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HSPA users hit 50 million from 11 million last year

Simon — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:25:14 +0000

With RIM’s first HSPA (the BlackBerry Bold’s flavour of 3G) device now available internationally, and so many worries about coverage arising, it’s time to take a look at some subscriber numbers. Last year, 11 million cell phones were running on the 3G technology, but now we’re looking at 50 million handsets cruising on HSPA networks. That substantial increase is supported by 191 service providers and over 740 devices.

“These figures highlight the global success of Mobile Broadband and the fact that we are continuing to see greater and greater economies of scale,” said Rob Conway, CEO and Member of the Board of the GSMA. “This is driving down the cost of devices and equipment and enabling more and more users across the world to enjoy easy access to media-rich services anywhere at anytime.”

This gives us a lot of hope for better connectivity on the BlackBerry Bold and future 3G devices, but by the looks of the BlackBerry Javelin and BlackBerry Kickstart, the 9000 may be the only HSPA BlackBerry until the BlackBerry Thunder in mid-October.

(via cellular-news)

The Ultimate BlackBerry Bold Review

Simon — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:16:54 +0000

What, you think we didn’t have one before today? While we’re still not sure when you’ll be able to walk into a Rogers store to actually buy the shiny new device like Simon did, today still marks the official launch of the BlackBerry Bold on Rogers. In honor of this special day, we’ve decided to post our exhaustive review, if only to whet your appetites.

And boy, has this day been a long time coming: three years in development, three months since its official announcement at WES 2008, and three times the hype of any other BlackBerry release. The first in RIM’s next generation lineup of smartphones, the BlackBerry Bold has been labeled everything from an enterprise company’s desperate push into the prosumer space to a true iPhone killer. Most of the BlackBerry faithful are just hoping that it turns out to be a worthy merger and evolution of the BlackBerry 8800 and Curve device lines. This review will settle the debate.

Be forewarned, our review of the BlackBerry Bold is fairly large. However, we’ve broken the review down into specific sections for quick and convenient access to the information you seek. Make sure to post a comment to let us know if there’s anything we’ve missed, anything else you want to know about, and whether or not you feel RIM’s new flagship device meets the hype.

Enough talk! Behold, the BlackBerry Bold.
Read the rest of The Ultimate BlackBerry Bold Review

Vodafone has a WinMo all-star lineup ready for Fall

Bambi.Blue — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:16:02 +0000

All you Vodafone customers (and customers-soon-to-be) rejoice! The Samsung Omnia, Sony Ericsson X1, and the HTC Touch Pro are all up on the Vodaphone store and listed as “coming soon”! While we already know that the Touch Pro should be available any day now, the Omnia should be available later this month and the X1 should be on sale no later than October.

The Samsung Omnia’s got an impressive 5 megapixel camera, microSD card, accelerometer, Bluetooth, GPS, WiFi and the Samsung TouchWiz GUI while the Sony Ericsson X1 has an “Arc QWERTY slide-out keyboard”, large 3″ screen , GPS, WiFi, FM Radio, 3 megapixel camera and microSD slot.

Go Vodafone!

[via Coolsmartphone]

Motorola Q9h for AT&T in flashy, new… gray

Bambi.Blue — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:14:18 +0000

It looks like Motorola’s getting ready to launch its Q9h in exciting new gray. The new gray devices come pre-loaded with the Windows Mobile 6.1 update. While I’m not sure of the cost of the new gray Q9h, but I think it’s safe to assume that it’ll be similar to the prices of its blacker, sleeker counterpart.

[via Engadget Mobile]

Blast from the past: Broadcasting association sought ban on wireless data

Simon — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:12:02 +0000

Back in 1991, the National Association of Broadcasters attempted to lobby the FCC against pay-to-use news services over cellular networks, which would have been bad news for BlackBerry if it had gone through.

The NAB said that the cellular operators are misusing their spectrum. “Cellular spectrum should be reserved for the two-way communication for which it is designed,” said the NAB. “One-way transmission of news, sports, weather and traffic would be a misuse of this spectrum and a needless duplication of broadcast services.”

Yep, the NAB didn’t want any data services sent over cell networks, which would include that handy push e-mail we all know and love today. Too bad for them that one didn’t pan out, eh? Think they would have smartened up over the last decade? Guess again. They’re still combating the use of wireless white space by Google, Dell Microsoft and others for data services for fear of its interference with existing broadcasting in the spectrum - essentially the same premise as back in ‘91. Good luck with that one, guys.

Thanks Josep!

(BNET via Saschameinrath)

Super Mario Brothers 3 theme for BlackBerry

Simon — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:10:43 +0000

A new BlackBerry theme came out today for the Pearl, Curve and 8800-series which will tickle pink any nostalgic gamers out there. Every icon is an animated spite from a certain game involving certain Italian plumbers stomping on certain turtles attempting to rescue a certain princess. While “Classic Video Game Theme” might be a thinly-veiled attempt to evade IP lawyers, it’s still a slick looking theme. As far as I’m concerned, it’s only a matter of time before Nintendo’s legal banhammer comes down on this one, so pick it up while you can!

Zen style

Today style

Icon style

The Samsung i740 is a fully loaded smartphone for developing nations

Kyle — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:37:35 +0000

Samsung is preparing to launch its latest Windows Mobile phone, the SGH-i740. The i740 will be running WinMo 6.1 and will come loaded with a 3 megapixel camera, 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen with VibeTonz haptics feedback, built-in GPS receiver, FM radio, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, and a microSD expansion slot.

The device is likely to launch in developing countries because it lacks WiFi and 3G meaning it will be less competitive in NA and Europe. We will keep you posted on release dates and pricing when it becomes available.

[Via IntoMobile]

Should Your Company Take The Smartphone Challenge?

Kyle — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:35:50 +0000

As a lifelong member of the BlackBerry Nation, I often take for granted the value of my BlackBerry as a business and personal aid. However, I’m sure there are many true believers out there that are not fortunate enough to work for a ‘wireless’ company, and have to make do with a typewriter and an abacus. If that’s the case, you must tell your company about the Smartphone Challenge.

A joint initiative between The Phone Store, RIM, Rackspace Hosting and Sprint, the Smartphone Challenge is an opportunity for companies to get their feet wet with smartphones before making any financial commitments. Here’s the deal: your company gets a 10-day free trial with five Sprint BlackBerrys, full Exchange and BES hosting, and a bunch of free software and other goodies to sweeten the deal. The Phone Store will also host a launch party and training session to make sure everyone is aquainted with their new mobile friends. After the trial period is up, you can either choose to give the devices back or keep them.

Amazingly, the Smartphone Challenge has a 100% success rate. You’ll be hearing more from us about these guys — we always love giving exposure to the true soldiers of the BlackBerry Nation. Until then, check out another picture of the Smartphone Challenge goodie chest, as well as the full press release.

The Phone Store, Inc. Launches the Smartphone ChallengeTM Campaign for Companies across Texas

San Antonio, TX — Using a Blackberry device for your business can save almost an hour of valuable time per day. Now through the Smartphone ChallengeTM, this high-tech phone and
office assistant no longer has to be a mystery.

For the first time in the U.S., San Antonio-based The Phone Store Inc. has teamed up with Research In Motion, Rackspace® Hosting, and Sprint to offer a compelling way for businesses to try before they buy.

During a 10-day trial period, companies can test the latest communication tools, also known as smartphones at no cost and no obligation. Any company can test five BlackBerry devices programmed with their own phone numbers, e-mails and contacts on the Sprint network. The smartphone also comes with full Managed Microsoft Exchange Hosting and BlackBerry Enterprise Server Hosting from our hosting provider, San Antonio-based Rackspace, through their email hosting division, Mailtrust®.

Other software applications on the phones include GPS navigation, news feeds and e-mail attachment support. After signing up for the Smartphone ChallengeTM, The Phone Store will host a launch party with the company and provide an interactive training session to help you learn the phone quickly.

The Texas launch precedes a national rollout scheduled later this fall, which is a first for the U.S.

“We have worked hard on this for many months to make sure our partners are behind us 100
percent! We have tested and run several successful trials, and now we are ready to change the way businesses buy wireless,” said Charlie Slaughter, co-founder of The Phone Store, Inc. According to a 2007 study done by Ipsos Reid, the average BlackBerry smartphone user converts 60 minutes of downtime into productive time per day.

“If someone could offer you one extra hour per day to spend with family or friends, and save you or make you more money, what would you say?” said Slaughter.

The first company to take the Smartphone ChallengeTM was San Antonio?based Protec, which has since purchased 10 BlackBerry devices for its company.

Keith Traxler of Protec said, “Our internal communication has dramatically improved. A faster customer?response time pays huge dividends. I’m very excited about our new smartphones!”

Several other Texas companies have already signed up to take the SmartPhone ChallengeTM. Companies and organizations that want to try the Smartphone ChallengeTM can go to www.Smartphonechallenge.com and sign up on the site.

About The Phone Store, Inc. — The Phone Store, Inc. was founded in 2005 by Charles and Charlie Slaughter. The company has since expanded to six Texas retail locations in San Antonio, Victoria, Seguin, Rockport, and Floresville. The Phone Store’s purpose is to save companies thousands of dollars while making the purchasing experience positive and productive for the wireless user.

The worst iPhone hack job ever

Kyle — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:40:34 +0000

“He was made bit by bit, piece by piece. The undying monster. The triumphant climax of Frankenstein’s genius.”

If you live in one of the seriously unfortunate countries with no iPhone 3G, you could think about unlocking it. If you do unlock it, you might want to try a solution that doesn’t involve Frankenstein style soldering. The above picture is from a Vietnamese site that claims it can unlock the phone with their brutal hack job. Is this phone even safe to put near your face?

[Via SlashPhone]

A look at the Android operating system

Kyle — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:38:09 +0000

We’re pretty excited about the potential of Android here at QuicklyBored. I’m not even sure if it’s going to be the open source OS that everyone expects it to be, for some reason I have a sinking feeling it’s going to fall short of expectations. That being said, it is a Google product and Google products have been nothing short of amazing so far.
T-Mobile will be kicking off the Android season with the HTC Dream which comes for $150USD, a very decent price for a touch screen smartphone. If this is the beginning of what will be a long line of affordable smartphones with a user friendly operating system, we could see Android taking a serious chunk of the market away from Symbian, Windows Mobile and the latest player Apple.

What are your thoughts?

Will Android be able to wrestle some worldwide market share from the behemoth that is Symbian?

Will it find a niche within the WinMo saturated smartphone market?

Will it woo users away from Apple with their slick touch screen user interface?

Or will they crumble under the above power houses?

[Via SmartPhoneThoughts]