Verizon’s BlackBerry Curve 8530 isn’t quite on sale yet – you’ll have to wait until November 20th for that – but Sprint would like you to know that they’ll also be offering the QWERTY smartphone. The Sprint BlackBerry Curve 8530 gets the same WiFi, GPS, 2-megapixel camera and EVDO Rev.A connectivity, which means the only thing really lacking right now is a price and a release date.
Verizon’s second smartphone announcement this morning is one for the heavy messengers (no, we’re not talking about fat couriers): the BlackBerry Curve 8530, tipped as dropping this month back in August. The Curve 8530 has not only EVDO Rev.A but WiFi b/g and GPS, together with a full QWERTY keyboard and 2-megapixel digital camera.
Bargain hunters looking for a new ultraportable this Christmas could do well to hold off until the new year, as ASUS CEO Jerry Shen has announced the company plans to launch an Android-based Smartbook in Q1 2010 that could be priced at around $180. ASUS were among the companies demonstrating Smartbook prototypes – based on Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor – back in June, but since then have downplayed their involvement with the format.
There’s not just a new OS for the Verizon BlackBerry Storm today, but official word on when the touchscreen smartphone’s successor will arrive on shelves. This coming Wednesday, October 28th, will mark the Verizon BlackBerry Storm2’s arrival, with the handset priced at $179.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and assuming a new, two-year agreement.
Your hard-earned dollars get you a 3.25-inch 480 x 360 capacitive touchscreen with the latest iteration of RIM’s SurePress technology, both EVDO Rev.A and UMTS/HSPA 2100 (the latter for travelling), and WiFi b/g, along with OS 5.0 and a total of 18GB of storage (2GB internal; 16GB via included microSD card). Around the back there’s a 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera with image stabilization and flash, and a 1,400mAh replaceable battery good, Verizon claim, for up to 5.5hrs talktime or 11.2 days standby.
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The long-awaited firmware update for the original Verizon BlackBerry Storm 9530 has arrived, and OS 5.0 brings with it the promise of greater stability, new flick-gestures in the Storm's browser, and other usability tweaks. Early user feedback suggests that the new software makes the Storm a whole lot more usable, with noticeably reduced delay between application changes.
After rumors earlier this year about a BlackBerry Bluetooth watch, now CrackBerry have managed to acquire some renders of what’s tipped to be the wrist-worn peripheral itself. Believed to be called the inPulse, the watch won’t be made by or for RIM and won’t carry the BlackBerry logo, but it will be designed especially to work with the messaging-friendly smartphones.
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When Blackberry first unveiled its touchscreen only Storm it was hard to get away from the ads and commercials showing the new device off. Once the reviews came out and people realized that the Storm was one of the worst Blackberry devices ever, those who purchased were left with a handset that wasn't up to the typical Blackberry standards.
It’s beginning to get a little ridiculous now: after Walt Mossberg reviews the BlackBerry Storm 2 ahead of any official confirmation by RIM themselves that the device actually exists, now Vodafone UK have announced that they’ll be the first network to offer the second-generation touchscreen smartphone. Available to preorder from today, and with deliveries set to begin on October 26th, the Vodafone Blackberry Storm 2 9520 is priced from free with a new plan costing £35/mo ($56) upwards.
We’ll let you into a secret: embargoes are the janky, frustrating glue that keeps the tech business rolling, and it doesn’t take much to bring everything crashing down. Someone has obviously been fiddling with Walt Mossberg’s clocks, as the AllThingsD writer and generally bearded-lovely has pushed out his review of not only the Motorola CLIQ – you can read our opinion on that phone here – but of the BlackBerry Storm 2.
The review comes on the heels of Verizon’s CEO scooping RIM to their own Storm 2 announcement, as we discovered yesterday. There’s no way of knowing exactly whether Mossberg had special dispensation to publish early – it wouldn’t be the first time he’s had privileged access ahead of everyone else – but since we’re still hungry for Storm 2 details we’ll forgive him anyway.
If you’re a player in the cellphone space then the J.D. Power Wireless Satisfaction Survey is your equivalent of the Miss World contest, and it looks like once again it’s Apple wearing the smartphone crown. The iPhone took first place in the smartphone study, both in the consumer and business segments, and neatly keeping RIM’s BlackBerry range in second place.
JP
