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Rogers LTE hits 18 new regions, delivers speedy data in Saskatoon
Rogers promised that October 1st would be a grand day for its LTE expansion plans, and we're now learning that it might have been underpromising to overdeliver later. The carrier just flicked the 4G switch for 18 cities and regions, or eight more territories than it had promised just two weeks ago. Most of the coverage still focuses on the southern tip of Ontario, including London, the Oshawa area and RIM's hometown of Waterloo, but there's a much more trans-Canada bent to the official deployment. Western cities like Saskatoon and Victoria now fit into Rogers' LTE map beyond a previously announced Edmonton, while the Quebec rollout is going past Quebec City to include Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières. All told, the one day of growth is enough to supply Rogers LTE to almost 60 percent of Canada's population -- a convenient figure when one of the year's more important LTE smartphones just became available less than two weeks prior. [Thanks, Jon]
Video: RIM's BlackBerry Tour respectfully torn to bits, reassembled
We've already given you our thoughts on RIM's BlackBerry Tour, but our warm hearts just wouldn't let us take the crowbar to it. Thankfully, the tool-wielding fiends over at GSM Phone Unlocking are a bit more calloused, as they've decided to dissect and reassemble the aforementioned smartphone in a nail-biting 5 minute, 38 second YouTube clip. Head on past the break if you're interested in seeing the innards of Verizon's newest 'Berry, but unless you're ready to rock, we'd recommend nailing the mute button first.[Thanks, Omnifox]
Verizon BlackBerry Tour review
It's here, folks. The BlackBerry Tour has been unboxed, and now that we've had a few days to mess around with it, we're able to tell you how we truly and deeply feel. There have been countless leaks and unofficial reviews circulating for the past few months, but now that it's finally legit we can give this sexy piece of tech a proper shakedown. It's been roughly described as a CDMA Bold, but does it surpass its GSM counterpart? Read on to find out!
BlackBerry Tour retailing for six bills on Bell?
MSRPs of phones ultimately don't mean a whole hell of a lot to consumers; carriers can play with rebates, instant discounts, and subsidies on an almost daily basis, and a $600 phone can end up ringing up at $300, $150, a big fat zilch, or anywhere in between depending on how things work out. That said, it's interesting to see that the upcoming -- and wildly-anticipated, may we add -- BlackBerry Tour 9630 has apparently been priced at CAD $599.95 (about $511) for launch on Canada's Bell. Thing is, we still don't know when it's going down; it could be before, after, or at the same time as Verizon, but we don't even know with certainty when Big Red's launching yet, so this is all still shrouded in some of the best mystery Waterloo has to offer. Hurry up, guys -- goodness knows you've got some anxious fans with plastic ready to swipe in their outstretched hands.
Verizon calling BlackBerry 8230 Pearl Flip the "Apex"?
We've even mentioned it on the podcast -- RIM's naming convention is starting to get confusing, especially in the crowded 8000 range where you've got both an 8230 and an 8320 to worry about (and they're very different phones). TheStreet is claiming that RIM will introduce both the 9630 Tour and a flip phone -- the Apex -- at the company's WES conference next week; we have a very, very hard time believing that Verizon would launch multiple flip BlackBerrys in a short span of time, so that leads us to the logical deduction that the rumored 8230 Pearl Flip will come to be known as the Apex. Makes you wonder how Alltel, Bell, and Telus feel about that, doesn't it?[Via Unwired View]
Verizon tidbits: Storm firmware saga continues, Niagara is the Tour, and more
We're getting a few tasty little morsels seeping out of the Verizon camp this morning, and we just wanted to pass them along -- nothing Earth-shattering here, but Niagara fans are definitely going to want to learn a new term: The BlackBerry 9630 Niagara will definitely be known as the Tour. (Boy Genius Report now has it pegged for July at $199, which certainly seems plausible.) The next BlackBerry Storm firmware will be released in May (we're still expecting this to be 113 until we hear otherwise). Update: 4.7.0.141 is circulating within the company now, so that might be our golden build! The Voyager's replacement -- the VX11000 -- will be known as the enV Touch. The carrier is "investigating" raising the 5GB cap on its data plan with the LTE rollout, since subscribers will presumably be consuming more.
BlackBerry Niagara 9630 OS 4.7.1 previewed: good mix of Storm and Bold features, OS 5.0 in disguise?
We know you're hungry for some more details on the BlackBerry Niagara 9630, so here we go. Crackberry's released the second part of its impressions with the device, this time focusing on the OS 4.7.1 that they note functions like a hybrid of the Storm's OS 4.7 and Bold / Curve 8900's OS 4.6. Features lovingly borrowed from the SurePress-equipped touchscreen include app switching by pushing down the menu key, trackball gestures in the photo gallery, a revised profiles menu, bubblier boxes in the options menu, and possibly a new memory manager within the media center. On their own, these all seem pretty minor, but they add up to a much more pleasant experience. Judging by the preview, it looks it's still shaping up to be one of the best 'berry's you can buy. The CB crew conjecture this might actually be the upcoming OS 5.0 in disguise, judging by their similarities. We'll find out for sure sometime in May, when we can get our hands on the phone and can check that version number ourselves.
BlackBerry Niagara 9630 reviewed in all its prerelease glory
Most of us are going to have to wait until at least May to get our hands on a 9630, but for well-connected individuals whose blogs rhyme with "Soy Beanius Report," patience isn't in the vocabulary. BGR's gone and landed a 9630 and put it through its hybrid CDMA / GSM paces, and in short, it sounds like it's a phone worth waiting for (not to say you've got many other options if you're tied to Sprint or Verizon anyhow). Voice quality is described as "the best phone we've ever used," battery life seems to be enough to get through a full day of use (and we wouldn't be surprised to see this get better as the firmware continues to get tweaked ahead of launch), the screen is as good as the Bold's amazing example, and the keyboard is "just right." What's amazing is that RIM's managed to package all of this action into a device considerably smaller than the Bold -- and if only they'd manage to throw in WiFi, it seems like we might be looking at the closest thing to BlackBerry perfection here. Verizon, Sprint, your move.
BlackBerry 9630 Niagara headed to Verizon in May?
"Buckle up folks," because if the TheStreet actually has any, er, street cred, then it looks like the BlackBerry 9630 Niagara might very well be hitting Verizon Wireless by May. Citing omnipotent BlackBerry gods / "analysts familiar with the plan," the oft leaked device should indeed be landing fairly soon. Obviously, no word on price or even an official acknowledgment that the damn thing exists from RIM, but this latest intel -- coupled with whispers we've heard of hardware finalization -- makes us think that this is definitely nearing release. We just hope they can at least make the phone turn on (and stay on) by the time they get it to market.
BlackBerry "Niagara" 9630 given yet another pre-release shakedown
Man, RIM's just full of leaks when it comes to the purported next CDMA BlackBerry, and as long as they're not memory leaks, we don't think we'll be complaining. CrackBerry has somehow managed to secure yet another pre-release device, and this time it's none other than the CDMA Bold / Curve 8900 / Storm hybrid. Like we saw with the latest Mr. Blurrycam video review (and all those other leaked pics) the keyboard sure looks to be a real winner and to quote CB, it's "the optimal solution." The form factor is also described as "awesome" and its narrower size made it even nicer to hold than the Bold. Unfortunately, this particular device was running -- or trying to run -- OS 4.7.1.10, which is basically a dummy phone equivalent at this point, while .17 is purportedly available somewhere in the Great White North. We've heard that the hardware has indeed been finalized, and that RIM is mass producing these like crazy -- and if they can get the software to match what we've seen of the hardware, it looks like they're going to have another winner on their hands.
Sprint's 2009 roadmap comes to light, packed with goodies
There aren't terribly many surprises in the latest roadmap docs leaked out of Sprint, but there are a couple -- and we finally have some target launch windows around a few of the more anticipates devices we've been expecting this year. Perhaps least surprisingly, the Palm P100 -- that's the Pre for you lay folk -- is still on track for the second quarter of the year, which could mean anything between April and June. Staying in the landscape QWERTY smartphone realm, we'll see the HTC Cedar (or Willow, depending on which slide you're looking at) and a new Samsung Ace -- creatively named the Ace II -- in the second and third quarters, respectively. The landscape HTC Rhodium will likely replace the Touch Pro in the third quarter, and the hotly (and we do mean hotly) anticipated BlackBerry Niagara will be hitting in the same three-month period.Things are getting interesting down in the dumbphone realm, too, with both the Instinct Mini and a true Instinct successor -- the Dash with an HVGA display -- in the pipe. The Sanyo 2700, dual-slide Samsung Cello, and the Samsung Chianti (which looks suspiciously like a Propel) will all follow the Rumor 2 down the text-centric path, and a handful of new ultra-basic devices will fill in the bottom of the range. For data, Sprint will be launching Novatel's totally awesome MiFi portable hotspot, which warms our hearts. What doesn't warm our hearts is the utter void of Android devices here -- but we can hold out hope, and as always, all of this is subject to change. Stay tuned![Via Boy Genius Report]
Video: BlackBerry 9630 Niagara shown off... and on, and off again
As if the both sets of pictures weren't enough to give you a glimpse at the BlackBerry 9630 "Niagara," now CrackBerry forums member salisa.m has graced us mortals with some honest-to-goodness video of the thing in all its rebooting glory. Of course -- in the tradition of all things leaked -- the video's got a good amount of blurriness, but it's not like we haven't seen it before. Apparently this 'Berry's rocking OS 4.7.1.10 -- not 4.6 like its sibling the Bold -- but it's got a "very likable Bold keyboard" albeit with a bit smaller keys. The back battery cover looks to be a piano-like carbon fiber plastic with a new hinge design to prevent dust accumulation, and it's described as being very light and sleek. Unfortunately, the OS was super buggy, and the videographer couldn't even get the device fully powered on for a tour of Verizon's presumably tweaked software -- but with this latest torrent of information over the past few days, we're sure that we'll be seeing a lot more of this bad boy in the not-so-distant future.
BlackBerry 9630 Niagara pops up in more glamorous spy shots
Ladies and gentlemen, we now present even more shots of the CDMA-equipped BlackBerry 9630 Niagara that was caught strutting its stuff earlier this month. Not only is the phone turned on this time, but we've also caught it lying across some shagadelic leopard print. Additionally, the fine folks over at the Crackberry forums have a couple of less stylish pics, allegedly uploaded by someone trying to hawk the phone on craigslist for a cool $800. Those images show off what appears to be a battery slot on the back that's slimmer than current models. Until RIM decides to give us some official visuals, we remain ever-hopeful that someone with the leaked phone manages a sexier photo shoot. More spy shots, including that of the mobile's underside, after the break.[Via Boy Genius Report]Read - Device-on photoRead - Pics of underside
RIM's BlackBerry 9630 World Edition finally strikes a pose
Finally, an honest to goodness picture of what may well be the sweetest BlackBerry RIM has pushed out to date. Featuring keyboard styling taken from its chubbier friend, the BlackBerry Bold, and the sleeker lines of the Curve 8900, this certainly looks like a recipe for success. If you're a BlackBerry user on Verizon, we'd say major celebration is in order if this wanders your way in the near future. We still only have the info we posted last week about it, but as the hype spins up, we expect the leaks will, too.
Is RIM's BlackBerry 9630 Niagara headed to Verizon as World Edition?
Sure, the pic's getting old at this point, but according to the Boy Genius Report, we may not have too much longer to wait to catch the 9630 Niagara in the wild. The radio department in the 9630 is filled to busting -- or slowly warming your face -- with CDMA, EV-DO Rev.A, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, and UMTS, with the GSM flavors getting the quad-band treatment. The rumored OS at launch is 4.7.1, though if delayed enough, it could pull through with OS 5.0. The last tidbits in the list are a 3.2 megapixel shooter -- and maybe a version without -- and the depressing news of no specific release date. Though, If we were Verizon and were sitting on this, you'd like to think that our timeline to launch would be as soon as frickin' possible.
More of Motorola's 2009 Verizon lineup leaked
Apparently the Motorola leak-fest begun yesterday hasn't come to a halt. After witnessing some compelling renders of smartphones the company has headed to Verizon, we're now privy to a set of featurephone / dumbphone mockups -- all courtesy of the Boy Genius Report. The new images show off a device supposedly called the "Niagra" (pictured), a slider in the vein of yesterday's "Calgary" QWERTY phone, a dowdy looking number called the "Fairbanks" (a PTT device), and a clamshell called the "Harmony." The latter two phones could hardly stoke much excitement, but the Niagra definitely gives us some hope for Moto's big comeback. Now -- these will all be powered by Android, right?
Blackberry 9000 to come in EV-DO and EDGE versions codenamed Javelin and Niagara
We already got a somewhat vague peek at the 3G-less Blackberry 9000, but it looks like there are actually two upcoming models of RIM's new hotness on the board -- the EDGE version we know about, codenamed Niagara, and an EV-DO edition codenamed Javelin, slated for Verizon. Boy Genius managed to unearth quite a bit more information on these two, and unsurprisingly, they're basically the same as the 9000 we've already seen. Both have a 480 x 320 half-VGA screen, GPS functionality and 3.2 megapixel camera, but only the EDGE-based Niagara gets Wi-Fi. Of course, there aren't any ship dates or prices in the offing yet, but hopefully we'll know more soon.
BlackBerry 9000 to come in cheaper, 3G-less version
Apparently, RIM is a bit worried that the rumored high price-point for the forthcoming BlackBerry 9000 might be a bit too steep for some, and plans to offer a budget version -- sans 3G. According to the Boy Genius, an almost identical model of the next-gen phone will be available without high-speed data, and will have a slightly different bezel and back casing (which he's gotten a picture of, seen up above) -- though we're not sure why they'd go to the trouble of making a different body when only the guts will change. Clearly it's one of life's mysteries we weren't meant to understand.
Silicon Knights expanding with Canadian business incentives
Despite Silicon Knights being in the middle of a major lawsuit, the company still needs to make finish games and do business. The Too Human developer is planning to add 80 employees to its studio thanks in part to a Canadian initiative called the Niagara Interactive Media Generator (nGen), which seeks to "nurture a new generation of interactive entertainment companies."The Welland Tribune reports nGen is a partnership that includes Brock University, Niagara College, regional and city governments, Niagara Economic Development Corp. and the Niagara Enterprise Agency. The Ministry of Culture will provide $245,000 to nGen's two-year $560,000 budget. Hopefully Silicon Knights will put those kids to work fast and finally get Too Human out the door sometime in '08.[Via GameDaily]