Hasta La Gadget!

RIM was tight-lipped about pricing and availability when we went hands-on at the official launch of their OS 7-equipped Bold 9900, Torch 9810 and Torch 9860 handsets. We still can’t be sure exactly when the Torches will hit British shelves, but the Bold 9900 is already standing proudly up for pre-order at Vodafone UK, along with a commitment to arrive at your doorstep in roughly a week’s time if you take the plunge. However, just like the leaked T-Mobile USA pricing, it won’t come cheap in the UK either: you’ll need to swallow a £41 ($67) monthly price plan on a two-year contract before they’ll give you the handset for free. Alternatively, you can opt for a monthly contract at half that price and pay a daunting £399 ($650) upfront for the phone. Nevertheless, if you’re a BB fan and you’re convinced of this form factor, then we predict you’ll get on well with 9900’s particularly chunky keyboard, high-res screen and top-notch build quality — or you could just wait for our full review.

Update: It’s just been spotted going cheaper at Carphone Warehouse — free from £31 per month on Vodafone or £500 off-contract, also with an August 12th delivery date. Let the market forces ensue.

[Thanks, Roberto and Anthony]

Blackberry Bold 9900 up for pre-order at Vodafone UK, first official price tag originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Aug 2011 05:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How better to celebrate your billionth download than with a brand new app store? RIM just rolled out App World 3.0 beta to its Beta Zone users, bringing with it a redesigned home screen created to “let you quickly find what BlackBerry app, game or theme you’re looking for.” Seems a bit overdue if you ask us, but better late than never, as the idiom goes. There are also new home screen icons for Games and BlackBerry Themes — the store’s two most popular categories. (Yes, Themes really is one of the two most popular categories… behind Games, we hope.) You can also flick between app summaries, screenshots, and reviews from one screen, and share links to your favorite apps over Twitter, Facebook, email, SMS, and BBM. You may find it difficult to get too excited about an app store update, but for those of us who use BlackBerrys despite the occasionally less-than-stellar app experience, anything RIM can do to streamline the procurement process is more than welcome.

RIM BlackBerry App World 3.0 beta adds home screen search, social media features originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 06 Aug 2011 02:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nope. There’s no mention of a Nexus Prime in this glimpse of VZW future, but don’t let that stop you from drooling over the purported goods. The leaked shot over on IGN lays out a back-to-school road filled with Android phones a plenty, and one lone RIM entry. September 8th is gearing up to be a busy Thursday for Big Red, with launches slated for the Droid Bionic, Motorola Xoom 4G, BlackBerry Curve 9370 (the LTE cousin of ‘Apollo’?) and Samsung Stratosphere — the operator’s rumored Galaxy S II variant. The end of the month gets a 2.3 combo of Gingerbread phones as the Samsung Illusion (codenamed Viper), and HTC Bliss touch down on the 29th. Refreshes for a couple of the carrier’s early LTE phones debut in October, when the Thunderbolt gets pushed aside by the virile HTC Vigor and LG gets a redo with the Revolution 2. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab P8 (most likely the Galaxy Tab 8.9) gets an unconfirmed November mention, while BlackBerry’s PlayBook languishes in a release date grey zone. Ready for that end-of-year upgrade? From the looks of things, there’ll be no dearth of options.

Verizon Wireless year-end roadmap leaks, Android and LTE spotted on the horizon? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re an abiding RIM fan who’s itching for a new ‘Berry addiction, your next fix is soon at hand. After AT&T put its cards on the table — along with Sprint and US Cellular — an internal T-Mobile document now suggests the Bold 9900 will arrive at the Magenta-clad carrier on August 29th. Sadly, your patience (and loyalty) is going to cost you, because this touchscreen endeavor carries a $300 price tag, and like Ma Bell’s model, it features only 14.4Mbps HSDPA. Sure it’s steep, but that’s all the better for expensing to the corporate account, no?

BlackBerry Bold 9900 appears in leaked T-Mo docs, reveals August 29th release date and $300 price originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The BlackBerry Torch 9810 series is one of three new RIM phones to be released soon. Photo: Courtesy RIM

Research in Motion announced Wednesday that five new smartphones will be released later this year, including two new versions of the BlackBerry Torch series.

The most noteworthy of the bunch, the BlackBerry Torch 9810, is RIM’s flagship 4G device set to run exclusively on AT&T’s HSPA+ network. The phone will come with a powerful 1.2-GHz processor, a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen, and RIM’s signature slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

All of the devices will run on the company’s new BlackBerry OS 7 platform, an updated version of the smartphone software that brings a speed boost to the BlackBerry WebKit browser, enhanced HTML5 performance, hardware accelerated graphics and NFC support.

The company will also offer two Sprint devices, the Bold 9930 and the Torch 9850. RIM boasts that the Bold is its “thinnest smartphone ever,” coupled with a 2.8-inch touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard. Sprint’s Torch comes with the largest touchscreen ever seen on a BlackBerry at 3.7 inches, pre-loaded Docs to Go software, and no physical keyboard — it’s the first full-touch BlackBerry device for Sprint.

RIM has had a difficult year. Once the leader of all things mobile, the company’s market share has dwindled to a shadow of its former numbers over the course of the past two years. The release of the PlayBook tablet was supposed to be RIM’s turnaround device, but lackluster reviews and dismal sales numbers made the launch a failure.

RIM’s suite of new smartphones could help the company move toward a rebound. But as Technologizer’s Harry McCracken points out, the company is already talking about future smartphones powered by QNX, an entirely different operating system that could render this group of new phones obsolete sooner rather than later.

The Torch 9810 is set to debut later this month, while no time frame was given for the Sprint devices. Pricing details are yet to be released.