Blackberry Phones

You know what would go down well with this particular Game Boy skin for a range of BlackBerry devices from RIM? I am thinking a Game Boy emulator software, although the BlackBerry isn’t exactly the most optimal device to have fun with on the go, considering this is more of a business tool than anything else. Still, if you grew up in the era of the Game Boy and have your GamePaks all stowed away in alphabetical order, and mastering two-player Tetris, then you might just want to check out just what this $8.99 BlackBerry skin is able to offer.

Apart from making your smartphone look like a Game Boy from the outside from a certain angle, it will also offer minor protection from surface scratches, but do make sure you specify just which BlackBerry model you are ordering this skin for when you checkout. As far as we know, supported BlackBerry models comprise the Blackberry Bold 9000, Blackberry Bold 9650, Blackberry Bold 9700, Blackberry Bold 9780, Blackberry Bold 9900, Blackberry Bold 9930, Blackberry Curve 8520, Blackberry Curve 8530, Blackberry Curve 8900, Blackberry Curve 9300, Blackberry Curve 9330, Blackberry Curve 9350, Blackberry Curve 9360, Blackberry Curve 9370, Blackberry Curve 9930, Blackberry Torch 9800, Blackberry Torch 9810, and the Blackberry Torch 9850.

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Research In Motion is currently weighing every single option it can think of in an effort to reverse a negative trend that is approaching a boiling point for investors. Reports that RIM is currently in talks to license its software to other vendors are accurate according to our trusted sources, though we have been told that RIM is most likely leaning toward an outright sale of one or more divisions, or even the whole company. The front runner, we have been told by a trusted source with knowledge of the situation, is Samsung, which might be interested in RIM for a number of reasons.

One of the biggest assets RIM has is BlackBerry Messenger, and it would be a smart way for Samsung to differentiate itself inside the Android ecosystem. HTC has its Sense suite and it recently bought into Beats by Dr. Dre. Samsung could buy RIM, or a part of the company, and integrate not only BBM but also several other enterprise features into Android to make its devices an even bigger threat to competitors. This could also help Samsung better differentiate itself on the software and OS level, pulling more control into its hands and away from Google.

We have heard that Jim Balsillie is actively meeting with almost every company that might be interested in either a part or all of RIM, in addition to having talks about licensing. “Jim is going hard after Samsung,” said a source with knowledge of the negotiations. One of the reasons no deal has been struck, however, is that RIM’s co-CEOs are asking for way too much.

We have heard the company is looking for more than $10 billion for a full sale, likely somewhere in the $12 billion to $15 billion range, or between approximately $22.90 and $28.60 per share. RIM’s market capitalization currently sits at about $8.5 billion, though several analysts think that even $8.5 billion is more than an interested party would consider bidding at the moment.

Samsung declined to comment and a spokesperson for RIM did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It’s certainly an interesting time at Research In Motion, and we’ll have much more on RIM in the coming days.

UPDATE: In a statement provided to Reuters Wednesday evening, a Samsung spokesman said the company is not interested in an outright purchase of Research In Motion. The spokesman did not address reports that Samsung is considering licensing RIM’s software, however, or purchasing a portion of RIM’s assets.

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Research In Motion is reportedly working on two new BlackBerry PlayBook tablets that are currently scheduled for release in 2012. BlackBerry watcher N4BB claims that while RIM had initially scrapped plans to produce a larger PlayBook tablet, the vendor now plans to release both a 10-inch and a new 7-inch tablet this year.

RIM’s new 7-inch model will feature embedded 3G connectivity when it launches in April according to the report, and the 10-inch BlackBerry tablet will reportedly include support for 4G LTE networks when it launches in December. The site also reiterates that RIM currently only has one BlackBerry 10 smartphone slated for 2012, which BGR exclusively reported earlier this month, and it states that at least two more low-end BlackBerry Curve models will launch this year as well.

The most popular and successful multi-device communication platform is without question WhatsApp. More of a text messaging replacement than straight BlackBerry Messenger competitor, WhatsApp has been the number one service people rely on to communicate across iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone devices. We were sent a preview copy of the new version of WhatsApp for BlackBerry smartphones, our exclusive first look is after the break.To start, the entire app’s user interface has been refreshed, and it really looks strong. It’s clean, it’s sophisticated, and it’s one of the better interfaces on a BlackBerry product that we’ve seen. The app contains the same basic 5 tabs that you’re used to — chats, favorites, contacts, status, and settings — but it’s done in a way that feels natural and light. There’s a really intuitive context button on the right of the top tab bar, and it changes based on what tab you’re on. If you’re in the chats tab, the button changes to allow you to start a new chat, if you’re on the favorites tab, it changes to refresh favorites button, a search option on the contacts tab, add a status on the status tab, and add a friend on the settings tab.

I have noticed a couple little issues using this pre-release version on my BlackBerry 9900, though. The touch area for the tab buttons at the top of the interface are a tad small and I have tapped a contact’s name and started a chat instead of changing to the tab I aimed to switch to. Additionally, the rows that list your favorites or contacts are very narrow, and while that works fine for navigation with the trackpad, not the best possible spacing for touch selection.

All in all, the app gets a very welcome refresh, and the best multi-platform communication service gets even better. It should be available tomorrow directly from WhatsApp’s beta site, and in BlackBerry App World soon after.

”Our current UI for BlackBerry is something only an engineer could love. With this update, we’ve had a designer who has no knowledge of BlackBerry UI difficulties mock up new screens for every part of the app.  It has then been our engineering challenge to make those mockups reality across the wide range of BlackBerry devices available.  When we started, it looked very challenging to make these screens happen, said Michael Donohue, Senior BlackBerry Engineer of WhatsApp, This is truly a great UI for BlackBerry.”

”WhatsApp wants consumers to have the ability to message easily, intuitively to that degree we have overhauled the UI, making it simple, clean and easy to use. Our overall commitment to product quality and continued improvement to the BlackBerry is important to us, it is a great messaging device and we are fully committed to supporting the consumers who use it, said Jan Koum, CEO, WhatsApp.”

Source: BGR.com

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 is the GSM version of the CDMA network BlackBerry Bold 9930 on Verizon and Sprint. Beyond the cell radio inside and carrier branding, the phones are identical.

T-Mobile’s version of RIM’s latest QWERTY flagship phone has 4G HSPA+, and you can really feel the difference vs. 3G on the Verizon and Sprint versions. Web pages download faster as do email attachments and applications, though App World remains mysteriously slower at download compared to its iOS and Android counterparts. Reception is excellent as is call quality: RIM knows how to make a phone that works well for voice calls. Read more

As you’re sure to know, things have been quite hard for RIM as of late. While they do still have a large dedicated customer base for their BlackBerry smartphones, competing entities like Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android have been chipping away at the Canadian company’s market share on an increasing basis. Luckily, RIM has let us know that they do have tricks up their sleeve in the form of their QNX based platform powering devices like the BlackBerry PlayBook.

While we’ve known that the smartphone version of this platform won’t be dropping for quite some time, we didn’t know exactly how long it will take. Unfortunately, RIM’s Mike Lazaridis has just come forth to let us know that smartphones running BlackBerry 10 won’t be out until the end of 2012. Apparently, the problem focuses on chipsets needed to produce these phones not being available until this time period.

Will it be too late for RIM by then? Will Apple and Google already be too far ahead? We’ll have to wait and see.

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The next version of the BlackBerry operating system will be known as BlackBerry 10, instead of BBX as the latter is no longer available for use by Research In Motion (RIM) as deemed by the court of law simply because another company already holds the trademark to BBX, and are not willing to relinquish it so that a corporation like RIM will be able to have it their way. Well, it is still months away before the first batch of BlackBerry 10 devices are released to the market, but that does not mean in this day and age, where ninja photographers are stealthy enough to shoot and capture upcoming devices without missing a beat. What you see on the right is an image render of what looks set to be the BlackBerry Milan.

Assuming what we see here is the real McCoy, it would seem as though this is not a different variant of the BlackBerry London, that is, of course, the BlackBerry London comes with a slide-out keyboard that was cleverly hidden form the masses until now. Not only that, you won’t find any physical buttons which are recognizable from previous BlackBerry handsets, such as call, hang-up, menu and back buttons, not to mention a missing trackpad. Are you stoked already?

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The BlackBerry Playbook is not exactly the best selling tablet in the market right now, let alone having it fly the best seller flag for manufacturer RIM at the moment. In fact, RIM has gone so far as to offer the Playbook for free to enterprise customers, which is not always a good thing as it reveals your position to your rivals in the market that you are clearly having issues clearing up your inventory, and while the Playbook has not gone the way of the HP Touchpad, it is still a worrying sign for the Canadian company.

At least RIM still supports the BlackBerry Playbook with updates, and while the most recent update will not introduce Blackberry smartphone synchronization capabilities to your tablet, at least it will still fix several issues as listed below.

• Updated version of Adobe Flash Player version 11.1 and Adobe AIR 3.1
• Daylight savings time updates for time zones in the regions of Latin America, Australia and Central America
• Updated Bluetooth and Wi-Fi software to help to improve connectivity
• Fixed issues some users were experiencing with account payments in the BlackBerry App World storefront
• Improved synching when restoring applications with BlackBerry Desktop Software

Have you updated your Playbook already?

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one London Bridge that will not fall, that’s for sure. I’m talking about this rather edgy looking BlackBerry device which has been given the nickname, BlackBerry London. Yes sir, it is most probably one of the next generation of BlackBerry smartphones that will be powered by the upcoming BBX operating system as well as boasting QNX roots. Touted for a release in June next year – why London, I wonder, perhaps it has something to do with the summer Olympics that is happening in that part of the world then.

Touted to run on a TI OMAP dual-core CPU that has been clocked to 1.5GHz, the BlackBerry London will also come with 1GB RAM, 16GB of internal memory, an 8-megapixel rear camera, coupled with a 2-megapixel front-facing camera for vain self portraits as well as video calls. It seems that the London will be “thinner than the iPhone 4″ while sporting similar dimensions to the Samsung Galaxy S II. It takes on a rather boxy look to say the least, and will most probably run on some variation of the PlayBook’s operating system.

How much do you think this puppy will cost when it arrives, and will it help RIM get out of the doldrums?

You can more or less tell that the competitors have sniffed blood – and the blood belongs to the injured animal known as Research In Motion, or RIM for short. Who would have thought that RIM would one day be fending off the likes of Apple prior to the iPhone’s release? After all, Apple made computers and portable media players, not phones, and the BlackBerry family was the bomb back then as corporate figures and folks who cannot live without instant email proved to be quite the market winner. Too bad Apple’s iPhone changed the smartphone scene, and RIM has been on a slow downward spiral since then.

Their entry into the tablet market did not light up the world either, as the BlackBerry Playbook proved to be a flop as it did not sell as many units as RIM had originally hoped. I guess you can say that RIM’s pretty much stuck at the moment, and they’re most probably keeping their fingers crossed that the latest operating system known as BBX will be able to bring the Canadian company back to where it was originally, and beyond, of course. Word has it that the new BBX smartphones from RIM will come with a similar screen resolution as that of the Playbook, so you can expect to see a 1,024 × 600 resolution being squeezed into a smaller form factor – logically increasing overall sharpness in the process.