9700 BlackBerry Group Code

This is our 9700 Group code that Saoud (Nutcase on CB) started for 9700 BlackBerry owners. So if you own a 9700 scan the group code and join our chat.

BlackBerry 9700 5.0.0.435 Leaked

Well it looks like .435 OS for the 9700 has been leaked to a few. Thanks to @Crucial_Extreme for the screen shot. I wonder when it will be leaked to the masses.

BlackBerry 9700 5.0.0.423 Made Official

Well I upgraded my 9700 OS from 5.0.0.421 to 5.0.0.423. I am really surprised that it wasn’t leaked prior to being released by a carrier. Maybe to close to the holidays no one was paying attention. Anyways we will see what this OS has to offer.

BlackBerry 9700

BlackBerry 9700 has got to be the best BlackBerry made to date. I don’t have to S2 to compare it to but as far as the unit not being a touch screen it is better than the previous models.

Here is a screen shot of my desktop of my 9700.

BlackBerry Messenger Updated to .57

Today BBM was updated to .57, I haven’t located a change log so it must be a minor fix to .56 BBM

T-Mobile Launching BlackBerry Bold 9700 on November 13

T-Mobile Launching BlackBerry Bold 9700 on November 13

BlackBerry-Bold-9700

T-Mobile says its 3G BlackBerry Bold 9700 will be released this coming Monday.

T-Mobile just revealed it will be launching its new BlackBerry Bold 9700 this coming Monday for $200 on contract. The Bold 9700 is T-Mobile’s first 3G BlackBerry. This sleek new BlackBerry features Wi-Fi, a built-in GPS, a 3.2 MP camera, and a 480 x360 display. The Bold is described by maker RIM as the “finest” BlackBerry to date.

Just as a reminder, here are the new Bold 9700’s specs:

* Trackpad navigation
* Bright, hi-resolution screen
* Full QWERTY keyboard
* 3G technology
* Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled
* 256MB flash memory
* 3.2 MP digital camera with
video camera
* Multimedia player
* Wireless email
* Organizer
* Browser
* Phone
* SMS/MMS
* MicroSD card reader

T-mobile Goes All Official With The BlackBerry 9700

With Android all the rage these days it’s easy to forget that RIM isn’t going quietly into that good night. With that in mind RIM officially introduces the Blackberry Bold 9700 to the world, forgetting its leaked more times than a dormitory faucet. Expected hit our magenta on November 11^th, T-mobile has said it would be on its network “in time for the holiday season.” Slashgear however, is reporting that the phone will cost $199.99 on a 2-year contract but T-mobile did not confirm pricing. The specs come in pretty well in line with what’s been known for some time now:

• 3.2 megapixel camera
• 624 MHz process, 256 mb flash memory
• UMA support with Wi-Fi
• GPS
• Optical Trackpad
• 6 hour talk time
• Partridge in a pear tree
• OS 5.0 (not sure which version of 5.0 is included at this time)

Want to learn more? T-mobile is getting its website thing on with a dedicated Blackberry 9700 link found here.

Slashgear via Businesswire

UPDATE: T-Mobile has a dedicated BlackBerry Bold 9700 site up! Check it out! Click here

BlackBerry Bluetooh Watch

Mock up

RIM is to release an official BlackBerry Bluetooth watch, that will alert you whenever you get calls and texts

Published on Aug 19, 2009

RIM has confirmed that it’s bringing a BlackBerry-compatible Bluetooth watch to market.

However, unlike LG’s Watch Phone, which also comes with a hefty £1000 RRP, the BlackBerry watch isn’t a phone at all, just an accessory to complement your BlackBerry handset.

As such, we imagine it’ll have very similar functionality to the Sony Ericsson MBW-200 Bluetooth watch we had a look at back in June.

That is, it’ll alert you whenever you get calls or texts with a discreet vibrate that won’t draw the stares or glares of nearby people, even if you’re in the cinema.

RIM has also revealed that it’s going to release a BlackBerry Bluetooth headset, that will use noise reduction technology and come in a sleek black chrome casing.

Here is the latest snapshot courtesy of CrackBerry.com

T-Mobile’s Project Dark/Black

Today I’ve got more news for you guys, brought to you by everyone’s favorite brood of ninjas at Boy Genius Report. They released not one, but two stories today with more details on what the new roll-out of plans and services from the fourth place service provider that they’re hoping will propel them past Sprint will include.

One of the developments is the option to finance your phones.  Let’s say you have your eye on the new BlackBerry 9700 but the idea of a contract isn’t what you want to hear.  All you would have to do is sign up for FlexPay and you will then pay the full retail price of the phone over an allotted amount of time.

Secondly is a bit of a breakdown of what “Even More,” and “Even More Plus” includes.  The Even More plan will require a two year contract and allow you to subsidize your phone while the Even More Plus has no contract but at the same time no subsidizing.

This is all pretty good news, especially when you take in to account that it’s also being reported that TMO will offer various unlimited price tiers at $40, $50, and $60, depending on what add-ons you have.  For the rest of the details, be sure to check out the full story at the links above.

What do you guys think this will mean for the future of T-Mobile?  Is Project Dark/Black enough to get them out of dead last?  Voice your opinions in the comments below!

BlackBerry Storm 2 (Odin)

When the BlackBerry Storm debuted last fall, RIM’s first touchscreen device received not-so-stellar reviews. RIM took reviewers’ and customers’ gripes into consideration, however, when designing the BlackBerry Storm 2 (US$200 with a two-year contract from Verizon; price as of 10/14/09). The result? This is the Storm that I wish RIM had released last year–the device’s build, the on-screen keyboard, and the software are miles beyond the first generation. Even so, pressing to type still takes some getting used to.

In measurements and display size, the Storm 2 is identical to its predecessor. It weighs just slightly more (0.1 ounce more, to be exact) than the original Storm. If you put the two handsets side by side, however, the older Storm looks clunkier. All of the buttons on the Storm 2 are more recessed, making for a more streamlined design. Hardware buttons no longer run below the display; instead, the new handset offers touch-sensitive buttons there. And unlike with the first model, on this version you won’t see a crack between where the display ends and the keys start–this alone puts the Storm 2 eons beyond the Storm in design aesthetics.

The absence of that (somewhat disturbing) crack is due to the new SurePress technology, which is now electronic rather than mechanical. You still have to push down to type or select an application, but the unit no longer feels wobbly or clumsy to press. As my colleague Yardena Arar noted in last year’s review of the Storm, the mechanical SurePress interface was often inaccurate: You’d press one application, and another would activate.

Without getting too technical, the difference in the two generations lies underneath the display. The original Storm was essentially one big suspended button mounted below the screen’s center point. Below the Storm 2’s hood, in contrast, four activators sense when you’re pressing on the screen. This design allows for a more stable navigating experience.

I had a much easier time typing on the Storm 2’s keyboard than on the original’s, but I still can’t get accustomed to pushing down on a display to type. I know that it is supposed to feel more natural than a typical touch keyboard, but I think I prefer the physical BlackBerry keyboards. I do like how you can hold down the Shift key and a letter to capitalize it, as you would on a physical keyboard. A colleague with larger hands had more difficulty typing on it than I did, however.

One interesting thing to note: RIM studied the way people typed on touch keyboards, and found that, while typing quickly, they often briefly held down two keys at once. The Storm 2’s keyboard mimics that by having both keys respond when you press them, thus making typing faster. And of course, the keyboard has RIM’s excellent SureType predictive-text entry, which facilitates speedy typing.

The new Storm also has inertial scrolling, which means that you can move through your contacts or media library quickly with a flick of your finger. It isn’t as speedy as the iPhone’s scrolling, but it is a big improvement from that of the older Storm, which barely budged when you flicked to scroll. There were times when I had to flick multiple times to get the phone to respond, however. The cut/copy/paste functions are also easier to use, since the “handles” you grab to select text are bigger.

While the Storm 2 retains the original’s 480-by-360-pixel display resolution, the user interface looks a lot brighter and sharper. This is due to the BlackBerry OS 5.0 software, which has sharper icons, brighter colors, and blacker blacks than does BlackBerry OS 4.7 (which shipped on the original Storm). The interface is clean and simple to navigate, thanks to the easy-to-identify icons.

Call quality over Verizon’s 3G network was very good, with no background static or hiss. Voices were loud enough for me to hear easily, and they sounded natural. Parties on the other end of the line could hear my voice clearly while I was standing on a busy street corner.

Like all BlackBerry products, the Storm 2 has excellent messaging and e-mail capabilities. You get BlackBerry Enterprise Server support for your work e-mail, and you can load up to ten work or personal POP3 or IMAP accounts. The Storm 2 doesn’t come loaded with the new BlackBerry Messenger 5.0, but you should definitely download it from BlackBerry App World. Trust me, you’ll never go back to the old Messenger: Version 5 sports a spruced-up interface that’s easier to use, it offers more emoticons to choose from, and it has the ability to display your location via GPS.

Pages loaded quickly over Verizon’s 3G network, and even faster over Wi-Fi. Yes, the Storm 2 has Wi-Fi, and that alone makes the revised handset a big step up from the original Storm. RIM says to expect all of its future CDMA handsets to ship with Wi-Fi connectivity, so kudos to the company for finally getting past that roadblock. The browser will default to a mobile page when one is available, but it also loads full sites without any issues. Of course, the BlackBerry platform doesn’t yet support Flash, so Flash-heavy sites won’t load.

The music player displays album art and has easy-to-access touch controls. Audio quality sounded a bit hollow piped through the bundled headset and on my own higher-quality earbuds. Video playback was very smooth throughout most clips; I noticed only a bit of stuttering in fast-action scenes.

Overall, I was impressed with the Storm’s 3.2-megapixel camera. Snapshots taken both indoors and outdoors looked better than pictures taken with the iPhone 3GS. Colors were a bit washed out and even more so when the flash was on, but details were sharp and I didn’t detect any noise or graininess.

The BlackBerry Storm 2 is definitely an upgrade from the first Storm in design and usability. And while the keyboard handles better, I still can’t really get the hang of it. Before you decide to purchase the Storm 2, try it out extensively in a Verizon store. If you discover that it isn’t for you, consider getting a phone with both a touchscreen and a keyboard, like the LG enV Touch or the HTC Touch Pro 2. With one of those models, you get the best of both input technologies rather than something in between.