Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

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. 

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]

Please check out the comment at the end of the first paragraph.

T-Mobile seems to be moving forward with the release of the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220and have added a new page on the website for interested buyers to pre-register. As of now, it seems to be just a matter of time before you will be able to give up your hard earned money for the very first flip-styled BlackBerry. However, the addition to the T-Mobile website seems to be more of a formality as you can only pre-register for the phone, which means that you are just signing up to be notified when the Pearl Flip is actually available for sale.

It would have been nice to see T-Mobile include some pricing or availability information. At this point, it seems we will have to wait just a little longer. The latest official word on availability came from the RIM press release which simply stated it would be available this fall. Keep in mind, that in the past, T-Mobile has been fairly quick to release new models once they appear on the website. We can only hope to see it come available within the next few weeks, but more important is that price. Let’s hope that T-Mobile and RIM have decided to keep it low.

Product [T-Mobile]

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]

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 »

While we are still awaiting an official announcement for the upcoming BlackBerry Kickstart, it seems like the leaked images and screenshots are going to continue coming.

The latest series is a collection of screenshots from the Kickstart, which is running BlackBerry OS 4.6 and one thing is for sure, it looks like T-Mobile. The Kickstart will include BlackBerry Messenger, a new Clock application that has a very cool looking stopwatch and of course will be myFaves compatible.

As of now, the best information available still puts the Kickstart as being available sometime in October and retailing for $49.99. Of course one thing that we know for sure is that it will be exclusive with T-Mobile when launched. In the meantime continue reading to check out some more of the Kickstart screenshot images…

MORE »

Verizon Wireless has just become the latest carrier to add some new pink BlackBerry models. The new additions to the Verizon lineup will be the Curve 8330 and the Pearl 8130. Features of both will be the same as their current silver counterparts and according to Verizon “the hip, pink colors give students added flair when they are at school or interviewing for an internship or job,” of course we would most likely suggest leaving your BlackBerry at home or in the car while interviewing, regardless of the color.

Anyway the pink Curve 8330 and the pink Pearl 8130 are currently available for order online, and will be in retail stores beginning August 15. The Curve 8330 will retail for $99.99 and the Pearl 8130 will be $79.99. Pricing for both models comes after a $70 mail-in-rebate and along with the standard two-year agreement.

Read [PR Newswire]

It looks like nothing but good news for BlackBerry loving T-Mobile users as there are a few new options coming available shortly.

First up we will see an expansion of the current Pearl 8120 lineup. Not the most exciting of additions, but lets get them out of the way before we move on to the real goodies. The Pearl 8120’s features will remain the same, but it will also be available in Tahitian Green, Indigo and Light Blue in addition to the currently available Ruby, Gold and Titanium.

Now that the 8120’s are out of the way, we can also tell you that the Kickstart (or possibly the Pearl 8220) will be available sometime in late September or early October and although the pricing has yet to be officially confirmed, the rumored $49.99 is still holding.

MORE »