BlackBerry News From The Wire for the Week of 6/7/2010

We’re in the middle of June, the rumored launch month for the BlackBerry 9800 slider on AT&T. The iPhone launch is already out of the way, which clears the way for the BlackBerry announcement later this month. We’re still dealing with rumors right now, so there’s a chance the device comes out in July or later, but since we haven’t quite heard anything to the contrary yet, we’ll still keep our hopes up that it’s coming this month. In the meantime, let’s watch some video.

Bold 9800 with OS 6 caught on video

We’ve seen the Bold 9800 on camera before. We’ve seen OS 6 on camera before. But I bet the total length of those videos combined doesn’t add up to nearly 17 minutes. That’s what we got this week, though. If you’re at all interested in the device or the OS, you might want to queue this one up during a lunch break.

Via The BlackBerry Zone. That, of course, is not the only video we saw this week. Tip of the Week: Dealing with a BlackBerry error. Errors come in all types. Here’s a quick rundown of what to do if you experience one on your BlackBerry.

9670 flip gets its moment on camera

After the 9800, the 9670 flip phone appears to be next on the agenda. This one has drawn the ire of many fans who would like to see flip phones put out to pasture, but the news isn’t all bad. The site Driphter has two new videos of the device, also running OS 6, along with a few observations. First, the fun part.

And then the software. The first bullet point in their observations might make for a few converts. “It’s not nearly as big as we thought it was, actually it’s quite sleek when closed. … very comfy to hold and handle.” That’s a huge plus, since the biggest concern about the device is with how clunky it is. Well, that and how ugly it is. I suppose that people who find flip phones ugly will never get over that. Another interesting bit: “It has built in functionality for touch screen options.” They guess that it will be the front screen that takes advantage of touch. That would certainly be interesting. Would that change anyone’s outlook? Also, there seems to be a hint that this will be a Sprint, and not a Verizon, device. Boy Genius Report previously said that Verizon worked with RIM for this, so the Sprint claim seems strange. That’s definitely something to watch for in the coming weeks. My money is still on Verizon, though. Finally, a good comparison shot:

Curve 9300 also caught on camera

I love comparison shots. It gives us such a better idea of what a device will really look like. As you can see above, the Curve 9300, bottom, compares favorably to its counterparts — the Storm2, the 9700, and the 9100. That shot, and plenty more, come from BBLeaks. Make sure to head over there and check out the whole gamut. They have also confirmed that we will get the 9330 on CDMA networks, though I’ll state again that I don’t quite see the point. It doesn’t seem to offer a significant upgrade over the 8530.

Roundup

Plenty of BlackBerry stories to go around this week.

• BES 5.0 specs leaked. BBLeaks has the rundown on everything you want and need to know about BES 5.0.
• The definitive guide to BlackBerry Messenger revisited. With a new version of BBM out, it’s time to revisit our guide. I think this covers just about everything.
• Free phones at T-Mobile on June 19. We’d been hearing about a big promo on that date. If you sign up for a family plan you can get any phone in the store for free.
• In sadder news, it appears something funky is happening with unlocked Storms on T-Mobile. You having the same problem?
• Just a reminder: RIM still leads in smartphone market share. Proceed as normal.
• RIM spent $675K on lobbying in Q1. What this means in the long run I don’t know. But it’s far more than they’ve spent in the past.