Spotify for BlackBerry now available… with a catch

Spotify announced on Wednesday that its BlackBerry client is now out of beta and officially available for download. Spotify is a free ad-supported desktop music service that allows its users to listen to any song they want, provided it has been licensed by Spotify. Users who want to take advantage of the service's mobile features, which include offline caching and access to the full Spotify library, must pay a $10 monthly subscription fee. We're fans of Spotify here at BGR so we highly recommend BlackBerry users give it a try. The download is free (remember, you'll need a monthly plan to use it, though) and accessible from the BlackBerry App World now. The catch? You'll need to own one of five BlackBerry models (BlackBerry Bold 9780, Bold 9700, Curve 9300, Bold 9000 or Curve 8520) in order to use the app, which means it looks like CDMA users are being left out in the cold for now.

$199 BlackBerry PlayBook FireSale Returns, Buy Yourself One Until Supplies Last!

A few weeks ago, RIM announced a similar sale where the 16GB Playbook was selling for just $199, 32GB for just $249 and 64GB for just $399 ($300 less than the regular price for each model!). And it quickly sold out on almost every good place we've known on the web.

But, Best Buy and Staples are offering the BlackBook at the aforementioned prices again, and they will be available for purchase "while supplies last". So, what are you waiting for? Head past the break to get yourself one. Now.

As a refresher, the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet features a 7" high-resolution multi-touch display, dual HD cameras including a 5 megapixel camera for still shots and video recording and a front-facing 3 megapixel camera for video calling.

In an effort to make some money from the tablet, which despite of its amazing hardware, didn't quite live up to the expectations, RIM has announced quite a few BlackBerry PlayBook offers and deals in the recent past. This, however, is seemingly one of the last before we break into the new year.

Click here to know more about the BlackBerry PlayBook specs and features.

Click one of the following links to avail these BlackBerry PlayBook offers:

• BlackBerry PlayBook at Best Buy
• BlackBerry PlayBook at Staples

RIM responds to claim of BlackBerry 10 software problems

RIM has responded to an exclusive BGR report published on Thursday in which our source claimed BlackBerry 10 was delayed not because the vendor was waiting for a new LTE chip, but because RIM's developers have not yet been able to resolve many of the issues plaguing the new OS. "RIM made a strategic decision to launch BlackBerry 10 devices with a new, LTE-based dual core chip set architecture," RIM told AllThingsD. "As explained on our earnings call, the broad engineering impact of this decision and certain other factors significantly influenced the anticipated timing for the BlackBerry 10 devices. The anonymous claim suggesting otherwise is inaccurate and uninformed. As RIM has previously explained, and as Mike Lazaridis reiterated on the earnings call, we will not launch BlackBerry 10 devices until we know they are ready and we believe this new chip set architecture is required to deliver the world class user experience that our customers will expect. Any suggestion to the contrary is simply false." Contrary to RIM's statement, our source indicated that the company has not yet been able to get core features like email and BlackBerry Messenger working as desired on BlackBerry 10 smartphones, and that it is “pushing this out as long as they can for one reason, they don't have a working product yet.”

Angry Birds For BlackBerry PlayBook Released, All Three Versions Available For Download!

Almost everyone with an Android or an iOS device have this game installed, and we must tell you, it's just as fun always. Anyway, the BlackBerry PlayBook Angry Birds game is available in all the three versions.

These include the original Angry Birds game, the Angry Birds Seasons game with the mighty eagle and the Angry Birds Rio game which has about 135 exciting levels. Head past the break to download Angry Birds for BlackBerry PlayBook and for more details.

It is worth noting that each of these versions is priced at $4.99 and feature different number of levels with exciting game levels and different story lines.

• Angry Birds
• Angry Birds Seasons
• Angry Birds Rio

BlackBerry 10 could be ‘too little, too late'

Research In Motion confirmed part of an exclusive BGR report Thursday night when its co-CEOs announced during an earnings call that its first BlackBerry 10 smartphone would not launch until the “latter part of 2012.” Despite RIM's earlier statement that a QNX-powered smartphone would launch in the first half next year, we reported in November that RIM's first next-generation smartphone would not launch until the third quarter. RIM co-Chief Mike Lazaridis blamed the delay on new dual-core processors that were not yet ready to be manufactured in bulk, but the fact remains that by the time RIM's first QNX-based smartphone launches it will be competing against Apple's sixth-generation iPhone, a horde of new Android phones with next-generation features and specs, a variety of Windows Phones from Nokia, and more. According to one analyst, BlackBerry 10 may be “too little, too late.” Read on for more.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky went out on a limb and continued to see a potential upside for RIM long after other analysts were jumping ship. It now appears as though the Waterloo, Ontario-based vendor failed to capitalize on what little opportunity Abramsky had identified. The analyst recently began dropping his price target on RIM stock and on Friday, he cut it further to $16 from $20, troubled by RIM's weak fourth-quarter guidance and the BlackBerry 10 delays.

“BlackBerry 10 is now pushed out to 2H/CY12 (from 1H/CY12), making RIM significantly late to the high-end smartphone market, risking further share losses and competitive developer momentum,” Abramsky wrote in a note to clients on Friday. He continued, “As visibility continues to decline with BB10 delayed, we see few catalysts over the next six months (valuation volatility may occur on newsflow) and recommend investors remain on the sidelines.”

RBC lowered its estimates for fiscal 2012 to $18.9 billion in revenue with earnings of $4.55 per share, down from earlier estimates of $19.3 billion and $4.40. Abramsky cut fiscal 2013 estimates as well in light of BlackBerry 10 launch delays; he now sees revenue totaling $18.1 billion and EPS coming in at $3.00, down from $20.0 billion and earnings of $4.30 per share.

BlackBerry Bold 9790 shows up at Orange UK

Already confirmed for Vodafone and O2, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 will be also released by Orange in the UK.

The new smartphone is currently listed as "coming soon" over at Orange's website. There's no mention on when exactly the network will launch it, but it's probably going to happen in January (when O2 and Vodafone will release the handset, too).

Running BlackBerry 7 OS, the 9790 features a full QWERTY keyboard, 2.4 inch touchscreen display with 480 x 360 pixels, NFC, Wi-Fi, HSDPA, GPS, 5MP camera, 768MB of RAM, 1GHz single core processor, and 8GB of internal memory.

RIM tells Blackberry owners how to remove Carrier IQ's software

The whole situation with Carrier IQ has gotten carriers and handset manufacturers denying the software's existence left and right. RIM has also been denying that they install Carrier IQ's software on their phones but admitted that carriers could have installed the software after receiving phone shipments from RIM, but the good news is that RIM is now teaching Blackberry owners how to remove the software from their phones if they chose to.

Luckily for Blackberry owners, the process of removal of Carrier IQ's software on Blackberry devices appears rather straightforward, similar to that of removing your run of the mill third party applications. If you'd like a breakdown on Carrier IQ and what it actually does before removing it, head on down to MobileBurn, but if you've already made up your mind regardless what Carrier IQ's explanation is, you will be able to find removal instructions from RIM's website.

RIM delays Blackberry 10 devices until “latter part” of 2012

 

RIM seems to be betting the bank on their new Blackberry 10 platform and its accompanying selection of Blackberry 10 smartphones and tablets as a way of regaining some of their former glory. However it looks like it will only be the later part of 2012 when we can start seeing what RIM has up their sleeves.

According to company executives during RIM's earnings conference call on Thursday, it was revealed that the company's first Blackberry 10 smartphone will only be arriving in the "latter part" of 2012. The reason behind this delay is because RIM was looking to launch their Blackberry 10 series of smartphones and tablets with dual-core processors and 4G LTE connectivity.

However the chip that RIM planned to use will not be available until the middle of next year at the very earliest, hence the delay. This chip is apparently a "highly-integrated" chip with low power consumption that many have come to expect from Blackberry devices. What do you guys think? Is RIM taking a huge risk here by banking on how wonderful their Blackberry 10 devices will be that they're willing to cede market share to their competition for the first half of 2012?

So far we've only seen alleged leaked photos of RIM's Blackberry 10 devices, the Blackberry London and the Blackberry Milan. From a design standpoint they look pretty good, but as to how well they will handle and perform remains a mystery for now.

SIM free BlackBerry Bold 9790 to be out on January 9 in the UK

Already available in Canada and India, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 will be out in the UK soon, too. We've previously reported that the 9790 would be released by O2 UK sometime in January, and now we have a more exact release date for the new smartphone: January 9.

Retailer MobileFun says it will start selling the new Bold on that day. Unlike O2, MobileFun will offer the handset SIM free (it will cost you £399.95; that's about €472 or $624 - rather expensive I'd say).

The Bold 9790 runs BlackBerry OS 7, and features a 2.4 inch touchscreen display with 360 x 480 pixels, QWERTY keyboard, NFC, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, 3.5mm headset jack, 1GHz single-core processor, 768MB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage space, and a 5MP rear camera.

BlackBerry OS 7.1 leaked

While everyone who still uses the BlackBerry platform are waiting for BlackBerry 10 (no longer called BBX as RIM does not have the right to use that moniker), here is some respite in between – a leaked copy of BlackBerry OS 7.1, where it does pave the way towards native mobile hotspot support. This particular 3G sharing feature that has been a staple on just about any and every Android-powered device does look as though it will finally see integration at the OS level.

The leaked BlackBerry OS 7.1 was caught running on the Torch 9810 platform, and there is also a good chance that this feature will be included in the BlackBerry 10 OS when that is finally released to the masses. Makes sense after all, doesn't it? Bear in mind that this installer is still an unofficial version that was put together, where it will update the 7.0.0.540 ROM with features found in 7.1, so you might want to make a backup before proceeding (with extreme caution).

RIM loses BBX trademark battle, next OS is named BlackBerry 10

Die-hard fans of RIM's mobile efforts should put those BBX tattoo plans on hold, as the US Federal Court has blocked the company from using the BBX trademark, favoring the existing use by BASIS International for its software. As a result, the boys from Waterloo just announced at BlackBerry DevCon Asia that the new name for its next phone OS is BlackBerry 10 (and the Roman numeral for 10 is... ah, we see what you did there.) Let's hope RIM's plans for pulling its tablets and phones into a single unified platform are better executed than its naming process - next time, they should probably just leave it up to the machines.

RIM investigates BlackBerry PlayBook rooting

Yesterday we reported that the BlackBerry PlayBook was successfully rooted by a developer via the “dingleberry” method. Well, it looks like RIM is now aware of the situation and is looking into it. The company released a statement saying that it is now in contact with the “security researchers” behind the exploit. RIM is also aware of the developer's plans to release tools that will let anybody root their PlayBook, and has mentioned that if that happens, an investigation will take place.

For those of you who are worried that the securities of your BlackBerry phones will be compromised, fear not. RIM has announced that the exploit only affects the PlayBook and their smartphones are unaffected. This is certainly interesting as RIM's next operating system, BBX, will be a combination of QNX and BlackBerry OS, so I guess they want to be completely sure that such exploits won't be possible in the future.

In the meantime, the dingleberry website has been set up, though no tools for rooting the PlayBook have been put up yet. How many of you are keen on rooting your PlayBook?

Android, iOS usage shares dip in November as BlackBerry gains

Apple's iOS platform and Google's Android operating system both lost usage share in November as BlackBerry and Symbian showed gains. Analytics firm Net Applications on Thursday published its operating system market share data for the month of November, and momentum has shifted quite a bit compared to October. IOS slid more than seven points to drop to a 54% share in November, and Android shed two points to fall to 17%. Android also slipped out of the No.2 spot it claimed from Java ME in October as the feature phone platform jumped seven points to a 20% share last month. RIM's BlackBerry platform ticked up to 3% and Symbian usage gained a point and a half to hit 5%. Microsoft's Windows Phone platform didn't even register 1% on Net Applications's radar. A graph outlining November's smartphone and tablet platform market share by usage follows below.

BlackBerry Bold 9790 now available in Canada at Bell, Telus, Rogers, Koodo and Virgin

The BlackBerry Bold 9790 was announced a few weeks ago as a more affordable variant of the Bold 9900, RIM's current flagship in the ‘classic BlackBerry' form factor. The 9790 has a 2.44-inch 480×360 touchscreen, a 1 GHz processor, 5 MP camera, 8 GB of built-in storage space, microSD card support, NFC, and the usual connectivity options. It runs BlackBerry OS 7.

The BlackBerry Bold 9790 is now available in Canada from a large number of carriers – as you'd expect in RIM's native country.

Rogers offers it for $99.99 with a three-year contract, $349.99 on two-year, $399.99 on one-year and monthly, and $449.99 without a contract.

Bell will give you a BlackBerry Bold 9790 if you shell out $99.95 on three-year, $379.95 on two-year, $404.95 with a one-year agreement, and $429.95 without a contract.

Virgin Mobile offers the Bold 9790 on the SuperTab for $99.99, or $429.99 without a contract.

Telus is a bit more expensive asking for $129.99 with a three-year term, $379.99 on two-year, $429.99 on one-year, and $479.99 sans contract.

Unannounced BlackBerry Curve 9380 headed to Telus

The new BlackBerry Curve 9380 - confirmed by RIM not long ago, albeit without a proper announcement - will be reportedly released by Telus in Canada soon.

According to Mobile Syrup, the Canadian carrier will introduce the new BlackBerry smartphone "this holiday season." There's no word on its price yet, but it shouldn't be a high one (the Curve series includes rather affordable devices).

AT&T announces BlackBerry Bold 9900, Torch 9860 and Curve 9360 pricing, availability

AT&T has officially announced that it would launch three new BlackBerry smartphones this month (all of which were expected to hit the carrier's shelves anyway): the BlackBerry Bold 9900, BlackBerry Torch 9860, and BlackBerry Curve 9360.

Both the Bold 9900 (pictured below) and Torch 9860 will be released by AT&T on November 6, coming with 4G (HSPA+) support, and running the latest BlackBerry 7 OS. The 9900 will cost $199.99 on contract, while the 9860 - AT&T's first full-touch BlackBerry - is going to be available for $99.99 (also on contract).

As for the Curve 9360, this won't support AT&T's HSPA+ network. It's going to cost only $29.99 on contract starting November 20.

All in all, November 6 is going to be a big day for AT&T, as it will launch the two BlackBerries mentioned above, two new Windows Phone Mango handsets (Samsung Focus S and Samsung Focus Flash), and its first two LTE smartphones: the Android-based Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket and the HTC Vivid.

Given not only the popularity of Android, but also the promise of faster data speeds (LTE is true 4G compared to HSPA+), I'm pretty sure the Galaxy S II Skyrocket and the HTC Vivid will steal the show that day.

This Vision Of BlackBerry Future Phones Is Amazing, Nothing Like BlackBerry Has Ever Designed So Far

These videos show off what RIM's BlackBerry devices (the BlackBerry future phones) would be capable of doing in the near future and how they can be used to simplify our everyday life.

From finding a cabin in the office to accessing the room to seeking help using augmented reality apps, the future BlackBerry phones (and tablet-like devices) make everything possible and that so, in a very streamlined and elegant way.

The devices shown in the video are elegant with edge to edge displays and seem like nothing that BlackBerry has ever designed so far. However, it still manages to seem a little more realistic than Microsoft's extremely futuristic take on the future gadgets. Regardless, these videos are a nice piece of work, and we are sure you won't regret checking'em out right after the break.

Enterprise Ready : On The Go

Touch Of Personality : Your Cup Of Tea

Video : BlackBerry Enterprising Minds: Exceptional Customer Service

Video : Empowering Mobile Employees

It is worth noting that the devices featured here do not show any physical BlackBerry keyboard, one of the most distinguishing features of the BlackBerry phones since their early days. Does this signal that the Canadian giant is about to change everything for the good? We hope so.

In times of dwindling markets for RIM, the company needs to actually translate its vision into reality and only then will it be able to survive the competition of which it was a founding member. If RIM is headed the other way, we must regrettably admit, that we do not see any signs of a better future for the Canadian giant is already failing in the smartphones market and even its first and the only tablet did not fare really well on the charts.

We will keep you posted as more details surface. Stay tuned!

T-Mobile BlackBerry Torch 9810 lands November 9th for $250

T-Mobile announced on Wednesday that its customers may begin placing pre-orders for the BlackBerry Torch 9810. It expects to offer the device on November 9th for $249.99 with a new two-year contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate. The BlackBerry Torch 9810 is equipped with a 3.2-inch touchscreen display, a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 1.2GHz processor and a 5-megapixel camera capable of recording 720p HD video. For more information on the BlackBerry Torch 9810, which looks nearly identical to the first generation device, be sure to check out our hands-on from earlier this year. Read on for the full press release from T-Mobile.

T-Mobile Announces Upcoming Availability of the BlackBerry Torch 9810

Latest 4G BlackBerry Smartphone from T-Mobile Arrives Nationwide November 9

T-Mobile USA Inc. today announced the upcoming availability of the BlackBerry® Torch™ 9810, the latest 4G BlackBerry smartphone to join America's Largest 4G Network™. Powered by the latest BlackBerry 7 operating system and a 1.2 GHz processor, the BlackBerry Torch 9810 provides a fast and fluid premium smartphone experience. The BlackBerry Torch 9810 combines a brilliant 3.2-inch TFT VGA capacitive touch-screen display with a full QWERTY slide-out keyboard for a truly efficient and intuitive mobile communications experience.

Encased in a sleek and stylish form factor with a zinc grey color finish, the BlackBerry Torch 9810 is equipped with essential smartphone features, including access to BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger), personal and corporate e-mail, and social networking applications; a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and 720p HD video recording; and access to BlackBerry App World™ for downloading premium applications and games.

The BlackBerry Torch 9810 is expected to be available in an exclusive pre-sale for T-Mobile business customers beginning today, November 2. The smartphone is expected to be available nationwide at T-Mobile retail stores, select dealers and national retailers, and online at http://www.t-mobile.com starting November 9. The BlackBerry Torch 9810 is expected to cost $249.99 after a $50 mail-in-rebate card, with a two-year service agreement and qualifying Classic voice and data plan.

T-Mobile To Release BlackBerry Torch 9810

T-Mobile is ready to launch the new BlackBerry Torch 9810. The smartphone runs on the BlackBerry 7 operating system and features a large 3.2-inch VGA touchscreen display, a 1.2GHz processor, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with 720p HD video recording and HSPA+ connectivity. T-Mobile will release the BlackBerry Torch 9810 on November 9th, 2011 for $249.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate. [Slashgear]

T-Mobile BlackBerry Torch 9810 now up for pre-order, shipping November 9

T-Mobile has announced earlier that it will start selling the BlackBerry Torch 9810 too. The magenta carrier will have the new smartphone in stores on November 9, which is exactly one week from now.

The BlackBerry Torch 9810 will be up for pre-order at T-Mobile starting today (although right now the pre-orders aren't live yet). The price being asked is a rather steep $249.99 (after a $50 mail-in rebate) with a new two-year service agreement.

If you're interested in the Torch 9810 and want to be among the first to get your mitts on it, keep an eye on this page at T-Mobile. Pre-orders should start in a very short while.

BlackBerry Torch 9810 officially announced for T-Mobile

Yesterday we reported about the leaked internal document which outed the release date of the BlackBerry Torch 9810, well today we've finally got an official announcement from T-Mobile about the phone's release. The BlackBerry Torch 9810 features a portrait QWERTY slide-out keyboard, a 3.2″ VGA touchscreen display, a 1.2GHz processor, BlackBerry 7 operating system, a rear 5-megapixel camera (720p HD video recording) and HSPA+ connectivity.

The phone will be available for on November 9th with a price tag of $249.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a 2-year contract on T-Mobile. However, business users will be able to purchase the phone starting today (November 2nd) to ensure they can get their hands on one before it gets snapped up by everybody else.

BlackBerry Bold 9790 spotted in the wild again, close to launch?

We saw the reveal of three new BlackBerries to AT&T's lineup today(Bold 9900, Torch 9860, and Curve 9360). We have some more BlackBerry news for readers today regarding the Bold 9790. We first saw the Bold 9790 back in September where it was compared to its big brother, the Bold 9900. We have spotted more leaked photos of the device today, which is rumored to be released late November.

Specs wise, the Bold 9790 is nearly identical to the Bold 9900 with the exception of it being smaller. It spots a 1.2 GHz processor, a 5 megapixel camera in the rear, 768 MB of RAM, and 8 GB of internal storage with up to 40GB expandable.

We do not have any info on availability or pricing yet. The rumors of a November release seem to be very accurate with the holiday season coming up and the fact that Blackberry should be releasing its BBX Superphones in the near future. We will keep you updated on the status of the BlackBerry Bold 9790.

BlackBerry Bold 9790 spotted in photographs again

The BlackBerry Bold 9790 has yet to be released but it's been spotted so many times in the past it's as though the phone's already out. Today a new batch of photographs made their way over to Crackberry.com who gladly shared them with the world. We get a close up look for the front of the phone and even what it looks like underneath its back cover.

Nothing's changed since we last saw the phone - yet, the protruding buttons for answering and ending calls, menu and back are still there. We know that it will pack a 470 x 360 2.44″ display, and the rest of the device is speculated to be similar to the Bold 9900 which we've reviewed in the past. Still no official announcement from RIM, but it shouldn't be too long now. Anybody planning to pick up this phone when it launches?

AT&T has broadest BlackBerry portfolio yet

Ma Bell continues their love affair with RIM's range of BlackBerry devices, where they will be offering both the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphones this coming November 6th. Sounds like there will be plenty of activity going on this month, as the new 3G BlackBerry Curve 9360 will also arrive later this month – on November 20th, to be exact.

It must be noted that the Bold 9900, the all-touch Torch 9860, and the previously-released Torch 9810, will be able to take advantage of AT&T's 4G HSPA+ network so that you are able to enjoy network speeds that are nearly up to four times faster compared to the majority of previous 3G BlackBerry smartphones.

Just what does the BlackBerry Bold 9900 deliver? For starters, it will have a full QWERTY keyboard just in case you shun virtual keyboards like how a vampire hates sunlight, and it is also the thinnest BlackBerry smartphone to date at a mere 10.5mm. Other hardware specifications include a 2.8″ touchscreen display, a 1.2 GHz processor, Liquid Graphics technology, 768MB RAM, 8GB of internal memory, a microSD memory card slot, HD video recording capability and dual-band Wi-Fi support.

Expect to fork out $199.99 for the BlackBerry Bold 9900 this coming November 6th, where it will be accompanied by a two-year contract. [Press Release]

Samsung Illusion, Casio G'zOne Ravine 2 and BlackBerry Curve 9370 to hit Verizon this month?

Don't rub your eyes. That above pic is no mirage. It's a leaked rebate form heralding the Big Red arrival of an actual Illusion - a 3G Samsung-made one, that is. The form, sent to us by an eagle-eyed tipster, confirms that mysterious Gingerbread phone's imminent November launch, while also outing two other equally un-hyped devices: the BlackBerry Curve 9370 and Casio G'zOne Ravine 2. No official release date could be gleaned from the info at hand, but with a redemption period ranging from the 1st of this month to the 28th, we're fairly certain this triumvirate of mid-range phones will be making a retail debut soon. So, if you need to replace your last battle-weary, ruggedized smartphone or have a hankering for portrait QWERTYs, this fair fall month's mobile refreshes could be just the ticket.

Blackberry Torch 9810 arriving on T-Mobile 9th November

Despite Blackberry steadily losing market share to iOS and Android, and with the recent RIM outages, we have no doubt that there are still plenty of Blackberry fans and loyalists out there, which means that come 9th of November, if they are looking to upgrade their Blackberry device, they will be able to get their hands on the Blackberry Torch 9810 from T-Mobile.

This 9th of November launch seems to have been confirmed via a leaked internal T-Mobile system screenshot, which states unequivocally that the Blackberry Torch 9810 will be launched on that date. Customers will be able to expect a device with a 3.2x480×640 touch screen display, a 1.2GHz processor under the hood, a slideout QWERTY keyboard and Blackberry OS 7.

Unfortunately there is no word on pricing, but given that the device will be seeing a launch come 9th of November, we expect that more details regarding pricing will surface from now until then.

BlackBerry Colt to be the first BBX superphone, specs leaked alongside an image

Last week, RIM officially announced BBX, its next-gen operating system that will marry the QNX-based OS currently found on the PlayBook with the BlackBerry OS that's powering all of the company's smartphones at the moment. RIM gave no indication of when BBX will be inside shipping devices, but back in August we heard mumblings about the first smartphone running the new platform coming in the first quarter of 2012.

Its name, or codename, is Colt. BlackBerry Colt. This will apparently be the high-end flagship that RIM has needed for a long while. Here's a render of what the Colt might look like:

The phone that ends up being released may not be identical to what you see in the image above, but it will be close. As for specs, we have a whole bunch of them neatly leaked for your convenience.

A single-core 1.2 GHz processor (as seen in the Bold 9900) was used in the first testing phase, but a dual-core CPU is currently inside prototypes, so that may be the chip the Colt ends up shipping with. There will also be a touchscreen (at least 4-inch) with a resolution higher than 900 pixels and two cameras, one at the front and one at the back. The Colt will be thinner than the Bold 9900 and 9930, but will have a similar unibody outer stainless steel frame, no physical buttons, a similar battery to that found in the PlayBook, and new transitions which should make the UI feel fluid.

RIM confirms PlayBook OS 2.0 delayed until February, still no BBM in sight

Well, we hope you weren't expecting to have PlayBook 2.0 up and running on your BlackBerry tablet any time soon, cause it's been officially delayed till at least February. Word has come straight from the mouth (well, keyboard) of David Smith, senior vice president for the PlayBook project. In a blog post Smith announced that RIM would be holding back on the release to ensure many of the new features, including native email and enterprise app deployment, work as advertised. The OS update will be getting a decently long beta test, with it rolling out to some in the Early Adopter Program "shortly." Sadly, it seems that some features have fallen by the wayside with the focus on polish - namely, BBM. Since the messaging service relies on a one-device per-PIN model, getting it on the tablet has proved troublesome. For now users will have to rely on BlackBerry Bridge and their RIM handsets to get their BBM fix. Considering the company's track record, we wouldn't be shocked if the OS update slips even further into the future - remember an email client was promised within 60 days of launch... that was back in April.

Porsche-Designed BlackBerry Is a Sleek Slab of Steel

In the immortal words of Ashford and Simpson, the Porsche-designed Blackberry is h-h-h-h-hot

What would you get if you took a Motorola RAZR (the original), a BlackBerry and a mid-1980s Bang and Olufsen stereo, tossed them in a blender and poured the results to set in a shallow cake tin? You'd get the Porsche Design P'9981 Smartphone you see above.

Specs-wise, the phone doesn't do anything special. It simply checks the boxes required of a modern mobile telephone: 1.2GHz processor, 720p video camera, 8GB storage, 5MP stills camera and a microSD card slot for expansion. It's relatively small 2.8-inch, 640x480 287dpi screen can be explained away by the backlit hardware QWERTY keyboard.

But design-wise, it's a rather hot-looking slab of glass and stainless steel (no silvered plastic here), and even has a leather-coved back panel. It probably won't help BlackBerry pull out of its terrible death spiral, but it will at least make e-mail addicted businessmen look a little less dorky.

Price and availability tba.

Porsche Design P'9981 Smartphone [BlackBerry]

Blackberry Colt Specs Unveiled

The Blackberry Colt has been quite a lot of talk on the internet lately and now its specs have been leaked. Powered by RIM's BBX platform, the smartphone features a 4-inch touchscreen display, a 1.2GHz single core processor, a unibody stainless steel bezel, a front-facing camera and a rear-facing camera. It has a similar form factor to the BlackBerry Bold. The Blackberry Colt will be launched in mid-2012. [Ubergizmo]

Blackberry Porsche P'9881 announced

A week ago we reported that thanks to an invitation, it appears that RIM and Porsche had plans to hold an event to unveil a new product. Unless Porsche was planning on releasing a new Porsche Blackberry sports car, it left little to the imagination at what sort of announcement that both companies were going to make, and now it is official. Both RIM and Porsche have announced the new Blackberry Porsche P'9981.

The device isn't really groundbreaking in terms of technology, and it appears that this is more of a luxury phone. The P'9981 will sport a 1GHz processor under the hood, 8GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot to accommodate an additional 32GB, a 5MP camera capable of recording 720p HD videos, a QWERTY keyboard, NFC capabilities and will run on Blackberry OS 7.

The phone has also been redesigned to give it a more Porsche feel, replacing the fonts on the QWERTY keyboard and operating system with the ones used by Porsche, along with a new set of redesigned icons. If you're a fan of Porsche cars and Blackberry devices, the good news is that the P'9981 is expected to be made available by the end of the year for $2,000 and will be sold in limited quantities.

Additional Blackberry Colt specs revealed

Rendering of the Blackberry Colt

There has been a lot of talk surrounding RIM's new platform – BBX. The new platform is to RIM what Windows Phone is to Nokia, a second chance at reclaiming the market that both companies used to dominate, and along with their new platform, there has been talks about a BBX device called the Blackberry Colt, and thanks to n4bb, more details surrounding the device have emerged, although we'll probably take that information with a grain of salt until RIM actually announces something.

The Blackberry Colt when first rumored didn't really say much about the device, other than the fact that it would run on RIM's BBX (it was known as QNX back then) platform, and would sport a 1.2GHz single core processor (which disappointed many, but then again it's just a rumor) and would feature a 4.x" touch screen display.

New information uncovered by n4bb is now telling us that the Blackberry Colt would be thinner than the Blackberry Bold 9900 and 9930, and would feature the same unibody stainless steel bezel as the Bold 9900 and 9930. It would also be a complete touch screen device, feature the same battery as the Blackberry PlayBook tablet and would sport front and back cameras. This still isn't a lot to go on, but at least a slightly clearer picture is being painted for us, assuming this information is accurate. The Blackberry Colt, if the rumors are to be believed, is expected to see a release mid-2012.

The Blackberry P9981 by Porsche Design officially unveiled

At a special event held in Dubai, Blackberry with cooperation with Porsche Design unveiled the Blackberry Porsche Design P9981. It's essentially a Bold Touch 9900, but with special treatment from the folks at Porsche Design.

As you can notice, although it's based on the Blackberry Bold Touch 9900 it has gone through a major design overhaul. The whole phone is made of stainless steel, while the back tickles your hands with the special leather it's wrapped in.

Although it's based on the BlackBerry Bold 9900, it sports an underclocked 1GHz QC8655 processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. At the back we find a 5MP snapper, capable of shooting 720p HD videos.

Naturally, the P9981 runs BlackBerry OS 7, but has gone through special Porsche Design treatment and as a result features special fonts and customized icons.

Like it? Then expect it to hit Porsche Design stores by the end of the year for the colossal $2,000.

Source | Via

BlackBerry Porsche Design P'9981 luxury smartphone announced by RIM

Research in Motion and Porsche have officially unveiled the BlackBerry Porsche Design P'9981, a new luxury smartphone that was first seen a few months ago.

The Porsche Design P'9981 runs BlackBerry OS 7 with an "exclusive Porsche Design UI", and is 11.3mm thin. It's build from a forged stainless steel frame, and has a "sculpted QWERTY keyboard", in addition to a hand-wrapped leather back cover.

Other features include a 2.8 inch VGA touchscreen display, HSDPA, NFC, Wi-Fi, GPS, Wikitude World Browser augmented reality app, 5MP rear camera with 720p video recording, 768MB of RAM, 1.2GHz single-core processor, 8GB of internal memory, and "exclusive PINs that help easily identify another P'9981 smartphone user."

The BlackBerry Porsche Design P'9981 will be available in Porsche Design stores around the world sometime later this year. There's no word on the smartphone's price yet.

It isn't the first time Porsche ventures into the mobile phone world - the company has also worked with Sagem to make that Porsche Design P'9522 candybar back in 2008.

BlackBerry Bold 9790 sees a change?

The BlackBerry Bold 9790 from Research In Motion (RIM) has yet to be announced officially, but one of the more recent images leaked showed off a change to its external design, where the flat button panel has been removed in favor of individually raised buttons. Said image that showed the modification proved to be blurry in vein with most of the other mysteriously leaked images that we've seen so far regardless of the device, so hopefully when an announcement on the new 9790 is made, things will get clearer – literally.

Interestingly enough, the image that you see above shows off the new button construction in a decent way, where you can even make out Arabic characters on it. Perhaps this has something to do with the Porsche Design's 9890 debut that is happening in Dubai on the 27th. Do you think this will be a Middle East exclusive?

BlackBerry Bod 9900 Shows Up In White Skin, Coming Soon?

But what is surprising is the fact the the BlackBerry 9900 was wearing an elegant shade of white, bringing us to suspect that a BlackBerry Bold 9900 white model is being readied for imminent availability.

Now, we have learned that only the external colors have changed which means all the under-hood mettle will remain the same, and of course, you will find it running the BlackBerry 7 OS under the hood.

Regardless, the specs sheet remains same : a 1.2GHz processor with 768MB of RAM, an unusually large 2.8" capacitive touch screen display joined by a backlit physical keyboard, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, support for HD video recording and built-in NFC sensor.

Other interesting features include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, onboard GPS, dedicated camera button, a 3.5 mm audio jack, 8GB of onboard storage, support for up to 32GB of expandable storage and much more.

As a refresher, Research in Motion released a bunch of BlackBerry OS 7 phones (the BlackBerry 9900 is one of that breed!) in an effort to keep up with the competition but its hardware is still relatively less powerful than other competitors. However, it's greatest strength lies in the BIS and security and very obviously, the BlackBerry Messenger aka BBM.

There is no word from RIM on whether the device will officially be available in white color besides the standard natural black variant we've been used to seeing now. Anyway, the report sure does give users some liberty to pick from their choice of colors, if it were true.

Click here to know more.

AT&T's Blackberry Bold 9900 to be launched “soon”

While T-Mobile USA is selling the BlackBerry Bold 9900 since August, AT&T has yet to announce an official launch date for the new Bold.

However, we now know that the 9900 is "coming soon" to AT&T - or at least that's what one of the carrier's Twitter accounts suggests here.

Most likely, AT&T will launch the Bold 9900 sometime next month, possibly for a bit more than $200 on contract (T-Mobile is offering the handset for $299).

UK: 16 GB BlackBerry PlayBook sees price cut to �249

The BlackBerry PlayBook may be running an entirely new, not-BlackBerry operating system, but that doesn't mean that RIM's first tablet is selling well. Or at least not as well as RIM would have liked it to. It's clear that the PlayBook, at this moment, is more of a niche device than a competitor for Apple's iPad.

In the UK, this interestingly may turn out to be to the advantage of those of you who'd like to purchase a PlayBook, but haven't done so yet. Over there, RIM is doing what every manufacturer thinks of doing when a product isn't selling well: slash the price.

It has to be said that the BlackBerry PlayBook launched in the UK with pricing identical to the iPad, which probably wasn't the best decision RIM ever made. Anyway, they've now rectified that.

The Carphone Warehouse now sells the 16 GB Wi-Fi-only PlayBook for just £249, which is amazingly £150 less than the launch price. If you'd like 32 GB of built-in storage, you'll have to pay £329, and £409 for the 64 GB of storage.

BlackBerry outage could cost RIM $100 million

Research In Motion's recent BlackBerry outage was the worst in the company's history, leaving BlackBerry users in the Middle East, Europe, parts of South America, Canada, Africa and the United States without service for a total of three days. This major outage could cost the Canadian vendor more than $100 million, Financial Post reported on Friday. The costs include refunds RIM may have to issue carriers for monthly fees it collects for each BlackBerry user. “Given a large portion of global traffic looks potentially affected we believe that a 5% impact to service fee revenue is plausible though likely worse case,” JPMorgan Chase analyst Rod Hall said. Read on for more.

Scotia Capital analyst Gus Papageorgiou estimated that lost revenues could be in the ballpark of $117.7 million, or $0.22 per share, but that RIM should have the crisis under control by the weekend. The costs however, do not include the possibility of shaken faith from RIM's top enterprise users, who rely on BlackBerry products and services for day-to-day operations. RIM co-chief Mike Lazaridis issued a public apology on Thursday in which co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said RIM was “working around the clock to fix this,” and the company stated a few hours later that service had been fully restored.

White BlackBerry Curve 9360 coming to Orange UK

Already available in the UK since the end of September in its original black version, the Blackberry Curve 9360 will be released there in white, too.

Orange UK is currently listing the white Curve 9360 as coming soon, saying it will offer it for free on pay monthly plans (but that's not a surprise).

The Curve 9360 runs BlackBerry 7 OS, and features a 2.44 inch display with 480 x 360 pixels, optical trackpad, full QWERTY keyboard, HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS, 3.5mm headset jack, 5MP rear camera with LED flash, VGA front-facing camera, and an 800MHz processor.

RIM: BlackBerry services restored globally

After being down for the past few days, it looks like RIM has finally repaired its BlackBerry services. The company announced in a conference call earlier this morning that all BlackBerry services have been restored globally. RIM will now be closely monitoring and placing safeguards on its networks and servers to make sure that such events never occur again. RIM is also considering how it will be reimbursing carriers and users for the disruptions this week. No word on what or how BlackBerry users will be compensated, but we should expect to find out more pretty soon.

How's your BlackBerry phone? Are you still having trouble with BlackBerry services?

BlackBerry Curve 9350 launched by US Cellular

US Cellular has launched its second RIM smartphone to come with BlackBerry 7 OS (after the Torch 9850): the Curve 9350.

Until November 20, US Cellular is offering the Curve 9350 for free to new customers (on contract, after a $100 mail-in rebate). The smartphone's price on contract without a new activation is $49.99 (also after a $100 mail-in rebate).

The new Curve is available online starting today, and will be in stores, too, starting tomorrow, October 14.

The BlackBerry Curve 9350 (which is the CDMA version of the Curve 9360) features a full QWERTY keyboard,  a 2.44 inch portrait display with 480 x 360 pixels, Wi-Fi, GPS, 3.5mm headset jack, 800MHz processor, and a 5MP rear camera with LED flash.

BlackBerry 9380 and 9790 get officially announced, sort of

RIM has announced the new BlackBerry 9380 and 9790 smartphones. However, this is not your usual announcement, with detailed specs and press images. The announcement comes in the form of a blog post which was addressed towards the developer community, informing them of the new handsets.

There is very little information regarding the two phones available at this time. All that RIM has divulged is that the 9380 will have a full touchscreen interface like the Storm and a 3.2-inch, 480 x 360 resolution display. The 9790 on the other hand will have a 2.44-inch, 480 x 360 resolution display with a full QWERTY keypad. Of course, both the phones will be running the latest BlackBerry OS 7.

BlackBerry has released SDK with built-in simulators for each of these phones. This was actually the main purpose of the blog post. We're guessing the actual announcement will be happening soon enough.

Source

RIM BlackBerry Bold 9790 And Curve 9380 Confirmed

RIM has recently confirmed the availability of the BlackBerry Bold 9790 and Curve 9380. The BlackBerry Bold 9790 features a 2.44-inch (360 x 480) touchscreen display, a 1.2GHz processor, a full QWERTY keyboard and an 8GB of internal memory. The BlackBerry Curve 9380 (Curve Touch) has a 3.2-inch (360 x 480) touchscreen display and an 800MHz processor. Both handsets support NFC and and a 5MP camera with 720p video recording. RIM has also released a simulator for the Bold 9790 and Curve 9380.

RIM confirms new BlackBerry Bold 9790 and Curve 9380

Although they still haven't been properly announced, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 and the BlackBerry Curve 9380 have been recently confirmed by RIM on its developer's blog, where simulators for both devices are now available.

According to the Canadian company, the 9380, which could be launched under the name of BlackBerry Curve Touch, features a 3.2 inch touchscreen display with 360 x 480 pixels. We also know - from previously leaked details - that the 9380 (pictured below) should come with NFC, a 5MP camera with 720p video recording, and an 800 MHz processor.

As for the Bold 9790, this will feature a 2.44 inch touchscreen display with the same 360 x 480 pixels resolution, full QWERTY keyboard, NFC, 5MP camera, 1.2GHz processor, and 8GB of internal memory.

RIM didn't say when the new BlackBerry 9380 and 9790 will be launched, but it should happen before the end of the year. We'll let you know when we have more details on this.

RIM gives tips on extending BlackBerry battery life

Now that some of the BlackBerry devices feature larger displays, they are subjected to the same amount of battery drain that most smartphones face today. We all know there is a price to pay for larger, full-colored displays. Well, the folks over at the official BlackBerry blog have decided to write a primer to help those of you who want to squeeze in an extra few hours of battery life from your BlackBerry phones.

It appears that apps left open (even when they're not in use) can affect the battery life of BlackBerry devices, so close any apps that you aren't using. Another tip (which works on all smartphones) is to turn off connections that aren't in use. Turn off WiFi when you're not in range or not planning to use it, the same thing goes for Bluetooth and 3G. However, if you're in a location with weak 3G coverage but you have WiFi available, turn on WiFi instead.

Other tips include using a holster, enabling auto on/off, and changing the brightness of the display's backlight. While all these tips should be second nature for regular smartphone users, I learnt something new - using a cotton swab or dry cloth to clean the metal contacts of the battery and the phone every few months should help as well. Anyone has tips to share about extending battery life (be it for BlackBerry or any other phone) drop a comment below. Be sure to check out our Android battery life guide as well.

Is BlackBerry More Secure Than Android? Ask Obama and the US Military.

Despite the growth of Android and iOS, corporate types continue to clutch their BlackBerry's on Wall Street and elsewhere, largely pointing to security as the main reason they won't give up on RIM. But how long until that becomes a distant memory? Maybe not long if the National Security Agency, US Army, and other American military branches have anything to say about it.

Word out of Government Computer News says Google, George Mason, and the NSA have teamed up to produce a hardened kernel of Android 3.0 with, “a government plan to create a secure national wireless network for first responders.” According to CGN, the hardened kernel is in the final stages of certification.

President Obama is a notorious Blackberry user, but check out this quote on the reason to go with Android rather than Blackberry in this snippet pulled directly from the article:

In addition to the Army’s plans to provide troops with smart phones, the Obama administration was attracted to the technology to support two of its initiatives. One is an effort by the White House Communications Office to move the executive branch from BlackBerry devices to Android-based phones. The reason is because Android devices with the new kernel can be secured at a higher clearance level than BlackBerry devices, McCarthy said.

You could argue that the type of security the government require and the kind corporations need are totally different, but regardless, I think it says a lot about the widening gap between Android, iOS, and the soon to be distant competitors including RIM.

What do you think about the difference between security – whether for government or business purposes – between Android and Blackberry?