BlackBerry Torch unveiled -- iPhone, Android competitor

The next-generation touch screen BlackBerry Torch was just unveiled today on AT&T's network, for $199 for a two-year contract (no firm date on when device goes on sale). It sports a portrait slider/pull-out keyboard, 5 MP camera with flash, souped-up touch Web browser, and integrated messaging and social networking features.

Perhaps the most important thing you need to know is that this phone features Research in Motion's new BlackBerry 6 operating system -- which is meant to compete with iPhone and Android.

From AT&T's Website, one of the selling points is a "Full HTML tabbed browser for "PC-like" Web browsing with tabbed browsing for access to multiple web pages at the same time and pinch-to-zoom capability."

Via : weblogs.baltimoresun.com

RIM's BlackBerry Torch 9800 could light your fire

When you have a product that has been successful for several years, but has fallen somewhat behind the times, it can be difficult to figure out what to change and what to leave alone.

With its new BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphone, RIM seems to have navigated this line successfully.

While it's unlikely that the Torch will draw consumers away from their iPhones and Android devices, at least BlackBerry users won't be completely left in the dust.

RIM introduced its new BlackBerry today in a joint press event with AT&T in New York. Mike Lazaridis,

president and co-chief executive officer for RIM, talked a bit about how the company came out with its first BlackBerry in 1999 -- and then produced the new product.

After the formal presentation, I got some actual hands-on time with the Torch.

The new BlackBerry smartphone offers a 3.2-in., 480 x 360 resolution touch display. While it's clear and fairly sharp,

the display isn't really comparable to the leading consumer smartphones -- for example, the iPhone 4's 3.5-in. display boasts a 960 x 640 resolution, while the Droid X has an even larger 4.3-in. display with a resolution of 854 x 480.

Read More @ computerworld.com

BlackBerry Torch 9800 launched

Research In Motion (RIM) officially unveiled the BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphone on Tuesday.

The newest BlackBerry device, known as the Torch 9800, is the first handset from Canadian smartphone manufacturer to run the BlackBerry 6 operating system.

ike most of the BlackBerry range, the 9800 retains RIM's trademark Qwerty keyboard but takes a vertical sliding form factor; allowing for a 480x360 pixel, 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen display replacing RIM's ill-fated SurePress system found on the Storm and Storm 2.

The device will be available in the US from 12 August but a UK release date is yet to be confirmed, though a company spokesperson did say that a release announcement and carrier details for the EMEA region will arrive in the coming weeks.

Read more @ zdnet.co.uk

New Blackberry Takes On iPhone

Among the cavalcade of mobile superstars in this summer’s smartphone extravaganza — which, so far, has boasted the likes of the HTC Evo 4G, the Motorola Droid X, a series of sleek Samsung Galaxy handsets, and (of course) the iPhone 4 — one marquee name has been noticeably absent: the BlackBerry.

Well, in the final weeks of summer, Research in Motion (along with carrier partner AT&T — and yes, we're talking another AT&T exclusive here) is looking to make a better-late-than-never splash with the BlackBerry Torch 9800, a new QWERTY slider with a redesigned touchscreen OS that the mobile giant hopes can garner the same kind of buzz that Android handsets like the Evo and the Droid X and the new iPhone have been enjoying for the past few months. (Well, Apple probably didn’t “enjoy” all the “Antennagate” buzz, but at least people were talking about it.)

Unveiled Tuesday morning at a packed press event in Manhattan, the widely leaked Torch — the "best BlackBerry ever," as AT&T wireless head boss Ralph de la Vega bragged — will go on sale August 12 for $199 with a two-year AT&T contract, and it represents a departure for RIM in more ways than one.

Read More @ foreign.peacefmonline.com

BlackBerry Torch has some asking 'who needs an iPhone?

BlackBerry Torch was unveiled at a much-ballyhooed press conference in New York City this morning, and plenty of bloggers are already frothing at the mouth. Fair enough: the newest RIM smartphone sports some sharp curves, a touchscreen and a QWERTY pad, and comes equipped with BlackBerry 6, an updated operating system that RIM is calling "fresh, approachable and engaging."

But is the BlackBerry Torch really a challenge to the iPhone 4? We have our doubts. For one, Apple and BlackBerry have always occupied different corners of the smartphone market. Except for the BlackBerry Storm – a poorly-branded and poorly-executed smartphone that didn't ever really threaten the iPhone – RIM has generally succeeded by going after business professionals, who use their BlackBerries mostly as email and calendar machines.

The iPhone, on the other hand, has always been less of a phone and more of an accessory. (Witness the latest line of iPhone 4 advertisements, depicting the iPhone 4 as a next-generation communication tool for friends, lovers, and family members.) People use their iPhone 4 handsets for email, sure, but they also want music, games, applications, and maps.

The BlackBerry Torch edges a little further into that market. The handset arrives with a bunch of pre-loaded apps, and the touch screen is very much Apple like, with a pinch to zoom functionality. Still, we're guessing the majority of consumers will use the Torch just like they use their other BlackBerry phones – as a pocket-sized office organizer. But don't take our word for it.

Over at PC Mag, Lance Ulanoff warns against seeing the Torch as an iPhone killer. "Unlike the ill-conceived BlackBerry Storm, there is no ridiculous gimmick in the BlackBerry Torch. Instead, it's the product of a lot of smart, clear-headed thinking about what existing BlackBerry users – like me – want," Ulanoff writes.

The BlackBerry Torch will retail for $199 with a two-year contract; the phone is exclusive to AT&T. B

Via : csmonitor.com

HTC Wildfire Lands in India with Reliance GSM

HTC has finally decided to land its much awaited mid-range handsets named as HTC Wildfire. However, HTC Wildfire is an upgrade of its ancestors HTC Tattoo.

528 MHz processor, 348MB of RAM and 512 MB of ROM which will help you to achieve much better and enhanced performance. Apart from this the cell phone comes with Android platform.

The all new HTC Wildfare looks very attractive in design and is fully touchscreen apart from one button located at the front end, below the touchscreen. The phone comes with an optical joystick which helps to navigate the menu.

The smartphone features 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen which provides you QVGA resolution. If you look at the camera, the phone has got 5-megapixel camera with LED flash support which helps to enhance the picture quality.

The music quality of this phone is pretty good and comes with 3.5mm jack. The smartphone seems to be rich in its connectivity option and provides you with some decent option such as Wi-Fi , USB connectivity, and Bluetooth.

The Wildfire comes with microSD card slot which help you to expand the limited memory support.

Ajay Sharma, Country Head, HTC India said, “The stylishly designed HTC Wildfire brings all your communication requirements into one place, whether it’s through Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, Flickr.”

The company has tied-up with Reliance GSM and if you are a Reliance user you will get a courtesy to avail 500MB worth of free data usage every month for the first six months of usage.

Via : techtring.com

HTC-RCOM collaborates to introduce 3G Smartphone

The latest Android phone called HTC Wildfire unveiled today under the tie-up of Taiwan-based mobile phone maker HTC and Reliance Communications.

Talking at the launch, HTC India Country Head Ajay Sharma said, “The stylishly designed HTC Wildfire… brings all your communication requirements into one place, whether it’s through Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, Flickr.”

Reliance Communications (RCOM) GSM customers who would update to this new phone will get up to 500 MB of free data usage for a period six months.

RCOM President (Marketing-Wireless Business) Mahesh Prasad said, “The launch of HTC Wildfire is in line with our strategy to offer next-generation service on mobile phones enabled with superior voice quality, high speed wireless data network access.”

The 3G enabled Smartphone that features a 3.2″ touch screen and a 5-megapixel camera will be available with the price tag of Rs 16,590.

Via : latestnewsonline.net

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz is available in a cool black on Orange through mobile phone deals site, Mobiles.co.uk.

The Vivaz comes with 9 months FREE on a £25 per month contract which brings the monthly equivalent cost to just £15.65 per month.

The contract on the Dolphin tariff has 300 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB internet.

The Vivaz in black is available on all major mobile networks - 3, O2, Orange,

T-Mobile and Vodafone - with other fantastic pay monthly discount deals which you can find through the link below.

Read More @ simbasics.co.uk

Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro: Now with USA 3G

We recently reviewed the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini, a device truly worthy of its name (it's small...the screen is just 2.5").

The second version of the X10 Mini series is the Mini Pro, a device that is nearly identical to the original Mini except that it has a slide-out four row keyboard for those that don't have patience for the tiny T9 on-screen keyboard of the X10 Mini.

You can get the Mini Pro with the 850 and 1900 UMTS bands, which will allow you to get 3G on AT&T. It's currently selling for a reasonable $350 .

Read More @ pocketnow.com

RIM announces the BlackBerry Torch 9800

This morning Waterloo-based Reasearch In Motion officially announced their latest smartphone – the BlackBerry Torch 9800.

This will be the first device that will have their new OS BlackBerry 6 and it’s hitting AT&T on August 12th. Even though there’s no official Canadian release date there are rumours that this is penciled in to be available later this Summer.

After the break are full specs of the Torch and this comes with both a QWERTY keyboard and a 3.2 inch touchscreen.

Read More @ mobilesyrup.com

BlackBerry 9800 'Torch' Makes Early Accidental Debut

The BlackBerry cat is out of the bag and it's called Torch - RIM's newest slider smarthphone. In an apparent slip up on AT&T's part the Torch smartphone appeared on AT&T's Website, complete with images and specifications, just before an 11am (ET) press conference was being held by RIM to announce the phone.

Here is what we know so far thanks to the AT&T slip up:

The Torch will sport RIM's BlackBerry 6 mobile operating system which includes a beefed-up mobile Web browser and what is being touted as RIM's "next generation" messaging system. The new BlackBerry OS also integrates support for Twitter and Facebook and other social networking feeds. The new BlackBerry 6 OS includes MediaSych functionality supporting wireless syncing to a music library via Wi-Fi.

The BlackBerry Torch features a QWERTY keyboard and optical trackpad in a slider style phone.

The Torch has a 3.2-inch (480x360) touchscreen, 5MP camera, and has over 1GB of combined RAM/ROM storage, 4GB memory, and sports 4GB microSD card. As for connectivity the Torch supports 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 3G connectivity.

The Torch weighs in at 161 grams, is 111 x 62 x 14.6 mm large comes equipped with a 1300 mAh lithium battery. The GSM talk time is rated at 5.5 hours and standby time is 17 days.

Via : pcworld.com

Samsung YP-MB2 spotted in the wild

Samsung YP-MB2 rumors have been making the rounds for a few weeks. This device looks an awful lot like an Android powered smartphone — but without the phone.

It’s basically a portable media player with the ability to run Android apps — sort of like an Android powered iPod touch.

While Samsung hasn’t officially announced the product yet, it’s been spotted in the wild as you can see in the blurrycam video below.

The device looks an awful lot like a Samsung Galaxy S smartphone and is expected to have similar specs including a 4 inch display, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and Google Android 2.1. It features the Samsung Touchwiz user interface on top Android.

Read More @ liliputing.com

The BlackBerry 9800, OS 6, and RIM’s Future

Tomorrow AT&T and RIM are expected to unveil the BlackBerry 9800, their first OS 6 smartphone. This is the biggest single leap BlackBerry’s software has made, and its reception will define how well RIM competes over the next year and beyond.

The old giant, Nokia, still carries a lot of weight (though it’s slowing down), while Microsoft has wiped the slate clean and is kicking off Windows Phone 7 soon with some fresh ideas.

Palm, the only other manufacturer to have been in the game as long as RIM, attempted a similar rebirth which ultimately failed, but remains in the picture thanks to HP’s acquisition.

iPhone caught a lot of attention right off the bat with a good-looking experience, and has over time plugged the obvious gaps like cut and paste and multitasking in order to count itself among the big-boy smartphone OSes.

Meanwhile, Android flung open the doors and welcomed every interested manufacturer, resulting in an ever-growing army of phones with a plethora of form factors with a variety of user interface tweaks, all with a common application platform.

This leaves RIM still commanding a healthy chunk of the smartphone market, thanks in no small part to their pioneering of the category and the surprising new interest from everyday consumers outside of the boardroom.

BlackBerry is certainly fully-matured, but its age is showing, and those loyal to the brand are looking to OS 6 to be the thing that rebuilds its momentum, especially in light of younger, more agile platforms.

The installed base is too significant for RIM to consider a full-blown reinvention (a maneuver unproven by Windows Mobile, and shown to be a tragic failure by webOS), but the growing demand for smooth graphics and a rich application market is forcing the BlackBerry operating system to grow.

Read More @ intomobile.com

RIM To Launch BlackPad BlackBerry Tablet In November?

Rumors of a BlackBerry tablet device have been going around for a while now, and the recent registration of the blackpad.com domain name just seems to lend credibility to the rumor.

Now word is going around the RIM will be launching said tablet this coming November, though there hasn't been any official confirmation from the company itself.

Still, with the iPad enjoying plenty of success in the market at the moment, RIM might want to get the BlackPad (or whatever it'll be called) out of the door sooner rather than later.

Via : ubergizmo.com

Huawei announces new E583C portable hotspot and E173u USB modem

Chinese manufacturer Huawei unveiled two new products for hooking up your gear on the go. The E583C, a mouthful if there ever was one, is a portable hotspot much like the popular MiFi built by Novatel.

It features the ability to connect up to 5 device to WiFi and a 6th via the built in USB port. It’s got a 1 inch screen OLED screen to tell you what’s going on, and as for speed, it can go up to 7.2 Mbps down and 5.76 Mbps up.

Nice, but there are already HSPA+ networks rolling out in Europe and Asia that hit 21 Mbps. T-Mobile USA is also in the process of upgrading their entire 3G network to the 21 Mbps HSPA+ standard.

It also weighs 90 grams so it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle to carry around with you at all times.

There’s also the E173u, a USB modem the size of a keychain that offers the same speed and ease of use as the E583C, but instead comes in a form factor suitable to those who want to only connect a laptop.

Read More @ intomobile.com

Samsung's faster EcoGreen F4EG hard drive does 2TB for less

Samsung latest 3.5-inch EcoGreen desktop hard disk does with three platters what its F3EG did with four: obtain a 2TB capacity.

That's 667GB per platter for what Samsung calls the world's highest areal density, environmentally friendly hard disk drive on the market.

Specifically, this 3.0Gbps SATA disk with a 32MB buffer brings a 19 percent improved standby performance and requires 23 percent less power in standby mode than its EcoGreen F3EG.

Better yet, it does all this for $60 less (just $119.95) when it ships to the US and EU markets in early September.

Via : engadget.com