Hasta La Gadget!

Ah, ha! So the rumors were true. Just a day after we heard that RIM’s BlackBerry Curve 8900 would be making its way from T-Mobile over to AT&T comes this — official confirmation from the carrier itself. Loaded with WiFi, GPS and a 480 x 360 resolution display, this ‘Berry includes free AT&T WiFi at over 20,000 hotspots (with an unlimited data plan, ironically enough) and a 3.2 megapixel camera. There’s also a microSD / SDHC slot that supports cards up to 16GB in size, and while AT&T’s not being very forthcoming with pricing (as in, there’s no word given at all), loyal customers can expect it to land sometime in “early summer.” In other words, all this release has done is extinguish the rumor fires — ‘preciate it, Ma Bell.

Filed under: Cellphones

RIM’s BlackBerry Curve 8900 officially hitting AT&T in “early summer” originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 May 2009 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, what do we have here? The folks at Crackberry seem to have gotten their hands on a pic of the BlackBerry Curve 8520, a.k.a. “Gemini.” From what we can see and from what they tell us, there’s an optical trackball, dedicated media player buttons, and a “rubberized” body. Lack of 3G is a big bummer, and we’re sure the non-classic trackball is gonna ruffle some feathers, but the hardware’s enticing enough for us to give it a look over. Intrigued?

Filed under: Cellphones

BlackBerry Curve 8520 “Gemini” image surfaces originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 May 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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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T-Mobile UK has decided to throw a little shindig for members of the press the very same day as its Yankee cousin — this coming 21st — but there’s a very important distinction with the UK event: it drops a hint about what they’ll be announcing. It turns out that they’ll be launching an “exciting new BlackBerry collaboration,” which we can only take to mean a new handset; now, the only question is whether these events are synchronized. If they are, that means we’ll be getting new RIM goodies on T-Mobile USA, but if it isn’t, this means precisely zilch for American subscribers. Historically, the US branch has been pretty out of sync with it European counterparts (for some good reasons, by and large), so we’d be surprised if the same announcement was coming out of both groups — besides, we’re clueless what new BlackBerry device would prompt the US side to throw an event this month. That said, let’s have your thoughts: would you rather see the Magic, a Sidekick, or a BlackBerry?

[Via Unwired View]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

T-Mobile UK event same day as USA’s, will be BlackBerry-focused originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reputable Dutch site Tweakers has Alain Segond von Banchet, RIM channel sales manager according to LinkedIn, stating that the BlackBerry Storm followup is scheduled to launch at the end of the year or at the beginning of next. In addition, he has the phone coming to KPN, not Vodafone who had the first generation Storm locked-up under an exclusive deal. Interestingly enough, Mr. Segond von Banchet says that the Storm 2 (not the final name) will “offer among other things a new manner to input text” — among other things meaning WiFi, presumably, as we heard before. Keep in mind that channel sales managers do not typically represent a company to the press. Nevertheless, what he’s saying does jibe with previous rumors and we have no doubt that RIM is working hard to avoid the universal disdain that greeted the Storm’s mushy, push-button touchscreen input.

Update: Tweakers responded telling us that Mr. Segond von Banchet was speaking on the record for RIM because there was no one from marketing at the TeleVisie 2009 Expo yesterday.

Filed under: Cellphones

RIM (employee): Storm 2 with “new approach to text entry” for end 2009, early 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 04:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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