RIM continues to refresh its BlackBerry lineup with optical trackpads to replace the trackball “pearl” that has become almost synonymous with the BlackBerry brand. The latest BlackBerry to get the optical trackpad treatment is the BlackBerry Tour2 9650 (codename: Essex), and it’s looking good. Thanks to pics posted by BGR, we can see that the…
iPhone wins US popularity contest in 2009!
As the 2009 calendar year draws to a close, we look back at a year that was defined by smartphones and the iPhone’s arch nemesis, the Android OS. But, that doesn’t mean the iPhone has dropped of Americans’ radars. In fact, a new study from Nielson crowns the iPhone as the most popular mobile phone…
Bell Launches Visual Voicemail on BlackBerry
Good news, everyone! Visual voicemail on BlackBerry, a feature heretofore unseen north of the border, is now available to Bell Mobility customers. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, it allows you to cruise through your voicemail messages in a list, complete with dates and caller IDs, and listen to them on-demand, rather than having to…
BlackBerry Suffers Two Service Outages in One Week
Anyone on a BlackBerry will have noticed a few… irregularities in their e-mail delivery over the last couple of days. Two (some say three) separate data outages across North America have have rendered BlackBerrys as unresponsive and frustrating as their owners usually are at the dinner table. All data to and from BlackBerrys is routed…
OS 5.0.0.419 Available for the BlackBerry Storm 9530
It’s been a little while since I’ve noted any official OS updates for the BlackBerry Storm 9530. Thankfully, that’s coming to an end now as I happened to come across an update via MTS Mobility. The update is official, and brings the Storm 9530 OS up to 5.0.0.419. For all the details hit up the…
Elecite Launches New ‘Liquid’ BlackBerry Theme, and More!
The BlackBerry Theme designers at Elecite have been busy. Not only have they launched a new site, but they’ve also rigged-up a 50% sale, and have pushed a new theme out the door too. The 50% sale is on now through the 31st, and offers 50% off everything in their store. If you’ve been looking…
Kik for BlackBerry to Offer DRM-Free Music Purchasing on-Device, Plus Three Free Plays
At the BlackBerry Developer Conference last month, a really great new app called Kik made quite the splash, claiming that they would be offering DRM-free MP3 downloads directly from the device, on top of three free plays per track, with additional listening facilitated by audio ads. It was easily the best pitch of the Developer…
‘My BlackBerry Curve’ Now Available for Order
My very knowledgeable (and very funny) friend Craig Johnston has just released a new book… ‘My BlackBerry Curve’. Now available for purchase via numerous retailers, the book intends to be a full-color guide, walking you step-by-step through getting your Curve working the way you want it to. Some key topics from the book include: Getting…
BlackBerry 8520 Announced for China Mobile Alongside IM and E-Mail Services
RIM has been making some serious inroads with China lately, between locking down a distribution deal with Digital China and China Telecom, but China Mobile is still the biggest deal. They kicked off with the BlackBerry 8700 awhile back, but we haven’t heard much about other BlackBerrys available in the area (although apparently the Curve…
BlackBerry 8520 / 8530 Curve (Gemini) Review
The BlackBerry 8520 Curve, code-named “Gemini” once upon a time, is the first in a new family of optical trackpad-toting smartphones from RIM. Back in the days of the 8700, many old-schoolers cried foul when their beloved jog wheel was to be replaced with a trackball in the original Pearl 8100, but most welcomed the…