Category: CTIA 2008

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Run down of what happend at CTIA Fall 2008

By James on Sep 12, 2008 in BlackBerry, CTIA 2008, RIM, RIM Press Release.

Well CTIA Fall 2008 was huge for RIM this fall. We saw tons of press releases, two new BlackBerry models and new services. Unfortunately no sign of the long awaited BlackBerry Javelin or Storm/Thunder but they should come before the years finished.

Here is a run down of what happend at CTIA Fall 2008 starting off with:

- A Look at RIM’s CTIA Fall 2008 booth

- Introducing the iDEN BlackBerry Curve 8350i for Sprint-Nextel

- Introducing the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

- Meet the Red colored Pearl Flip 8220

- RIM and TiVo partner up to bring TiVo control on BlackBerry

- RIM and Windows Live Search come to BlackBerry

- MySpace and Ticketmaster also join BlackBerry apps

- Slacker Personal Radio coming to BlackBerry

So overall it was a great success and I’m sure there is more to come before 2008 is done.

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Slacker coming to BlackBerry (Streaming Radio)

By James on Sep 11, 2008 in BlackBerry, CTIA 2008, Downloads, RIM, RIM Press Release, Software, USA.

If your like me and haven’t heard of Slacker before it’s a personal radio that provides access to over 100 expert programmed stations or 10,000 artist stations online. Slacker is currently only available in the United States, but hopefully they will come to Canada some day.

Slacker and RIM today announced plans to bring users in the United States free or premium (paid) based streaming radio to your BlackBerry. More details on the launch aren’t available just yet but you should see it before the end of the year. It sure would go nice with a brand new BlackBerry Bold or Thunder/Storm :-)

RIM Press Release:

Slacker and RIM Partner to Enable Slacker to Provide Personal Radio on BlackBerry Smartphones

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Slacker, Inc. and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced plans for Slacker to provide a free Slacker Personal Radio application, exclusively for BlackBerry® smartphones, that will enable listeners to hear their favorite Slacker radio stations wherever they go – even when not connected to a wireless network. The application will be previewed this week at the BlackBerry booth (booth 614) at CTIA in San Francisco and was highlighted in today’s CTIA keynote address by Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of RIM.

The Slacker application will provide BlackBerry smartphone users in the U.S. with a robust, high-fidelity personalized music discovery and listening experience pulling from over 100 expertly programmed Slacker stations, over 10,000 artist stations or their own custom-created stations.

Slacker’s unique caching technology will allow listeners to access Personal Radio stations using their BlackBerry smartphones without ever having to manage playlists, research new artists or deal with complicated software again. The Slacker application for BlackBerry smartphones will work with Free Slacker Basic Radio and Slacker Premium Radio.

“From the inception of Slacker, our mission has been to give listeners the music they love wherever they are,” said Dennis Mudd, CEO of Slacker. “Working with RIM allows us to provide our listeners with added flexibility and convenience to make the most of the Slacker Personal Radio service.”

“BlackBerry smartphones have evolved with advanced communications and multimedia capabilities to become modern lifestyle devices that are used in highly personalized ways and the free Slacker Personal Radio application is a great example of a mobile entertainment application that can add value to the user’s mobile experience in a meaningful way,” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of Research In Motion.

Slacker Personal Radio, available online at www.Slacker.com, enables listeners to personalize over 100 professionally programmed stations or create, edit and share their own Personal Radio stations. Slacker listeners also have easy access to artist profiles, album reviews and cover art within the Slacker Web Player, on Slacker Personal Radio Players and soon on BlackBerry smartphones.

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MySpace and Ticketmaster also coming to BlackBerry

By James on Sep 11, 2008 in BlackBerry, CTIA 2008, Downloads, Software.

Tons of announcements came in from CTIA Fall 2008 today. RIM announced deals with both MySpace and Ticketmaster just to further advance their consumer marketing.

MySpace – Similar to RIM’s Facebook application, the MySpace application will allow users to connect to their friends and message between members, view real time status and mood updates, find and add friends and provide camera intergration.

Ticketmaster – Will allow users to browse, search and purchase tickets for live events such as plays, music, game shows, etc. Ticket Master has designated BlackBerry as the “Official smartphone of Ticketmaster”. You can purchase tickets directly with BlackBerry Wallet further integrating your BlackBerry smartphone.

Stay tuned for more details on these applications as they become available.

[RIM - MySpace & Ticket Master]

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RIM & TiVo partner up to bring mobile TiVo control

By James on Sep 11, 2008 in BlackBerry, CTIA 2008, RIM, RIM Press Release.

RIM has showed us at CTIA Fall 08′ that they have lots planned for this year. The first announcement this morning was that TiVo will be coming to BlackBerry. The new service is expected later this year, along with some other goodies (cough *Thunder/Storm* cough).

“TiVo subscribers will soon be able to wirelessly control their TiVo DVRs using a BlackBerry smartphone – anytime, anywhere – and that is a powerful example of how our respective technologies can complement each other to serve our mutual customers,” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of Research In Motion. “As the BlackBerry smartphone continues its evolution as a modern lifestyle device, the importance of home entertainment integration will continue to grow and TiVo will be the key in providing consumers with greater flexibility in accessing television content.”

RIM Press Release:

RIM & TiVo Partner to Provide TiVo Mobile Entertainment Services on BlackBerry Smartphones

ALVISO, CA and WATERLOO, ON. –  TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), and Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, today announced a partnership to bring customized TiVo services to the BlackBerry® wireless platform.

The new relationship brings TiVo and RIM together to develop a variety of mobile entertainment services that marry RIM’s leading BlackBerry® smartphones with the content delivered to consumers through the Emmy-winning TiVo® service.  Initially, BlackBerry smartphone users will gain the convenience of being able to discover what shows are on and schedule television recordings while away from the living room and on the go.  Future collaboration between the companies will focus on software applications that further simplify mobile access to video content.

“TiVo subscribers will soon be able to wirelessly control their TiVo DVRs using a BlackBerry smartphone – anytime, anywhere – and that is a powerful example of how our respective technologies can complement each other to serve our mutual customers,” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of Research In Motion. “As the BlackBerry smartphone continues its evolution as a modern lifestyle device, the importance of home entertainment integration will continue to grow and TiVo will be the key in providing consumers with greater flexibility in accessing television content.”

“TiVo continues to transform and revolutionize the way people control and watch television and broadband video,” said Tom Rogers, CEO and President of TiVo Inc.   “RIM and TiVo share a commitment to great user experiences, which cause our products to become seamlessly integrated into the consumer’s lifestyle.  We also share a vision for the future of mobile entertainment services and we look forward to a variety of future innovations as a result of this relationship.”

The first software application from RIM and TiVo is expected to be available later this year.

[RIM]

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Live shots – BlackBerry Pearl 8220 in Red

By James on Sep 11, 2008 in BlackBerry, CTIA 2008, Pearl Flip 8200 Series, T-Mobile, USA.

CrackBerry and friends have got some live shots of the newly announced BlackBerry Pearl 8220. One of the colors coming for T-Mobile USA is this dark red color. It’s a fairly nice shade of red similar to the Red Curve. Other colors. If you don’t like the red T-Mobile will also be launching it in black. Anyways the pics come from CTIA Fall 2008, which is going on in San Fransisco this week. You can see the whole gallery over at CrackBerry.

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iDEN BlackBerry Curve 8350i for Sprint is official!!

By James on Sep 10, 2008 in BlackBerry, Breaking News, CTIA 2008, Curve 8300 Series, Featured News, RIM, RIM Press Release, Sprint-Nextel, USA.

This week at CTIA Fall 2008 has been interesting so far for RIM. Early this morning start with the launch of the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 and now RIM is proud to announce the much needed iDEN BlackBerry Curve 8350i. Finally his brings a upgrade to iDEN users on Sprint-Nextel’s aging iDEN network. This new Curve will sport both Wi-Fi and GPS along with a 2.0 megapixel camera, MicroSD memory card slot and stereo Bluetooth. This new Curve will also be the first Curve to operate on RIM’s new OS 4.6 as seen in the Pearl Flip and Bold.

Pricing has been announced yet, but you can expect to find out more within the next few months…

Press Release:

Sprint to Deliver Industry-Leading Push-to-Talk Services on New BlackBerry Smartphone

Operating on the fastest national push-to-talk network, the BlackBerry Curve 8350i will be the first from Sprint to offer built-in Wi-Fi capabilities and Group Connect, allowing instant group conversations with up to 21 people nationwide

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. and Waterloo, ON – Sprint customers seeking the benefits of industry-leading push-to-talk services and the power of BlackBerry® smartphones will have a new version of the coveted combo available later this year. Sprint (NYSE: S) and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced plans to deliver the BlackBerry® Curve™ 8350i – the newest Nextel Direct Connect-capable BlackBerry smartphone – by the end of 2008.

The BlackBerry Curve 8350i will be the latest BlackBerry smartphone to utilize iDEN technology and feature Nextel Direct Connect, the only national push-to-talk service in the industry to offer sub-second call setup and connection to the world’s largest push-to-talk community with millions of users and integrated business solutions, including one of the largest selections of GPS-enabled solutions. With Nationwide and International Direct Connect, Sprint customers will be able to instantly connect within the US and to users in other eligible countries including Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru. The BlackBerry Curve 8350i will also be the first BlackBerry smartphone from Sprint to offer Group Connect, allowing customers to instantly set up group conversations with up to 20 other participants.

“Smart phones in general, and BlackBerry products in particular, have become more important to both business people and consumers lately,” said David Chamberlain, Principal Analyst with analyst firm In-Stat. “The BlackBerry Curve 8350i with PTT capability rounds out Sprint’s options to fill communications needs of many industries particularly those in the blue-collar segment of construction, field services, transportation and manufacturing.”

“Sprint is the undisputed leader in push-to-talk services, and with the launch of the new BlackBerry Curve 8350i smartphone, we are keeping our promise of expanding the Nextel Direct Connect capabilities and options for our customers,” said Danny Bowman, president of Nextel Direct Connect. “The BlackBerry Curve 8350i will be very attractive for business customers who need instant, convenient push-to-talk services to communicate now with employees, customers and suppliers but also want the capabilities of a high-end smartphone.”

In addition to delivering the unmatched push email and messaging capabilities of the BlackBerry solution, the BlackBerry Curve 8350i will provide rich multimedia, organizer and Internet browsing capabilities, as well as access to thousands of other mobile applications. The smartphone will also include built-in Wi-Fi® capabilities, allowing customers to browse the Internet and download email attachments quickly and easily. When connected to a Wi-Fi network, customers will also be able to send and receive emails or surf the Internet while talking on the phone.

Other key features include:

  • Integrated GPS – Built-in capabilities for assisted autonomous GPS capabilities
  • 2 Megapixel Digital Camera – with 5x digital zoom, flash and video recording*
  • DataViz® Documents to Go® – preloaded software makes it easy to edit Microsoft® Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents directly on the smartphone
  • Internal Antenna – improves design appeal and durability
  • Speakerphone – optimized for exceptional sound quality with Direct Connect
  • Advanced Media Player – great for listening to music, watching videos and showing pictures
  • Removable/Rechargeable 1400 mAH Battery – provides exceptional battery life
  • Expandable Memory – microSD memory card slot allows plenty of storage for pictures, videos, music and documents
  • Bluetooth® – version 2.0 with support for (A2DP) stereo Bluetooth and more
  • Additional Messaging Capabilities – support for instant messaging and multimedia messaging including audio, pictures and text to email addresses and capable phones

“The BlackBerry Curve 8350i smartphone will offer customers an exceptional communications and multimedia experience together with the power and convenience of the popular Nextel Direct Connect service,” said Mark Guibert, vice president of corporate marketing at RIM. “We are pleased to build on our successful relationship with Sprint to bring this powerful new smartphone to Sprint’s customers.”

Customers can find more information on the BlackBerry Curve 8350i smartphone and sign up to be notified of commercial availability from Sprint at www.sprint.com/instantconnectbb. Pricing, service plan details and an exact availability date will be announced at a later date.

Nationally, the Nextel National Network continues to operate at best-ever performance levels based on internal metrics. Internal performance metrics show double-digit percent improvement year-over-year (i.e., March 2007 to March 2008) for drops (i.e., where a customer’s voice connection fails or drops during a call) and blocks (i.e., where a customer is unable to make a voice connection) for the Nextel National Network. Customer issues related to dropped and blocked calls, and voice quality combined, have decreased more than 60 percent year-over-year (i.e., March 2007 to March 2008). This level of improvement translates to a more reliable calling experience for our customers. Customer calls on the Nextel National Network are successfully connected and maintained better than 99 out of 100 times.

For more information about Nextel Direct connect, please visit www.sprint.com/nextel.

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Introducing the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

By James on Sep 10, 2008 in BlackBerry, CTIA 2008, Featured News, Pearl Flip 8200 Series, RIM, RIM Press Release.

RIM today has officially announced the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 smartphone. The new Pearl Flip is RIM’s first flip phone on the market and will feature Quadband GSM, EDGE, 2.0 megapixel camera, GPS, Wi-Fi and RIM’s new OS 4.6 as seen on the Bold. Full details can be found on BlackBerryPearl.com.

The Pearl Flip will be available exclusively on T-Mobile in the United States later this fall. Stay tuned for it’s launch on Rogers in Canada real soon as well.

Check out the full press release:

Read More

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Leaked AT&T document shows Bold launch soon

By James on Sep 09, 2008 in AT&T (Cingular), BlackBerry, Bold 9000 Series, CTIA 2008, Featured News, RIM, USA.

A leaked document from AT&T’s PR department courtesy of The Boy Genius shows that the BlackBerry Bold will be launching next month. The document doesn’t include any official launch date and it appears they are still waiting for an official quote from RIM. The Bold will be available from AT&T for $299.99 with contract. Keep an eye on CTIA 2008 for more launch details…

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Check out RIM’s booth at CTIA 2008!

By James on Sep 09, 2008 in BlackBerry, CTIA 2008, RIM.

Doug from BBCool has been covering CTIA in San Francasico this week. Doug snapped some pictures of RIM’s booth. Nothing too crazy to report about but hopefully after tomorrow we will see the new BlackBerry Pearl 8220 (Kickstart) and all of its crazy accessories.

Now lets all sit down and hope for the BlackBerry Thudner/Storm and Javelin! Stay tuned for more CTIA 2008 details.

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Nextel to gain Wi-Fi iDen BlackBerry this year?

By James on Apr 04, 2008 in BlackBerry, CTIA 2008, Rumors, Sprint-Nextel, USA.

Sprint Nextel Logo

Apparently Sprint-Nextel’s CEO Dan Hesse announced at CTIA 2008 that Nextel will gain a Wi-Fi iDen BlackBerry. This new BlackBerry will replace Nextel’s old school BlackBerry 7100i. Unfortunately thats all we know but hopefully RIM pulls something tough out.

[Source]

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