Blackberry Phones

Not one to be left out when new devices are in the air, Rogers official pricing for the BlackBerry Curve 9360 has been confirmed. If the new Curve is of interest to you, then you will be pleased to see that you can pick one up for $349.99 off contract or as low as $49.99 on a 3 year plan with appropriate voice/data package.

If you’re not keen on being locked into 3 years with an entry level BlackBerry, you can do a 1 or 2 year contract instead for $149 and $99 respectively.

When will this device be available on Rogers? It’s “coming soon”, of course, though word around Twitter is it will be out in time for back to school.

Launching new products is always difficult. Launching new products with hundreds of different carriers is exponentially more difficult. Apparently there is an easy way and a hard way to do things, however, and RIM has been making carriers offers they can’t refuse. BGR has learned from a trusted source that RIM has been strong-arming several carriers, essentially forcing them to approve devices they normally would not move through the Technical Acceptance phase.

Here is how it works: once an OS software build (bundle) has been tested internally at RIM, and the OS performs well, it moves up to be a Technical Acceptance candidate. The OS is then sent to the carrier to test and approve, or test and reject. If a carrier rejects a build, it can take weeks to get a new build tested and approved, and it can slow down a device’s release by months — as evidenced many times with different BlackBerry products in the past.

What’s the problem, then? We have been informed by a very reliable source at a major carrier that RIM has been putting an enormous amount of pressure on carriers to approve the upcoming BlackBerry smartphones like the BlackBerry Bold 9900 — phones that have to hold RIM over until its next-generation platform launch in 2012 — and that certain carriers will be approving the devices, “no matter what — with bugs and problems.”  Additionally, RIM is putting huge pressure on its internal engineers to deliver Technical Acceptance bundles even when there are serious problems with the OS. In short, RIM is pushing unfinished OS builds from its engineers to the carriers, and demanding that the carriers approve them.

The thing is, this isn’t something new, and it’s part of the reason your BlackBerry is so buggy, reboots randomly, and there are possible signal and connection issues. There have been multiple devices, we have been told, that have been forced through the Technical Acceptance process with multiple carriers, and it’s one of the reasons some carriers launch devices sooner than others (barring any exclusivity arrangements) — some play ball but others won’t. Remember how Rogers was one of the first carriers to launch the BlackBerry Bold 9000 while AT&T didn’t launch the device until November? The device constantly failed Technical Acceptance on AT&T, but Rogers pushed the device out anyway as a result of pressure from RIM. And Rogers is most certainly not the only carrier that has found itself in that position.

Spokespeople from RIM and Rogers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An AT&T spokesperson declined to comment.

Ahoy there Canadian readers! Dreaming of a Torch-white Christmas? Your friends at Rogers Wireless were kind enough to provide your pals at BGR with one albino BlackBerry Torch to giveaway to you, our beloved readers from up north.

As most of you know, the Torch is RIM’s first touchscreen BlackBerry to also feature a full-QWERTY keyboard — the device also boasts a 5 megapixel camera, 512MB of RAM, and BlackBerry 6. So, how do you win yourself this BlackBerry Torch? Simple:

• To enter, drop a comment below letting us know why you want need this device.
• Follow us on Twitter and/or Facebook (optional but it can’t hurt your chances).
• The giveaway will run until December 31, 2010 at 11:59PM ET.
• You must be a Canadian resident, 18 years of age or older.
• Please comment once and only once. Multiple comments will result in an instant disqualification.

Good luck, and thanks again to Rogers for providing us with the goods!

If you’ve been holding out for that white BlackBerry Bold 9780  (ahem, Kevin) — the wait is over. Rogers now has the device ready and waiting for a good home. The white Bold 9780 is on Rogers website and can be picked up for the standard rate – $149 on a 3 year term, $399 2 year, $449 1 year or monthly. Unlike the all-black Bold 9780, the white version isn’t all white and has the chrome bezel just like the Bold 9700 along with a black mid-section which is kind of a drag, but it is what it is. No word if it is yet available in stores (although it should be) so if you come across one leave a comment letting us know!

The Globe and Mail is reporting that Canadian wireless carrier Rogers may face a $10 million fine for misleading advertising claims made against its competitors. The Canadian Competition Bureau is looking to levy the penalty for Rogers’ assertion that its pre-paid wireless arm — Chatr  Wireless — has “fewer dropped calls than new wireless carriers” such as Wind Mobile. The Competition Bureau reports that there was “no discernible difference in dropped call rates between Rogers/Chatr and new entrants.” According to the report, the Bureau is asking Ontario’s superior court to order Rogers Wireless to pay the $10 million fine and issue a letter of retraction.

We do wonder what the Canadian Competition Bureau would think about AT&T’s fastest 3G network, Verizon’s most reliable 3G network, T-Mobile’s largest 4G network, and Sprint’s now network claims.

The white BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphone is now available in Canada over Rogers. The white version has launched by AT&T in the US on the end of October. The Canadian carrier, Rogers is offering the white BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphone for $229.99 with a 3-year contract.

As remind, the BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphone has features a 3.18-inch TFT display with resolution of 480 x 360 pixels, 5MP camera with video capture capabilities, and 4GB of internal memory with expandable microSD card (up to 32GB).

BlackBerry Torch 9800 is also support for GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, HSPA 850/1900/2100 MHz connectivity. There is WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS, Bluetooth, and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

Rogers is brings white edition of both the BlackBerry Torch and BlackBerry Bold 9780 smartphone.

The BlackBerry Torch smartphone is sold for priced at $229.99 with a 3-year contract, while the BlackBerry Bold 9780 is offered by Rogers for priced at $149.99 on 3-year terms also.

There is no word on release date of both White BlackBerry Torch and White BlackBerry Bold 9780 smartphone but should be available within next couple weeks in holiday season.

As specs, the BlackBerry Bold 9780 smartphone has a 2.44-inch (480×360) TFT display, 512MB on board memory, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and a slot for microSD card slot (up to 32GB).

In some other Canadian carrier Torch news, Rogers customers looking to pick up their BlackBerry Torch should be advised that Rogers has changed their release date as well now. Previously set for launch today, that date has now been changed to September 30th as per the information posted on their company blog  and on the BlackBerry Torch landing page they have set up. With all the delay announcements and rumors that happened this was pretty much inevitable, now all we can do is hope that Rogers takes a marketing hint from Bell and reduces their pricIn some other Canadian carrier Torch news, Rogers customers looking to pick up their BlackBerry Torch should be advised that Rogers has changed their release date as well now. Previously set for launch today, that date has now been changed to September 30th as per the information posted on their company blog  and on the BlackBerry Torch landing page they have set up. With all the delay announcements and rumors that happened this was pretty much inevitable, now all we can do is hope that Rogers takes a marketing hint from Bell and reduces their pricing as well. But I’m guessing thats a no because the landing page still says $199.99. ing as well. But I’m guessing thats a no because the landing page still says $199.99.

If you’re Canadian and awaiting the Rogers release of the BlackBerry Torch 9800 this should come as some good news for you all. Rogers dummy units have started to arrive at Rogers locations which, has always been a clear sign that the devices will soon go on sale. The reported ones have been showing up in the GTA area but, I’m assuming most locations will see them in store by launch. The launch date was rumored to of have been pushed back but it appears thus far that Rogers is still on time for their September 24th release date. Upon release, you can pick up the BlackBerry Torch from Rogers for $199.99 with a new 3yr contract.

Unboxing videos. Love em or hate em, you know we gotta do them! The BlackBerry Curve 3G  is available on Rogers now, and coming to other carriers soon, so it’s time to tear open the box and see what’s inside. The BlackBerry Curve 3G is RIM’s entry level smartphone, so while it gets decent internals (the same 624MHZ processor that’s in the Pearl 3G and Bold 9700), it skimps on other hardware – the low resolution 320 by 240 display is the same as the old Curve 8300 / 8800 series devices used to have and the camera is 2 megapixels without a flash (note, in the video I accidentally say that video recording resolution is the same as the Pearl 3G’s thanks to the update to the chipset, but it’s not… vid recording on the Curve 3G is still a lowly 320×240).