Future Shop does it again. The Canadian home electronic store (similar to BestBuy and owned by BestBuy as well) has the new BlackBerry Torch 9800 listed to be release on September 15th on Rogers Wireless. Now this is still a rumor but it seems that all Future Shop list prices on their RSS system have been correct so were going to go out on a limb and say this is the day it’ll be released. As for the price shown to be $999.99. Well like before, that is most likely just a place holder. So it looks like us Canadians will be getting it soon. For me, I couldn’t wait and jumped for the AT&T Torch and unlocked it… was well worth it.

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Hate it or love it. You know that the new BlackBerry Torch is one of the hottest BlackBerry devices out by RIM. Los Angeles was where the BlackBerry Torch launch party was. Multiple celebrities showed up on the red carpet including: Drake, Christina Ricci, Felicity Huffman, Kiristin Cavallari, Anna Kendrick, Shenae Grimes, Amber Valletta, Michelle Trachtenberg, Adrian Grenier, Jessica Lowndes, and Rashida Jones.

OtterBox has released the Strength Communter Series Case for the BlackBerry Bold 9700. 10& of your purchase price will go towards the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade. Funding will support finding a cure for breast cancer and advancing access to care for all, regardless of the ability to pay.

To find out more information about the product or to purchase it, click here

It looks like some users over at HowardForums have got a hold of the new BlackBerry 9780 from the sketchy website SN Traders for a price of $599.99 Canadian. I found this hard to believe but users have posted multiple pictures of their device, the model, the software, and specs.

If you don’t remember the specs, here’s a quick look:

• 5 Megapixel Camera, autofocus, LED flash

• It features a full HTML browser that you can use to surf the Internet

• With 2GB of built-in memory and 512 MB flash memory, it also comes with a media card slot for more space.

• 3G Network HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100

• HSPDA 1700 / 2100

[Source via: HowardForums]

RIM has finally updated all their lineup to trackpads which include the Curve, Bold and finally, the Pearl. As you may have heard, the BlackBerry Pearl name has been revived and renewed with the new 9100 model which includes incredible features from both the Pearl 81xx and the Bold 9700. In this review, we’ll explain to you why it’s one of the best candy-bar phones out as well as one of the most attractive and sleek smartphones out. Don’t like the BlackBerry name? We can change that. Read on…

Pricing & Features

Parents and teens can benefit with Rogers cheap pricing when it comes to signing a contract. You’ll only pay a price of $49.99 on a 3 year contract with a data plan which can be costly depending on how much you use, or you can always buy out the phone for $424.99 which is quite expensive.

For those who have handled and understood the old BlackBerry Pearl phones, you might have remembered the candy-bar style and the SureType keyboard. Well both are still available and very popular. New to the Pearl is the trackpad which is now available for every BlackBerry model. If you’ve owned the 81xx you might have noticed the dirty and stuck trackball. Well this isn’t a problem anymore. Also new is the upgraded 3.2 megapixel camera with a bright LED flash and 3G connection. Yes, we said 3G. Finally RIM has integrated 3G to the Pearl and boy we were glad they did. You’ll also get the standards WiFI, GPS, and Bluetooth technology all integrated to the 9100.

Design

What can we say about the new design? Well it’s a love or hate thing. I personally love the two-tone black and red color effect. I find it very sexy and a Rogers original signature design. I also enjoy the dark chrome color bezel that wraps the phone. On the left of the phone, you’ll find the MicroUSB vs the old MiniUSB in the 81xx along with a left convenience key and the 3.5mm headphone jack. On the right is the dedicated volume keys and the camera key and on the top of the phone is dedicated multimedia keys which can pause/play music as well as back forward button. The pause/play button also acts as a keyboard lock button. On the rear is the 3.2 megapixel camera and a bright LED flash.

Call Quality & Signal Strength

When it comes to BlackBerry. Call Quality is beyond superb. Nothing beats the clarity of what BlackBerry has to offer and the ability to enhance the audio quality by boosting the bass or treble when making calls is a great feature. I also found the speakerphone quality to be decent. You can’t really avoid echoing sometimes but that being said, it’s still better then most smartphones out.

With 3G available on the Pearl. Signal has been boosted much higher compared to the previous 81xx pearl’s. Not only do you get great signal but you also get great speeds when surfing the net and sending files through email or BlackBerry Messenger and other social clients. 3G should be a standard now a days and RIM has made the right choice and come through with that decision. While they might have been a tad late, they always come out good.

Messaging

The Pearl 9100 keyboard is what expected from a Pearl. The people who’ve had it before and love it will still love it, but those who hate it will absolutely hate it. SureType keyboard is what RIM calls it and what they do is instead of sorting the keys T9 style, they sort them like the QWERTY way but have 2 letters per keys. If you’ve used a QWERTY keyboard before, it’s not too hard getting use to. If not, it might confuse you for a while. This SureType keyboard comes to good use in the social clients that BlackBerry provides with the phone and there are a lot more social clients available on the App World.

Camera & Battery

When I first played with the BlackBerry 9100. I assumed it was just a 2.0 megapixel camera like the Curve. Why? Because there is absolutely no labeling of how many pixels the camera is. After using the camera, you realize that RIM has tricked you and that the camera is in fact an amazing 3.2 megapixel camera with a bright LED flash, even brighter then the Bold 9700. Pictures are the exact same quality though. It has auto focus and takes brilliant and vibrant pictures. It’s whats expected from RIM.

Battery life on the BlackBerry 9100 is also quite good. While it isn’t as good as the old 8100 mainly because there is 3G now, it still performs very well and lasts longer then the BlackBerry Bold 9700, about 15 hours of surfing the web, taking pictures and doing some calling and texting.

Conclusion

With all the new phones being released this summer by Rogers it’s no surprise that this one attracts many teens, especially with the low price tag, it’s a steal for parents. While it may not be the hottest BlackBerry out, It does what it’s suppose to do. Messaging on a BlackBerry is a breeze, camera is superb, and the 3G speed helps out a lot. If you don’t got money for the Bold 9700 or Curve 9300 or just don’t like the size. You can be sure that you’ll enjoy this phone. I’d highly recommend this for those who don’t enjoy the wide BlackBerry’s or just don’t want a touchscreen smartphone.

Rogers has launched some new and improved student and family plans. What’s new with the family plans is that you are now able to add a line for $15 (voice) or $25 (voice & data) and allow that line to share all the unlimited features that’s on the family plan such has unlimited evening and weekends or unlimited nationwide calling.

For students, Rogers has launched the Unlimited Student Plan which offers unlimited features that matter the most to students and teenagers including unlimited messaging and unlimited social networking. Also, for students that purchase a UMA enabled phone. They will be allowed to make unlimited calls through their WiFi connection and not have it deducted from their monthly bucket limit.

Real question is, are there any unlimited data plans or unlimited local calling plans available yet? No. So why call it the “Unlimited” student and family plan? Hmm. Tricky tricky…

[Source via: RedBoard]

The anticipated Android phone coming from Samsung that was released on AT&T in the United States is finally hitting Rogers. The Samsung Galaxy S Captivate is the new Android and Social View phone and will be hitting Rogers in a few weeks. No specific date or pricing as of yet but we’ll keep you up to date when it gets closer to launching.

[Source via: RedBoard]

Looks like Rogers is unloading multiple phones just before the start of school. This includes the Motorola Flipout which features a 5 row flip out QWERTY keyboard, MOTOBLUR, a 3.0 megapixel camera and runs on Android 2.1. Rogers has also released the new BlackBerry Curve 9300. Essentially, the 9300 is the same as the BlackBerry Curve 8350 except with 3G and the silver bezel. I’d personally hold off until the Torch 9800 comes but some might not like touchscreens.

The famous and mysterious 9800 has been announced by the 4 Canadian carriers and the name of it will be called the Torch. The Torch includes a fairly large 3.2 inch touchscreen with a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard as well and will be running RIM’s newest OS6.0.

Features include:

-A 5 megapixel camera
-Built-in GPS and Wi-Fi
-A new web browser
-Enhanced multimedia features for video, music, pictures and podcasts
-The new Social Feeds app for managing multiple social networks
-4 GB built-in memory plus microSD slot for memory cards up to 32 GB
-Tri-band HSDPA (3G) and quad-band EDGE support

No information on when its going to be released. Only info is “in a couple of weeks.” I’m definitely jumping for it. Are you?

Here are official statements from each carrier:

Bell – The new BlackBerry® Torch™ 9800 smartphone with BlackBerry® 6 will be coming this fall to Bell Mobility. And because apps work best on the best network, Bell clients will enjoy using the BlackBerry 9800 Torch to access impressive mobile services from Bell like TV, radio, Remote PVR, Visual Voicemail, GPS Navigator and more. We will keep you posted with more details as we get closer to availability.

Rogers – You may have seen Research in Motion’s announcement this morning unveiling the much-anticipated BlackBerry Torch 9800.  We’re excited to tell you we will carry this stylish smartphone as part of our BlackBerry lineup in the coming

TELUS – The new BlackBerry Torch 9800 with BlackBerry 6 will be coming from TELUS this year. we’ll keep you posted with more details as we get closer to launch on our network.

Virgin Mobile – new smartphone update! the blackberry torch 9800 with blackberry 6 is coming soon. stay tuned for details… http://fb.me/DAe1WKxM

Today, Rogers has announced the Apple iPhone 4 in black. Prices start at $159 on a three year contract for the iPhone 4 16gb and $269 for the 32gb. Rogers customers will also be allowed to sign up for the limited time offer of the $30 6gb plan. To find more information about the iPhone 4 as well as being eligible for a hardware upgrade, check out the Rogers Redboard

[Source via: Redboard]