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Previously known as BlackBerry Niagara, the BlackBerry Tour 9630 is now official, as RIM has just announced its upcoming availability in North America.

The Tour 9630 will be launched later this summer, by both Verizon and Sprint in the US, and probably by Bell and Telus in Canada.

Verizon didn’t unveil the new smartphone’s price, but it has launched a web page for it, accessible here.

Sprint made things a bit clearer, saying that the Tour 9630 will be available for $199 with a 2-yr contract agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate. The Sprint BlackBerry Tour web page is accessible here.

So, what does the Tour has to offer? Pretty much everything, except Wi-Fi.

Here are its mains specs and capabilities:

• Dual-band CDMA/EVDO Rev A (800/1900 MHz)
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
• 2100 MHz UMTS/HSPA
• 2.44 inch, 480 x 360 pixels TFT display with 65k colors (nope, it’s not a touchscreen)
• 35-key QWERTY keyboard
• GPS / A-GPS
• BlackBerry Maps
• Full HTML web browser
• DataViz Documents to Go
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
• 3.5 mm headset jack
• Music, video players
• 3.2MP autofocus camera with image stabilization, flash and video recording
• 256MB internal flash memory
• microSD card support, up to 32GB
• 1400 mAh battery
• Talk time: up to 5 hours
• Standby time: up to 14 days
• 112 x 62 x 14.2 mm
• 130 g

As you can see, the BlackBerry Tour is a global smartphone, so you’ll be able to use it almost anywhere in the world.

Via Press release

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According to a post made by a moderator at the Vodafone Ireland forums, a so-called Nokia N97 Mini smartphone will be launched soon, coming as a more affordable version of the original N97 (which is sold for $699 unlocked).

Reportedly, the Nokia N97 Mini will come to Vodafone Ireland “later this year”.

There are basically no details about the handset, save for the fact that it will have a competitive price.

Well, if it features a touchscreen and a QWERTY keyboard, I guess it can’t be too different from the N97, right?

In addition to the Nokia N97 Mini, Vodafone Ireland will also launch the BlackBerry Storm 2. However, it will not carry the Palm Pre, since “another operator has exclusivity” on it – probably O2.

Now, if Vodafone Ireland indeed readies a Mini N97, it means that Vodafone markets around the globe might also get the new smartphone. Of course, that’s pure speculation, so until something official comes from Vodafone or Nokia, we shouldn’t put too much trust in all this.

Via MobileBurn

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BlackBerry Tour 9630, the smartphone announced by RIM just yesterday, might be launched in Canada on July 15, via Telus.

A couple of leaked documents have unveiled not only the Tour’s possible release date on Telus, but also the prices for which it will be available.

Reportedly, the new BlackBerry will cost 249.99 Canadian dollars with a 3-yr contract agreement and a voice & data plan of at least $35. With a 3-yr agreement but without a voice & data plan, the smartphone costs much more: $449.99.

Obviously, the price is even higher if you don’t want a Telus contract – $649.99.

Telus will offer the Tour with a 1GB microSD card in the box. This aside, the handset has the features that we presented yesterday.

BlackBerry Tour 9630 will also be launched by Verizon and Sprint in the US, but the two carriers didn’t say when exactly this will happen.

Source: Howard Forums via Engadget

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There’s nothing official about this at the moment, but it looks like the BlackBerry Tour (also known as BlackBerry Niagara or BlackBerry 9630) will feature a touchscreen display, in addition to a full QWERTY keyboard.

If this is true, BlackBerry Tour will be a Bold-meets-Storm, so it should be a pretty interesting smartphone –  like that rumored BlackBerry Magnum.

Phone Arena has it that Tour’s 480 x 360 pixels touchscreen uses the SurePress technology featured by the BlackBerry Storm.

(image via CrackBerry)

It’s said that the BlackBerry Tour will have both GSM and EV-DO connectivity, a 3.2MP camera, GPS and 1GB of internal memory. No word yet on when RIM intends to announce it, but we know that the smartphone should be soon released by Verizon in the US, and Bell in Canada.

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First spotted four months ago, Verizon’s BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 is now finally official, as the giant US carrier has just announced its upcoming release.

Sure, the smartphone is already available via Alltel and T-Mobile (in a GSM version, the Pearl Flip 8220), but Verizon’s loyal customers who also happen to love BlackBerries and flip phones will probably be happy about this.

Verizon’s BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 is VZ Navigator capable and comes with all those already-known features, including: internal and external displays, SureType QWERTY keypad, 2MP camera with flash, voice-activated dialing, microSD card support and access to BlackBerry App World.

BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 will be available from Verizon in only one color (silver), starting June 19. The price? Well, it’s $129.99 with a 2-yr contract agreement and after a $70 mail-in rebate. And yes, that’s $50 more than the price Alltel is asking for its Pearl.

Via Press release

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In our series of slides supplied by our friends at Engadget, we find not one, not three, but FOUR new Blackberry handsets on their way to AT&T.

This is great news. We had heard the Magnum was confirmed for AT&T but it is great to hear that the other three are coming there as well. This will give the Blackberry lineup a large boost.

So let’s go through each one and see what the slides say, and what info is already circulating about those devices.

Blackberry Onyx

While most of the specs are identical to the Bold, a couple key changes are the 3.2 MP camera, and the slide also mentions using a micro USB connector instead of the standard Mini USB that RIM has used for eons.

The style also looks a little different. It’s reminiscent of Bold vs Curve 8900. The below crystal-clear picture shows off the Onyx, reviewed earlier by Kevin at Crackberry.

Blackberry Magnum

Such a detailed picture, isn’t it? The Magnum is being touted as the “Blackberry Bold portfolio evolution”. We’re excited about this one, as it’s supposed to have full QWERTY as well as HVGA touchscreen. Nice!

The Magnum is also bragging up a Navigation evolution. Huh? Should be interesting to find out more about this mysterious handset, for sure. Here’s a fuzzy pic of what the Magnum should really look like.

Blackberry Pearl 3G

Not much needs to be said of this one, as it is a natural upgrade to the current Pearl line. A much needed upgrade, considering the Pearl dates back a good 3 years. This will be of the non-flip variety and will sport triband AT&T 3G, as well as a high resolution display (exact res TBD). We hope the Pearl 3G will look a little more stylish than the one in the slide.

Blackberry Gemini

Also known as the Blackberry Curve 8520, the Gemini is well-named because of the look and feel of it. Here’s the confusing part though — according to our previous reports, the Gemini is supposed to come with an optical trackball (or trackpad, whichever you want to call it) instead of the usual Curve-style trackball, yet the above slide mentions it comes with a trackball.

By the looks of it, the Gemini is meant to be more of an entry-level Blackberry as it won’t have 3G, it may have GPS but not sure yet, and 2 MP camera with no flash. Picture below.

As of yet we don’t have any release dates for these handsets, but it’s refreshing to see a whole slew of new phones to replace the aging Blackberry devices currently for sale on AT&T. Your thoughts?

via Engadget

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AT&T has been in need of a serious upgrade to the Blackberry Curve 83xx series for some time now, considering it’s been stocked on the company’s shelves for almost 2 years.

That wait is over, as AT&T has officially announced the Blackberry Curve 8900 will be available this Friday, May 22. Just in time for Memorial Day, the 8900 is a welcome addition to the lineup at a reasonable $199 after mail in rebate on 2 year contract.

Unwired View reviewed the 8900 on T-Mobile a couple months back, and the AT&T version is likely to be a spitting image with exception of the HotSpot@home service and Fav 5’s. But you still get the combo of WiFi and GPS as well as 3.2 MP camera. No 3G on the 8900; to get 3G, shell out another $100 and get a Bold.

The 83xx was a good series of phones, but 8900 is an improvement in almost every way. Certainly a welcome upgrade to AT&T’s lineup, available in just one day.

via AT&T Press Release

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By Christen da Costa

By now we’re all too familiar with the endless array of iPhone battery packs. So what about the other guys? Officially announced today, the Case-mate Fuel Battery Pack does double duty as a hip holster and back up battery pack for the Blackberry Bold. The company claims that you’ll get 7 additional hours of talk time or up to 20 additional days, yes days, beyond the Bold’s standard battery. And in case (pun slightly intended) you’re averse to over-charging, Case-mate has tossed in an on/off switch allowing you to kick in the fuel for when you want it.

Case-mate has also built a Fuel battery pack for the iPhone 3G – they’d be idiots not to. Expect to get 9 additional hours of talk time or 250 hours beyond the iPhone’s standard standby time.

Both Fuel packs are available now for $79.99.

[ Case-mate - Fuel Battery Pack ] VIA [ GadgetReview ]

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Folks who provide remote support will certainly have come across LogMeIn before, which is sometimes a useful alternative to VNC. Now folks who own a BlackBerry Storm will be able to use LogMeIn Ignition on their phones to access their Windows or Mac computers that are connected to the Internet. With LogMeIn Ignition and your BlackBerry Storm, it looks like you’ll never get an excuse to not fix a computer in the future.

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It hasn’t been that long since we got wind of RIM’s CEO spilling the beans that his company was working on a follow-up to the popular Verizon touchscreen device. So we are happy to find that pictures of the upcoming Blackberry Storm 2: Electric Boogaloo have surfaced and are now circulating the net.

Pictures are great, but is there any useful information we can glean from these revelations? Absolutely. Here are a few snippets:

• Will launch on Verizon
• Features WiFi in addition to GPS
• 3.2 MP Camera with autofocus
• Thinner and more streamlined feel
• New touchscreen technology called TruePress, compared to SurePress on current version

Frankly, from these pics it doesn’t seem as though it’s really all that different from the original one.  If the only major changes are those listed above, will it be worth upgrading to the new one? Please take a look at the pics that follow and let us know what you can see, and also let us know if this upcoming handset is one you’re planning to get!

via Crackberry

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