Mobile Phone Reviews

Thanks to their BlackBerry PlayBook tablet Research in Motion has been in the news quite a bit lately. However, despite the fact that their tablet has caused some buzz they are predominantly known as a smartphone manufacturer. Luckily, they’ve come forth today to give us insight into their future plans with T-Mobile being the first [...]

The tablet marketing is getting so saturated that it’s becoming a bit difficult to find the perfect device. Luckily, at the helm of the fuss are several high powered devices that much of the buzz circulates around. Of course Apple’s iPad 2 seems to be always in the spotlight with other Android Honeycomb powered tablets [...]

As Entourage’s Johnny Drama said best, “Victory!”. The BlackBerry PlayBook is now available for pre-order in the US and Canada, with your choice of 3 models: 16GB for $499, 32GB for $599, or 64GB for $699. In the US and Canada, pre-orders will be handled by Best Buy, additionally Canada will offer pre-orders from Futureshop. The BlackBerry PlayBook is “scheduled to be available” in the US and Canada on April 19.

Here’s a quick rundown of the BlackBerry PlayBook specs: 7-inch 1024×600 WSVGA capacitive LCD touchscreen, 0.9lbs and 5.1 x 7.6 x 0.4 inches, 1 GHz dual-core processor, BlackBerry Tablet OS, 1080p HDMI output, dual 1080P HD cameras for video conferencing and capture (3MP front, 5MP rear), 1 GB RAM, up to 64GB internal storage, GPS, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Magnetometer, Stereo speakers and stereo microphones, WiFi b/g/n/a, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR

To find out more about the BlackBerry PlayBook, head to RIM’s product page. To pre-order the BlackBery PlayBook in the US head to Best Buy here. For Canadian customers, pre-order at Best Buy here or Futureshop here. There’s been no word on the Sprint 4G PlayBook release date as of yet, but we’ll keep our eyes peeled.

Two new models of upcoming BlackBerry 4G PlayBook have been confirmed at MWC 2011. Joining the previously announced Sprint 4G WiMax edition, the new LTE and HSPA+ 4G PlayBooks will complete RIM’s tablet assault for 2011.

When released, the BlackBerry Playbook will be available in four versions: WiFi only, WiFi + WiMax, WiFi + LTE and WiFi + HSPA+. In addition, each tablet will offer bluetooth tethering, mobile hotspots and BlackBerry Bridge. Since you’ll need a BlackBerry smartphone to explore the full capabilities of the PlayBook, what we really need now are a new line of BlackBerry smartphones, equipped with HSPA+ and/or LTE radios.

No word on pricing or release date information was given at this time — as usual.

Word has it that the BlackBerry Curve Sedona will be launched in the US market via Verizon Wireless. This CDMA smartphone features a 480 x 360 display, Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC, a 5MP camera, a 800MHz processor and the BlackBerry OS 6.1. Unfortunately, there is no official confirmation from Verizon so far. Stay tuned for more updates. [UnwiredView]

Just when I thought that the high resolution iPad screen was going to be the biggest mobile tech rumor that I was going to hear today, RIM Vice President Pete Devenyi had this to say:

BlackBerry is and will continue to be dominant in most corporations, [but] it’s not going to be the only device given the fact that consumers have the choice to bring in their own devices and IT departments are often letting them in. So there’s a question there. Do those corporations have to manage those devices differently or is there the possibility that RIM might extend capabilities to make it easier for those corporations to manage those devices as well? … If the right thing to do is to extend a subset of those [BlackBerry] capabilities to be able to manage other devices, it’s worthy of a conversation

So what are we looking at here, a way of getting the Blackberry platform off of the Blackberry? I suppose that would be fine with me, but in all honesty, I don’t like BlackBerry.

Source

Some of you might remember when we reported on Kik Messenger coming to the iTunes store just yesterday.

The Messenger is a cross-platform app, and it was just pulled from BlackBerry’s App World. This is the word from Research-In-Motion on the subject:

RIM became aware of a number of issues and customer concerns regarding the Kik app and service and, following discussions with Kik, the app was removed from BlackBerry App World. RIM is actively reviewing the issues and potential resolutions, and is also continuing its discussions with Kik.

I don’t know if there will be repercussions from this, but there probably will be.

Source

The upcoming BlackBerry Playbook officially marks RIM’s entry into the tablet game.  According to RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie, the Playbook will be released in the first quarter for North American and it will cost less than $500.  Unlike the Apple iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab, RIM‘s Playbook only offers WiFi connectivity whereas the iPad and Galaxy Tab deliver 3G and WiFi.  Plans for a 3G and 4G BlackBerry Playbook are still underway and barring any unexpected interruption, we should so those models roll out later in 2011.

Not only will we see the Playbook release in the first quarter of 2011 with a sub $500 price point, but Jim Balsillie also confirmed that third-party retailers such as Best Buy and Target would likely carry the device.  So do you think the Playbook will live up to the task of being the ultimate business companion for your BlackBerry or have the 8 million iPads and millions of Samsung Galaxy Tabs already taken hold of the tablet market?  We’re sure Apple and Samsung would like to think so, but we’ll reserve judgement until after we get the first week’s sales totals on the Playbook.

Earlier this week Dell decided to drop BlackBerry smartphones in favor of new Windows Phone 7 devices for its employees.  The move made sense since Dell is producing its own WP7 device, the Dell Venue Pro.  On the heels of this announcement comes a report in Bloomberg this morning that suggests Bank of America and Citigroup plan on allowing employees to choose the iPhone instead of the corporate standard, RIM’s Blackberry smartphones.

With potentially thousands of employees likely moving to iPhones instead of BlackBerry smartphones, Apple overtaking RIM in global smartphone market share and Android dominating U.S. market share, can RIM the storm?  Let us know what you think in the comments below, thanks.

The latest in BlackBerry flagship devices, the BlackBerry Bold 9780, has just received a formal hands-on photo gallery thanks to our friends at FoneHome, the mothership of UK mobile. The photo gallery is pretty extensive, but that’s exactly what you want to see before you commit the next couple years of your life to a handset upgrade, right? Here’s a small sampling of the photos, so sit back and relax as we get comfortable with the Bold 9780.

Quick BlackBerry Bold 9780 Refresher: 3G / WiFi with calling, 5-megapixel camera, 512MB Flash, microSD card slot (up to 32GB SDHC) and BlackBerry 6 OS. For more details on the BlackBerry Bold 9780, head to blackberry.com/bold