BlackBerry Bold 9700 – Hands-on Photos

As you’ll know if you saw the post from Simon the other day, the new BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) (9700) is now official. Our friends over at Electricpig.co.uk… have gone wild on the BlackBerry Bold 9700, with seemingly an avalanche of pictures for your general edutainment! These are not product shots, but really good quality ‘user-generated’ (well they generated them at least) images – certainly worth a look if you are considering a purchase!

You can check out all the images by clicking here.

We’ve been manhandling the BlackBerry Bold 9700 all morning. Check out its cutesy new curves and reassuring heft in our first hands-on photos.

The new BlackBerry Bold 9700 isn’t a reinvention of the original BlackBerry Bold, after all, BlackBerry’s continuing to sell the original Bold 9000, but rather a refinement of its key features.

It’s still as solid as the original, but BlackBerry’s trimmed some of its bulk. The metal casing has been replaced by plastic, and a few millimetres have been shaved from its shell.

Around the back, RIM has trimmed back the leather-look coating to cover just the battery panel. It still feels great in the hand, but not quite so beefy.

Sony Ericsson Aino now Remote Playing with European PS3s

We know Sony Ericsson’s PS3-lovin’ Aino would be hitting European shelves at some point during the month, and now Sony itself has stepped forward to confirm that the handset is on sale. …We’re hearing that it’s selling for £399.99 ($639) sans a contract, and just in case you’re wondering why you and your PlayStation 3 should care, the Aino is capable of turning your console on and off, browsing the XMB user interface, accessing DRM-free content on the HDD, shopping for items in the PS3 Store and watching live TV via PlayTV. Hit up the read link for all the nitty-gritty, and be sure to hit your British friend up if you’re stuck yearning here in the States

Original BlackBerry Storm to get flick scrolling, better browsing through firmware update

Despite Verizon’s best efforts to ignore the obvious, RIM’s BlackBerry Storm2 is not only official, it’s (un)officially destined for Big Red’s airwaves. If you’re one of those slightly disgruntled Storm 9530 owners,… however, you could be looking at a rather nice firmware update coming your way in the near future. According to phoneArena, the Storm and Storm2 will eventually be “practically identical” in terms of software, with a forthcoming update to add flick scrolling, tabbed browsing and threaded texting to the original. Of course, we should probably wait for VZW to confirm the existence of the Storm2 before expecting any formal word on this, but feel free to go about your day with cautious

BlackBerry Storm2

The original BlackBerry Storm, though a massive departure from RIM’s usual buttoned-up candybar smartphones, left many unhappy with the clicking touchscreen called SurePress. Well, after a lengthy batch of leaks, the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) (NSDQ: RIMM) Storm2 9550 (known as Odin, once upon a time) is on its way to Verizon (NYSE: VZ) (NYSE: VZ), and presumably 02 and Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) (NYSE: VOD) across the pond. From what we’ve seen, the new and improved SurePress is based on a series of four sensors beneath the screen, as opposed to the single central pivot point on the original 9500. Being able to hit multiple keys on the virtual keyboard promises to improve typing speeds, and the inclusion of Wi-Fi is something that has been missing for a long time. Throw in a few stylistic changes, like rubberized buttons, and a new chrome trim, and you’ve got yourself an exciting sequel to a device that had previously failed to impress. So, does the Storm2 deliver? Hit the jump to find out for yourself…

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and RIM have officially announced the BlackBerry Storm2. It’ll be available for general consumption on Wednesday, October 28th for $179.99 on a 2-year contract (after mail-in rebate). We suspected this… but now, we have the official word.

Finally, an official Verizon word on the matter Mark October 28th on your calendar. And, if you’re all pumped for the Storm2, be sure to hit up our extensive BlackBerry Storm2 Review.

BlackBerry 9700 Bold Device Simulator Available for Download

Developer tools are making the rounds for BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) OS 5.0, to work with things like Google Gears and widgets, but something that might be a little more interesting for end users is the new BlackBerry …Bold 9700 device simulator. Since review units aren’t getting out yet, and there’s only a smattering of hands-on pictures/video, this is your best bet for getting a feel for the device right now.The new Bold is coming out on many North American carriers (Telus (NYSE: TU), Bell, Rogers (NYSE: RCI), AT&T (NYSE: T), T-Mobile (NYSE: DT)) and will be one of RIM’s top-of-the-line handset – 3.2 megapixel camera, optical touchpad, 256 MB of application memory, and slimmer dimensions will all set it apart from the original BlackBerry Bold 9000. To give the 9700 a spin, go ahead and download the simulator.

BlackBerry 9700 goes official – eXpansys confirm availability on 9th November!

As you’ll know if you saw the post from Simon the other day, the new BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Bold (9700) is now official, and soon to be coming to a retail emporium near you – in the UK…, eXpansys have broken from the pack to announce that they’ll have it on 9th November. It will be selling for £419.99.

If you want to check it out, click here.

Themes Coming to BlackBerry App World November 9?

So far, the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) App World has been a destination solely for software, but word has it on November 9, conveniently the first day of the BlackBerry Developer Conference, …the on-device portal will expand to include theme sales. This is a great move, and will immediately differentiate the App World from the stores on other platforms, though the approval process will be something of a sticking point for developers who are used to simply hosting the theme files and letting users have at it. Considering how much trouble unstable themes can be for your BlackBerry, though, I wouldn’t mind the extra layer of quality control. What I am worried about is BPlay simply steamrolling all other theme developers on App World thanks to their tight relationship with RIM. I guess we’ll see what the selection is like at the BBDC.

Emblaze Mobile’s Linux-based mobile OS

It was long time ago when we reported that ACCESS (the owner of the original Palm (NSDQ: PALM) OS which it re-christened to Garnet OS) is working with Emblaze and Sharp to create “revolutionary mobile device….” It seems they finally managed to bring their project close to the end, and voila – a press release has been issued, announcing the new mobile OS called ELSE INTUITION. It’s all about user interface these days and these folks know that. Hence the mentioned release adds the good ol’ “revolutionary” adjective before the phrase.

Unfortunately, we don’t have screenshots to prove the claim, but a single image above shows some merit. Still, until we test this for ourselves, we’ll keep a dose of skepticism, as we’ve heard similar claims in the past.

Finally, it’s worth pointing out this isn’t ACCESS’ first mobile Linux project. Their earlier efforts proved as a total failure as they struggled to convince anyone to jump on board. This time, however, they seem to have a better product. The only problem is the over-crowded mobile Linux market, which seems unready for another player. We’ll see…

Hallofun: Cellufun unveils its Halloween mobile game

Just in time for Halloween, Cellfun unveiled Hallofu, a series of games that allows users to “celebrate Halloween with their friends on their mobile phones.” Cellufun’s users can decorate their homepages, dress up their avatars in costumes, knock on their friends’ doors and go trick-or-treating, pick pumpkins, and carve killer jack-o-lanterns. There’s also a Haunted Hay Ride, a Haunted House Maze, bonfire building, and a costume contest in which users can vote for the coolest costumes in Cellufun.

Hallofun’s virtual costumes are available for free and for purchase (from $2-$4) and include Betty Boop, a French Maid, a Chef, an Astronaut, a Ninja, and dozens of others. Cellufun is also offering a limited edition Halloween Mobile Pet Bat and two Halloween Pet Dragons and is re-launching their Captives of Witch Hill adventure game with new graphics and story elements. Hallofun is available in 10 languages and you can try it on your mobile browser to m.cellufun.com and take it from there.

iPhone 3GS costume is expensive, bulky

What could possibly convince you that strapping a 42-inch LCD TV to your body is a great idea? We don’t know, but somewhere between concept and the $2,000 total expenditures — with “no regrets,…” mind you — Reko Rivera and John Savio, with the help of John Matthews, outfitted themselves with the displays used to project images from their iPhone 3GS. Unfortunately, the large screens themselves aren’t touch screens, but we probably can’t be that picky. Their reward? First prizes at costume parties and minor internet celebrity, which we’re happy to oblige. Video after the break.

Cellogic FlyScreen, lock-screen replacement

Cellogic, going all official with the announcement. The application is a must-have for any effective Android smartphone owner. The idea is to allow users to access popular web services from the idle screen, hence reducing the number of taps required to access content. This is done through widgets, which can be used for checking Facebook and Twitter activities, as well as keeping up with the latest news via RSS.

Kinetic scrolling is supported, making the overall experience enjoyable, and there’s also the in-app widget gallery, allowing users to pick widgets they want on their phones…..

The best part is the price – FlyScreen is available as a free download and you can grab it from the Android Market.

Going High & High Mobile Web Useage

(State Of Mobile Web)New Release from Opera Reported this morning that in Past September there was Lot Of Rush in Mobile WEb Usage….

There wereAmazing Facts about Graph.Last month, more than 35.6 million people used Opera Mini (which is now serving over 500 million pageviews per day on average on a wide range of mobile devices), up 11.5% compared to August 2009 and more than 150% compared to September 2008.Statement From Norway Developer that more than 2 petabytes of data is now processed by its servers on a monthly basis. That Should be must 2,000 terabytes

HTC Eris and Motorola Droid Nov. 6

Verizon (NYSE: VZ)’s Droid lineup will apparently be launching November 6, according to tipsters. Motorola (NYSE: MOT)’s Droid (a.k.a Sholes) and HTC’s Eris (a.k.a Desire) will be the first members to the family,… with more on the way. The Droid has a 3.7-inch 480×854 touchscreen, 5-megapixel autofocus camera, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi, 256MB RAM/512MB ROM and a microSDHC slot supporting up to 16GB memory cards. The only thing we really know about the Eris is that it’s packing HTC’s Sense user interface – we’re definitely looking forward to hearing more about the specs. If you haven’t seen Verizon’s teaser campaign making tongue-in-cheek comparisons between Android and iPhoneoperating systems, it’s definitely worth a watch.

Sony Ericsson Selling Satio Unlocked

The Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) Satio was announced back in May and has since made the rounds on Vodafone UK. Some folks might be waiting for it to come to AT&T, …but for others who are a little more eager, Sony Style stores are now selling the handset for $600 unlocked. The 12 megapixel camera is the Satio’s biggest selling point, but it’s also running S60, packing a 640×360 touchscreen, and a TV-out jack. Keep an eye on Sony Style’sonline smartphone section for the Satio; device specifics can be found here, but be sure to check out our video at the MWC unveiling if you want a closer look

Nokia Surge Arrives on Rogers

As expected, the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Surge 6790 has arrived on Rogers (NYSE: RCI) for the rabid texters out there. An unexpected bonus is a cheaper price point than the originally anticipated:… a mere $29.99 on three-year contract. This is one of the cheapest new smartphones you’ll find out there, though the form factor might seem awkward to a lot of folks. Still, it’s packing a 2 megapixel camera, GPS, microSD memory card slot, and a 2.4″ QVGA display. It’s not in Rogers’ online store just yet, but it should be up soon.

Quick Shot: Verizon Motorola Droid in the Flesh

The Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid went live as Verizon (NYSE: VZ)’s first Android phone earlier this morning. Then, Google (NSDQ: GOOG) announced that their Google Maps app for Android …2.0 now supports GPS turn-by-turn directions with voice guidance. The two announcements merged, like that those really big storms in that one movie involving a fishing boat of some sort, to form one of the biggest product launches of the year. I just got a chance to put my hands all over the Motorola Droid and thought I’d let you in on my initial impressions (and from-the-hip pics). The short version: Verizon’s Motorola Droid is badass. Keep reading for the long version (and a massive hands-on photo gallery

LG GW620 Android Phone, Sort of

LG’s GW620 handset may be easy to miss among all the other current Android-based offerings, but it looks like LG is now starting to ramp things up a bit to help it get noticed,… with it recently launching (inadvertently, judging from the copy) the official site for phone complete with some fresh new images and promo videos. While there’s expectedly not much in the way of new details, LG’s ads and promo videos (check one after the break) do seem to position the phone squarely in CLIQ territory, with LG even going so far as to dream up a series of mascots (including a “Social Butterfly”) to demo the phone’s social networking capabilities. Head on past the break to see for yourself, and keep an eye on the link below for what should soon be the “official” official website.

Motorola DROID

t’s hard to look at the DROID without looking at the company which brought the device to life. Motorola: for years the name has been synonymous with… well, disappointment…. While the industry-stalwart made cellphones sexy with the RAZR, the days which followed have not been especially fruitful or compelling. Over the past year or so, we’ve seen Motorola beating its way back into the mainstream through a series of smart plays: first embracing Android as a platform, then shucking off the weight of Windows Mobile and finally bringing some desirable (and high profile) devices to market.

With the DROID, the company has perhaps created its most attractive and intriguing piece of technology yet. Forging an alliance with both Verizon and Google, Motorola has come up with a second compelling reason to count the phonemaker down, but certainly not out, while the other two giants have finally found a seemingly worthy device to position against the iPhone. So we must pose these questions: is this the phone which will catapult Android into the mainstream? Is it the device that will pull Motorola back from the brink? And — most importantly — is it the lynchpin Google and Verizon have needed to challenge the leader in mindshare in the smartphone market? After putting the device through its paces, we think we can give you the answers you seek — so read on to find out!

A First Look at Touchscreen Interface of Windows XP Phone

The independent earphone CRT screen (imaged at a lower place) has call-centric icons, addition shortcuts to day-after-day Windows apps that can be classified into icon-based checks on the left.
The port can as well switch between landscape and portrait views, and there’s a unified anticipate it all…. I’d like to see a few additional genius, though…comparable exposures of contact lens* as influent and exceeding calls in. It’s such as an conspicuous matter, so hopefully that’ll show up by the time the phone arrives. The xpPhone’s maker—China’s In Technology Group aka ITG—also says it will support direct access to the Outlook address account book for adjoin direction.

Their English language pre-order foliate remains more like an saying of interest form, because it all the same does not broadcast cost. Whenever you funny, you can decide a 3G faculty as your aircraft carrier essential absolute frequency (AT&T, Vodafone, and Orange are listed).
Capers all but acquiring a amobarbital sodium blind of decease mid-call apart, I am acquiring progressively connived close to the xpPhone. I mean, the thing weighs almost a pound, but just look at those specs below compared to say, the Nokia N900 <http://gizmodo.com/tag/N900/>. I’ll fill you in when I hear more on pricing/availability—or any plans for an actual U.S (non-import) release. [ITG <http://www.xpphone.com/en/product/>]
Conformation
• C.P.U.: AMD superintendent nomadic central processing unit
• computer memory: 512M/1G
• SSD: 8G/16G/32G/64G
• HDD: 30G/60G/80G/120G
• LCD: 4.8′ TFT Touch-screen LCD 800*480
• controlling arrangement: Microsoft windowpanes XP
• Network: GSM/GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA (HSDPA/HSUPA)
• CDMA/CDMA2000 1X/CDMA1X EVDO,TD-SCDMA,TD-HSDPA
• Wireless: WiFi 802.11b/g,WiMax(optional),Buletooth,Stand-alone GPS
• Camera Specifications:CMOS, 300k/1.3 Million
• Ports: 1 x earphone jack, 1 x microphone jack,Docking Connector (includes VGA output signal ), 1 x USB 2.0, SIM Slot
• Battery: Removable Lithium-ion
• Talk time: about 5 hours,Stand by time: about 5 days
• Real life: about 7 hours(Standard), about 12 hours(Large)
• Talk time: Standby time,Operation time may vary depending different usage.
• Weight: 400g (include battery)

Sony Ericsson Rachael Android due in UK on 3rd Nov?

Well, that’s what TechDigest reckons – and they are following up on evidence that the SE-Blog found on the Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) site!

For those of you that had forgotten the specs:…

4?, 800 x 400 touchscreen

2G: 850/900/1800/1900 (Quad-Band)

3G: 900/2100 (Dual-Band); HSDPA (10Mbps), HSUPA (2Mbps)

8 megapixel camera with autofocus and 8 x digital zoom

LED Flash

Image Stabilization

Smile Shutter

Face Detection

VGA Video Recording

POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, MS Exchange e-mail

miniUSB, 3.5mm AV connector

Bluetooth (2.1), Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11g), AGPS

• 4?, 800 x 400 touchscreen
• 2G: 850/900/1800/1900 (Quad-Band)
• 3G: 900/2100 (Dual-Band); HSDPA (10Mbps), HSUPA (2Mbps)
• 8 megapixel camera with autofocus and 8 x digital zoom
• LED Flash / Image Stabilization / Smile Shutter / Face Detection / VGA Video Recording
• POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, MS Exchange e-mail
• miniUSB, 3.5mm AV connector
• Bluetooth (2.1), Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11g), AGPS

So I guess within a couple of days we’ll see how the rumours are – but if it’s true then we have got a real smartphone shootout on our hands over the Christmas period!!

[Story via: TechDigest/SE-Blog, Image via: eXpansys]

Fake iPhone Magical external QWERTY Beyboard

Alright, would you look at this, Apple? We know you require your employees to pay in blood for every single button or moving part that makes it onto a shipping product, but would it really kill you to work in some proper Bluetooth keyboard support for the iPhone so we could enjoy the magical freedom of external QWERTY pads if we so choose?…Take this particularly stunning KIRF, for example. Sure, you might find the iPhone-miming handset it’s paired with offensive, but is there really so much wrong with this flip-out QWERTY action? Do you enjoy our suffering? Please? iTwinge just isn’t cutting it.

Quick hands-on (iPhone/iPod Touch)

For those of you that don’t know him (and there might be a lot, since he’s a UK chef) Jamie Oliver is a celebrity chef, in the same sort of mould as the likes of Gordon Ramsay – and by that, I mean he’s an export that has filmed his TV shows in the US, and a number of other countries I’m sure!

Anyhoo, the point of this quick hands-on is to find out if his new cooking App is any good (hint/spoiler: yes)!

New Rtae Plans of Virgin Mobiles coming out with a 30-day starting from 3rd Nov!

Interested to see how Virgin is going to stack up against the others over the next few months? Read on…

In the past Virgin has always had their “Virgin Mobile Bill of Rights” and now what seems to be going to happen is effective November 3rd, the creative folks over at Virgin are bringing on a 30-day “You’ll Love Us Guarantee”. That’s correct, according to Virgin they state “We know you’ll love being with us. That’s why we back it up with our 30-day “You’ll Love Us Guarantee”. Take us for a spin, and if you haven’t fallen for us in 30 days just return your phone and pay for the airtime used. Easy as that”…..

You will be able to find out more when the site goes live on the 3rd at VirginMobile.ca/loveus With this new guarantee there are some stipulations, still no biggies and the offer sounds to good to try out:

- You have 30- days to return your postpaid phone if you don’t love us!
- Return the phone for refund where it was purchased
- Only pay for the monthly plan charge, overages + activation fees
- No Cancellation fees within 30-days (& no minute counting)

In addition to that beautiful guarantee, Virgin is also coming out with some new plans. They will still have 6 different rates in the myPLAN rate plans. Gone are the odd numbers and you can say hello to the simple billing and the highest rate is now topped of at $70/month. Here they are in detail:

myPLAN $15 includes: 50 Anytime minutes

myPLAN $20 includes: 50 Anytime minutes; Unlimited Evenings & Weekends (starts at 7pm); 50 Text Messages

myPLAN $25 includes: 100 Anytime minutes; Unlimited Evenings & Weekends (starts at 7pm); Unlimited TEXT & Picture Messaging or Voicemail & Call Display

myPLAN $35 includes: 350 Anytime minutes; Unlimited Evenings & Weekends (starts at 7pm); Unlimited TEXT & Picture Messaging or Voicemail & Call Display

myPLAN $50 includes: 600 Anytime minutes; Unlimited Evenings & Weekends (starts at 7pm); Unlimited TEXT & Picture Messaging or Voicemail & Call Display

myPLAN $70 includes: 2000 Anytime minutes; Unlimited Evenings & Weekends (starts at 7pm); Unlimited TEXT & Picture Messaging or Voicemail & Call Display

We have some more pics at the bottom of some changes to the Add-ons but more hot news is that they’ll be introducing some new BlackBerry plans. This begs us to believe what we’ve been saying for the past 9 months of Virgin releasing the BlackBerry Storm (probably by the end of November). For the BB Combo Plan nothing has really changed as it will still cost $20. Where the change comes in is the BlackBerry Bundle as the Data has increased an so has the rates:

$15 will get you Unlimited Email + Unlimited IM
$25 will get you 500MB BlackBerry Usage (Personal Email + IM + Data)
$30 will get you 1GB BlackBerry Usage (Personal Email + IM + Data)
$60 will get you 3GB BlackBerry Usage (Personal Email + IM + Data)

Check out the pics below (Thanks Josh M):