One more tidbit of Canadian mobile news before I take a breather over here. Best Buy Mobile has confirmed that the TELUS (NYSE: TU) HTC Snap and HTC Touch Pro2 are ‘coming soon’. Rumored pricing to purchase the HTC Snap outright is sitting at $449.99, while the Touch Pro2 is coming in at $549.99.
No launch details for the Snap or Touch Pro2 were revealed, but in the flyer above, all details within are ‘good until July 30th’. So, chances are we’ll see all 3 of these devices before then. In fact, the TELUS BlackBerry Tour is scheduled to drop on July 15th (starting at $249.99 on a 3-year contract), so we could very well see all three devices launched on that date. That said, I’d lean more towards a solo Tour launch on the 15th, with the Snap and Touch Pro2 coming sometime between the 16th and the 31st. We’ll see!
This one caught my eye the other day… thought there may be a few Curve 8900 or Bold 9000 users out there wanting to give this the once-over. Designed by Ahead of the Curve Designs, their new Premium Fusion theme features custom fonts and icons, and is very sharp, clean, and easy to use. Six user-selectable home screen icons are also built into this one as a nifty feature.
Official description:
This theme is all business! Featuring my newest Icon Set-Fusion; this combines my favorites of the precision icons with an all new icon set. The Home and Applications Screens are unlocked allowing you to change the images to your favorite wallpaper. The Message List Screen is set to device default letting the end user choose their preferred font.
Not sure if any copies are left, but BerryReview is running a 40% off sale on this theme (regular price $6.99) for the first 50 copies sold. Check out either the 8900 or 9000 version of the theme and enter coupon code ‘BRdiscount’. Hopefully it works for ya!
Just received note from our friends at Bplay that ALL products are on sale at Bplay… 30% off that is. All you need to do is enter coupon code ‘JULY‘ on checkout. This sale is on now, through July 6th, so go ahead and check out all of the BlackBerry gaming goodness before it’s too late!
Important Note: This offer is not eligible for Bill to Phone (direct billing) or in-game purchases… and Bplay tells me some products are not eligible for this offer. Bummer I know. Bottom line, add what you want to your cart, enter the coupon code, and hope that the discount applies
Apparently the folks at News Corp are considering a change for its Wall Street Journal App for iPhone and BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM). The change? New features and options? Nope, the change would be making the app a paid one.
WSJ.com has been surveying users regarding willingness to pay for the app, but any results from these surveys is unclear. The WSJ has a policy of ‘never sharing results publicly’, so I suppose we’ll assume the results land on the free side of things, that is, up until the app goes paid, if it ever does. No potential pricing structures are available for the WSJ App, but I would imagine we’ll hear more about this soon.
Interestingly enough, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has added some new billing options with the 3.0 Firmware update. Subscription payments are now very much a reality. Also, developers and publishers can charge for additional content found within an app. I’m yet to notice this first-hand from any of the apps I’m currently running… But rest assured the newspaper apps are looking into these options diligently.
This is a tough one for me. I know there will be a segment of die-hard users that enjoy the WSJ app so much that they’ll unquestionably pay for it… But for myself, saying ‘yeah, take it for free, and use it as much as you want!’… And then a year or so later pulling the ‘OK, now you’ve gotta pay for it, $2.99 per month please!’… That just leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Either charge me up-front for it, or offer an initial ‘lite’ version with limited features that tempts me to pay up for a full version if I like what I see. Hopefully if News Corp makes the move to paid, the current version of the WSJ app turns into a ‘lite’ version, with fewer features and options than a new, paid version.
I better stop here or I’ll ramble on forever…
Your thoughts? Would you pay a flat fee and/or a subscription for full use of the WSJ app? Or would that turn you off completely?
While most eyes are on the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Tour 9630 prepping for a launch next month, it seems like the 8520 Curve (code-named Gemini) is getting ready to blast out of the gates as well. T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) is rumoured to pick up the EDGE-only 8520 around August 5th., but given we’re seeing FCC filings now, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the new Curve dropping this month. While the ho-hum specs might deter some (320 x 240 screen, Wi-Fi, 2 megapixel camera with no flash), the 8520’s style will likely be the key selling point: new media keys on the top, rubberized buttons, and, of course, a new touchpad to replace the trackball. Hopefully those specs will keep the price point down, but we haven’t heard any specifics as of yet. You can take a look at the full FCC filing here, if you’re into that kind of thing.
It seems like it’s been a little while since I’ve done a BlackBerry OS update! Today, I’ve got another, and it’s for the Pearl 8100, 8110, 8120, Curve 8300, 8310, 8320, AND the 8800 and 8820. Yikes, that was a lot ‘o Berries.
OS 4.5.0.161 has been released for all of the above BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) devices, via Hutchinson. Thankfully these are official releases, so if you plan on upgrading you can take piece of mind from that. As always, be sure to back up your device and take all necessary precautions before you proceed.
Here she is, a video look at the promo kit Bell stores have received for the BlackBerry Tour 9630. All sorts of Tour goodness is contained within, including the much requested beach ball (really, I have no idea why a beach ball is in there). But seriously, all sorts of promo materials are found inside. I’d LOVE to get my hands on the dummy phone, for some reason I get a kick out of ‘em.
Looks like BGR has managed to get his hands on an internal document/memo from Bell. Yesterday it was dummy devices and promo materials, today we have this! You can check out full details of the document after the jump… But for now a confirmed launch of the Bell BlackBerry Tour will come July 17th, with full retail set at $699.95. Expensive for sure, but keep in mind that’s full retail. If you’re willing to sign your life away for three years, you may be able to get the Tour for somewhere in the $200 - $250 region. We’ll see.
Ok lets see… Yeah we’ve got Bell and Telus, yeah… oh, and Sprint and Verizon has been all up in the news in the last little bit.. Who are we missing… What? Alltel is on the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Tour scene as well!? Yep!
Looks like good ‘ol Kevin over at CrackBerry has scored a few ’spy shots’ from a source that wishes to remain anonymous. Notice the Alltel branding on the 9630, in all its glory. No details on pricing or launch date, but I think we can safely say the device will be coming real soon… and should hit us somewhere around the $199.99 price point.
Just received note from our friends at Bplay that ALL products are on sale at Bplay… 30% off that is. All you need to do is enter coupon code ‘
Okay, 
While most eyes are on the BlackBerry (
It seems like it’s been a little while since I’ve done a 
