AT&T announces the upcoming availability of the BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone. The Curve 8520 is a compact smartphone with features such as a full QWERTY keyboard, a touch-sensitive trackpad, a built-in media player, and built-in Wi-Fi. Other notable specs include:

• Dedicated media keys
• Email, text, IM, picture messaging
• 320 x 240 resolution display
• 512MHz processor
• 256MB of flash memory
• 2 megapixel camera
• Video recording
• DataViz Documents to Go suite for editing and viewing Microsoft Office documents
• Corporate and personal email support

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 will be available in the coming weeks for a price of $99.99 after a $100 dollar mail-in rebate and a new two year agreement with a minimum $59.99 data plan.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: AT&T, BlackBerry Curve 8520

Get ready for the second coming of the Storm and this time, it might actually be a real storm rather than a tropical disturbance. Verizon Wireless and Research in Motion have announced the next-generation BlackBerry Storm2 will be available starting on October 28th. The Storm2 with BlackBerry OS 5.0 adds hundreds of hardware and software enhancements including a new “SurePress” clickable display and built-in Wi-Fi.

Key features of the BlackBerry Storm2 (model 9550) include:

• 3.25 inch 480 x 360 resolution display at 184 dpi
• Capacitive touch-screen with integrated functions (Send, End, Menu, Escape), and new SurePress technology
• 3G and global connectivity support
• Network Connectivity: EV-DO Revision A; UMTS/HSPA (2100 MHz); and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks
• 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi connectivity
• 256MB of flash memory
• 2GB of on-board memory
• microSD/SDHC memory card slot with 16GB card included
• 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, Image Stabilization (IS), flash and video recording capabilities
• Premium and easy-to-access phone features, background noise suppression technology, loud distortion-free speakerphone and face detection (proximity sensor) that prevents accidental clicks and blanks the screen while the customer is on the phone
• Media player for videos, pictures and music, plus support for BlackBerry Desktop Manager for both PCs and Macs, and BlackBerry® Media Sync, for easily syncing Windows Media® Player music with the smartphone
• 3.5 mm stereo headset jack and dedicated volume controls
• Bluetooth 2.1
• Built-in GPS
• Support for VZ Navigator, V CAST Music with Rhapsody
• Support for Verizon Wireless Mobile Broadband Connect tethering service
• Comes with BlackBerry OS 5.0 which includes typing accuracy and selection improvements, as well as usability and visual enhancements such as inertial scrolling, spin boxes that make it easier to set dates and times, gradient shading on buttons, and more use of animation
• BlackBerry Browser with faster JavaScript and CSS processing  and support for Gears and BlackBerry widgets
• Customers running BlackBerry® Enterprise Server 5.0 will gain the ability to set follow-up flags, manage e-mail folders, access remote files (Windows Shares), forward appointments, view calendar attachments, and more
• Removable, rechargeable 1400 mAhr battery that provides up to 5.5 hours of talk time or up to 11.2 days of standby time

The Storm2 will be available for $179.99 after a $100 dollar mail-in rebate and a new two-year customer agreement on a voice plan with an Email and Web feature or an Email and Web for BlackBerry plan.

And in case you missed it, PC Magazine posted a review of the Storm2 here on their website stating:

“The second time’s the charm for RIM’s innovative click-screen smartphone; the Storm2 cures almost all of the original’s ills.”

Technorati Tags: Verizon Wireless, BlackBerry Storm2, Research In Motion

A number of pictures of the upcoming BlackBerry Storm 2 (model 9520, otherwise known as “Odin”) smartphone for Vodafone have been leaked onto the net courtesy of benezblog.de. Not much info about the handset other than it has Wi-Fi connectivity this time and it’s running OS version 5.0.0.138.

[Check it out via Unwired View]

Technorati Tags: BlackBerry Storm 2 leaked pics vodafone

The folks at CellPhoneSignal.com have picked up screenshots of marketing material for the upcoming BlackBerry 8520 (Gemini) handset which appears slated for T-Mobile starting on August 5th. This entry level BlackBerry has the following features and specs:

• Full QWERTY keyboard
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g connectivity
• Optical trackpad navigation
• SMS, IM, and Social Networking support
• 2 megapixel camera with video capture
• microSD card slot
• Stereo Bluetooth
• 3.5 mm headset jack
• 256 MB flash memory
• 2.46 inch 320 x 240 resolution TFT LCD
• Video support includes DivX , DivX 5/6, XviD, MPEG4 Part 2 Simple
  Profile, H.263, H.264, WMV3
• Audio support includes 3gp, MP3, MIDI, AMR-NB, Professional
  AAC/AAC+/eAAC+, WMA9 (.wma/.asf), WMA9 PRO / WMA10
• 4 hour talk time and 17 day standby time

[Check it out via The Boy Genius Report]

Technorati Tags: T-Mobile, BlackBerry Curve 8520

Hey Sprint customers – don’t feel left out in the dark with the new BlackBerry Tour. Sprint is now stating on their website that the Tour will also be available to Sprint customers starting on July 12th. No word on pricing but I would imagine pricing to be on par with Verizon Wireless pricing. UPDATE: Yup.. the pricing will be the same as Verizon Wireless – basically $200 dollars with new 2 year agreement.

Register your name to be notified when the Tour is available (which of course you now know the date).

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Sprint, BlackBerry Tour

“The BlackBerry Tour is the best choice for a smartphone on Verizon Wireless—even though the unit we got was a little buggy.”

If I only was back with Verizon..

[Check it out]

UPDATE: Here’s another review of the BlackBerry Tour – this time by the folks at LaptopMag. They took give the Tour their “Editor’s Choice” award saying:

“The BlackBerry Tour is easily the best smart phone on Verizon Wireless, and we actually prefer it’s compact design to the beefier BlackBerry Bold. We would have liked integrated Wi-Fi, and perhaps access to V Cast TV, but overall the Tour is a winner. You get a very good keyboard, a zippy processor, excellent call quality, and strong data performance, not to mention RIM’s trademark push e-mail goodness. BlackBerry fans looking to upgrade will be happy with this device.”

Technorati Tags: Verizon Wireless, BlackBerry Tour PC Magazine Review

Here’s a quick refresher to the Tour:

• Measures 112 x 62 x 14.2 mm and weighs 130 grams
• Full QWERTY keyboard
• 2.44 inch 480 x 360 resolution display with 245 ppi – highest resolution available on a BlackBerry smartphone
• 3.2 MP camera with flash, variable zoom, image stabilization, autofocus and video recording
• Full HTML web browser, including support for streaming audio and video (RTSP)
• Advanced media player for videos, pictures and music
• 3.5 mm stereo headset jack
• 256MB Flash memory
• microSD/SDHC memory card slot
• Built-in GPS with support for geotagging, BlackBerry Maps and other location based applications and services
• BlackBerry Media Sync allows customers to quickly and easily synch music from iTunes and Windows Media Player with the smartphone
• Voice activated dialing, enhanced background noise cancellation, a low-distortion speakerphone, and Bluetooth (2.0) support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits, stereo headsets and other Bluetooth peripherals
• Removable and rechargeable 1400 mAhr battery for 5 hours of talk time and 14 days of standby time

Again – the Tour will be available for purchase online and in-stores starting on July 12th. You can pre-order the Tour now by going to http://estore.vzwshop.com/bbtour/.

[Check it out via Boy Genius Report]

Technorati Tags: BlackBerry Tour, Verizon Wireless

CDMA customers out there – you’ve got yourself another BlackBerry device to consider. Research in Motion announced today the new BlackBerry Tour (model 9630) – a new 3G smartphone for CDMA customers in North America. The Tour supports high-speed 3G EV-DO Rev A networks in North America as well as 3G UMTS/HSPA (2100MHz) and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks abroad. Here’s the complete list of features and specs for the BlackBerry Tour:

• Chic black finish with chrome highlights
• Measures 112 x 62 x 14.2 mm and weighs 130 grams
• Large, highly tactile, full-QWERTY keyboard with chrome frets and finely sculpted keys
• 2.44 inch 480 x 360 resolution display with 245 ppi – highest resolution available on a BlackBerry smartphone
• 3.2 MP camera with flash, variable zoom, image stabilization, autofocus and video recording
• Full HTML web browser, including support for streaming audio and video (RTSP)
• Advanced media player for videos, pictures and music
• 3.5 mm stereo headset jack
• Bluetooth Stereo Audio Profile (A2DP/AVCRP)
• 256MB Flash memory
• microSD/SDHC memory card slot
• Built-in GPS with support for geotagging, BlackBerry Maps and other location based applications and services
• BlackBerry Media Sync allows customers to quickly and easily synch music from iTunes and Windows Media Player with the smartphone
• Voice activated dialing, enhanced background noise cancellation, a low-distortion speakerphone, and Bluetooth (2.0) support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits, stereo headsets and other Bluetooth peripherals
• Preloaded DataViz® Documents to Go
• Easy mobile access to Facebook, MySpace and Flickr®, as well as popular instant messaging services including BlackBerry Messenger, Yahoo! IM, AIM®, Google Talk and Windows Live Messenger 
• Support for BlackBerry App World
• BlackBerry Internet Service allows access to up to 10 supported personal and corporate email accounts
• BlackBerry Enterprise Server 
• Removable and rechargeable 1400 mAhr battery for 5 hours of talk time and 14 days of standby time

The BlackBerry Tour will be available this summer from CDMA carriers in North America (Verizon, Sprint, etc). No word on exact dates but my inside source at Verizon Wireless claims the Tour will be available for $199 (presumably with 2 yr contract).

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Research in Motion, BlackBerry Tour

For the BlackBerry Bold, you’ll be able to choose from various designs using natural diamonds including pink, yellow, black, champagne, and white diamonds. The back of the Bold is available in beige, black, red, brown and maroon crocodile skin, red and tan leather, black-bronze and black-red snake skin and blue and pink denim finish.

As for the Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte, the phone is available in designs using 100 to 1650 natural diamonds (yes that’s a lot of diamonds folks) including pink, yellow, black, champagne, and white diamonds, This handset can also be personalized with initials, numbers, logos, .. and really about anything you want.

No word on pricing but if you’re concerned about that, then these phones are probably NOT for you.

[Check it out via Born Rich]

Technorati Tags: Knalihs Athem, BlackBerry Bold Limited Diamond Edition, Nokia 8800 Carbone Arte Limited Diamond Edition

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One other Speck related announcement. The company announced a new leather-grade holster case for the BlackBerry Curve 8900 called aptly – the HolsterPro. Features include:

• Lightweight design
• No “unnecessary stitches or features”
• Insert the Curve facing “in” or “out”
• Metal belt clip
• Inner-cushioning for added protection.

The HolsterPro is available now for $24.95.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Speck, HolsterPro Case, BlackBerry Curve 8900

Speck expands its popular SeeThru hard shell case lineup to include support for the BlackBerry Storm and BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphones. As with previous SeeThru cases, the new cases allow complete functionality and access to all ports, controls, and sensors on the handsets. Other features include:

• Ultra-slim profile
• Easy on/off two-piece design
• Removable holster with 360 degree swivel belt clip

The SeeThru cases for both BlackBerry models are available now for $24.95. The SeeThru case for the Storm is available in clear, red, and black, while the SeeThru case for the Curve 8900 is available in clear.

[Check out the SeeThru case for the BB Storm]

[Check out the SeeThru case for the Curve 8900]

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Are you an AT&T customer waiting for that new BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphone? It looks like your wait is almost up. AT&T announced today that the Curve 8900 would be available early this summer (though it failed to provide an exact date). The Curve 8900 is the thinnest, full QWERTY Blackberry yet with features such as:

• 480 x 360 resolution display
• 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus and image stabilization
• microSD/SDHC expandable memory slot
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g connectivity
• Quad-band EDGE (850/900/1700/1800MHz)
• Removable/rechargeable battery
• 5.5 hour talk time
• 15 day standby time
• On-board GPS
• AT&T Navigator support

Now I saw the Curve 8900 back at CES 2009 and I have to admit – for those few short minutes I played with the handset, it certainly seemed like a hit.

No word on pricing of course.. and yes.. no specific date announced for the availability but at least we know it’s in the “early summer”.

Soon.. oh so soon.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: AT&T Wireless, BlackBerry Curve 8900

CNET (via CNN) reports that BlackBerry users all around the country were without their email for approximately 3 hours today – from 1pm EST to 4pm EST. Customers affected by the outage were apparently users of RIM’s BlackBerry Internet Service which centralizes email traffic and then pushes it out to the client devices. Customers from all four major U.S. mobile carriers were reporting difficulties in getting their email today although Marisa Conway, a spokeswoman for RIM, stated that the e-mail service delay was not system-wide.

For once.. I’m happy to be using my iPhone.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Research in Motion, BlackBerry, email outage

[Check it out]

Read this in Chinese Simplified and in French

Technorati Tags: BlackBerry Storm 2, Verizon Wireless, RIM

The BlackBerry 8703e, Curve 8330, 8830 World Edition, and Storm have the buy one/get one free deal. The BlackBerry Pearl 8130 actually has an even sweeter deal – you can buy one and get up to 3 more Pearl 8130 phones for free. Of course, there is one gotcha with these deals – you’ll need to activate a new 2 year agreement per phone that you get. Of course if you’re planning to get multiple Verizon Wireless accounts anyhow, this seems like a pretty sweet deal (though I might stay away from the Storm deal)

[Check it out via News.com]

Technorati Tags: Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Deal

It looks like Verizon Wireless customers will soon get another BlackBerry handset option to choose from. The forums over at crackberry.com have leaked an image of the BlackBerry Pearl 8230 Flip clamshell which should soon make its way to Verizon Wireless. No word on pricing nor availability thus far. At least the Pearl Flip should garner less complaints than the Storm right?

[Check it out via BGR]

Technorati Tags: BlackBerry Pearl 8230 Flip, Verizon Wireless

If you haven’t seen the Curve 8900 yet – it’s utterly beautiful. This is RIM’s thinnest and lightest full QWERTY BlackBerry yet – weighing a mere 3.9 oz. Features of the Curve 8900 include:

• 2.44 inch 480 x 360 resolution 65K color display
• T-Mobile HotSpot@Home support for Wi-Fi and mobile calling
• Internet and corporate email support
• 3.2 megapixel camera
• 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack
• Built-in GPS
• Stereo Bluetooth support
• Sync with Microsoft Outlook
• T-Mobile myFaves support
• Web Browser
• text and picture messaging
• Voice dialing
• Built-in music player
• Video capture/playback
• AOL, Yahoo!, Windows Live, and Google Talk IM
• EDGE and Wi-Fi support
• microSD slot
• Measures 2.4 x 4.3 x 0.5 inches
• 5.5 hour talk time and 15 day standby time
• Quad-band GSM

According to MobileBurn, the Curve 8900 will be available on February 11th for a price of $199.99 with a new two year contract.

[Check out the product page via MobileBurn]

Technorati Tags: T-Mobile, BlackBerry Curve 8900, PC Magazine Review

We had the opportunity to briefly check out the upcoming BlackBerry Curve 8900 handset for T-Mobile at CES 2009 and my wife had one thing to say after holding it – “I want one”. Unfortunately we couldn’t walk away with one NOR did we get a chance to snap up images of the 8900 but luckily SlashGear got their hands on a pre-production model and published their initial impressions here (jealousy ensues all over Felix’s face now…).

Some of the specs for the 8900 include:

• Full QWERTY keyboard
• 480 x 360 display
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
• EDGE data support (yes, no 3G.. why??)
• 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus, flash, and 2x digital zoom
• Record video at 480 x 352
• Make UMA phone calls which means the 8900 will work with T-Mobile@Home

Here’s a snippet from the article.

“Without 3G or superlative media functionality, it’s less likely to appeal to the consumer market; instead, lengthy battery life and a severely bashable keyboard make for a reassuring business partner.”

As far as availability is concerned, SlashGear states that the Curve 8900 will be available starting on Feb. 11th for a price of $199.99 along with a new two year contract and data plan.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: BlackBerry Curve 8900, T-Mobile, SlashGear,

Other features of the Curve 8320 include:

• 320 x 240 display with 65K colors
• Wireless email
• Organizer, browser
• 2.0 megapixel camera, 5x zoom, and built-in flash
• Video recording
• Built-in media player
• QWERTY keyboard
• AT&T Navigator support
• Measures 4.2 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches and weighs 3.9 oz
• Trackball and keyboard backlighting
• 3.5 mm stereo headset
• Integrated earpiece/microphone
• Built-in speakerphone
• Bluetooth 2.0
• 64MB flash memory
• microSD card slot
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
• Quad-band GSM support

The BlackBerry Curve 8320 can be yours for $249.99 after a new two year agreement. Send in the mail-in-rebate and get yourself another $100 dollars back bringing the total price to $149.99.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: AT&T, BlackBerry Curve 8320