Hasta La Gadget!

It’s pretty common for companies in the heat of product development to file for trademarks, domain names, and patents first and ask questions later, so we can understand (we guess) that RIM took the initiative to put the milquetoast “BlackPad” on lock earlier this year for the tablet it’s almost certainly working on — the logic, of course, is that if you fire enough shots in the dark, at least one of your filings isn’t going to suck. To that end, it looks like the boys and girls in Waterloo filed for “SurfBook” in early August, though it’s only showing up in Canada’s filing system at this point — there’s no matching documentation in the USPTO just yet. Obviously, applying the word “surf” to anything electronic at this point evokes the pleasingly vintage phrase “surfing through cyberspace,” which leads us to believe you’ll probably be able to use the SurfPad to browse the World Wide Web and swap warez on your favorite BBS. Keep trying, RIM. No, wait — definitely use SurfPad.

RIM files ‘SurfBook’ trademark in Canada, cyberspace awaits originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 13:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  CIPO  | Email this | Comments

Unless you’re a huge fan of Sprint’s Everything Data plan, it looks as if Verizon’s BlackBerry Curve 3G is the one to get — unless you enjoy spending $20 more (on contract) for the same thing on Sprint, that is. Just hours after Big Red announced that the 9330 would soon be coming its way, in flies Sprint to play copycat. The Curve 3G is the same as it ever was, boasting BlackBerry OS 5, a trackpad / QWERTY layout, two megapixel camera, 802.11b/g WiFi, GPU, dedicated media keys 512MB of Flash memory, a microSD / SDHC slot (2GB card bundled in) and a couple of color options (graphite gray and royal purple). Sprint’s keen on you knowing that this here phone will be eligible for an upgrade to BlackBerry OS 6 in early 2011, but you can go ahead and grab one starting September 26th.

Continue reading Sprint gets a BlackBerry Curve 3G of its own, going for $50 on contract

Sprint gets a BlackBerry Curve 3G of its own, going for $50 on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 10:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Sprint (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

We would’ve never figured on Verizon carrying over the “Curve 3G” name from this phone’s GSM counterpart, considering all of its older Curve models have already had EV-DO — but branding consistency trumps logic in this case, we suppose. Given what we know about the GSM model, you can probably guess the specs: 2 megapixel cam and BlackBerry OS 5 with upgradeability to 6 are both in the cards, though interestingly, Verizon’s official specs just list 802.11b/g for WiFi — there’s no mention of 802.11n, which the current Curve 3G has under the hood. Regardless, perhaps the best feature is the price: $29.99 on contract after a $100 rebate, making it one of the most affordable brand new smartphones on the market — assuming BlackBerry OS is your cup of tea, of course. It’ll launch in business sales channels this Thursday, while in-store availability for us lay folk follows “in the coming weeks.” Follow the break for the full press release.

Continue reading BlackBerry Curve 3G launching on Verizon for $30

BlackBerry Curve 3G launching on Verizon for $30 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Sep 2010 09:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

The iPhone’s dead, long live the Windows Phone. That must be the genius proclamation that incited Microsoft to celebrate Windows Phone 7 reaching RTM status with the incomprehensible procession you see above. An elaborate parade, replete with hearses and black capes, was organized last week to denote the passing of the BlackBerry and iPhone into the land of unwanted gadgets. We’d say this is done in poor taste, but we don’t enjoy stating the obvious. We will, however, enjoy the fallout from this poorly judged stunt. See our favorite image after the break and lots more at the source.

Update: Apparently the team also engaged in a Thriller dance. Words are failing us, so just hop on past the break and mash play.

Continue reading Microsoft celebrates Windows Phone 7 RTM with funeral parade for BlackBerry and iPhone (update: Thriller video!)

Microsoft celebrates Windows Phone 7 RTM with funeral parade for BlackBerry and iPhone (update: Thriller video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Neowin  |  Trioculus (Flickr)  | Email this | Comments

Continue reading QuickPay announces ROAMpay credit card swiper for Android, BlackBerry, iOS

QuickPay announces ROAMpay credit card swiper for Android, BlackBerry, iOS originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  QuickPay  | Email this | Comments