Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

No kidding, right?  I think maybe everyone but Nokia saw it coming.  Or maybe they did too…just not at this drastic of a level. 

According to the popular market research firm Canalys, Nokia’s market share dropped down to 38.9 percent in the third quarter; which is down from 51.4 just a year earlier.  On the other hand, Apple jumped to 17.3 percent, and RIM increased to 15.2 the same quarter.

Canalys credits some of the Apple and RIM increases to new phones and new marketing strategies.  In a statement, the firm said “"The introduction of the iPhone 3G in July and Apple’s expansion into many more countries helped propel the vendor to second place globally.“  Continued.

MORE »

Rogers and RIM have announced the availability of the affordable BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220, and beginning November 4 customers will be able to grab one for just $49.99.  That’s right, Rogers has come in quite a bit lower than the $149 that T-Mobile customers in the US will have to pay. 

Of course, the Rogers branded Pearl Flip does have a few catches in order to get that low price.  Thankfully, the few catches will be easy to handle.  First off, customers must have a monthly service fee of at least $35, and second they must be willing to sign a three-year agreement.  All in all this sounds like pretty good news for Pearl Flip loving Rogers customers, it seems the only decision would be which color to get.  Initially the Pearl Flip will be available in black, and then a second option, pink, will be available in a few weeks.

Read [RIM]

• PC World: iPhone vs. BB Storm
• Grab a Google Android G1 for $125
• T-Mobile offering the Motorola ZN5 for free, this weekend only

It was a feature that Blackberry users have been longing to have on their handsets.  Finally the wait is over as video web streaming service Qik has just released the alpha version of its mobile video streaming client for Blackberry devices.

The new Qik mobile video streaming app will let you live stream your video from your mobile phone to Qik.com and major social networking sites including Facebook, MySpace as well your personal blogs.  Download the application from http://qik.com/dl/165.  After installing the app on your Blackberry device, you can start streaming live videos by simply pressing the Stream button that will appear when you fire up the application on your Blackberry device.

MORE »

Sections: Video, Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile, Web, Online Music/Video

T-Mobile has some new BlackBerry Pearls coming out today.  The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 will be available in frost, black emerald, and indigo.  RIM is not resting on its laurels with the introduction of the Storm, the Pearl Flip 8220 and the now slightly refreshed Pearl 8120.

What was once a very very drab and utilitarian device, the BlackBerry has evolved into quite the consumer-friendly device while sticking to its roots by being the phone to have if you want to do business on your phone.  This newest color upgrade looks like a play to get some folks buying BlackBerries this holiday season. 

• Grab a Google Android G1 for $125
• Who’s On Crack in tech: Black Friday ‘08 edition
• Black Friday deals round-up [updated]

After finding out I was on crack this week, I was reminded of some information I had on BlackBerries.  As you know, Research in Motion (“RIM”) is releasing their Pearl 8220, the first BlackBerry with a clamshell design.  Gadgetell got a chance to speak to RIM and found out that the keyboard on a clamshell BlackBerry will probably never be a full keyboard.

According to RIM, the clamshell format precludes the usage of a full keyboard.  The form factor would become very strange and users just wouldn’t go for it.  That does not necessarily mean that there are not other form factors that RIM could choose like a slider or even a Sidekick-style format. 

If you want a full keyboard and clamshell form factor, just get that out of your head.  It’s just not happening. 

• iPhone is number 1 in mobile ads
• PC World: iPhone vs. BB Storm
• Verizon employees suspended for accessing Obama’s call records

It looks like the detail floodgate has opened up for the soon-to-be released T-Mobile BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220.  Although, it is not coming in as low priced as we had hoped for.  All things considered, it does seem to be pretty fairly priced, and in fact, it seems to be a little better than the deal that Rogers currently has for the same model.

The pricing with T-Mobile here in the US will, as usual, vary depending on contract length.  Those willing to accept a two-year agreement can expect to pay $149.99, however a one-year agreement adds just an additional $50 to make it $199.99.  That pricing is for new customers and both come after a $50 mail-in-rebate, but those rebates seem to be pretty standard nowadays.

MORE »

As much as this pains me to say, it appears as if Best Buy is becoming the place to go for popular handsets.  It was not that long ago that they added the iPhone 3G and HTC Touch Diamond. 

Now, it looks like customers will soon be able to grab a few more smartphones and it seems that October 26 is the day to look forward to.  On that day Best Buy will make the unlocked Palm Treo Pro available.  Of course, that is perhaps the least exciting of the bunch as the Pearl Flip 8220 and HTC G1 will also be made available that same day. 

MORE »

A recently surfaced image has shown off a new third color for the soon to be released BlackBerry Pearl Flip. Currently, we had seen and been expecting the Pearl Flip to be available in either black or red, but these recent images show it off in silver with a black face.

As of now we are unsure if the silver will be available with T-Mobile or even Rogers upon the initial release. The images come courtesy of a RIM press release that was written in Spanish, and sadly upon translation the release does not seem to offer any more than just the image. The release does not mention any specific colors and just lists the availability as a general sounding “through mobile operators around the world starting this fall.“ Quite possibly the silver will be reserved and used for another (non-North American) launch, but it would be nice to see it made available as an unlocked handset.

Read [MiBlackBerry] Via [CrackBerry]

• iPhone is number 1 in mobile ads
• PC World: iPhone vs. BB Storm
• Verizon employees suspended for accessing Obama’s call records

Typically an FCC posting means something a little more exciting, generally it comes as a product leak of some sort and it means that we are getting some good information. Well, not to disappoint you, but this latest FCC appearance is far from exciting. It comes in the form of the BlackBerry Peal Flip 8220, and well as it has already been officially announced, the listing does not offer anything new. Nonetheless we thought it would be nice to share the one diagram that made its way into the description.

Read [FCC]

• Sony preparing a WWAN-equiped VAIO? The FCC says yes
• Pantech Duo 2 makes its FCC appearance
• PC World: iPhone vs. BB Storm

Thankfully we can now put all these rumors and leaks behind us as RIM has let loose with official announcement for their first flip phone, of course we are referring to the BlackBerry Pearl 8220. Yup, those rumors were correct, the Kickstart will officially be called the BlackBerry Pearl 8220.

Spec wise the BlackBerry Pearl 8220 will feature a 320 x 240 internal display, 128 x 160 external display, 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, large SureType keypad, 3.5mm headphone jack and a microSD/SDHC card slot. It will be running OS 4.6, have an HTML browser and an enhanced media player. Additionally the Pearl 8220 will be available in red or black.

Overall the rumors seem to have been pretty accurate with the specs, which means we do not really have much information that has not been mentioned so far. We were already expected it to be exclusive with T-Mobile so again no surprise with the carrier, however RIM or T-Mobile have not yet announced any pricing or a specific release date, simply stating that it will be available “this fall.“ I guess we will have to wait a bit longer for that information.

I suppose keeping the Pearl name makes sense, but personally I thought Kickstart had a really nice sound to it. Overall it looks like a nice improvement to the current candybar style Pearl, of course the one bug question remains is that pricing.

Keep reading to check out the full release…

MORE »