Hasta La Gadget!

CrackBerry looks to have just gotten the inside scoop on everything RIM has planned for the CDMA side of the wireless divide in 2011 — and as usual, it seems they’ll be supporting it just as well as they do the GSM guys. Going chronologically, first up will be a CDMA PlayBook in the second quarter of the year; so far, Sprint’s WiMAX version (sans CDMA support) is the only carrier-partnered version of the tablet announced. Next comes Montana — a CDMA version of the Dakota — which may come to market as the Bold Touch; as the name implies, you can expect the classic portrait QWERTY Bold form factor with the addition of a touchscreen. Look for that one in the third quarter alongside the Monaco (pictured above), which looks like a much sleeker Storm successor featuring a 1.2GHz Qualcomm core, a 3.7-inch WVGA display, and a 5 megapixel camera with HD video capture. Next, we’ll get a CDMA flavor of the Apollo dubbed Sedona, a next-gen Curve with NFC support; that’ll happen sometime around fall. Finally, looking into early 2012 we’ll get a device codenamed Malibu that looks to be a full-screen Curve Touch with slightly lower specs than the Monaco.

On the technology side, most of these new devices will be adopting a handful of technologies not seen on BlackBerrys before, including digital compasses, NFC, HD video recording and “management,” and better HTML5 media support; they’ll also be getting OpenGL support, mobile hotspot capability, 24-bit color, a better web browser, and an overhauled virtual keyboard by way of BlackBerry OS 6.1, which should be present in everything that gets launched here. Caught up? Given the lack of dual-core processors here — the kind of CPUs Lazaridis says he needs to drop QNX on phones — we’d say “no,” but they might be getting within earshot. Follow the break for a shot of the full roadmap.

Continue reading BlackBerry Monaco Touch, Bold Touch, Sedona, and more leaked for CDMA

BlackBerry Monaco Touch, Bold Touch, Sedona, and more leaked for CDMA originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 19:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For years, suit-and-tie circles have bowed to BlackBerry as the king of corporate communication, but iOS has been creeping in on enterprise territory, calling into question RIM’s sovereignty in the boardroom. The folks at Deutsche Bank Equity Research struck the most recent blow to RIM’s enterprise dominance with the announcement that they’ll buck BlackBerry for iPhone, following a trial using Good Technology’s secure email app. The company tested the app in conjunction with Microsoft Exchange Server, delivering AES 192-encrypted email and calendar data to employees, and, according to the firm’s research analyst, the iPhone proved an easier and faster solution to BlackBerry. Last summer, AT&T announced that 40 percent of iPhone sales are enterprise, and we just reported on RIM’s possible move to devices beyond the BlackBerry. We’re not saying it’s off to the guillotine with the old standard bearer, but it definitely looks like there are new contenders for the enterprise crown.

Deutsche Bank ditches BlackBerry for iPhone, Apple puts chink in RIM’s enterprise armor originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 21:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ever wish you could get a Verizon-labeled phone running on AT&T, and do it with full bars and a 3G no less? Get yourself one of the Dodge’s new and free virtual product manuals, available now for iPhone and soon coming to BlackBerry and Android. They’re a continuation of the sort of thing Chrysler announced back at CES, just letting you view information about your vehicle and maybe some aftermarket parts too. They’re available now for the Durango and Charger, with coverage for the Avenger, Journey, and Grand Caravan coming before the end of the month. Full details about the apps in the PR below, but sadly no information on exactly where we should stick the SIM card in our Droid.

[Thanks, Joe]

Continue reading Dodge sucks at Photoshop: the Verizon Droid with AT&T 3G

Dodge sucks at Photoshop: the Verizon Droid with AT&T 3G originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re champing at the bit to separate your work life and personal life into two distinct, impenetrable entities, RIM’s got your back: it turns out that the Balance product announced a few days ago will be available in just a couple months’ time. In a recent chat with Retuers, the company’s senior VP of business and platform marketing revealed that Balance is already in testing with carriers ahead of a wide-scale launch — and furthermore, it’ll be available on the upcoming PlayBook as well. As a refresher, Balance seeks to let you do all your personal stuff on your BlackBerry while still giving the IT suits in your office unfettered access to the secure stuff — corporate email and the like — which means you can carry a single device (as long as you’re okay with that one device being a BlackBerry) where you might have previously carried two. Of course, if you’ve got a phone and a PlayBook, we suppose you’ll have two devices anyhow — but regardless, at least you’ll be able to Facebook your face off without corporate security getting in the way.

BlackBerry Balance details emerge: available in two months’ time, coming to PlayBook too originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 18:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Visit a Starbucks and you can now forget about cash or cards: Just flash your phone to pay.

Starting today, iPhone, iPod Touch and Blackberry users will be able to pay for coffee and coffee-themed products in 6,800 of Starbucks’ own stores and in 1,000 Starbucks outlets in Target stores. The scheme has been tested since last year in a handful of stores, and is now available nationwide.

The app doesn’t bother with complex in-store machinery or NFC or RFID chips in the phones, for obvious reasons. (Sorry, Nexus S users.) Instead, you just tap the number of your Starbucks Card into a free app and load the app up with funds from either your credit card or, for iPhone users, PayPal. When you’re ready to pay, your phone displays a QR code on screen, and the barista can scan it using a standard reader.

In effect, it makes your smartphone into a virtual version of your Starbucks card, saving you from carrying around another piece of plastic and giving you the ability to see your balance and add funds as necessary.

Apart from convenience to you, the customer, using a phone to pay should speed up the lines in-store. Especially as most of the people in front of me are already jabbering on their phones instead of actually paying any attention to the staff at the counter. Then again, maybe hunting for the Starbucks icon on your home screen will becom the new hunting for change in your wallet.

Mobile Payment Debuts Nationally at Starbucks [Starbucks]

Starbucks Card Mobile App for iPhone [Starbucks]

Starbucks Card Mobile App for BlackBerry [Starbucks]