Cell Phones

It was facing an August 31st deadline before India banned BlackBerry service in the country, but it looks like RIM has now managed to avoid that scenario — at least for a little while. According to India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, “RIM have made certain proposals for lawful access by law enforcement agencies and these would be operationalized immediately,” and that “the feasibility of the solutions offered would be assessed thereafter.” Details are still a bit light beyond that, but India’s assessment will apparently come after 60 days, and there’s still no guarantee that we won’t end up back at square one at that point. Interestingly, India is also still raising complaints about Gmail and Skype, with it now saying that it wants Google and Skype to set up servers in the country that would give it greater monitoring capabilities.
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SOURCE:The Globe and Mail, NDTV

It’s felt almost as if the BlackBerry smartphone rumor mill has been a little too quiet — dare we say burnt out — since the Torch hit the scene (BlackPad notwithstanding, of course). That’s all changed with a pair of interesting leaks care of Boy Genius Report. Behold a successor to the Bold 9700, the R020. The tri-band UMTS / quad-band EDGE device is gonna disappoint some with the same 624MHz clockspeed and 2.44-inch 480 x 360 screen, but it does have twice the RAM (512MB), a 5 megapixel camera with AF and flash, and of course runs on BlackBerry 6. If the purported leaked slides are correct, a device of such magnitude should be launching in the October timeframe. Looking to the CDMA side of things — which means likely both Verizon and Sprint — we’ve got a 9670 “Oxford” (at least by codename) flip phone with a full QWERTY keyboard, 5 megapixel camera, 360 x 400 internal display (240 x 320 for the external), usual amenities like WiFi and GPS, and the hip new BB6. No touchscreen on either phones, as far as we can tell, but perhaps that’s a blessing for those that fret smudged screens.
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SOURCE:Boy Genius Report (1), (2)

Practically everything we’ve heard — both officially and through tipsters — lines up with information coming out of Phone Arena this week detailing a truly Google-heavy upcoming Fall and Winter release schedule for our friends at Big Red. Starting next month, it seems that we’ll see a global version of the just-launched Droid 2, possibly with a white option (though it seems this could also be the R2-D2 model), and the Motorola WX455 we’d leaked has been named “Citrus” and will (as you probably could’ve guessed) target the low end of the market and the young’uns who are looking for an affordable way to get into Android; as WWAN-enabled laptops go, they’ll be picking up the Dell Vostro V13 and the HP Pavilion DM1.

Follow the break for the rest of the action!

[Thanks, something we’ve heard a bit about — that uses BlackBerry 6 but is said to still carry over the Curve 3G was also on tap, and it looks like we’ll finally see that in October as well. Samsung should be coming in with a three-pack of Android models here, including the Fascinate alongside midrange “Continuum” and low-end “Gem” models. Not to be outdone in the Android arena, Moto is said to be introducing an XT610 model that basically looks like a lower-end version of the Droid X; they’ve yet to roll out a midrange Android slate on Verizon, so that’d make some sense. There’s also a device called the A957 “Sick” floating around — which we really hope isn’t a retail name, obviously — that is supposed to be a high-end model and may end up being the device we’d known as the Droid Pro. Oh, and remember how the Pre Plus just went out of stock on Verizon? That lines up nicely with some talk that the Pre 2 is being prepped for an October release, too — possibly to correspond with the unveiling of webOS 2.0, if we had to guess.

Phone Arena goes on to say that those Entourage e-readers we broke the news on are actually destined for a November release, not September as we’d originally thought; they’ll be coming in two sizes, the original Glacier that T-Mobile is testing. Finally, we should be seeing these long-discussed tablets: one from Samsung called the i800 and another smaller model from Motorola tentatively labeled the “Stingray.”

It’s definitely notable that practically all of the intel that we’ve received from trusted tipsters in the past several weeks lines up with this roadmap, so we’re confident that it’s pretty accurate; of course, launch dates have a nasty tendency to slip ad infinitum, so we won’t be counting any chickens ’til they’re hatched.
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SOURCE:Phone Arena

Welcome to Engadget’s Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we’re here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we have mobile phones in our sights — and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month.

Back in our day, the only “mobile phone” at school was the one that broke off the dorm wall after our roommates got a little too rowdy, but nowadays, a capable, high-power handset is quickly becoming a must-have for students of all ages. Regardless of your budget, your parent’s budget, or your little one’s budget, we’ve got options that should help with studying, gaming, music, and maybe even the occasional call home.

On the cheap

Palm Pixi Plus Sure, the Pixi wasn’t the best webOS-based phone even when it was brand new — but it’s really hard to argue with a free smartphone, particularly one running a modern (read: non-WinMo) platform. Add in the fact that both Verizon and AT&T are selling the Plus version with WiFi, and you might have all the makings of the perfect first smartphone. Key specs: 2.6-inch 320 x 400 display, 2 megapixel camera, 8GB memory Full review - Price: Free on contract at Nokia Nuron Like the Pixi Plus, the Nuron is a compelling choice mainly because it’s free — and it includes Ovi Maps Navigation at no charge. Full review, free on contract at BlackBerry Curve 8520 An optical pad, great keyboard, and BBM make this a great choice for the future corporate raider in your family. Free on contract at T-Mobile

Mid-range

HTC Aria AT&T’s locking down of Android is an ongoing annoyance, but when you consider the inescapable realities that a ton of people use AT&T and there really aren’t that many 850 / 1900 Android devices available, that puts things in perspective. We loved the Aria’s shape, size, and cute design touches, the modern midrange processor, and the fact that HTC stuck with an HVGA display despite dimensions that probably could’ve let them justify stepping down to QVGA. And naturally, Sense works great as usual. Key specs: 3.2-inch HVGA display, 5 megapixel camera, 512MB expandable storage Samsung Intercept Three words: available in pink. For some back-to-schoolers looking for a way to get into Android, that might be the only thing you need to hear. $99.99 on contract from Sprint

BlackBerry Bold 9650 The promise of a future BlackBerry 6 upgrade makes this phone — considered RIM’s top-of-the-line QWERTY CDMA model — worth a look. Hands-on, $99.99 on contract from HTC EVO 4G For our money, the EVO 4G is still one of the best phones you can buy, and it may very well be the best Android device currently sold anywhere in the world. And if you’re in a WiMAX market, it just gets sweeter. Key specs: 4.3-inch WVGA display, 8 megapixel camera with 720p video recording, 1GB expandable storage Full review – Price: $199.99 on contract from Motorola Droid X It’s hard to find a better touchscreen typing experience than what the Droid X offers, thanks to the unusually expansive display and multitouch capability. Full review, $199.99 on contract from Apple iPhone 4 No back-to-school phone buyer’s guide would be complete without an iPhone mention — but with the Apple Store quoting 3 weeks for delivery, you’d better order now. Full review, $199 to $299 on contract from AT&T or Apple

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Amazon’s been known to have killer Torch, arguably RIM’s best smartphone to date (for what that’s worth), is just $99.99 on contract. That’s just about half off its usual entry fee with a two-year contract, so if you’re in the market to upgrade your current Bold for something with a little more slide, now’s your chance!

[Thanks, Kramer]
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SOURCE:Amazon

The cart left the gate on Thursday and here comes the horse: the official BlackBerry Curve 3G (model 9300) announcement just landed in our inbox. So in addition to sporting (800/850)/1900/2100MHz or 900/1700/2100MHz HSDPA data, quad-band GSM, WiFi, and GPS, we now know that if you buy this BlackBerry 5 device today you can upgrade to BlackBerry 6 “in the coming months.” Assuming your carrier can get its act together, of course.
Show full PR text
RIM Introduces the New BlackBerry Curve 3G Smartphone

New addition to the globally popular BlackBerry Curve series is fast, easy-to-use, richly-featured and BlackBerry 6 ready

Waterloo, Ontario – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced the new BlackBerry® Curve™ 3G, an exciting addition to the globally popular BlackBerry Curve series of smartphones. Designed to provide the growing mass of smartphone purchasers with a distinctly powerful, approachable and affordable choice, the BlackBerry Curve 3G supports high-speed 3G (HSDPA) networks around the world and gives users the exceptional communications features they need to accomplish more than ever, when they’re at home, at work and everywhere in-between.

For more information about the new BlackBerry Curve 3G smartphone visit www.blackberry.com/curve3G. For more information about BlackBerry 6, visit www.blackberry.com/6.

The floodgates are open, and another country has washed in — though unlike Saudi Arabia, India and the UAE, this one’s not threatening a BlackBerry messaging ban… yet. Kuwait has publicly announced that it has requested RIM to deal with “moral and security concerns” — namely, blocking pornographic websites — and that RIM has requested four months to comply. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s deadline-driven local server tests are reportedly continuing apace; three servers, one for each national cellular carrier, must “meet the regulatory demands” of the country by Monday.

The forty-eight hour deadline came and went, but Saudi Arabia didn’t pull the plug — citing a “positive development” in RIM’s efforts to appease Saudi regulators, the country has allowed BlackBerry messaging services to continue for the time being. Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) didn’t specify what the aforementioned “development” was, but thanks to well-placed anonymous sources we can hazard a guess: “CITC will now be able to monitor communications via messaging services,” one Saudi telecom official told the Wall Street Journal, and Reuters reports that RIM will hand over BlackBerry decryption codes to the country. That’s all for now, but expect this issue to bubble back to the surface again in the United Arab Emirates come October.

Last quarter we reported on some pretty stellar growth numbers for Android in the global smartphone marketplace. Back then, Google’s OS had a 9.6 percent slice of the pie, but today that’s ballooned to a robust 17.2 percent, meaning that in terms of end-user sales over the last three months, Android has nearly matched RIM’s BlackBerry sales. That’s quite the feat when you consider that a year ago the latter was shifting ten times more units than the former. This extraordinary growth rate has narrowed down Symbian’s lead at the top, in spite of Nokia’s favorite OS actually shipping on more phones this year, while the big loser of the quarter has to be Windows Mobile, which contracted both in terms of market share and actual shipments.

Overall, smartphone sales were up by 50 percent year-on-year, according to both Gartner and IDC, while Gartner adds that mobile devices as a whole grew at a tamer 13.3 percent pace. In terms of phone manufacturers’ global share, Nokia and Samsung have held on to their top positions, LG, Sony Ericsson and Motorola have experienced some uncomfortable shrinkage, and HTC, RIM and Apple have capitalized to expand their portions. Looking over to IDC’s smartphone share data shows, again, that all smartphone makers are growing remarkably well, but it does highlight HTC (129 percent) and Samsung (173 percent) as really improving their presence in the sector. The reason? Android, Android, Android.

There were reports as late as this morning that RIM was remaining “defiant” over the looming (and recurring) BlackBerry ban in India and not willing to cut any “special deals,” but it looks like that may not be the case after all — Reuters is reporting that RIM has assured India that it will provide a “technical solution” sometime next week. That’s presumably similar to the arrangement RIM recently worked out with Saudi Arabia, but India still isn’t making any final decisions just yet, with a government source simply saying that its “technical team will evaluate if it works.” Somewhat curiously, the source also mentioned that India had “concerns” about Gmail and Skype, but didn’t offer any further details.

For its part, RIM has issued a customer update that outlines the four main principles that govern the capabilities it provides to carriers for “lawful access purposes.” Head on past the break for the complete statement.

In response to the statement published today by the Government of India, and further to RIM’s Customer Update dated August 2, RIM wishes to provide this additional information to its customers. Although RIM cannot disclose confidential regulatory discussions that take place with any government, RIM assures its customers that it genuinely tries to be as cooperative as possible with governments in the spirit of supporting legal and national security requirements, while also preserving the lawful needs of citizens and corporations. RIM has drawn a firm line by insisting that any capabilities it provides to carriers for “lawful” access purposes be limited by four main principles:

1. The carriers’ capabilities be limited to the strict context of lawful access and national security requirements as governed by the country’s judicial oversight and rules of law.

2. The carriers’ capabilities must be technology and vendor neutral, allowing no greater access to BlackBerry consumer services than the carriers and regulators already impose on RIM’s competitors and other similar communications technology companies.

3. No changes to the security architecture for BlackBerry Enterprise Server customers since, contrary to any rumors, the security architecture is the same around the world and RIM truly has no ability to provide its customers’ encryption keys. Also driving RIM’s position is the fact that strong encryption is a fundamental commercial requirement for any country to attract and maintain international business anyway and similarly strong encryption is currently used pervasively in traditional VPNs on both wired and wireless networks in order to protect corporate and government communications.

4. RIM maintains a consistent global standard for lawful access requirements that does not include special deals for specific countries.