BG has done it again, leaking another exclusive picture of a nascent BlackBerry. This time, it’s the BlackBerry Thunder, which Boy Genius tells us is a dual mode (EV-DO Rev. C and GSM HSPA for international travel) touchscreen BlackBerry coming exclusively to Verizon Q3 of this year. Although it’s a mock-up, BG wouldn’t post it unless it was legit. Also, surprise surpise, it looks exactly like the one BG furnished when he originally broke the story during WES — it’s almost like he knew.
Post a comment and tell us what you think of the words touchscreen and BlackBerry being wrapped together in one nice, neat little package.
[via BoyGenius Report]
As if RIM wasn’t getting cuddly enough with Apple via iTunes support in the Bold, they’re also making nice with Microsoft by giving Hotmail push capabilities and supporting Live Messenger. The only other company to get the red carpet rolled out like that so far has been Google, and to a lesser extent Yahoo!, but clearly RIM’s willing to work with just about any of the big players. Expect this to go live come summertime. Thanks, BBSync!
Well, we expected it, but it’s still exciting to get a press release for a new BlackBerry device right after the stroke of midnight. Yep, RIM has officially announced the release of the BlackBerry 9000 Bold. Expect the newest addition to the RIM family to appear sometime this ’summer’ on AT&T, then T-Mobile. We’ve got a quick hit of details below and the full press release after the jump. Also, make sure to check out www.blackberrybold.com, which has now gone live.
**Tri-band HSDPA
**Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g)
**Half-VGA (480×320 resolution) color LCD
**128 MB Flash memory plus 1 GB on-board storage memory
**2 megapixel camera with video recording capability, built-in flash and 5x digital zoom
**16GB microSD/SDHC card support
**Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0 support
**iTunes support via BlackBerry Media Sync
**5 hour talk time, 13 days stand-by
Full BlackBerry Bold press release
If Alltel and Verizon weren’t getting you to bite, we’ve been getting reports from all over the BlackBerry Cool Nation that Sprint’s BlackBerry 8330 should be available tomorrow, May 9th., for $179.99 on a two year plan and after rebates. Considering that Verizon and Alltell are offering the same device (GPS, stereo bluetooth, EV-DO) for $219.99 and $229.99, respectively, it seems as though showing up late to the party isn’t such a bad deal after all. Don’t even get us started on the Canadian carriers.
Post a comment and let us know which carrier you feel is winning the BlackBerry 8330 war. Full CDMA Curve device specs available after the jump. Thanks to Randy and the rest who tipped us off.
Continue reading ‘Sprint’s BlackBerry 8330 due tomorrow? How’s that price?’
Remember when Unite! was announced way back when? Well it’s finally seeing the light of day. Canadian users can now head on over to bell.ca/unite to download the mini-BES goodness which allows groups of up to 5 to share documents, multimedia, contacts, calendars, sync e-mail, as well as provide administrators with management and security options for their devices.
I’ve got the download going now even though we’re with Rogers, so we’ll see if it works for anyone else. This thing is a goldmine for small businesses considering it’s free, let alone the impressive features it offers. Our personal favorites? Shared calendar and home pc access. Thanks RC!
Features behind the jump!
UPDATE: Two versions, one coming to Verizon in May
Some concepts of a BlackBerry modeled after the 9000 dubbed “Niagara” have surfaced, supposedly minus 3G capabilities. The form factor is a little off from the BlackBerry 9000 shots we’ve already seen, so it’s possible this new model will be the next iteration in the 9000 line. The 9100 is already looking like it won’t be packing 3G, pointing to an ongoing trend of stripping features for the sake of battery life. Cutting features has the added benefit of lowering costs, which could do the rumored pricetag of $800 a considerable favour.
[Image via Engadget]
Continue reading ‘3G-less BlackBerry 9000?’
Three major carriers have released the BlackBerry Curve 8330 or are gearing up to do so shortly, in addition to those that have had them out for a while. As promised, Alltell is now offering the badboy in their online store for $299 after online discount and mail-in rebate. Sprint ads for it are appearing in American newspapers, offering a red or titanium Curve with a price of $179 after rebate, and with a two contract. Finally, Verizon’s will be available online and over the phone on May 9th, and over other channels on the 12th. It’s reported to be going for $270 after a $50 rebate and a 2 year contract.
Varioptic has teamed up with Seiko to begin mass producing liquid lenses for cameraphones, beginning Q3 of this year. Their first two models will be the Arctic 314 and Arctic 416, which are both 5 mega pixels in 0.33-inch and 0.25-inch modules, respectively. The two perks of these liquid-filled lenses are that they have a faster response time, lending themselves to improved video capture, and the draw less battery power, which is worth a thousand words.
Vox Mobile splits their offerings into three broad categories: Mobile Technology Management, Wireless Expense Management, and Professional Services. The first gets, configures, and deploys mobile devices — including, of course, the BlackBerry. The second fine tunes an existing setup, by managing bandwidth and other areas to reduce costs and increase service. Vox states that many businesses are overpaying in this area by as much 30%. Finally, their Professional Services offers to support and implement server platforms, including BES. Kind of a one-stop shop for enterprises. Their offerings at WES should be well worth checking out.
The folks at Tech2 posted about a white paper published on BlackBerry security, namely what is lawfully interceptible, and how to avoid hacking. Part of the paper is based on a prototype trojan that could be delivered to a BlackBerry on BES and leave the company’s server unguarded. It was developed by an information security company, who released the information to RIM before taking it public. The trojan, called BBProxy, works by allowing a hacker to essentially piggyback on any connections made to BES. Once installed on a BlackBerry, the hacker can connect to it via computer and have complete access to everything the BlackBerry connects to. The article does include some simple steps administrators can take to prevent it from working, but fair warning: it is heavy on IT-speak. Earlier security reports acknowledged the threat of Trojans on BlackBerry, but we’ve yet to see an instance in the wild…