Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve just been sent a mother lode of shots of RIM’s upcoming BlackBerry 9800 — a phone whose market name is still unknown — but whether it’s called the Bold, the Torch, or something else altogether, we think we’re looking at near-final hardware here. The software is identified as version 0.9, but you can clearly tell from the UI that it’s running BlackBerry 6 with an ever-so-slightly refined look and subtle 3D elements missing from prior releases. This particular phone is AT&T-branded, and it starts up with a carrier logo screen that proudly proclaims the 9800 a world phone — sure enough, the About screen shows support for WCDMA bands I, II, V, and VI, which means you’ll be able to use the phone for 3G service in Japan and most of Europe. Generally speaking, BlackBerrys haven’t been known to be the prettiest things around (with the possible exception of the Curve 8900), but we’ll admit — we’re digging this. Check out the full gallery below!

[Thanks, Om]

Exclusive: BlackBerry 9800 for AT&T fully exposed! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Research in Motion, perhaps becoming increasingly desperate to come up with an answer to the latest smartphones, apparently is developing a tablet as well as a slider touchscreen phone.

The report, from The Wall Street Journal, puts the tablet’s release as early as this year, according to unnamed sources. As the Journal notes, RIM has talked about releasing a new phone with a new operating system by September, but hasn’t released details about that phone or any tablet plans.

The new phone would ship with four gigabytes of storage space and a five megapixel camera, according to the Journal, plus now commonly-shared features like multiple home screens and the ability to search across the device.

In reality, what RIM needs is a little sizzle. For years, the company has thrived on providing business-oriented devices oriented around email, and that has helped  RIM hang on to the fifth spot worldwide in phones owned, with 3.6 percent. The comScore numbers cited in the report also refer to phones owned, not sold. But RIM’s growth has also outpaced the industry at 45.2 percent
year over year, according to IDC.

The BlackBerry
Storm and Storm 2
nominally thrust RIM into the smartphone space, but its limited feature
set and wonky touch interface quickly was overtaken by the iPhone and
the galaxy of Android touchscreen devices.

But Strategy Analytics has marked RIM’s North American smartphone share decline to 38 percent in the March quarter from 54 percent in the year-ago quarter, the Journal reported.

If true, it appears RIM is certainly reacting to the rise in consumer smartphones. It seems safe to say that RIM needs to deliver a winner, however, to bolster the perceptions of consumers.

We always like to hear of companies burying the hatchet (and the lawyers with it, if at all possible), and our latest source of good vibes are two North American phone makers that have been at each other’s throats over patents since early 2008. Motorola and RIM had a previous intellectual property-sharing deal that expired at the end of ’07 and with the companies unable to come to a suitable extension agreement, it all spiraled out into a big and silly legal discord. That has at long last been settled now, with RIM paying a one-off fee and regular royalties, as well as licensing some of its own patent catalog out to Moto, in exchange for using the Americans’ knowhow in WiFi and other areas. All in all, an inevitable conclusion to an unnecessarily legalized negotiation. Now how about both you guys get back to building us those QWERTY sliders and 2GHz Androids?

Motorola and RIM settle patent dispute with a good old cross-licensing deal originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It death of the BlackBerry Curve 8900 on T-Mobile (you can still get it on AT&T, by the way) bummed us out for the simple reason that it was perhaps the best-looking BlackBerry every made. The Curve 8500 series that followed it just didn’t have the same sort of sleek, high-end air about it, so we’re happy to see that the 8500’s follow-on should go a little ways toward closing the gap. What we’re apparently looking at here is the Curve 9300, a phone that carries over the now-standard optical pad from the 8500 but uses a decidedly 8900-esque chrome surround while adding 3G and support for 802.11n, a feature it shares with the Pearl 3G. What keeps the 9300 on the low end of the spectrum, though, is its screen — it’s apparently just QVGA, and we’re a little discouraged that the leaked unit here isn’t running BlackBerry 6 — but you get what you pay for, right?

BlackBerry Curve 9300 fixing to replace the 8500 series? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know, Tour owners — you’re so ready for a little WiFi in your life that you could quite literally scream. Go ahead, let it out! There, doesn’t that feel better? No? Well, maybe this will: new shots out of The BlackBerry Zone suggest that Verizon sales reps are being actively trained on the Bold 9650, adding to a trail of evidence over the past month from a variety of sites that the phone is coming shortly. It certainly should, considering the relative importance of BlackBerrys in Verizon’s lineup and the fact that Sprint now has it at retail, and it’s still possible that documentation on CrackBerry last month pointing to a May 27 release — that’s this Thursday, for the record — is accurate. We’ll know soon enough, but in the meantime, treat those old trackballs with care, alright?

[Thanks, Steve]

Verizon’s BlackBerry Bold 9650 seems like it’s coming soon (this week?) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 May 2010 22:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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