Feeling overloaded with BlackBerry news and rumors? We know the feeling. We hear new things almost every day, and it can be tough to keep up with it all. that’s why we’re bringing you BlackBerry News from the Wire every Thursday.
We’ll catch you up on everything ‘Berry that happened over the course of the week. Not only that, but we’ll rank ‘em by importance, so you can more easily skim the items and read the ones of most significance. If you only have time to read one article, for instance, you might want to head down to our 5-star section. It’s All the BlackBerry News Fit to Geek.
Rumor has the Bold launching on the 20th
July. No, August. Better say September. Not ready yet? October. Wanna tick some people off? November. Such has been the saga of the BlackBerry Bold in the US. While we’ve heard that the delay is over a buggy operating system, that might not be the whole story. Could it be that not enough employees signed up for training, hence the delay? You’d hope not, but that’s what BlackBerry News relays. They have the launch on October 20, which wouldn’t be so bad at this point. Then again, at this point, launching before the Storm will be an accomplishment. Bonus rumor: White keyboard, black lettering on the Bold for AT&T. For what it’s worth, BGR has the Best Buy release set at October 26.
Bold on Rogers set to drop in price
Remember how we were all worked up because Rogers launched the Bold for $399.99? It looks like they’re set to drop that $100, to the more reasonable $299.99 price tag. BlackBerry Cool claimed this would happen on October 1, but as of this morning Rogers still has the Bold still has it listed at $399.99. Maybe they’re waiting for AT&T to release theirs before dropping the price.
Users not wiping BlackBerry devices before selling
If you were going to sell a BlackBerry, especially one you use for work, you’d probably want to get all traces of you off it, right? While that makes sense intuitively, it doesn’t seem that people are taking this precaution. In fact, a recent study suggests that 44 percent of second-hand BlackBerrys still contain data from the original owner. That’s not a stat you brag about at a board meeting. This isn’t just any old personal data, either. According to the study, these devices “contained information which could pose a significant risk to organisations if expose.” Just a friendly reminder: Wipe your BlackBerry.
T-Mobile sets pricing for Pearl 8220
Lost amid the Storm and Bold news has been details of the BlackBerry Pearl 8220 flip phone. T-Mobile will carry this in the US, though we’ve known that for quite some time. There was some speculation to the phone checking in at $49.99 and serving as a true entry level ‘Berry. The pricing from Rogers showed us this isn’t true. While there was some hope for T-Mobile, that is gone. Their pricing has been leaked. It looks like $199.99 with a new one-year activation, and $217.99 with a one-year full upgrade. If you want to take on another year, it’s $149.99 for new activations, $167.99 with a full upgrade. Rumor has it that T-Mo could drop the Pearl on October 15, with it hitting Best Buy with the Bold on October 26.
The difference between BES and BIS
Yes, we all know that BES is BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BIS is BlackBerry Internet Service. We also know, I’m sure, that BES is more for business users, and BIS tends to be used by consumers. For some people, that’s as far as the knowledge extends. If you’re curious, you can check out a quick table which shows the difference between the two. It can probably answer most of your questions regarding BIS and BES.
Destination unknown for Storm in Canada
Last week, it seemed like a strong possibility that Bell had outbid Telus for the BlackBerry Storm and exclusive rights in Canada. Guess what? It’s not over. Apparently, Telus is not out of it, and is still preparing to fight Bell for the touchscreen device. The word from Engadget is that “this won’t be over anytime soon.” Well, it’s gotta be, really. The thing will be ready to go in about a month.
NTT DoCoMo to get Bold next year; T-Mobile never
Not that we deal at all with Japanese wireless carriers, but since it’s BlackBerry related we’ll share. RIM and DoCoMo have announced that the Bold will hit the Japanese carrier in early 2009. It will apparently be the same Bold that everyone else has, though of course with a different radio. Meanwhile, BlackBerry News speaks with a “high-level insider” at T-Mobile who says they’ll never carry the Bold. A shame, really. They’ll stick with the Pearl 8220 and the Curve 8900. While this might upset a few of their subscribers, it might be in the company’s best interest.
Vodfone Storm screenshots, Verizon release
If you’re looking for a bevy of Storm screenshots, head over to BGR. They’ve got the goods from the Vodafone-branded model. There’s not a whole ton new, but it can sate your Storm hunger. If you’re wondering when it will be out in the US, then check out Engadget Mobile, which has obtained a training schedule for Verizon employees. They’ve got to complete their Storm online course by November 2. Hint hint?
RIM stealing Motorola employees?
There has never been much love between Motorola and Research In Motion. They’ve gone to battle over patents recently, and now are fighting over employees. Motorola claims that RIM is poaching from them, to the tune of 40 employees to date. Motorola employees are governed by a pretty strict non-disclosure agreement, and the company claims that former employees can’t work at another wireless company without disclosing secrets.
Writer miffed at BlackBerry trackball
I’m not even sure why I’m including this. Probably because it was featured on every BlackBerry blog in the universe this week. Some dude from TheStreet.com, Gary Krakow, is miffed that his trackball no longer functions. The IT guys say that they encounter this all the time. I haven’t encountered it, and I’ve been using my 8830 like a madman since January. Anyway, BlackBerry Cool offers some advice: wet your finger and roll the trackball. That could dislodge some dirt. If you’re more tech-savvy, you could always disassemble the unit. Just make sure you know how to put it back together.
SanDisk offers 16GB microSD cards
We covered this on the blog, but it’s still newsworthy. If you have a compatible OS, you can use a 16GB microSD card from SanDisk (compatibility chart in link). They’re still a new offering, so they’re not widely available yet. They could get pricey, too, but the price should fall, as they have for all SD cards a few months after release. It’s like carrying around an iPhone worth of memory in a teensy, tiny card.
Hide icons to clear up applications menu. You know what I hated about BlackBerry’s desktop? That you’d have an individual icon for each email address, plus your consolidated messages folder. Thankfully, you can hide those icons, or any icon you wish, simply and easily.
Viigo creativity contest winners. We had a contest, and Bla1ze took home the prize by suggesting that you can check your website stats with Viigo. I never knew that. I guess that’s why he won.
Public domain e-books for Mobipocket reader. Yeah, I’m a book nerd. Yeah, I love Mobipocket. Yeah, I love public domain classics. They’re now available from BlackBerryBooks.com.
Tracking your finances with BlackBerry. There are tons and tons of personal finance applications out there. We take a look at the top-rated ones, plus a free one. That makes financial sense, doesn’t it?
How to solve any BlackBerry problem. Pull the battery. Sixty percent of the time, it works every time.
1 comment… read it below or add one
Dear BB user,s
its very simple,you can clean trackball with bodyspry,just a single spry on ball and clean with dry cloth.
problem will solved