We suspected that both Sprint and Verizon Wireless would eventually pick up RIM’s hot-off-of-the-press BlackBerry Bold 9650, and sure enough, the former has already come forward with a glowing press release stating as much. Starting on May 23rd (that’s just under a month, for those operating sans any sense of time), Sprint loyalists will be able to score this very smartphone for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and 2-year contract. It’ll reportedly be available in “all Sprint sale Read the rest of this entry »

Though the Bold 9650 and Pearl 3G are clearly the big announcements out of Orlando at RIM’s WES conference this morning, there was a third bit of news in the mix, too — with a decidedly heavier enterprise slant, that is. BlackBerry Mobile Voice System 5 extends the existing product with SIP support, allowing calls to transition seamlessly between cellular and WiFi networks. What’s more, it’ll work on pretty much any open WiFi hotspot (subject to enterprise policy, we’re Read the rest of this entry »

RIM has a longstanding track record of refining its hardware with near-surgical precision — from one generation of BlackBerry to the next, you almost always see a very careful, deliberate evolution, from the Storm2′s revamped SurePress tech to the Bold 9700′s optical pad and countless examples in between. “Evolution” is exactly how we’d describe the CDMA- and GSM-equipped Bold 9650, the Tour’s spiritual successor that ditches the old name to join forces with the remainder of the Bold line. Dimensionally, the Bold 9650 is a dead ringer for the Tour — it’s still 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.56 inches — but it packs on two-tenths of an ounce worth of weight in exchange for oft-requested WiFi support and an extra 256MB of internal storage Read the rest of this entry »

As smartphones go, the original BlackBerry Pearl 8100 series’ longevity is nothing short of astounding — with some minor tweaks, the phone has lasted essentially unchanged for well over three years. Needless to say, it’s time for the granddaddy of consumer-grade BlackBerrys to start collecting pension, so it’s an awfully good thing that RIM has chosen its WES conference this week to announce the all-new Pearl 3G. Rumored as the Pearl 9100, the phone becomes RIM’s very first with 802.11n WiFi support (in addition to 802.11b and g, naturally) and features a 3.2 megapixel camera, 256MB of internal storage with microSD expansion up to 32GB, GPS, triband HSDPA with quadband GSM / EDGE, and a 360 x 400 display. Read the rest of this entry »

Oops, looks like The Street leaked RIM’s big unveil for later this morning at its WES show: the BlackBerry Bold 9650 (pictured left looking very Tour like) and BlackBerry Pearl 3G. The Bold 9650 boasts 802.11b/g WiFi, a 3.2 megapixel cam, GPS, and support for US EV-DO Rev A networks or UMTS/HSPDA when abroad — look for it to launch next month on Sprint. The Pearl 3G is headed to Bell, Telus, and Rogers in Canada with a 3.2 megapixel camera, 802.11n WiFi, GPS, and triband Read the rest of this entry »

Over the past few days I’ve been checking out Hedone Designs latest theme on my 9700. FAON, has grown on me in that time. At first I thought it rather basic but after using it I realized the basic yet, functional layout just worked for me. If you’re not a fan of transitions though, be advised FAON does have them built in.

Aside from the four predefined icons shown, you get to select 6 user defined icons for the center which for me anyways, meant never having to really leave my main screen to get at all I needed. You can check out all the screenshots of FAON and Read the rest of this entry »

Tungle has been in beta for a while now but today, has finally reached public availability. The free scheduling application is now available for download direct from the Tungle website. Having used the application before, I can say it’s great for sharing calendar information between users. The full list of features below:

• Schedule meetings -Propose times, overlay calendars of sharing contacts, send invites, check pending meetings – everything you need to make meetings happen.
• Share calendars – Send sharing requests, choose between free/busy or details, see schedules of people you share with – it’s the world’s first mobile exchange server.
• Reply to invites – Receive and reply to invitations from other Tungle users or through your Tungle.me link.

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This week Adobe released version 5 of its Creative Suite software compilation. CEO Shantanu Narayen has naturally hit the interview trail to promote his company’s wares, but the biggest news from him is actually a delay of sorts. We’d previously heard that Android, WebOS and BlackBerry versions of Flash 10.1 would be available in the first half of 2010, but Adobe’s chief now places delivery to those platforms in the second half of the year. At least consolation may be found in his teasing of new Flash-enabled tablets — most likely to be running Android or Chrome OS — which we’re told to expect to see within the same time frame. As to the question of Apple’s holdout from Flash nirvana, Narayen describes it as a Read the rest of this entry »

The leaks, they keep coming. Boy Genius has some new images and details on BlackBerry OS 6.0 today, and while we’ve got our fair share of questions, there’s no denying that what we’re seeing looks like a substantial and much-needed improvement to the platform. First off, it appears that RIM’s acquisition of Torch Mobile has paid off with a totally new WebKit-based browser, complete with tab switching, redesigned favorites, and pinch-to-zoom. About time, we’d say. Pinch-to-zoom and multitouch are also said said to be present system-wide, along with kinetic scrolling, and long-pressing on the screen brings up a new modal context menu. That’s definitely intriguing. The media player, photo viewer, and messaging Read the rest of this entry »

Look, there’s a better-than-average chance you’re buying a 2011 Ford Fiesta simply because it’s the rebirth of the Fiesta, but if you need a little encouragement, look no further. The aforesaid automaker has just confirmed that Sync AppLink will be coming first to next year’s Fiesta, enabling drivers to access and control select Android and BlackBerry apps via in-car voice commands and control buttons. At least initially, Pandora, Stitcher and OpenBeak will be AppLink-capable, but we’re pretty sure other app makers will be adding updates as the bandwagon swells. In fact, Ford’s going to be encouraging such behavior with the creation of the Mobile Application Developer Network, and if all goes well, AppLink will be installed in Read the rest of this entry »