Hasta La Gadget!

The handset might’ve been surpassed in functionality and looks by its Curve 8900 successor, but nothing’s got an edge on the BlackBerry Curve 83XX series in smartphone sales. According to NPD, the handset overtook the erstwhile champ iPhone 3G in the category for the first quarter of 2009, while BlackBerry’s own Storm and Pearl handsets took the third and fourth slots, with the T-Mobile G1 rounding out the ranks in fifth place. Overall the smartphone market has grown from 17 percent of handset sales in Q1 2008 to 23 percent in Q1 2009. Compared to the previous quarter, RIM’s gained a whopping 15 percent share of the US market — owning nearly half of the entire scene — while Apple and Palm both dropped 10 percent as they prep for their heroic mid-year launches.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

BlackBerry Curve 83XX overtakes iPhone 3G in US smartphone rankings originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 May 2009 10:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re beginning to wonder if we’ll ever see RIM’s BlackBerry Curve 8900 hit the AT&T airwaves, but considering just how long it takes for a phone to navigate through the carrier’s absurdly long certification process, we’ll chalk this one up to technical delays. After spotting the so-called Javelin in AT&T attire way back in November of last year, Boy Genius Report now has it on authority that the handset will finally debut next month. Unfortunately for those hoping for a little bonus in exchange for their patience, it’s said to be “a mirror” of the T-Mobile version outside of the bundled Bold themes. Pricing details are still under wraps, but if you’ve waited this long, do the dollars really matter?

Filed under: Cellphones

RIM’s BlackBerry Curve 8900 hitting AT&T next month? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 May 2009 10:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know you’ve been literally hanging on the edge of your seat waiting for this day to come, so it’s our honor and privilege to announce that Lenovo and RIM’s Constant Connect solution is now available. For those who managed to sleep right through February, the technology enables select ThinkPads to automatically pull down BlackBerry emails whenever it’s within range, even if the laptop is completely off. There’s no word on what it’ll cost to have this added into your next corporate machine, but you can head past the break for a quick demonstration vid if you think you’re interested.

Update: It’s a $149 option from select business partners and through Lenovo.com.

Continue reading Lenovo and RIM’s Constant Connect now available

Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops, Peripherals, Wireless

Lenovo and RIM’s Constant Connect now available originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alltel Wireless has announced that the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 smartphone will hit retail stores and the online site beginning in early May.

The handset is one of the few flip smartphones out there, combining the popular form factor with a genuine BlackBerry handheld. This model is a bit larger than most other flips–it extends more than half a foot when fully opened–but it features the Pearl’s SureType-style QWERTY keyboard, along with a 2.3-inch LCD and a 2 megapixel camera.

The 8230 is essentially the same as the somewhat buggy 8220 model on T-Mobile that we reviewed several months ago, except that the 8230 lacks Wi-Fi. Hopefully RIM and Alltel will have cleaned up some of the bugs by the time the handset is released–most notably, an extremely slow Web browser implementation (much more so than other BlackBerrys).

If there’s one two things we love, it’s hearing RIM’s own Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis open their gaping traps. While the former was sufficiently panned back in January for exclaiming that buggy smartphone software was simply the “new reality,” his partner in crime may have just done him one better. In a recent sit-down with Laptop Mag, Mike was specifically asked to address that aforementioned quote. His response? “That’s our first touch product, and you know nobody gets it perfect out the door. You know other companies were having problems with their first releases.” If you’re struggling to translate that into layman speak, allow us: “Tough luck, early adopters!”

As the interview progressed, the co-CEO took the opportunity to snub Apple on its inability to get Push Email out early on, noting that BlackBerry OS has “constantly been underestimated” and was “designed to multitask from day one.” He also stumbled all over himself when it came to speaking about the BlackBerry’s web browser, stating that “by writing our browser in Java, that provides our CIOs and wireless managers the assurances they need, to allow the browser to access internal information at the same time it accesses external information.” We’ve literally meditated on that for a solid half-hour, and we still have absolutely zero idea what it means in English. Nevertheless, the whole thing is a pretty great — if not comical — read, so give it a look and share your colorful opinions in comments below.

Filed under: Cellphones

RIM CEO on BlackBerry Storm: “nobody gets it perfect out the door” originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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