Blackberry Bold ATT Release Confirmed - November 4th

After a series of release parties throughout the US held by Blackberry and ATT. ATT confirmed that the Blackberry Bold will finally be avaiable for sale on November 4th for $299. Its been a long time since the Bold was announced during the summer. The Bold has been available for sale in Canada on rogers since Augest 21st.

A storm is comming - a Blackberry Storm

Yesterday Blackberry unleashed a media blitz of their new model, the Blackberry storm. This is Blackberry's first all touch device. It was announced and information pages have gone live that in Canada telus and bell will carry it. In the US verizon will be the carrier. Also, Blackberry gave exclusive hands on time with the device to engadget and gizmodo.

And their verdict so far: their lovin it.

iTunes threat is over!

Earlier this week, Apple threatened to shut down the iTunes music store if a law was passed that increased royalty rate to record labels. Today, the copyright royalty board said that it would leave the royalty rate the same. Crisis averted!

Lambourgini unveils 4 door Estoque

At the Paris Auto show Lambourgini has unveiled their highly rumored Estoque. Their first 4 door sports sedan. What`s next, the Ferrari minivan?

T-Mobile's G1 Announced Today

Today T-Mobile officially announced the release of the G1 featuring Google's Android Software in New York this moorning. It will be available on T-Mobile in the US on October 22 for $179 on a two year contract. $399 no contract. There will be a data plan for $25 featuring unlimted data and some messaging and a $30 plan featuring unlimted data and messaging.

The Phone has a 3 megapixel camera, wifi, Amazons Mobile Mp3 store and the Android Market Place.

The phones specs are:

HSDPA 1700 / 2100 plus quadband EDGE
WiFi
3D graphics acceleration
1GB integrated storage plus microSD expansion
3-megapixel camera
Android Market for on-device app purchases
Amazon MP3 app for on-device music purchases
Push Gmail support with full HTML client
Bluetooth (but no A2DP)
Google Maps with Street View
No Microsoft Exchange support
No desktop synchronization -- it all happens over the air

Update: T-Mobile has put a 1 GB cap on data usage for the G1

Update 2: the G1 has no actual headphone port. You will need to use a mini USB adapter to use heahphones with the G1 ... what are we going back into the dark ages!

Apple Recalls iPhone 3G USB Power Adapter

Apple has issued a recall of all the USB power adapters that shipped with the iPhone 3G. Apple received information that the metal prongs on the power adapter were breaking off and getting stuck in people's outlets. The risk here is people may get shocked or hurt trying to remove the broken prongs.

The adapters were shipped with iPhones to US, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Peru.

Apple issued this statement:

Users with ultracompact power adapters should immediately stop using them until they exchange them for a new, redesigned ultracompact adapter.In the meantime, they should charge their iPhone 3G by connecting it to their computer with the USB cable that came with their iPhone or by using a standard-sized Apple USB Power Adapter (with fold up prongs) or with a third party adapter designed to work with the iPhone, such as a car charger.

iPhone owners will be able to replace their chargers on October 10th. The new charger will feature a green dot, as a way of identifing it as fixed.

Mercedes Unveils 2010 CLS Class

Mercedes has released the next generation of their highly popular CLS - Class. The model will be on sale for the 2010 model year. In this car class of four door coupes their will soon be alot of competition from the Porsche Panamera, The VW Passat CC, Audi A7 and bmw will be launching a similar car. The question is will the CLS be able to hold its crown as king?

The engines get redone from the previous generation to:

CLS350, 3.5-liter direct-injection V-6, 292 hp; power output increases to 306 hp in 2012
CLS550, 5.5-liter V-8, 388 hp; superseded by 435-hp direct-injection twin-turbo V-8 in 2012
CLS55 AMG, 5.5-liter twin-turbo direct-injection V-8, 570 hp; available from mid-2011 onward
CLS320 CDI, 3.0-liter turbo-diesel V-6, 224 hp; replaced in 2011 by 313-hp CLS350 CDI

Someone pays $17,100 for unreleased Blackberry javelin

The pre-release Blackberry Javelin that was up for sale on ebay auction ended. It was sold for a whopping $17,100. Someone is either a huge idiot and spent more then they could afford or is flush with funds and had some extra cash lyign aroung and wanted to test out the new Blackberry before everyone else. That 3.2 megapixel camera better be reallly good for that price.

Blackberry Storm Comming to Verizon

The Blackberry storm has been announced that it will be released on Verizon wireless. It will have full touch interface, 3G coverage, a full browser, 3.2 megapixel camera and visual voicemail. expected release date is early november. The Blackberry Storm information was page was up and working but it has since been taken down.

Verizon Blackberry storm to be announced on monday?

From this picture leaked onto the web, Verizon Wireless will be announcing something on monday. Rumors are its going to be the blackberry storm, which is scheduled to be available for sale November 1st. From the picture it does look like it will be the storm. Notice the thumb print in the right bottom corner!!

Incase protective cover for iPhone 3G - 3 week usage review

Beeing one of the first cases available at the iPhone 3g launch from incase made this case the most appealing one to me of the available cases within a week of July 11th. Being aware of the problems associated with this case for the original iphone, i still decided to go buy it because its look, form factor, protective nature and ease of use. Also the Incase slider was not available yet.

The problems of the original case being: the case stretches after taking the case on and off a couple of times. It scratches the chrome bezel around the phone. Attracts lint when taking it in and out of pockets and the edges of the case collect alot of dirt through normal usage. After three weks of usage with this case, i can firmly say those problems have not been rectified and are still effecting this case.

With my first week of use with this case it was great at the top holes and bottom. My only comment on the fit was that the camera hole was a little off. Everything was easily accessible. The look of the case was awsome. There was no stretching on the case, because i had yet to take the phone out of the case. The lint i dealt with, having to just wipe it off the case ever so often. As well, as far as i could tell it wasn't scratching the chrome. I thought they had rectified the stretching problem on this case due to a new combination of rubber and plastic.

After my second week of usage, i realized that they had not fixed the stretching problem. I had to take my phone out the case to get my sim card out. Then i put it back on and noticed the case was not fitting as snug as it was before. What this meant throughout the week, was more dust was abel to get under the case and more dirt was collecting on the edges. With more dust getting under the case, that meant the chrome could be scratched with case rubbing up against the phone with dust in between.

¸

After my third week, i had to take it off once more, so a total of 2 times on and off after the first time i put it on. Once i put it back on the second time i noticed the top had become very loose fitting and was barely holding onto the phone. Therefore the stretching problem was still a drawback of the case. Another issue i noticed was the a layer of rubber began to peel off. I contacted incase customer support and they instantly agreed to send me a new case of whatever case i wanted from them. Then at the end of the week i took the case off for the final time as i knew, incase was sending me a matte balck slider for free. When i looked at the phone, i noticed the bezel was completely scratched with many deep scratches around the top edge of the bezel.

What this means is that even though this case is a great concept and cool looking. All the problems associated with the first case are still there. With all the porblems, using this case for more than a week starts destroying the phone more than protecting it. A good compromise is the matte black incase slider which adds a little more bulk, but does everything the protective cover does without many off the problems.

Belkin releases full line of cases iPod Nano 4G and iPod Touch 2G

Today Belkin released a full line of cases for new iPod Nano and iPod Touch rangin from silicon cases to hard plastic cases to leather sleeves. The rubber cases are similar to those for the iPhone 3G with the same design on the back. They now offer many more color choices for the silicon case. Prices range from $14.99 - $29.99

Blackberry Kickstart(8220) gets official

Today RIM as finally officially released the Blackberry Kickstart. They have now added it to their website under the blackberry pearl series. What this means is we are actaully getting closer to the device hitting the streets. Even though rogers has been advertising the phone at $149 on a 3 year contract for the past week. The problem occurs when you actually go to rogers to buy one, the sales people don't even know what your talking about. Hopefully we will see an early augest official release on the rogers network.

Link to Blackberry 8220 website: http://www.blackberry.com/blackberrypearl/8220.shtml

Blackberry Storm / Thunder appears on video

In this video appearing on youtube (link below), the Blackberry storm appears in this video as a working (pre-release device) running OS 4.6. The video shows off the features of the accelerometer and the touch screen interface. (note: keyboard looks terrible).

check out the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwwNmNVqzQg

Other Apple tidbits...

Other than the big news of Apple releasing their new iPods, the updates other things too.

Those are:

- iTunes 8 was released with new visualizer, genius playlist feature and new sorting feature.

- Apple released iPhone firmware 2.1 which is supposed to have alot of bugfixes, faster backups when syncing, less dropped calls and better batter life.

- The iPod Classic was updated to 120GB thin version for $249.

- HD television shows will be available for $2.99 with NBC (the office) returning to the store.

- New $79 Apple in-ear heaphone with a built in remote control.

Apple launches 4th generation iPod Nano

Today the 4th iteratgion of the iPod nano was released. Its specs are confirmed to be the same as the ones that were leaked last week. The screen on the nano is essentially the same as the one on the 3rd generation nano, when it is turned sideways. It is made out of aluminum (similar to the 2gen nano) with curved glass, with a built in acceler0meter ... a la iPod Touch. Apple has said it is the thinnest ipod ever. An interesting addition to the shuffle feature on the iPod using the acceler0meter is that all you need to do is shake the iPod and it switches to a random song on your iPod. The Nano has had minor tweakes to its interface, as well the genius playlist feature has been added. The Nano now comes in 9 colors: silver, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink, black. Princes remain the same as before, but memory has been doubled to $149 for 8GB and $199 for 16GB. Batter life has also been bumped up to audio: 24 hrs video: 4hrs

Apple launches iPod touch 2nd generation

Today at the Apple lets rock! event in California, apple released the second version of their iPod Touch. The new iPod touch will have the same memory sizes as the previous generation having 8GB, 16GB and 32GB. The prices of the new iPods have been dropped significantly to the 8GB for $229, 16GB for $299 and 32GB for $399 all having a whopping $100 price drop. Other than updating the price there were also more new features added.

The main new features to the iPod Touch are as follows:

- new contoured all stainless steel design

- 2.1 Firmware

- Built-in speaker, exterior volume controls

- Genius playlist

- Nike+iPod support

- Battery: 36 hours for music, 6 hours for video.

Blackberry bold first impressions

After being released just over two weeks ago, i have a chance to finally put this phone to the test ... and it doesn't dissapoint.

Keyboard

Using the keyboard on the bold is great, the frets in between the keys adds enough room to make typing very comfortable. As comfortable, if not more than on the curve. The thing that really surpised me about the keyboard which in my mind makes it the best keyboard blackberry has ever put on a phone is the way the keys feel when typing on them and the improved typing click sound.

Screen

Screen quality can make or break a phone. In this case, it makes the phone more enjoyable to use. The resolution is stunning making all the images crystal clear. The screen quality is even better than that of the iPhone. The reason for that is because it is a smaller screen the pixels are more condensed. Now with a bigger screen than the 8800 or curve it is better using the phone with this screen . Theres a reason they call it BOLD.

OS

The new blackberry OS 4.6 looks great on the bolds screen. At first the icons are a little confusing, but after a couple of days it becomes second nature. pretty much everything is nicer to use on the new OS from messaging to media. The phone also comes standard with word excel and power point to go. There are now 5 standard games on the phone. The phone comes bundled with downloads of msn messenger and facebook mobile.

Media

The media compenent of the bold is very similar to other blackberrys with some cosmetic updates and a few minor added features, overall making it nicer to use. Movies and pictures look amazing on the bold`s screen. But the knockout feature for media is the bold`s external speakers. The quality and volume ability of the bolds speakers are good enough to make you want to watch a movie or listen to music without headphones.

Final Thoughts

Battery life has yet to be determined. As for movies i would rather watch one on with the bold`s screen quality, but i would also want to watch a movie with the widescreen of the iPhone. One side note: the bold comes with a their standard leather magnetic pouch that works great for protecting and carrying the phone. Also, the standard headphones have now been upgraded to blackberry branded inear heaphones. You can tell blackberry put alot of time and effort into making this a great phone and it shows when you use it.

According to Rogers people aren't using as much data as they complained about

Rogers wireless is reporting that after the first month of use on iPhone data plans customers are barely using up their data.

Rogers Wireless Communications Inc. says that in the first four weeks following launch of the device, 95 per cent of customers used less than 10 per cent of their data allotment.
Some iPhone owners may be more interested in the sizzle than the steak, using the device as a fashion statement first and a smart phone second. But given that early purchasers of new gadgets tend to be tech savvy, there's a more likely explanation for the trend. "Individuals are hesitant about exceeding their data [limits]," said Michelle Warren of MW Research & Consulting in Toronto.
Rogers set a cap of six gigabytes a month on its $30-a-month data package for the iPhone. The trouble is that with a new class of device running on a new high-speed wireless network, most customers do not yet know what usage translates into.
In addition, Rogers' initial pricing for its iPhone plans generated widespread criticism for being out of step with what AT&T Inc. charges in the U.S., making customers extra sensitive to data charges.
Rogers initially priced its iPhone monthly data plan at $100 for six GB of data and $30 for 300 megabytes, before yielding to consumer pressure. The current plan charges $30 for six GB of data, on top of standard voice charges, to customers who sign up before Sept. 1.
Liz Hamilton, spokeswoman for Rogers Wireless, said 95 per cent of iPhone buyers used less than half a gigabyte of data in the first four weeks, and 91 per cent used less than 200 MB - that's the equivalent of downloading about 50 songs or 12 minutes of high-quality video. "We were surprised at the amount of data usage - that it was that low," she said.
AT&T, the exclusive iPhone carrier in the U.S., allows customers to use as much data as they want on their monthly plans. When the company introduced the first iPhone a year ago, data traffic on its network ballooned.
U.S. smart phone users have no reservations about jumping on and off the Internet as they need it, Ms. Warren said, predicting that Rogers, Bell Mobility and Telus Corp. will all do away with limited-use data plans by late next year.

New Rogers iPhone Plans as of October 1st

Starting October 1st Rogers wireless will be launching new iPhone Specific plans. While these plans are still terrible, at least they are trying. I say that becasue in the US, every iPhone plan is coupled with unlimited data, the way an iphone was meant to be used.

Heres what they are offering:
$60/month

250 daytime minutes (up from 150) + unlimited nights / weekends
1GB data (up from 400MB)
75 texts
Visual Voicemail
three months of unlimited local calling
a permanent MY5 Local option

$75/month

400 daytime minutes (up from 300) + unlimited nights / weekends
2GB data (up from 750MB)
100 texts
Visual Voicemail
three months of unlimited local calling
a permanent MY5 Local option

Blackberry Javelin to be next version of the curve ... but when is it coming??

All over the web specs and spy shots of the new blackberry javelin(8900) have been appearing, these are all great, but when will it actually be released?

(espicially since RIM has yet to officially announce it)

A Rogers handset release roadmap has slated it for a november december release. Lets hope their are no delays.

Leaked Specs for iPod Nano 4G and iPod touch 2G(AKA iPhone - Phone)

ilounge has released pictures of the dimensions and exterior features of the new iPod Nano and iPod touch to be released on tuesday in Sanfransico.

The iPod Touch is expected to change its backing to that of the iPhone 3G with the same bowed curve and plastic back. In the picture external volume controls are also visible.

The Nano 4G has an extended screen, and a body similar to that of the 2nd generation nano. Hopefully the screen is like that for sideways viewing of widescreen video.

Apple sends out invitation to iPod special event SEPT 9th

On September 9th at 10 a.m. Apple will be expected to realese the holiday updates to their current iPod line. Rumors are flying around a new version of the iPod Nano and a slight update to the iPod touch.

A much anticipated update to iTunes 8 is also rumored.