The new BlackBerry Bold 9700 is expected to launch very soon. The “Bold” series has garnered a high fanfare, mainly because of its ease of use. The new Bold 9700 will become even more user friendly, replacing the “Pearl” with an optical pad similar to the Mac compatible 8520 launched earlier this quarter.
The new 9700 will feature a 3.2MP camera and voice calls via WiFi. Essentially it is the same BlackBerry we’ve come to love. Is this bad? RIM is turning into a Nokia with their release of very similar spec phones.

Looking at this line chart showing smartphone market share and sales since the past year, you can see three things:
1. Nokia is still number one
Though sitting on your laurels is usually ill advise, the Finns may actually be the only ones capable of actually doing this. I remember a press conference back 3 years ago where one Nokia regional marketing guy mentioned that they ar the number one camera and MP3 manufacturer in the entire world, alluding to their phones as being multimedia device. This chart shows smartphone shares. But the same applies to other device types especially in the …read more

It’s been more than a year and a half since my BlackBerry’s pearl conked out and I’ve already weathered through 3 phones. I had the unit sent back to RIM last year as this is apparently the only solution to servicing the unit. I was warned that it would take at least 6 months. It’s been much more than that. Not that I’m really complaining. I think it’s owed to the fact that I easily found a replacement unit. Nonetheless I’d like to get your insights on the matter: how long did it take to service your BlackBerry? Do tell …read more

A central storage for applications for the BlackBerry? Yes, we have it. The BlackBerry App World is a mobile application which you can download into your BlackBerry, thus allowing you the power of being able to download any application in their virtual store. This is basically RIM’s answer to the iPhone iTunes store synchronization — from desktop conduit to on the fly downloads.

If you’re reading this from a phone, you can go directly to this link to download the application.

The BlackBerry Storm is RIM’s first touch screen BlackBerry. This has been a long time coming and with the stability of the BlackBerry’s operating system with the semi-recent release of a crackoad of berries, we’re glad to see that a good touch screen device has arrived in time for the holidays. So now that we have the Berry, we’re curious with the pricing.
To quote from CrackBerry, there are four Perfect Choice plans available:
* Under the Perfect Choice Access 100 plan, the Storm handset will retail for €109.99 and will cost €49.99 a month as part of …read more

The BlackBerry Bold 9000 is perhaps on the most anticipated BlackBerry devices in the market. It will be available come Q4 of 2008 exclusively with AT&T.
OK let’s get these specs out of the way, mmkay:
GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA
Integrated Wi-Fi and GPS
Half-VGA (480×320 resolution) color LCD screen
Up to 5 hours GSM talk time, up to 13 days standby
Side-loading memory slot
1GB of on-board memory storage
624 MHz processor and 128 MB flash memory
Bluetooth® 2.0 capability with support for hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, car kits, and other Bluetooth peripherals
This is one of those proof of concepts from RIM. I can almost hear the engineers say “OK we’ve …read more

Word’s out in the geekvine that John McCain was quoted to use the BlackBerry, but not for emails. Now I know we shouldn’t judge a guy by his mobile phone, but not using the BlackBerry for email is sorta like well … my gosh. There’s just so much analogy up for grabs.
McCain’s admission in a July 11 New York Times interview that: “I use the BlackBerry, but I don’t e-mail. I’ve never felt the particular need to e-mail.” A statement proving the boneheaded joke of the McCain staffer to be particulary boneheaded considering the purported inventor of the Blackberry does …read more

The new BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 was unveiled recently. Other than being the first BlackBerry to sport a clamshell design, the new 8220 Flip still pretty much has the same features of previous Pearl models including the SureType QWERTY hybrid. This move was, in my opinion, an aesthetic preserver as the new Flip phone would look fugly if it were wider (full QWERTY). The 8220 comes with a 2.0MP camera and connectivity options has included WiFi onto the roster, so it does make a better impression on the original BlackBerry Pearl.
Why a flip design? More importantly, why only now? Because …read more

Aaron Brazell reports some battery anomalies after installing the FaceBook application for his BlackBerry. Since then, I haven’t had the guts to install the application to my Pearl, especially since I’m currently in transit from a trip. Scary. The application allegedly messes around with the charging cycles. After deleting the app, his phone’s battery status rose from 10% to 15%.
Have any of you Berry users experienced similar impediments with the FaceBook application?