The Holiday Shopping season is now starting in full swing. The competitive pricing on BlackBerry smartphones is here. Both Bell and TELUS both now have their popular BlackBerry Pearl 8130 for $0 with three year term and Rogers is offering their new BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 for only $24.99 with three year term as well.

Let’s take a quick peak into the deals between the big three and see who is winning.

Bell: Currently offering Pearl 8130 for $0 (in four colors) and Curve 8330 for $99 (two colors) with three year terms.

TELUS: Currently offering the same pricing as Bell. Free Pearl 8130 (choice of 5 colors) and $99 Curve 8330 (choice of 3 colors) with three year terms.

Rogers: Currently offering Pearl Flip for $24.99 (choice of two colors), Curve 8320 (one color) for $99, Bold 9000 for $199, Pearl 8110 or 8120 for $49, Curve 8310 (three colors) for $99 all with three year terms.

Virgin Mobile: Currently only offering the Pearl 8130 in one color for $0 with three year term. Should be offering the Curve 8330 sometime this month as well.

Then of course if you wait just a little bit you should be able to pick up a BlackBerry Storm 9530 from either Bell or TELUS for an unknown price..

After you pick up your new BlackBerry smartphone head on over to The BlackBerry Sync Store and get it setup with hot new accessories and software!

Rogers Wireless and RIM officially announced the BlackBerry Pearl Flip for Canadians this morning. The Pearl Flip will be available starting tomorrow (November 4th) for $49 with three year term at most Rogers locations and online.

Starting off the Pearl Flip will only be available in Black, however the pink version will follow within the next few weeks. Click on over for the press release from RIM.

Rogers and RIM Announce Availability of the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 Smartphone in Canada
Rogers to offer first BlackBerry flip smartphone from $49.99 on Canada’s most reliable wireless network

TORONTO, ONTARIO and WATERLOO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire - Nov. 3, 2008) - Rogers Wireless (TSX:RCI)(NYSE:RCI) and Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) are launching the BlackBerry(R) Pearl(TM) Flip 8220 smartphone, the first BlackBerry(R) phone to come in the popular flip form factor. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip will be available in a stylish black finish from Rogers Wireless starting November 4, with the stunning pink BlackBerry Pearl Flip coming soon.

The new BlackBerry Pearl Flip provides flip phone fans with all the power of a BlackBerry smartphone in a fun and familiar design. You can send a message to your friends or family, make a call, browse the web, snap a picture, watch a video or listen to your favorite song. It’s all in your control with a simple flip. The quad-band EDGE based BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone presents a sophisticated look with a sleek design and a chrome-finished frame surrounding its smooth, luminescent face. It features two high-resolution, light-sensing color displays, including an external LCD that makes it easy to preview incoming emails, text messages and phone calls without opening the handset.

“Rogers Wireless continues to bring best-in-class handsets, such as the exclusive BlackBerry Pearl Flip, to the Canadian market, representing a cross-section of the best in smartphone technology, messaging solution as well as design and style,” said John Boynton, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Rogers Wireless. “The BlackBerry Pearl Flip offers discerning customers the ultimate full-featured flip paired with the leading mobile messaging solution on the market.”

“The BlackBerry Pearl Flip packs an impressive range of features into an exciting new design and we are very pleased to be working with Rogers Wireless to bring this powerful new smartphone to customers in Canada,” said Mark Guibert, Vice President, Corporate Marketing at Research In Motion. “The BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone is a natural choice for customers who are looking to replace their existing flip phone with something more powerful.”

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 smartphone from Rogers Wireless has numerous advanced features including:

- Spacious SureType(R) QWERTY keyboard that makes typing messages and dialing numbers fast and easy

- Large 240 x 320 internal LCD that displays messages, videos and web pages with impressive detail and contrast

- Built-in Wi-Fi(R) (802.11 b/g) with support for Rogers TalkSpot service

- 2 megapixel camera with digital zoom, built-in flash and video recording(i)

- Advanced media player for viewing pictures, listening to music and watching videos

- Externally-accessible microSD/SDHC memory card slot that supports up to 16GB for plenty of storage

- Enhanced HTML browser with RTSP support for online streaming video from sites like m.youtube.com and www.zoovision.com

- BlackBerry(R) Maps, delivering maps, local searches and step-by-step directions quickly and easily

- DataViz(R) Documents To Go(R) preinstalled, enabling customers to edit Microsoft(R) Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on the smartphone

- BlackBerry(R) Desktop Manager software, which includes Roxio(R) Media Manager for BlackBerry(R), a powerful media manager application that allows users to easily manage media files on their computer and transfer them to the smartphone; the BlackBerry Pearl Flip also comes with the new BlackBerry(R) Media Sync application for customers that want a simple way to sync their iTunes(R) digital music collections with the smartphone(ii)

- Premium phone features including voice activated dialing, enhanced background noise cancellation, a low-distortion speakerphone, and Bluetooth(R) (2.0) support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits, stereo headsets and other Bluetooth peripherals

- BlackBerry(R) Internet Service support that allows access to up to 10 supported personal and corporate email accounts, including most popular ISP email accounts

- BlackBerry(R) Enterprise Server support for enterprise deployments with advanced security and IT controls

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 smartphone will be available in black from Rogers starting November 4, from $49.99 with activation on any combination of 3 year voice and data plan with minimum combined monthly service fee of $35 per month from Rogers. Some conditions apply. The pink BlackBerry Pearl Flip will be available in the coming weeks.

For more information please visit: www.BlackBerryPearlFlip.com or www.rogers.com/pearlflip starting November 4.

About Rogers Wireless

Rogers Wireless provides wireless voice and data communications services across Canada to more than 7.7 million customers under both the Rogers Wireless and Fido brands. Proven to operate Canada’s most reliable wireless voice and data communications network, Rogers Wireless is Canada’s largest wireless provider and the only carrier operating on the global standard GSM and highly advanced HSPA technology platforms. In addition to providing seamless roaming in more than 200 countries/areas with its GSM based services, Rogers Wireless also provides wireless broadband services across Canada utilizing its 2.5GHz fixed wireless spectrum. Rogers Wireless is a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI)(NYSE:RCI), a diversified Canadian communications and media company. For further information, please visit www.rogers.com.

About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications. RIM technology also enables a broad array of third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services with wireless connectivity to data. RIM’s portfolio of award-winning products, services and embedded technologies are used by thousands of organizations around the world and include the BlackBerry(R) wireless platform, the RIM Wireless Handheld(TM) product line, software development tools, radio-modems and software/hardware licensing agreements. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. RIM is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market (NASDAQ:RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.

(i) Video recording requires microSD card, which may be sold separately.

(ii) Certain music files may not be supported, including files that contain digital rights management technologies.

To start off the Holiday sales season Best Buy in Canada has the Rogers BlackBerry Bold on for $199.99 with three year term. Not only that but they are also offering a $50 best buy gift card with the purchase. Of course this is for new activations only on a combination of voice and data. For details check out BestBuy.ca or visit your local store.

[Source]

Rogers is expected to start shipping the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 today. The latest word is that it should be in stores for Halloween day. Pricing has been rumored to start anywhere from $49 and stop at $149 depending on rebates (with three year contract). The Pearl Flip will be available in both Black or Pink at launch. With any luck maybe they will pick up a the red or silver ones as well.

As well Rogers should be close to launching the Wi-Fi/UMA BlackBerry Curve 8320. Dummies arrived in store for it as well.

Check out the shots that Treatz from HowardForums sent into CrackBerry:

The Curve 8900 features OS 4.7 similar to the BlackBerry Bold, 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus, Wi-Fi, large high resolution 480×360 display and GPS. Basically its a smaller verison of the Bold without the 3G part. Enjoy the video!

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jk6QkhDyfA}

We missed this one over the weekend. Boy Genius has released Rogers’ 2009 Blackberry lineup! Its filled with one new device every quarter and it will all start off with the BlackBerry Curve 8900 (formally known as Javelin) in Q1 then followed by a BlackBerry Storm varriant in Q2, BlackBerry “Magnum” (Curve 8900 with 3G) for Q3 and last but not least the BlackBerry Pluto (Bold-like device with touchscreen) for Q4 of 2009. Keep in mind they most likely won’t be getting the internal names and call the devices Magnum and Pluto. Also we should expect to see several new devices at WES (Wireless Enterprise Symposium) 2009 :-).

Future Shop has let cat out of the bag and has the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 available on thier site. The Pearl Flip will be available in both Black or Pink for $49.99 with three year term. The Pearl Flip is not available from Rogers directly just yet and its looks like Future Shop is only offering this in store. Stay tuned for an official release from Rogers real soon…

Check out FutureShop.com for details >>

[via MobileSyrup]

Yesterday BBCool broke news about Rogers possibly getting the BlackBerry Storm 9500 before Christmas. When they called into Rogers Customer Service the rep claims that they will be receiving a touch screen BlackBerry for the Christmas season. Usually Rogers CSR’s are contracted out and don’t have a clue whats going on. So we highly doubt that Rogers will be getting a BlackBerry Storm this year and the folks over at BGR have pointed out why…

Unless RIM designs another BlackBerry Storm for North American markets with HSDPA 850/1900MHz then it wouldn’t make any sense for Rogers to release this device. The Storm which Vodafone will be launching the UK features Quad-Band: 850/900/1800/1900MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks meaning that on Rogers network they wouldn’t be able to use 3G only EDGE.

So who knows maybe just maybe we will see a Storm come to Rogers but for now we doubt it. Stay tuned in case more information comes in.

Thanks to BBCool and Boy Genius Report for the news.

If you own a Rogers BlackBerry Bold then you might want to read this. Rogers and RIM have officially release a new OS upgrade for the Bold (4.6.0.162) which will hopefully fix a few issues such as drop calls, memory leaks, battery life, etc.

The Rogers Bold ships with OS 4.6.0.125 so this is quite the upgrade. You can download the operating system directly from RIM’s website here then install the package and open up Desktop Manager it should update from there. Make sure you do a backup before installing the software (in case for some reason you loose everything).

Download Link for the OS >>

Thanks Don for emailing tip!