Hasta La Gadget!

With its hefty price tag and software quickly approaching its sell-by date, the upcoming Bold 9900 from RIM isn’t bold, it’s brash.

RIM announced the Bold 9900’s pending release Wednesday morning, and it’s one of five new smartphones RIM will debut before year’s end. On paper, the Bold 9900 looks like a strong smartphone contender. It runs the new BlackBerry 7 operating system, RIM’s latest software update to the mobile platform.

It’s also a hybrid device, so those who don’t want to lose a QWERTY keyboard to a new touchscreen can have both. And it runs on T-Mobile’s 4G network, which has decent enough data upload and download speeds.

But then you see the price tag, and it starts to fall apart.

The Bold costs a whopping $350 off the shelf, and that’s after a two-year service contract with T-Mobile. Even industry-leading Apple and Google aren’t charging that much for handsets. The priciest iPhone with 32 gigs of storage costs $300 with a Verizon contract, while most Android phones we’ve seen on contract will run you $200 to $250, max.

Fortunately, there is a $50 mail-in rebate for the Bold 9900. Just don’t forget to fill it out.

The Bold 9900 comes at a time when Canada’s Research in Motion has taken a beating. The PlayBook tablet flopped like a carp on a dock, which led Verizon to question whether to offer a 4G version. Sprint offers a Wi-Fi version of the PlayBook but decided last week to cut its losses and scrap a 4G version.

The Bold carries more caveats than its price. RIM is developing a new smartphone operating system powered by QNX, the operating system in the PlayBook. While the phone-based version of QNX isn’t ready for prime time, RIM honcho Mike Lazaridis says we’ll see phones running QNX next year. Trouble is, it won’t roll back to older BlackBerry devices, so if you buy a Bold 9900, Torch 9810 or anything else RIM released this year, you’re out of luck when the new OS arrives.

RIM needs to push out a winning product, and soon. So far, the Bold, Torch and three other devices RIM promises this year leave us yawning — and we’re not alone. With a dwindling market share, an ongoing soap opera of internal corporate struggles, and two major competitors making major mobile moves (Google-Motorola Mobile marriage, anyone?), all eyes are now on RIM to see what — if anything — the company has up its sleeve.

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 launches on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network Aug. 31.

Love technology? Love journalism? Well, the AP-Google Journalism and Technology Scholarship program might be right up your alley. The initiative, announced earlier this week, will offer $20,000 scholarships to six graduate or undergraduate students working toward a degree in any field that combines journalism, new media and computer science. Geared toward aspiring journalists pursuing projects that “further the ideals of digital journalism,” the program also aims to encompass a broad swath of students from diverse ethnic, gender, and geographic backgrounds. Applications for the 2012-2013 school year are now open for students who are currently enrolled as college sophomores or higher, with at least one year of full-time coursework remaining. Hit up the source link below to apply, or head past the break for more information, in the full presser.

Continue reading AP, Google offer $20,000 scholarships to aspiring tech journalists, we go back to school

AP, Google offer $20,000 scholarships to aspiring tech journalists, we go back to school originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Aug 2011 08:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve just received a fascinating set of photos from a sharp-eyed tipster, who sent along images of what appear to be Motorola’s Droid Bionic and, most alluringly, that rumored handset known as the Droid HD (pictured above). This isn’t the first time we’ve seen leaked images of the Bionic in the wild, but these shots are certainly a lot clearer than any others we’ve come across. Still, there aren’t too many surprises here, with the global-capable handset boasting a TI OMAP 4430 1GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, 4.5-inch display, an 8 megapixel rear camera, and microUSB / HDMI ports.

The real intrigue, however, lies with the Droid HD. Judging from the photos, this device seems to be running Gingerbread, and rocks a 4.5-inch display (presumably with qHD or even 1280×720 resolution, considering the device’s name), an 8 megapixel 1080p rear-facing camera, a front-facing shooter and the usual set of microUSB / HDMI ports. There’s also a pair of side loading SIM and microSD slots on the left side of the device, a volume rocker and what looks like a power button on the right, a slight bump for the camera pod around back (which sports an LED flash and speaker, as well), along with a large, thin battery that appears to be removable. Perhaps most notable about the HD is its seemingly super thin design — we’re estimating it’s between 8.5 and 9mm, which would put it in the same league as Samsung’s Galaxy S II, which measures 8.49mm. We’ll have to wait for more detailed information on this mystery phone, but you can get a closer look right now in the gallery, below.

Myriam Joire contributed to this report.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Motorola’s new Droid HD makes cameo alongside Droid Bionic originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Aug 2011 04:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We all know what catalogs are good for: starting fires in the fireplace, light reading in waiting rooms and makeshift placemats. Oddly, Google has decided to take these perfectly useful glossy dead trees away from us with the introduction of Google Catalogs, a free iPad app. Like most shopping apps, users can zoom in, learn more and purchase products through a company’s website, but this one adds a slick little twist: collages. Put together a particularly sweet L.L. Bean ensemble and want to share it with Mom? No glue stick or scissors required. Check out the video after the break.

Continue reading Google Catalogs iPad app digitizes catalogs, no more coasters

Google Catalogs iPad app digitizes catalogs, no more coasters originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, you folks remember the VPhone? Honestly, we had forgotten about it too. The debut handset from Saygus first started making the rounds in late 2009 sporting, what were at the time, high-end features, like a front facing camera and a 624MHz processor. Well, times have changed and now that the Android-powered phone has finally won approval through Verizon’s open development initiative it’s, at best, decidedly mid-range. While the 256MB of RAM and chunky, sliding QWERTY remain, the VPhone has received some minor upgrades on its journey to Big Red — that XScale core has been bumped to a seemingly arbitrary 806MHz and Donut has been swapped for Froyo or Gingerbread. The one thing that the relative unknown still has going for it is hacker friendly features, such as an unlocked bootloader and the ability to run custom ROMs from an SD card. Sadly, there is still no word on an actual release date or price, but at least we know Saygus hasn’t completely fallen off the face of the Earth.

Saygus VPhone finally wins approval from Verizon, not so high-end anymore originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Aug 2011 12:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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