BlackBerry Storm 2 - wi-fi confirmed !?!?!?!?!

Ok one of my biggest gripes with the Storm was the lack of wi-fi connection, granted I knew about this before I purchased the phone but hindsight is bitch! According to benezblog.de the lovely looking Storm 2 9520, codenamed odin, will be loaded with wi-fi to keep me super happy in future.

Lets just hope its not too long before it hits our shores!

Thanks to CB and BenezBlog

BlackBerry Curve 8520 Now Available on UK Vodafone

Its been a while since we have had a new BlackBerry release this side of the water. I sometimes start to wonder if they have forgotton us over here but as soon as that thought creeps into my little head, wham the bring us a belter. Looks like the Curve has had a good overhaul and it looks super slick.

Here are just some of the spanking features that you get in this nifty little device:

• Email
• Qwerty keyboard
• 2 megapixels camera
• GPRS
• WiFi
• Quadband
• Bluetooth
• PC synchronisation
• Memory card slot
• Mobile Internet
• Email
• Games
• MP3 player
• Poly ring tones
• Camera / Video
• Alarm clock
• Calendar
• Handsfree headset
• Memory card

Quick Review - BlackBerry Curve 8900

Ok so my girlfriend sat down next to me and fluttered her eyelashes asking me to buy her a new phone. After a year with what can only be described as a pink gimmick sony erricson phone I said I would buy her one as long as she jumped on the BlackBerry band wagon. To my surprise she was more than excited by this proposal.

So yesterday I ordered her a spanking new BlackBerry Curve 8900 off of a well known auction website and just as the seller had promised, it arrived this morning. Now I have played around with the Curve once or twice but was always put off purchasing one for myself as the spec seemed to be a little smaller than the fantastic Bold.

Not only does the BlackBerry Curve look fantasticly sexy but it delivers what can only be described as a one inch punch ala Bruce Lee! The phones features are pretty damn good considering it is supposed to be the baby of the smartphone bunch:

• Camera (3.2 MP)
• Wi-Fi® Support
• Built-in GPS
• Enhanced Media Player
• Video Recording
• BlackBerry® Maps
• Wireless Email
• Organizer
• Browser
• Phone
• Corporate Data Access
• SMS/MMS

All in all my girlfriend is extremely happy with her new BlackBerry Curve, and now I have splashed out on her I can go ahead and purchase a new phone for myself, well at least she can’t moan now!

Expert Opinions:

Test Freaks

The BlackBerry Curve 8900 is the most pocketable BlackBerry to date and the nice thing about that is it doesn’t skimp on features. Quite the contrary, in fact this BlackBerry Curve has a ton of connection features: WiFi, Stereo Bluetooth , and even the ability to take calls over a WiFi connection to help extend your coverage. If that’s not enough, it has a 3.2-megapixel camera with flash and auto focus and a display that is downright gorgeous.

CNet

If the BlackBerry Bold is too bold for you and the BlackBerry Storm doesn’t float your boat, then you may want to check out the BlackBerry Curve 8900, RIM’s latest email-friendly handset.

One of RIM’s most compact phones to date, the 8900 looks great, and made us keen to discover whether good things really do come in small packages.

Storm 2 Rumors Galore

Unless you have been locked away for the last couple of months and have not been frequenting the many wonderful BlackBerry sites on the net, you will no doubt be aware of the speculation of an upcoming Storm 2.

I particularly like the image phonedig.com released, above, showing their mock up of how the Storm 2 could look. A slideout keyboard would be perfect in my oppinion.

Further information was released by RIM CEO Jim Balsillie confirmed that they are working on the next version of the BlackBerry Storm.

Balsillie said Storm sales “remain strong” and added “we have next-generation devices with that and the whole roadmap.”

This has been received with mixed opinion’s and I am personally leaning towards the train of thought that its not really a bad thing if an updated Storm is released in the near future. Phones tend to fall out of favour with users after a year of solid use anyway.

What I would like Vodafone, if they are going to be the ones getting the Storm 2 in the UK, to do is consider implementing a scheme that O2 carried out when the iPhone 2 was released. Everyone new the original iPhone was just lacking that little bit, and as a thank you to the loyal customers they let them restart their contracts with the new shiny iPhone in hand.

Vodafone must know that the Storm was not quite ready to be released and I am fairly sure if past experience of RIM’s resilience and undeniable brilliance in learning from mistakes, the Storm 2 will be a great success. If they could cut the people who bought the first phone some slack and give them like for like deal with the phone added in, signing back up to the 18 or 24 month contract.

I know i would certainly take that offer on. And I’m sure a lot more people are willing to give it another chance. Bridges have been burnt but can be built again.

Selfridges Is 10 Years Old Check Out The Custom Bolds They Commisioned!

This grabbed my attention when I woke up today. Selfridges is celebrating its 10th Birthday in style by commisioning RIM to make them 10 custom designed BlackBerry Bolds.

The limited edition BlackBerry smartphones, made by Canadian Smartphone Experts RIM, are retailing at their flagship London store for a hefty £1,000  each, data plan notwithstanding. These awesome looking BlackBerry Bolds were redesigned with a leather back-plate in the iconic Selfridges Pantone 109 yellow color, along with different-looking number keys on the device’s face. If you’re one of the proud new owners, each handset will be accompanied by VIP support in order to rub you the right way.
They look pretty damn cool as well! I want one of these NOW!

T-Mobile (UK) Introduce Pay As You Go BlackBerry

Some months ago we first mentioned about Orange introducing the BlackBerry Pearl on pay as you go and now it seems T-Mobile have followed suit. One thing I like about the T-Mobile add on of free internet and e-mail for a year which I believe is £5 a month on orange so thats a saving of £60 which is quite substantial.

Just like Orange, T-Mobile are offing the BlackBerry Pearl 8110 and the initial outlay for the phone is $179.99 which is slightly dearer than the Orange price which is £145 but you have to buy an intial top up of £20 or more.

If your interested here is the official press release that I found on the T-Mobile website:

London, 23 April 2009: T-MobileUK today unveils a new way to pay for a BlackBerry®smartphone: Pay once for a silver-coloured BlackBerry® Pearlâ„¢ 8110 smartphone and a year’s unlimited* email and internet access.

The ˜Pay once’ concept is a market first, giving people the chance to experience the hugely popular BlackBerry email service and access to internet sites and social networks on the move for a year “ all for just a single payment of £179.99. Customers just have to top-up their credit as usual to make calls and send texts and picture messages.

T-Mobile’s new offer is set to make BlackBerry smartphones accessible to new groups of mobile phone customers. It’s sure to be a hit with students, letting them stay connected to family and friends by email, via IM, Facebook or MySpace. And for those just starting out in business “ whether they’re running a small business or entering the workplace for the first time “ it’s the perfect way to access personal and work emails, without the worry of hidden costs.

The ˜Pay once’ concept also makes giving a BlackBerry as a gift viable for the first time, as there’s no ongoing cost involved for the person giving the gift, and the recipient just pays for top-ups for calls and texts when they want to.

The T-Mobile BlackBerry Pearlâ„¢ 8110 smartphone comes in silver, and features a 2 Mega pixel camera for snapping photos and recording video, in-built GPS so you’ll never get lost again, and a 3.5mm earphone jack for listening to music on the move. The pre-loaded quick-links include favourite sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Flickr. And as you would expect from a BlackBerry smartphone, there’s also a user-friendly SureType® QWERTY key pad which makes writing messages and making phone calls quick and easy.

Richard Warmsley, Head of Internet and Entertainment, T-MobileUK, commented: T-Mobile’s Pay once BlackBerry is the world’s first package to offer a year’s instant email and internet for a one-off payment. For an affordable £179.99, get a brand new silver BlackBerry Pearl smartphone and unlimited e-mail and web for 12 months, with top-ups available for calls and texts. When life can feel busier than ever, it’s even more important that everyone has the right to easy email and web access to keep friends and family close, and to help to organise their busy lives. Now customers have a grab-and-go quality BlackBerry solution that means they don’t have to think about the cost of using email and internet services for 12 months.

Notes to Editors:

* Fair use policy and terms and conditions apply

BlackBerry Onyx, Driftwood & Magnum tipped as next releases

Some more upcoming device news for you that has been rumoured over at BGR! It is believed that the 3 smartphones are all part of the 9000 range.

According to the source, the Onyx, Driftwood and Magnum aren’t the only new devices coming out of RIM either.  A UMA-version of the BlackBerry Bold is tipped, likely for T-Mobile (or possibly Canadian carrier Rogers Wireless), while the BlackBerry Gemini is now believed to not just be a single device but in fact a whole range.  However it’s looking likely that the Gemini handsets will replace the Curve, as RIM’s low-cost offerings.

While the specs of the three handsets are believed confirmed, there’s still no definite word on whether RIM will actually release them, nor what sort of timescale we may be talking about.  Full details are below:

BlackBerry Onyx:

• GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS device
• GPS
• Camera
• Wi-Fi (no UMA support)
• QWERTY keyboard
• 480×360 resolution screen
• Confirmed carriers: AT&T

BlackBerry Driftwood:

• GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS device
• GPS
• Camera
• Wi-Fi with UMA
• QWERTY keyboard

BlackBerry Magnum:

• GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS device
• GPS
• Camera
• Wi-Fi (no UMA support)
• QWERTY keyboard
• 480×360 resolution screen
• Confirmed carriers: AT&T

I wonder which of these devices will make their way onto the UK market. We talked about an upcoming Bold Touch a few weeks back and looking at the specs above I believe that would be the magnum and realistically that in my opinion would be one of the releases over here.

BlackBerry Pearl 8220 Coming To 02

The new BlackBerry Pearl will soon be available to UK customers on 02 soon. We will update when it becomes available

The new BlackBerry® Pearl™ 8220 provides flip phone fans with all the power of a BlackBerry smartphone in a fun and familiar design. The quad-band EDGE based BlackBerry Pearl 8220 smartphone presents a sophisticated look with a sleek design and a chrome-finished frame surrounding its smooth, luminescent face. The device is packed with an abundance of powerful features, wide range of impressive Internet and multimedia capabilities and weighs only 3.6 ounces.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8220 features include:

• 2.0 MP camera with built-in flash, digital zoom and video capture
• A powerful 312 MHz Intel® XScale® cellular processor with 64 MB flash memory, providing the ability to store and run enterprise, personal productivity and game applications
• Open and view attachments - from pictures to presentations in all the popular file formats
• Watch videos, or listen to music with the multimedia player
• Browse the web - high definition screen for a superior browsing experience, catch up on the news, track your bid, or update your blog
• Quad-band network support for international connectivity
• Our latest easy to use SureType™ keyboard technology, combining phone and QWERTY keyboard layouts with intuitive software for quick and accurate dialling and typing
• Ability to record and store voice notes and send via email and MMS
• Spell Checker to keep your messages professional
• microSD external memory support
• Comprehensive phone features and intuitive call management capabilities such as
  • Smart dialling
  • Conference calling
  • Speed dial
  • Call forwarding
  • Voice dialling
  • Speakerphone
  • Stereo Bluetooth headset