Camera Phones Plaza

The first name the BlackBerry Curve 8520 was baptized with was BlackBerry Gemini, but now, that the handset has just become official, the name changed. There were too many months of imprecise information, of leaked pictures and of lists of features that we couldn’t take for granted.

I don’t know which details you took seriously, but what you should have taken is the fact that the BlackBerry Curve 8520 is the first to have been designed by Research in Motion and to come with an optical trackpad, which replaced the trackball.

The features of the new handset include “a highly tactile full-QWERTY keyboard”, Wi-Fi for fast Web browsing and for Wi-Fi calling, the touch-sensitive optical trackpad, a 2 megapixel digital camera equipped with zoom and video recording capabilities, voice activated dialing, Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity, media player (music, pictures and videos), dedicated media keys, 3.5mm stereo headset jack, the BlackBerry Media Sync, 256MB flash memory and a 512Mhz processor, microSDHC memory card support for expandable memory of no more than 16GB (1GB card is included in the package).

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“More and more cell phone users are choosing to upgrade to a smartphone and the new BlackBerry Curve 8520 will undoubtedly convince many more people to make the switch. It delivers all the great messaging, social networking and multimedia features that have made BlackBerry the top-selling smartphone brand in the United States”, said the Vice President, Product Management, Research in Motion, Carlo Chiarello. In addition, he said that “T-Mobile customers are going to love how easy it is to keep in touch on Facebook and MySpace and the full-QWERTY keyboard is amazingly fast and comfortable for typing on the go”.

The handset is expected to start selling on August 5, via T-Mobile retail stores, Walmart stores and online.

(Source: Press release)

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)

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.

Research In Motion has just introduced its new BlackBerry Bold Smartphone, aka BlackBerry 9000, the mobile handset optimized for business professionals’ needs.
It sports a stylish black exterior with satin chrome finish and the back exterior layer similar with leather. In addition there is an enhanced user interface, and a redesigned full QWRRTY keyboard.



The new BlackBerry comes with tri-band support, HSDPA high-speed transfers, built-in GPS module, Wi-Fi connectivity, and lots of multimedia functionalities powered by a 624 MHz processor.

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It integrates 128MB Flash memory, 1GB storage capacity, microSD card slot if you need more space for your media, DataViz Documents to Go suite for easy managing of your Office documents, web page zooming and scrolling, and the real-time streaming protocol for watching streaming videos on the large 480 x 320 pixel half-VGA LCD display.

There is also a built-in 2MP camera with video recording capability, flash and 5x digital zoom, a media player with picture slideshow, full-screen video player, dual stereo speakers, and 11 pre-set filters for Lounge, Jazz or Hip Hop music.
Other features include high-speed USB 2.0, BlackBerry Maps application, multi-tasking, Speaker Independent Voice Recognition for Voice Activated Dialing, Speakerphone, and support for BlackBerry Enterprise Server business applications.

BlackBerry Bold 9000 will be available in stores this summer.