Posted on January 19, 2009, at 10:36 am .
Just after Christmas last month, we posted some internal Rogers documents showcasing the BlackBerry Storm 9520, a GSM Storm variant that will feature 3G HSDPA and Wi-Fi. It appears now that the Storm 9520 is starting to peak out into public copy, as indicated by the image above. The image, sent to us by ‘Rogers Dude’ (but not RogersDude69 for some reason) appears to be part of a marketing package, meaning the Storm 9520 can’t be that far away if its on copy being sent out to stores.
Obviously, we have no release date yet for the BlackBerry Storm 9520, but we’ll see what our friends from Rogers can do.
Posted on November 11, 2008, at 3:49 pm .
Rogers is gearing up for the holidays and they’re going to make a big push with the BlackBerry Bold and RIM’s latest addition the BlackBerry Pearl Flip. Rogers will also be releasing the BlackBerry 8320 which is a blue Curve with Wi-Fi. The device will be $99.99 on a 3 year contract.
I love the idea of the Curve finally getting Wi-Fi. With more VoIP companies hitting the market, we’re all going to be saving money on our minutes and keeping in better touch with our friends via cheap data.
These releases and promotional deals may be just what Rogers needs to win the smartphone wars this holiday season.
[Via]
Posted on November 4, 2008, at 12:25 am .
We told you on Friday that the iDEN BlackBerry Curve 8350i was going to be released at the dirt cheap price of $150 (on a 2 year contract after a $100 mail-in rebate), and now we have some visual confirmation for you, via a promotional flyer from a 3rd-party Sprint dealership. We can also now tell you to expect the push-to-talk BlackBerry on December 1st, just in time for Christmas.
You can see the full flyer after the jump. Thanks for the tip, helpful anonymous dude!
BlackBerry Curve 8350i flyer
Posted on November 3, 2008, at 9:05 am .
We’re a little late to the party on this, but considering AT&T’s history in offering, then withdrawing free Wi-Fi for iPhone users in the past, we thought it best to give this one the weekend to see if it stuck. Our boy Al Sacco of CIO.com has posted about it though, which means it has to be true.
Last week, AT&T iPhone owners received a text message from the wireless carrier notifying them that they now have free access to any of AT&T’s 17,000 Wi-Fi hot spots across the United States in establishments like Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, and McDonalds. The great news for the BlackBerry Nation, though, is that this offer will extend to BlackBerry Bold owners starting tomorrow!
AT&T subscribers: when you get your Bold tomorrow, test out the Wi-Fi and post a comment if it works or if you have any issues.
Posted on October 9, 2008, at 9:51 am .
It’s not quite the BlackBerry Storm, but I know there are still quite a few iDen fans lurking in the corners of the BlackBerry Nation. Our good friend Ronen has posted today that Sprint has launched a sign up page for their nascent Nextel BlackBerry 8350i. The page has little information other than pointing out that the BlackBerry 8350i will have both Wi-Fi and GPS to go along with its push to talk capabilities, but there is an option to sign up for email notifications about the device’s release.
Nextel fans, sound off: does this meager bit of 8530i news blunt the pain in any way of the day that shall always be known as ‘Storm Wednesday’?
Nextel BlackBerry 8530i Sign Up Page
(via BerryReview)
Posted on September 18, 2008, at 10:00 am .
Some new BlackBerry Curve release are coming to Canadian carriers Rogers and Telus. Kevin at CrackBerry is telling us that the Wi-Fi enabled, Sapphire Blue BlackBerry 8320 should make an appearance on Rogers in September, a full month ahead of the AT&T BlackBerry Curve 8320, priced at $150 on a three-year contract. You can also check out the new Rogers BlackBerry rate card after the jump.
In addition, Telus has just released the CDMA BlackBerry 8330 (with GPS, but no Wi-FI) in a lovely red color, to go along with their gray and pink variants. The BlackBerry 8330 is also being sold at $150 on a three-year contract. You can see more plan and pricing information on Telus’ BlackBerry 8330 product page.
(via CB, BlackBerrySync)
More BlackBerry Curve info and Rogers pricing plans
Posted on September 2, 2008, at 12:14 pm .
We’re still crossing our fingers for a September 12th. BlackBerry Bold launch on AT&T, but if you aren’t holding your breath for it, the Wi-Fi BlackBerry Curve (8320) is aiming for a late September launch, which will finally complete AT&T’s Wi-Fi BlackBerry lineup. Included will be OS 4.5 (also due to hit BlackBerry 8120, BlackBerry 8820, BlackBerry 8310, and BlackBerry 8300), along with all of the associated goodies like e-mail search, free/busy lookup, Documents to Go… Of course, Wi-Fi in and of itself will offer access to AT&T’s some 17,000 hotspots across the U.S., which ain’t nothing to sneeze at, and it’ll be supporting AT&T’s Push-to-Talk service. While no pricing was mentioned, you can expect this one in the $100-range (like the 8310) and coming in a dashing new sapphire blue paint job.
Posted on August 27, 2008, at 6:09 am .
Update: Just got talking to a couple of our friends at RIM, who said they weren’t surprised by the results of our test. It turns out that the focus of RIM’s development for the new rendering engine in OS 4.6 was in stability, not performance, and the Waterloo crew is still working on speed optimization. What this means is that future OS updates from RIM will require additional speed tests.
While previous results had been contested, we hope to put the BlackBerry Bold versus iPhone 3G browser debate to bed. Taking some time with our brand-spanking-new Bold and QuicklyBored EIC, Kyle McInnes’ iPhone 3G, we put the two beasts through some browsing hoops to see who can get through the fastest. We tested on Wi-Fi only, 3G-only, both with and without JavaScript enabled. Sadly, our results are pretty conclusive – the iPhone’s browser is faster.
To be fair, it’s not by much – maybe a two to three second delay, depending on the site, but it’s enough to notice the difference. We’re also running on BIS, so don’t have enterprise servers doing a lot of the compression for us. The Bold’s browser is still a huge upgrade for BlackBerry, and definitely more enjoyable than what I was using on the Pearl. While we’re calling this test definitive (we ran a series of five tests using multiple sites each time), your mileage may vary – if you’ve got both devices in hand, take some time to wipe the caches and run a few tests. We’d love to hear if our results match up, and love even more to hear if they don’t.
Click here to see the iPhone 3G and BlackBerry Bold Browser speed test
Posted on August 12, 2008, at 10:16 am .
If you’re looking for all the hard details on the BlackBerry 8220, a specification sheet has been let out of the bag that shows all the important info. It’s from back in February when the device was still the BlackBerry Kickstart, so some of the smaller details may have changed, but on the whole, this is about as solid as details for the flip BlackBerry will get before launch on T-Mobile and Rogers sometime this September. Nothing particularly new, but if you’re looking to know something in particular about the device, this doc should have it. In broad strokes, the BlackBerry 8220 will be packing a microUSB slot, externally-accessible microSD slot, 128 MB of flash memory, 2.0 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi b and g, quad-band GSM, 128 x 160 external display and a 240 x 320 internal screen.
(via BerryReview)
Full spec sheets for the BlackBerry 8220/Kickstart behind the jump!
Posted on August 11, 2008, at 7:51 am .
Some internal docs managed to get loose recently, giving us a closer look at the upcoming BlackBerry Javelin. The specs included with the slides confirm earlier reports of Wi-Fi, GPS and a 3.2 megapixel camera, along with a screen that should match the BlackBerry Bold’s. The slides were dated in May, but the renders don’t differ much from live shots previously leaked. There are, however, some more details on how the memory card slot will work… You might have to pop the battery door, but apparently the microSD will still be hot-swappable. Maybe not as convenient as the side-loading style that’s been becoming the norm, but it still beats having to do a hard reset. Can’t wait to get one? Current rumours are pointing to a late November release.
(via CB)
Specs and pics of the BlackBerry Javelin after the jump!
