A roadmap of Wireless Giant’s upcoming BlackBerry devices has revealed a trio of RIM accessories are due to go on sale on October 31. One of them, the Cyclone, is what we’ve heard will be a TV accessory, and is described as “Streaming HDMI”. The other two, dubbed Beats and Calypso, are Wi-Fi stereo devices. Beats is a well-known audio brand and no stranger to partnerships in wireless; the HP TouchPad had Beats stereo speakers built in. The Calypso is a bit of a mystery though, and bears an identical description to the Beats.
The roadmap also includes some information on RIM’s upcoming BlackBerry 7 devices, indicating suggested prices and potential release dates. According to the roadmap, AT&T will start off with the BlackBerry 9810 on August 21 for $49.99 on contract, but won’t offer the Torch 9860 until November 6 for $149.99, the Bold 9900 on November 20 for $199.99, and the Curve 9360 on January 22 for $29.99. Sprint on the other hand is rumoured to have a much tighter launch frame: the Bold 9930 is listed for $249.99 and the the Torch 9850 for $149.99, both on August 21, the Curve Sedona on September 9, and a few colour variations launching afterwards. Finally, Verizon’s Bold 9930 looks like it might not make it out until August 25 for $199.99, Torch 9850 is penciled in for September one with a $149.99 price point, followed up by the Curve Sedona for $99.99 on September 15. No mention of T-Mobile, though they’ve confirmed that they will at least offer the Bold 9900.
While it would be cool if RIM expanded on their Bluetooth stereo gateway accessory with something more all-inclusive (and maybe even connect with their upcoming music service to offer something comparable to Sonos), I’m still confused why RIM hasn’t adopted DLNA in their latest devices. Being able to share media directly to Wi-Fi-enabled home entertainment systems is best done when it’s not bogged down by middle-man accessories. Still, not everybody has a TV with Wi-Fi built in, and until it becomes ubiquitous, accessories like these will have a market.
[via CB]