Seems Rogers won’t get RIM’s first BlackBerry flip phone, the BlackBerry Kickstart Pearl 8220 for the once thought price of $50 with contract. The Pearl 8220 will be launching for $149.99 with three year contract. This pricing becomes more inline with their BlackBerry Curve 8310. So whos all up for getting a Pearl 8220?? Check out the pictures:

[VIa CrackBerry]

Every wonder where you can find all the BlackBerry approved applications and services for your device? A site that RIM has called BlackBerry Lifestyle lists a ton of applications that are built for BlackBerry. You can find everything from Facebook to Bank of America to XM Radio. Check out the entire list at at BlackBerry.com. It seems that the list is only computer friendly and doesn’t load well on your BlackBerry.

I wonder if RIM will integrate this into some sort of Application store?

Head on over to BlackBerry.com for details

[Via Pinstack]

Finally some more details on the highly anticipated BlackBerry Thunder or Storm 9530. As you may or may not know this will be RIM’s first touchscreen BlackBerry smartphone. Anyways it seems that Verizon will be using the BlackBerry Storm name and not Thunder as we saw before. This puppy will be packing a 8GB microSD card in box, 3.5mm headphone jack, Sim card slot for international roaming and NO Wi-Fi (sorry folks!).

Boy Genius seems to think that RIM will go with BlackBerry Storm for Verizon and other carriers such as Vodafone and Rogers may see it branded as the Thunder. So maybe we will see several models (9500, 9530, etc.). He also notes he thinks the Storm/Thunder is still on track for launch later this year…

[Engadget via BGR]

Ronen pointed out that RIM has posted details of their new BlackBerry OS 4.6. You will find OS 4.6 on the new BlackBerry Bold, which is slowly popping up all over the world. The new OS 4.6 now allows QWERTY keyboard shortcuts meaning you can press Q to turn your device on vibrate and A to lock your keypad (similar to the Pearl’s Suretype shortcuts). In case your wondering you will find OS 4.6 on either the BlackBerry Bold 9000 or the upcoming Kickstart/Pearl 82xx series. Here’s a full run down of the features:

- Switch Bluetooth devices during calls
- Music icon that allows access to playlist from homescreen
- The Clock application
- Support for inline video streaming in the Browser application
- Improved full screen picture preview screen
- Open the Camera application from the Video Camera application
- Likewise, Video Camera application accessible from the Camera icon
- New Browser enhancements such as Attachment download via the Browser application and a Richer browsing experience
- QWERTY keyboard hot keys (A for lock, Q for vibrate)
- Spell check as your type
- Reverse contrast mode for persons with visual impairments
- Enhanced icons such as grid layout
- Ability to delete applications from the homescreen

[RIM Knowledge Base Via BerryReview]

That’s right! Get your hands on it before it disappears. Berry Review’s Ninjas seem to have found copies of RIM’s unreleased OS 4.5.0.77 for both the CDMA BlackBerry 8830 and Curve 8330. Apparently this version of the OS fixes the small delay of answering voice calls noticed in 4.5.0.66.

Here are the download links (they may stop working soon):

- BlackBerry 8830 at MediaFire
- BlackBerry Curve 8330 at MediaFire (2nd link)

* Please note while these OS verisons are not officially supported by RIM. We don’t recommend installing them if you have never installed a beta OS before. Neither Us, Berry Review nor RIM take any responsibility to damage caused to your phone while installing this software.

[Via BerryReview]

Looks like Bell will be launching three new additions to their BlackBerry lineup. They will add two new colors of the BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (White and Titanium) and a Red BlackBerry Curve 8330. The Pearl and Curve should be available around August 8th in stores and online. Pricing is expected to be around the same (Pearl $0 with three year contract and Curve $149.95 with three year contract). Stay tuned for more details when they arrive…

[Source]

Kevin from CrackBerry has posted a video walk through of the un-released BlackBerry Kickstart 8220. As you may or may not know the Kickstart is RIM’s first flip phone with full BlackBerry features included. Its expected to launch on T-Mobile within the next few months. It will sport a 2.0 megapixel camera, Quad-band GSM, EDGE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, micro USB charging port and a next generation Suretype QWERTY keyboard.

Can you imagine not ever having to worry about dropping your BlackBerry is a bucket of water? A new upcoming product called “Golden Shellback” will be the first to use a special technology designed by Marine experts. The Golden Shellback is a non-conductive polymer which your whole device gets coated in (inside and outside) allowing it to be resistant to water, dirt, dust, oil, etc. Don’t believe us? Just check out this promo video:

Remember when we talked about another Curve color launching on T-Mobile? Well it was due out a few days ago. Now TmoNews is reporting that the BlackBerry Curve in Sunset color has been pushed back until August 4th. The Sunset colored Curve is just one of the new BlackBerry models that T-Mobile should be launching within the next few months, its also reported that they will be launching the BlackBerry Kickstart flip phone by September or so.

With the upcoming release of the BlackBerry Bold some may notice a few new theme options in OS 4.6. With the new version for the Bold you are able to adjust the size of your homescreen grid. By default the grid shows 6 columns and 3 rows. This new feature allows you to change it to 4×4, 3×3, 2×2, or 1×1. This will be handy for some people who have difficult seeing the fonts and images.

[Source - BerryReview]