big launch is soon to follow.
Has anybody heard anything from their Telus or Verison rep? When do you think the Storm 2 is coming?
CTV have announced a new streaming video service available for TELUS customers, with Rogers and Bell customers already having access. The service has some decent content available and the TELUS stream will likely be identical to the service on Bell and Rogers.
You can now get access to content such as MTV’s The Hills and The Comedy Network’s South Park, top stories and highlights from CTV News, TSN and BNN. Other content includes:
Compatible devices include the Pearl 8130, Curve 8330, Storm 9530, Pearl Slip 8230 and the Tour 9630.
My TELUS BlackBerry Tour 9630 has been unlocked by the good folks at Cellfservices.com and it’s working smoothly. It’s still relatively expensive to get your device unlocked, but that’s just because it’s such a new device. It’s expensive being an early adopter. Unlocking your Tour costs:
Verizon BlackBerry Tour 9630 – $21.99
Telus and Bell BlackBerry Tour 9630 (0-72 hours) – $71.99
Some other unlocking prices include:
All AT&T phones except Nokias – $7.97
All Fido phones except Samsung – $9.99
All Rogers phones except iPhone and LG Neon – $9.99
Verizon Storm – $17.99
Telus and Bell Storm 1-3 weeks – $56.99
T-mobile Blackberrys – $7.97
Telus and Bell Storm Express 24-72 hours – $74.99
Verizon Tour – $21.99
Telus and Bell Tour 0-72 hours – $71.99
Get your BlackBerry unlocked at a great price.
TELUS has officially launched the BlackBerry Tour 9630 for $229.99 on a three-year contract or $599.99 without a contract. This is the latest World Phone for TELUS users and it’s going to be a nice addition to their BlackBerry line up.
What do you guys think of the price?
Read the BlackBerry Cool review of the BlackBerry Tour 9630 from TELUS.
Click through for the full press release
Cellfservices have a new unlocking promotion for Canadian BlackBerry Storm users. The new express service will get your Bell or TELUS BlackBerry Storm unlocked within 24-48 hours, rather than 2-3 weeks. Once your BlackBerry Storm is unlocked, you can use it on any GSM carrier.
Get your BlackBerry Storm unlocked within 48 hours for the promotional price of $74.99.
Check out the BlackBerry Cool unlocking page for more deals.
I’ve been playing around with the BlackBerry Tour 9630 on TELUS and I’ve put together my impressions, pics and some Bold and 8900 comparison points. This BlackBerry Tour is not a commercial unit, so while it’s running final code, it didn’t come with all the branded packaging – not that you would really care.
In general, this device is where the Curve 8900 meets the Bold. This is indicative of RIM’s latest device strategy of making hybrids to satisfy a gray area of customers, while working on the the more evolutionary devices which take longer to produce. This strategy is summed up as follows:
“You may not love every BlackBerry released by RIM, but rest assured there is a BlackBerry for everyone.”
Now let’s take a deeper look at this device.
Click through to see details and pics of the TELUS BlackBerry Tour 9630
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