Camera Phones Plaza

The BlackBerry Storm, the first touchscreen device ever built by Research in Motion (also known as RIM), was launched by Verizon Wireless in November 2008, as you probably know. Even if it is, undoubtedly, a very uncommon device, different from anything that you might have run into in the market, the Storm lacks a very important feature: Wi-Fi.

It’s kind of weird, because this is one feature that is characteristic to all modern smartphones that are available these days. But, great news, guys! It seems that the next generation of the BlackBerry Storm will come with what you’ve all been waiting for: the Wi-Fi.

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Unfortunately, this isn’t official, as the information comes from the guys over SlashGear, who said that “a source very close to the issue” made the confirmation of the fact that the American carrier has spectacular plans when it comes to some BlackBerry Storm updates. In other words, Verizon is preparing the second generation of the phone which is said to be brought in the spotlight later this year, in September to be more precise.

The same source added that Wi-Fi won’t be the only new feature to come on the board of the Storm 2, as the smartphone will also be equipped with other advanced features that weren’t unveiled. For the moment, the only thing we can do is to just wait, patiently, and see whether these are nothing but rumors.

(Source: unwiredview.com)

When things don’t go in the direction you want them to, when you feel like losing ground, even if you did your best in order to be successful, when you know that you shouldn’t spare any effort that could help you somehow improve your work. When something like this happens, you must resort to a strategy, a smart one if it’s possible, so that you can go back on your feet.

Now, let me give you an example of a company that understands very well how it should act in the market: RIM, the developer of the BlackBerry device.

U2, a very popular rock band, announced that Research in Motion / BlackBerry will sponsor their upcoming 360° Tour. You can find the official announcement on the band’s official website. The tour is expected to open at the Nou Camp Stadium in Barcelona. Therefore, Spanish people, prepare yourselves for the June 30.

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The U2 tour is being produced by Live Nation Global Touring and includes 14 European cities, such as Milan, Gothenburg, Amsterdam, Paris, Nice, Dublin, Chorzow, Berlin, Gelsenkirchen, London, Sheffield and Glasgow. The last one will take place at Millenium Stadium, in Cardiff, on August 22. When finishing with the European continent, the tour will move to North America, the first one being programmed for September 12, at Chicago’s Soldier Field.



I know that the news is very surprising for many of you, because you probably know that in the past the popular rock band was very fond of Apple, when the Vertigo single was used by Apple for a TV commercial for their iPod. In addition, the company released a special edition of the iPod, called U2 iPod and the iTunes U2 box set.



“This tour announcement marks the first stage of a relationship and shared vision between RIM and U2 that we expect will lead to new and innovative ways to enhance the mobile music experience on the BlackBerry platform for U2 fans”, said Paul McGuinness, U2’s manager. “We look forward to sharing more details as the relationship unfolds”.

(Source: unwiredview.com)

You’ve already got your share of Nokia’s Comes With Music and Sony Eriscsson’s PlayNow services, but it’s time for another similar service, one known under the name of Didiom. This newcomer, an all-in-one application, allows you to use your phone to access songs and playlists stored on your computer through wireless streaming.

The only thing you should do is to download Didiom to your phone and desktop and you’ll be ready to navigate the music files stored on your PC. You can stream them to over 200 phone models, including the BlackBerry Curve, for free.

Didiom is a mobile music service provider that gives you access to a list of approximately 1 million DRM-free tracks, having over a dozen content partners all over the world. You have two possibilities: you can either choose from your own music library, or you can buy and download from the Didiom Marketplace which, as I said earlier, has 1 million songs.

This means that the Didiom Marketplace lets you shop for music whenever you want and it will be directly on your phone. On the other hand, you can name your own price and download to your mobile, PC or both. The mobile download will be available to your phone and the PC download will be available online. You won’t have to pay for anything like membership or services, you will only get to pay for the music you download through Didiom’s secure credit card service.

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Basically, Didiom offers two kinds of interactive services. Music streaming from PC to a mobile device and secondly over the air streaming service just like iTunes in which users can download songs from 1 million DRM-free and legal MP3 songs. This will cost you only 89 cents per song or $9.99 per album (or a little more). The best part is that the songs you download from Didiom are in MP3 or unprotected WMA format which means you can add them to your iTunes and iPod. The bad news, on the other hand, is for all of those who have a Mac, because they will have to wait a little bit, as Didiom software is only available for use on a PC.

As I’ve said it before, this application is compatible with more than 200 phones which include BlackBerry and Windows Mobile smartphones, and still only works for US cellular networks. Didiom’s recommendation is to opt for an unlimited data plan before using this service.

(Source phonearea.net)

By the end of this year, if you’ll be one of Sprint’s customers, you’ll have the chance to get the new BlackBerry Curve 8350i phone with built-in Wi-Fi module and Group Connect capability that allows you to start instant conversations with up to 21 subscribers simultaneously, via Push-to-Talk.

"Smart phones in general, and BlackBerry products in particular, have become more important to both business people and consumers lately," said David Chamberlain, Principal Analyst with analyst firm In-Stat. "The BlackBerry Curve 8350i with PTT capability rounds out Sprint's options to fill communications needs of many industries particularly those in the blue-collar segment of construction, field services, transportation and manufacturing."

Sprint will announce the price and exact availability date for the new BlackBerry phone later this year, but from the press release we found out about all its features, so let’s see which they are.

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First of all, BlackBerry Curve 8350i uses the iDEN technology developed by no other than Motorola, the inventor of cell phones. This technology enabled trunked radio and cellular telephone, gathering several users in a spectral space, in a larger number compared to 2-way radio systems. This is done via a speech compression method and Time Division Multiple Access standard.
In addition to iDEN, the new BlackBerry phone works with the Nextel Direct Connect push-to-talk service, so you to be able to get in contact with multiple users at the same time.



"Sprint is the undisputed leader in push-to-talk services, and with the launch of the new BlackBerry Curve 8350i smartphone, we are keeping our promise of expanding the Nextel Direct Connect capabilities and options for our customers," said Danny Bowman, president of Nextel Direct Connect. "The BlackBerry Curve 8350i will be very attractive for business customers who need instant, convenient push-to-talk services to communicate now with employees, customers and suppliers but also want the capabilities of a high-end smartphone."

Like all the other models, the new BlackBerry phone, Curve 8350i, features multimedia player, wireless connectivity, Internet browsing, email, Instant Messaging, multi-tasking, GPS, A-GPS, a built-in 2MP camera with 5x digital zoom, slash and video recording, as well as Office document management, speakerphone, microSD memory slot, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP profile, and a 1400mAh battery for long talk time.

Both RIM’s Blackberry Curve 8330 and Blackberry Pearl 8130 smartphones have now pink brothers available for pre-orders at Verizon Wireless, with the shipping date set for August 15. Well, actually the Blackberry Pearl 8130 in hot pink is already available in stores, and the other model is preparing to come out too. The main target sector is students who want to stick to the fashion trends.

Those of you who plan to get one of the 2 Blackberry cell phones can forget about pink case because the entire handsets come in a light pink housing. Blackberry Curve 8330, the smallest and lightest full-QWERTY
BlackBerry smartphone, costs $99.99 if purchased online with a 2-year contract, while the Blackberry Pearl 8130 model has a price of $79.99, both after a $70 mail-in rebate.
The Curve 8330 model has push to talk, web page emailing, multi-tasking, the VZ Navigator with audible turn-by-turn directions, BroadbandAccess Connect, 96MB flash memory, 32MB RAM, and the Blackberry 4.3 Desktop Software with email, phone, SMS, browser, calendar, address book and organizers. In addition, there is support for 10 personal email accounts, remote address book look-up, and mobile Instant Messaging.

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Besides these communication capabilities, the handset also has a 2.5-inch LCD display with LED backlit and 65K colors, full QWERTY keyboard, a built-in 2MP camera with flash and video recording, media player, stereo Bluetooth, up to 8GB memory expansion slot, and provides up to 260 minutes of talk time. It measures 4.2 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches at a weight of 4.02 oz.



The other model, Blackberry Pearl 8130, has the same features but it supports up to 4GB memory via a microSD card, and a SureType QWERTY keyboard with 2 keys per button to reduce the form factor, providing 220 minutes of talk time. It doesn’t feature BroadbandAccess Connect. This capability enables laptop connectivity to the Internet via the cell phone using a cable.