We’ve heard that contrary to RIM’s guidance, some BlackBerry OS 7 smartphones will be hitting Canada before the back-to-school season. Beyond just launch windows, we’ve been hearing some pretty specific dates for Bell and Telus lately. The new BlackBerry Torch 9810 and Bold 9900 are both expected to land on Telus August 18 or 19, while the “Monaco” 9860 will stroll into town August 26, and something code-named “Bellagio” will be coming in late September. It’s probably safe to assume that last one is the Curve 9360. Bell will likely be in the same boat, since they’re sharing a network. Bell is expected to get the Bold 9900 on August 14, with the others following shortly afterwards.
The whole lot of them will be bringing faster processors, sharper screens, near-field communications, mobile Wi-Fi hotspot, and augmented reality apps thanks to a new magnetic compass. The whole family is looking nice, but whether it’s enough to satisfy consumers looking for more apps, bigger screens, and dual-core processors is another question altogether. RIM shareholders are getting antsy, and the only clear competitive move on the radar is a dual-core QNX-powered smartphone, which we won’t see until at least 2012.
Canadians, how many of you are looking to upgrade to one of these new BlackBerry handsets? Do any of them really leap out, or is Android looking just too good these days to resist?
[via BerryReview, MobileSyrup]