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Archive for the 'Blackberry' Tag

Prepaid BlackBerry comes to Boost Mobile for $60/month

January 25th, 2010, 11:56 am by

Now we’re talking… Irvine’s Boost Mobile added a BlackBerry phone to its lineup today — the company’s first smartphone.

Boost Mobile adds first smartphone: BlackBerry Curve 8330It’s the aging BlackBerry Curve 8330, which Sprint added in April 2008. But hey, it’s a BlackBerry, which means Web, e-mail, apps and all the regular goodies of a smartphone. Boost is teaming the Curve with a $60 per month unlimited plan using Sprint’s 3G wireless network. The phone itself is $249.99 before taxes.

This isn’t your typical BlackBerry. Boost is aiming for the youthful social networking crowd with the phone and touting its Internet features and links to Facebook, Twitter, etc.  According to the fine print (details below), this won’t connect with corporate e-mail and you can’t make conference calls. Consider it a BlackBerry on a diet.

It’s not the first time a BlackBerry has been offered to the prepaid crowd. Last March, MetroPCS added the same BlackBerry to its product line. MetroPCS was charging $50 a month at the time. New MetroPCS plans for 2010, however, now cost $60/month for the BlackBerry.

And, as most BlackBerry users know, unlimited plans with traditional wireless companies tend to cost $10 to $30 more per month.  Boost and MetroPCS plans don’t require a contract. Read the rest of this entry »

Vonage adds unlimited international plan for mobile phones

December 24th, 2009, 3:50 pm by

Vonage World MobileNoted: Vonage phone service, which isn’t just for the home anymore, introduced Vonage World Mobile, an unlimited international plan to users of its newish Vonage Mobile plan. Qualified devices include the iPhone, iPod Touch and BlackBerry.

The Internet phone company introduced the mobile phone service in October, which charged per call. The new unlimited mobile international plan to  60 countries is $24.99 per month. The mobile service uses Wi-Fi and cellular service (iPod Touches only use Wi-Fi) and relies on the customer’s cell phone number to make calls. Calls to U.S. numbers are free using Wi-Fi.

Not every international city is included — no Vietnam — and looks like calls to cell phones in Mexico aren’t part of the deal either. Here’s the complete list of countries: Read the rest of this entry »

A BlackBerry plan for $50/month?

March 10th, 2009, 11:28 am by

With more companies encroaching on its territory, MetroPCS introduced a new $50 rate plan today for its latest phone, the BlackBerry Curve 8330.

The company, which already offers some of the cheapest all-you-can-talk plans in the industry, has faced increased competition from T-Mobile and Boost Mobile, both which introduced $50 unlimited talk/text plans in the past two months.

(Read the earlier stories, “Boost Mobile adds ‘tax-free’ $50/month unlimited plan” and “Are $50 unlimited plans latest trend? T-Mobile follows Boost.“)

MetroPCS’s latest twist is that the $50 will get customers unlimited BlackBerry e-mail access, not to mention unlimited talk, texting, web browsing and MMS. No signed contract either.  For $10 more per month, users can connect to the BlackBerry enterprise server for corporate messaging.

Comparably, BlackBerry e-mail plans can add $30 more per month. More details about MetroPCS’ plan are HERE.

FierceWireless points out that MetroPCS’ plan is in direct competition with the new plan from Boost, based in Irvine. The wireless research company interviewed Matt Carter, Boost’s president, who said that Boost plans on introducing a phone with a QWERTY keyboard later this year.

Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local cell phone services. More cell-phone news:

BlackBerry Storm: First look at its first touch-screen phone

November 19th, 2008, 7:58 am by

Yes, yes, it looks like an iPhone. I mean really with that sleek 3.5-inch touch-screen display. People in the elevator at my office mistook it for the iPhone.  But an iPhone the BlackBerry Storm is not.

The latest generation of the popular corporate mobile communicator is the first touch-screen device from BlackBerry and it obviously took its lead from the most talked about phone in the past two years. The Storm goes on sale Friday from Verizon Wireless but we were visited this week by Verizon’s Irvine folks, who demonstrated all that the Storm could do.  Check out the photo slide show.  

Curt Keller, Verizon Wireless’ director of data sales, gave us the quick tour. While 30 minutes of play time really isn’t enough to really get to know a gadget, I feel that it is all I needed. This won’t be my next phone. But I believe the corporate world, BlackBerry fans and smartphone lovers will and should be excited.

Watch the video, produced by staff videographer Robert Whitfield:

Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Brightcove video.
 

The touch-screen is different from the iPhone. It needs more than a touch. You actually have to press down as hard as you would a mouse button. I guess developer Research in Motion didn’t want to give up the tactile feel that BlackBerry users are used to. The Storm’s screen just wasn’t as responsive as the iPhone.

It’s official: BlackBerry Storm pricing, launch date

November 13th, 2008, 3:01 am by

Anyone waiting around for the new BlackBerry Storm 9530? Verizon Wireless just announced that the first touch-screen smartphone from BlackBerry will be available Nov. 21 in stores and online for $199.99, after a $50 mail-in rebate, with a 2-year contract.

It sure looks nice but will CrackBerry users really give up on that thumbpad? The Storm, previously known as the BlackBerry Thunder, is just one of many BlackBerry devices rolling out this season. Most recently, AT&T Wireless launched the BlackBerry Bold last week. And there’s the new BlackBerry Pearl, available from T-Mobile.

So many touch-screen phones are out now, much thanks to the original Apple iPhone. They’re all beginning to look the same to me…

That’s pretty much all the news for now. For more details, check Verizon’s special BB Storm sit at www.verizonwireless.com/storm.

Recent cell phone news:

BlackBerry Bold selling out in … one Irvine store

November 4th, 2008, 5:28 pm by

Gadgets continue to make people do crazy things. AT&T is reporting that people did line up at some of its stores this morning waiting to get their hands on the new BlackBerry Bold, on sale today. At least one Irvine store, the one in Woodbury Town Center, sold out of its supply, though it will be replenished shortly, according to AT&T.

Says Deborah Lieberman, an AT&T spokeswoman:  

AT&T has had a great first day as the exclusive U.S. provider of the BlackBerry Bold.  Sales of the BlackBerry Bold have been very brisk today. Several stores in the Greater Los Angeles area have reported being sold out of Bolds by late morning (including one store in Irvine).  Lines – in some cases 20-25 deep – formed outside of AT&T stores across the country prior to the start of business, including those in the New York metropolitan area, Boston, Chicago, Florida, Houston, the greater Los Angeles area, Las Vegas and Charlotte, NC.

Of course, I realize the company is trying to drum up interest in the new phone. But after the big splashes with the iPhone 3G and Google phone, my eyes are beginning to glaze over when I hear about the next great new phone. Even PC Magazine titled its story today on the launch, “AT&T’s BlackBerry Bold meekly launches.”

But since some people have asked me about this phone, here’s the deal: The BlackBerry Bold, on sale for $299.99, includes a QWERTY keyboard, GPS, Wi-Fi, 2-megapixel camera and 1 GB of memory (plus a slot for a 16GB micro SD card). Most notably, this is the first phone to support HSDPA networks around the world, including Japan and Korea. The speedy mobile Internet technology of  HSDPA has download speeds up to 14.4 Mbps. Oohh ahh… Lots more details HERE.

The company is sending me a phone to play with so I will report back with refreshed eyes.

BlackBerry Bold anyone? AT&T sets sale date

October 22nd, 2008, 12:10 pm by

Yet another new smartphone heads our way beginning Nov. 4 at AT&T stores, the company announced today.

The BlackBerry Bold, on sale for $299.99, includes a QWERTY keyboard, GPS, Wi-Fi, 2-megapixel camera and 1 GB of memory (plus a slot for a 16GB micro SD card). Most notably, this is the first phone to support HSDPA networks around the world, including Japan and Korea. The speedy mobile Internet technology of  HSDPA has download speeds up to 14.4 Mbps. Oohh ahh… Lots of details HERE.

 

Recent cell phone news:

The Google phone is coming, here are your options

September 8th, 2008, 12:59 pm by

Google Android is coming soonGoogle is coming out with a cell phone any day now. Well, not really a cell phone, but a new cell-phone operating system called Android. Rumors are it will be available first on T-Mobile and as early as October.

But Google hasn’t set a date and T-Mobile won’t confirm the rumor. All Google will tell me is this:

“To prepare for Android’s public launch, we are testing the platform on a variety of devices. This process ensures we have an opportunity to receive feedback from users. We have nothing to announce at this time but look forward to sharing Android updates with you in the future.”

We do know that 1,788 Android software applications were submitted last spring. And we know there will be a one-stop shop like Apple’s Apps store to buy and download Google Android software. Also, the FCC approved the HTC Dream phone in August, and T-Mobile has been quietly turning on faster 3G internet in a handful of markets. TmoNews.com even found a T-Mobile poster proclaiming an Oct. 1 launch in 27 cities.

While we wait, I rounded up the other smart-phone options are available based on the operating system:

Apple iPhone

Carrier: AT&T
Price: $199 to $299 (16 GB/32 GB)
Cost of 3G per month: $30
3G Internet speeds: Up to 1 Mbps
No. of applications: 2,772 (approx. on 9/5/2008)
More info: AppRater, Pure-Mac.com (iPhone friendly)

iPhone 3G
Windows Mobile

Phone: Verizon’s XV6900
Carrier: Verizon
Price: $199.99 (online)
Cost of 3G per month: $45 for unlimited data
3G Internet speeds: 1.4 Mbps
No. of applications: 18,000+
More info: microsoft.com/windowsmobile
Developer info: msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsmobile

Verizon’s XV6900
Palm OS

Phone: Palm Centro
Carrier: Sprint
Price: $199.99
Cost of 3G per month: $99.99 (includes voice)
3G Internet speeds: Up to 1.4 Mbps
No. of applications: 50,000+
More info: PalmInfocenter.com,

Palm Centro
Blackberry

Phone: Curve 8310
Carrier: AT&T
Price: $100
Cost of 3G per month: $30
3G Internet speeds: Up to 1 Mbps
No. of applications: 56 on Blackberry’s site,
More info: Blackberry Apps

Blackberry Curve 8310
Google Android

Phone: HTC Dream (rumor)
Carrier: T-Mobile (rumor)
Price: n/a
Cost of 3G per month: Available in 7 markets for $20/month
3G Internet speeds: Up to 1 Mbps
No. of applications: 1,788 from last mention
More info: Official Android developers blog, HelloAndroid.com

HTC Dream dimensions, according to the FCC document

Michael Gil contributed to this report. Images from the companies. HTC phone image from FCC filing.

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