Posted on 13 March 2010.
Earlier this month we showed you the first known pictures of the BlackBerry Slider. Rumor has it that the phone is going have the model number 9700a. We still do not have the specs of the device, but it looks to be a touch screen device. We will let you know what we hear as we hear it! Hit the jump for another shot
Posted in Blackberry, Featured, RIMComments (0)
Posted on 03 March 2010.
Pictures have leaked out of what seems to be a BlackBerry slider phone. We are hearing rumors that this may be the Storm3 or a whole new device. The keyboard seems to be the same as the BlackBerry 9700 and the screen looks to be a touch screen similar to the Storm. One thing is notice is that there is a trackpad on the device, which is different than the Storm2. We don’t have much details on the phone yet, but we will report it as we get it! Check out another shot after the jump.
Posted in BlackBerry OS, Blackberry, Featured, RIM, RumorComments (0)
Posted on 20 February 2010.
Quiet Storm
Ok. Let’s face it. You hated the original BlackBerry Storm and now you should have never purchased it. At the time we were all in shock that RIM hopped on the bandwagon and decided to come out with their very own touchscreen BlackBerry with hopes to become the first “iPhone killer”. Tons of propaganda was distributed. Commercial spots on national T.V. Bloggers all over the net were going crazy trying to get the latest scoop on it. It goes on and on. Reality check now. We’re human, we all make mistakes right? How many of you with the first Storm suffered from constant crashes, memory leaks, no service and misspelled words? The answer to that question should be many and if it’s not, then you’re one of the lucky ones. As always, RIM sees a way out of the situation they are in and try to improve on what needs to be done; do you think they’ve succeeded this time? The Storm2 is out and now you are currently trying to make a decision based on your feelings on the first generation Storm. Do you think that you will encounter the same issues as with the previous Storm or how about a better user experience? Hit the jump after the break to find out.
Specifications
| Size (LxWxD) | 112.5 mm x 62 mm x 13.9 mm |
| Weight (battery included) | 160 g / 5.65 oz |
| Memory | 256 MB Flash memory, 2GB eMMC |
| Expandable Memory | MicroSD located under battery door cover (up to 16 GB) |
| Battery | 1400 mAhr removable/rechargeable cryptographic Lithium cell |
| Battery Life | CDMA: 11.2 days standby, 5.5 hours of talk time GSM: 12.7 days standby, 5 hours of talk time UMTS: 11.7 days standby, 6 hours of talk time |
| Display | High-resolution 480 X 360 pixel color display 3.25″ (diagonally measured) Transmissive TFT LCD Supports over 65,000 colors Dynamic hardware brightness control |
| Camera | 3.2 MP camera, flash, auto focus, image stabilization, 2X digital zoom |
| GPS | Integrated GPS with A-GPS |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11 b/g enabled |
| Media Player | BlackBerry Media Player Video format support: MPEG4 H.263, MPEG4 Part 2 Simple Profile, H.264, WMV Audio format support: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, WMA ProPlus |
| Headset | 3.5mm stereo headset capable |
| Network | Quad-Band: 850/900/1800/1900MHz GSM/GPRS/ EDGE networks Single-Band: 2100 MHz UMTS/HSPA networks Dual-Band: 800/1900 MHz CDMA/EVDO Rev A network |
Comparing the specs and features list of the BlackBerry Storm2 to the BlackBerry Storm on a line by line basis does not actually reveal that many changes, yet the changes that have been made are significant. According to Research in Motion:
BlackBerry Storm2 refinements include:
User Interface Enhancements on Storm2 include:
Hardware
The BlackBerry Storm2 is…..no different from the Storm, but with a few minor changes. You still get the same 3.2 inch, 360×480 capacitive display (which by the way is gorgeous. RIM you sure do know how to make colors “POP”.), same form factor, and same exact size as the previous Storm. On the left side of the phone you have your newly constructed convienience key as well as the microUSB charging port. On the right there is the 3.5mm headphone jack, volume rocker and camera button. On the front side of the device is that gorgeous screen and nothing but the screen. This is where I think RIM failed at. They could’ve squeezed an extra inch or two on there. I’m guessing they were trying to go for the theater effect with the black lines surrounding the outer part of the screen. You also no longer have the gaps between the screen and the edge of the phone where you would see a light coming from the bottom and also allowed for dust to easily get in it. On the bottom of the screen you have the call/answer, BlackBerry, back and end “buttons”. The buttons are actually implemented inside of the screen itself, as with the previous Storm they were just regular buttons. Although the buttons are implemented inside the screen, they are not like the ones found on the Motorola DROID, you actually need to click on the screen to press them. At the top you have the mute and power buttons which are hardly noticeable. To the backside of the device, we have the new backdoor without the hooks at the corners. Opening and closing the backdoor feels a lot better now and you don’t have to constantly check to see if one of your hooks came off. It is a snap on/lift off combination that works and feels solid.
Screen
One of the best screens on a BlackBerry to date and still a bit awkward. Pressing the screen still feels like there’s a big button and they should just get rid of the concept. Hey RIM, follow Apple, they seem to be doing something right. What they should implement is the option to have the screen not click for those users who don’t like it. The screen is still great in some aspects though. The colors are just bright and vivid while the darks are well, dark. Pictures and videos are presented on the screen very nicely. Both the BlackBerry Storm and Storm2 have the same specifications, but the Storm2’s display seems to be more attractive. Putting the BlackBerry Storm2 beside a BlackBerry Storm, you can see that when powered off the Storm2’s display is much darker. Even when side by side, powered on watching the same music videos, the Storm2’s display is brighter, with darker blacks and whiter whites. It really is impressive.
Keyboard/Enhanced SurePress
The real ice breaker here. RIM was taking a beating, and I mean a fierce beating with comments from consumers and fellow bloggers saying the first generation of SurePress technology was horrible or getting mixed feelings. The concept is great, you’re actually clicking the screen to confirm what you are pressing and that is a little bit more better than having Haptic feedback. They also won an award at the MWC (Mobile World Congress) back in February last year, so they must be doing something right. I want to know what I’m pressing all the time, and sometimes those little vibrations aren’t as strong so you make mistakes. Don’t get me wrong, there are misspelled words sometimes, no one types perfect and the Storm2 is no exception to the latter. The Storm2 uses a different type of technology for multitouch on the screen called Piezo technology. What is Piezo technology you ask? Piezo (which is short for piezoelectricity) is the ability of some materials to generate an electric field or electric potential in response to applied mechanical stress. The word is derived from the Greek piezo or piezein, which means to squeeze or press. To sum it all up, it pretty much works with the electricity your fingers generate to produce what you are typing.
Now for the actual typing. Typing on the Storm2 feels a whole lot better than typing on the first one. Since the ability to multitouch is available, typing isn’t as hard as it was previously. Yes, it isn’t the same as typing on an actual BlackBerry keyboard, which they craft so well, but it gets the job done. You won’t be banging out texts and emails as fast like you would on a Bold, but it’ll become second nature as usual and you’ll be clicking away at a normal or faster than normal pace once you get the hang of it. I love BlackBerry keyboards. Hence, it’s the reason I purchase a BlackBerry for. Now the Storm2’s typing quality isn’t like the Bold per say, but I can tell you it is better than typing on a Curve 8300 if you felt like those keys were too small. With a little bit of practice, you should be able to type with your eyes closed. Overall, even after all that info up top about the screen and the new technology it uses, typing on this is a pain. This is something RIM really needs to look over and re-do their strategy and with a little bit more time (and one more Storm), it’ll probably become a hit. Third times the charm right?
OS 5.0
Which version are we on now? Oh yeah that’s right, 5.0. The Storm2 is installed with BlackBerry OS 5.0 right out of the box and to be honest, it really isn’t all that of an update. When you start the device up, you are now greeted with the new BlackBerry loading screen. No longer do you have to see the hourglass spin around for approximately 7 minutes. It’s plain and simple. The screen is all black with BlackBerry right in the middle of the screen as well as a loading bar to the south of it. Start-up doesn’t take that long now due to the RAM (256MB) that is being equipped with the newer BlackBerries. Its almost half the time as loading from OS 4.7 which is a big improvement. After the Storm2 performs all of its necessary security checks and finishes loading, you are greeted with the home screen to your ‘berry. Clicking the screen in brings you to the full menu of all the apps available on your Storm. The first thing you notice after clicking in the screen is the little animation transitioning you from one screen to another. It looks as if you are warped into the next screen and thanks to 5.0, you see that in every transition. Opening the menus are snappy and fluid with no lag at all. Scrolling up and down also shows 5.0’s smoothness especially in the contacts section. Applications are also snappy while opening them. Are you getting the picture here? These are 2009 BlackBerries we talking about here, 256MB RAM, 600 MHz processors, 3.2 MP Cameras, 1GB (2GB in this case) built in storage. RIM is doing it big here and they are continuing the trend into 2010. These are all great but that is just a pinch of what RIM is offering in OS 5.0, here are the rest of the improvements :
All BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) devices running OS 5.0 will get an updated Web browser with more accurate AJAX rendering, faster JavaScript processing, and BlackBerry Widget support—including Google Gears and SQLite for BlackBerry Widgets. Those devices will also get threaded SMS chats.
Companies running BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0—originally released back in May—will see several additional improvements on BlackBerry OS 5.0-equipped devices. They include follow-up flags for e-mail messages; e-mail folder management; the ability to view, edit, save, or e-mail documents from remote file shares; calendar appointment forwards and attachment viewing; and wireless contact sync for multiple folders, distribution lists, and Public/Shared folder contacts.
The touch screen-equipped BlackBerry Storm 9530 and Storm2 9550 get inertial scrolling and bounce-back; improved typing accuracy (even with the older 9530 screen, though obviously not the actuator-related improvements on the newer device); improved auto-correct; cute spinning UI boxes for setting dates and times; and more attractive buttons and other UI animations.
Finally, anyone working on apps for BlackBerry handsets will likely be thrilled with the latest BlackBerry Java Application Development Tools. The new v5.0 Beta 3 release adds new APIs that will let programmers create apps that hook into address book contacts, create more sophisticated push applications, hook into the GPS radio to grab the user’s current location, and more robust user interface and menu customization.
There are other things RIM improved on in 5.0 such as threaded SMS (which was a highly anticipated upgrade BlackBerry users were anxiously patiently waiting for), better web browser although it still isn’t in the same league as the iPhone’s WebKit based browser but we should see vast improvement to the browser with the purchase of Torch Mobile and BBM 5.0 which includes contact backup with whichever email address is synced to your BlackBerry. RIM has been at work for a while on this OS and they’ve shed their blood, sweat and tears into making this release of 5.0 worthwhile. Kudos RIM.
Conclusion
With all of the choices to choose from, it seems that RIM is going for three things at one time: 1. Power User|Crackberry Addict 2. Multimedia User 3. First Time Users. Which category does the Storm2 fit into? Number two obviously. Power users will take a look at the Storm2 and all of its beauty, but will go for the more suitable Bold instead. It is not to disrespect the Storm2, but people still don’t feel as if the Storm2 belongs in that category. Yes it is true that multimedia devices are making its ways into corporate offices (iPhone), but how many corporate buildings and offices are allowing devices with cameras to enter the area? Still not a lot. The BlackBerry Storm2 is one of RIM’s best devices to date and there shouldn’t be any second thoughts about purchasing this one like there was the first one. This time around RIM listened to the regular consumer who doesn’t want to carry around two devices for their personal preferences. They’ve installed a very stable upgrade to their aging OS as well as equipping it with a bright and extremely vivid screen for video purposes with great speakers. The aim for having the number one device sold in the world does belong to RIM with the Curve 8300 being their sole leader in sales and the iPhone right behind it in second place, but it looks like they’re aiming to get the top spot with all their phones. Til we meet again next November?
Posted in BlackBerry OS, Blackberry, Devices, Featured, RIM, Reviews, VerizonComments (1)
Posted on 16 February 2010.
We all know that the BlackBerry browser needs a major overhaul. When comparing it to the iPhone browser, it is just pathetic. For that reason, RIM previewed their new Webkit Browser at Mobile World Congress this morning. The RIM executives say that this browser renders pages faster than the current browser. However, notice in the YouTube video that the phone is using Wi-Fi so don’t use it as a speed test. This browser will be available sometime this year.
Posted in BlackBerry OS, Blackberry, RIMComments (0)
Posted on 11 February 2010.
Today RIM sent out Twitter for BlackBerry beta invites to a few lucky BlackBerry users. There are many third party Twitter applications like UberTwitter and SocialScope, but the difference with this one is that it is made by RIM. With some neat features like integrating your replies and direct messages into the Messages folder on your BlackBerry, this client may make its way to the most popular Twitter client. Check out the video after the jump.
Posted in Applications, BlackBerry OS, Blackberry, RIMComments (0)
Posted on 23 January 2010.
Rogers dropped another color choice for the Curve 8520. Looks like RIM is starting to pay more attention to teenagers, not a bad choice. The BlackBerry Curve 8520 will now be available in White, Lavender and Black. Prices still stay the same at $49.99 on a 3 year voice+data plan. The White 8520 is not currently available on the Rogers site but can be purchased at most Rogers Wireless or Rogers Plus stores (depending on their stock).
[Source via CrackBerry]
Posted in Blackberry, Canada Carriers, Devices, RIM, RogersComments (0)
Posted on 09 January 2010.
RIM announced the upcoming release of the BlackBerry Presenter at CES this week. The BlackBerry Presenter is a unit that connects directly into a projector or monitor and allows BlackBerry users to deliver PowerPoint presentations right from their BlackBerry’s. The BlackBerry connects to the presenter through bluetooth which make it easy to walk around when giving the presentation, not being connected with cords. The BlackBerry presenter will be available by the end of this month and will cost $199. Check out our hands-on below!
Posted in Blackberry, CES, RIMComments (0)
Posted on 31 December 2009.
Amazon has created a extremely popular device called the Kindle. The Kindle allows users to download e-books and read them on a portable around device. Amazon later expanded the Kindle making it a free iPhone application, where users can purchase books via the application. But Amazon left BlackBerry users out of the loop, supporting only iPhone devices with their application. However, today Amazon announced that the Kindle device is coming soon to BlackBerry devices. It is offering user the chance to be notified upon its release by leaving their emails.
Posted in Applications, BlackBerry OS, Blackberry, Featured, RIMComments (2)
Posted on 24 December 2009.
It’s the most wonderful tiiime of the year. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We’ve all heard that before. For this month, that doesn’t seem to be the case. RIM has seemed to epically fail once again. Three times in one month and two times in one week, their services has shut down and CrackBerry BlackBerry users are in disgust; and Tuesday’s outage once again affected all U.S carriers as well as our next door neighbors in Canada as well. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I’m a fool. The third time, I don’t know anymore. BlackBerry BES/BIS users have been widely affected this whole year with outages from RIM’s servers. The one thing that is supposed to work and have vital reliability for heavy Enterprise users, is starting to show a pattern is making people everywhere wonder, “Should I keep this”? Here is what RIM had to say about the outage:
A service interruption occurred Tuesday that affected BlackBerry customers in the Americas. Message delivery was delayed or intermittent during the service interruption. Phone service and SMS services on BlackBerry smartphones were unaffected. Root cause is currently under review, but based on preliminary analysis, it currently appears that the issue stemmed from a flaw in two recently released versions of BlackBerry Messenger (versions 5.0.0.55 and 5.0.0.56) that caused an unanticipated database issue within the BlackBerry infrastructure. RIM has taken corrective action to restore service.
RIM has also provided a new version of BlackBerry Messenger (version 5.0.0.57) and is encouraging anyone who downloaded or upgraded BlackBerry Messenger since December 14th to upgrade to this latest version which resolves the issue. RIM continues to monitor its systems to maintain normal service levels and apologizes for any inconvenience to customers.
Yes, it’s understandable that RIM has gone from just being a corporate brand to becoming a household name, but you have to admit that they should have expected this with the release of the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 that regular consumers would start to enter the BlackBerry realm. Eventually I think RIM will figure it out, until then, pray that this doesn’t happen on New Years Eve. 
(Update) We’ve gotten sporadic reports today that BlackBerry service — possibly just BIS — has been down for at least a period today, which would amazingly mark the fourth time a serious outage has occurred in RIM’s fortress in just the past several weeks. That’s bad for any device, but it’s particularly tragic for a platform that has staked its reputation on reliability. What’s everyone seeing out there right now? RIM, when will you learn?
Source: Engadget Mobile
Posted in AT&T, Bell, BlackBerry OS, Blackberry, Canada Carriers, Devices, Fido, RIM, Rogers, Sprint, T-Mobile, Telus, VerizonComments (0)
Posted on 16 December 2009.
The BlackBerry 9650 Essex, the Tour’s successor, has been spotted with Sprint branding. The major difference between the current Tour and the 9650 is the trackpad, which is now featured on the new Curve and Bold. There is no release date available to the public yet but we can assume that it is coming up now that branded phones are getting seeded out.
Posted in BlackBerry OS, Blackberry, Featured, RIM, SprintComments (0)
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