Boy Genius has just posted a rumor, which even he isn’t willing to confirm yet. Apparently they received a tip that T-Mobile USA might be launching the BlackBerry Bold 9700 on November 11th. So if everything goes as planned we should be seeing the Bold 9700 get officially announced for T-Mobile and AT&T later this month (October 21st), then maybe releasing just a few weeks later. Stay tuned for more info…

Al Sacco over at CIO, scored an interesting picture from T-Mobile today. Looks like T-Mobile decided to “accidentally” share the first press shots of the BlackBerry Bold 9700, aka Onyx. This hot new addition to the Bold family is set to feature a hotter QWERTY keyboard, trackpad navigation, and an overall compact more design. It seems that Al Sacco did not receive an official NDA from T-Mobile before sharing the picture. Lucky! Anyway check out the blurp from the T-Mo PR rep:

“The BlackBerry ‘Onyx’ sports a premium experience and design with a high-gloss black finish and leather grain detail on the back. Boasting features such as high-speed 3G Web browsing, Wi-Fi calling, visual voicemail and support for corporate and personal e-mail options, the ‘Onyx’ will satisfy all your on-the-go needs. Also the phone comes preloaded with mobile applications from BlackBerry App World, including Amazon MP3 store for quick and easy music downloads and TeleNav GPS Navigator for turn-by-turn directions.”

Unfortunately no actual release was shared, however its expected to launch late this year. Pricing and the official release shall come soon… Stay tuned.

CrackBerry Kevin has got some serious luck. Back before the Curve 8900 was released he managed to spot three of them in an Airport in NYC, while traveling. This time around Kevin managed to spot a T-Mobile branded BlackBerry 9700 on his way home from vacation. Seriously? That’s some luck. Anyway as you can see the T-Mobile branded 9700 is running on OS 5.0.0.169. Kevin says the device feels very solid and production ready… Maybe that means we will see a launch very soon? Stay tuned.

More BlackBerry 9700 Information here.

The Research and Consulting firm, IDC, listed the top-selling smartphone models in the US. It lists vendor sales to carriers and channels as well. So far it’s going on preliminary data. The actual numbers won’t be available till the end of the month. So let’s see what the firm says so far.

No 10 is the HTC Touch from Sprint, Nextel, and Verizon Wireless.

No 9 is the HTC Touch Pro from Sprint, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and others.

No 8 is the Palm Pre from Sprint.

No 7 is the T-Mobile G1 by HTC from T-Mobile USA.

No 6 is the Research In Motion BlackBerry Storm from Verizon Wireless.

No 5 is the Research In Motion BlackBerry Bold from AT&T.

No 4 is the Apple iPhone 3G (both versions) from AT&T.

No 3 is the Research In Motion BlackBerry Pearl (all 81xx series, excluding the Flip) from AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, and others.

No 2 is the Apple iPhone 3GS (both versions) from AT&T.

No 1 is the Research In Motion BlackBerry Curve (83xx series and 8900) from AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and others.

So what does that say? Research In Motion rules the smartphone world, and the BlackBerry Curve is still holding the number one position. I’m not surprised, though I’m very curious to see how the numbers change with the BlackBerry Tour 9630 entering the smartphone scene. I really like the Tour, it’s been very reliable, and I’m curious to see if it will rise to the top or come pretty close.

Anyone have any thoughts to share?

[via: FierceWireless]

Right on time, T-Mobile has launched the new BlackBerry Curve 8520, which was announced early last week. Starting today T-Mobile is offering the Curve 8520 in both black and frost for $129.99 with two year contract. This is the first new BlackBerry to feature RIM’s optical trackpad and dedicated music keys on top of the device. If you keep your eyes open as well you might see this model popping up at your local Wal-Mart store for the great price of $48.88 with contract. For now head over to t-mobile.com for more details.

Almost right on cue, the newly announced BlackBerry Curve 8520 (formally code-named Gemini) is now listed on T-Mobile USA’s website as coming soon. The latest whispers online indicate an August 5th launch for the new Curve. It’s expected this entry level BlackBerry will be hitting T-Mobile stores, as well Wal-Mart locations for an amazing entry level price of around $50 with contract. It should be available in two colour options at launch (black and frost). For more details visit t-mobile.com.

So who’s going to pick up the new Curve?

Well it’s official! Both T-Mobile and RIM have announced the upcoming release of the new entry-level BlackBerry Curve 8520. The 8520 enters into the Curve family, rocking a couple new features, and some familiar old ones. This is the first BlackBerry to feature RIM’s new Optical trackpad, which is expected to be very popular. Not only that but this model sports dedicated music keys built into the top of the device. Other features include a 2.0 megapixel camera (without flash), Wi-Fi and GPS. T-Mobile USA will be launching the Curve 8520 on August 5th, in both Frost and Black. Stay tuned for details on a Canadian launch, as well around the World soon. Get more details on the new Curve 8520 at blackberry.com/curve8520.

RIM Press Release:

T-Mobile USA and RIM Introduce the New BlackBerry Curve 8520

Approachable New Smartphone Offers Email, Messaging, Social Networking, Music and Entertainment for People on the Go

BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON and WATERLOO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – July 27, 2009) -

Editors Note: Three photos, a Spec Sheet and a video are included with this Press Release.

T-Mobile USA, Inc., and Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today announced the new BlackBerry(R) Curve(TM) 8520 smartphone, a new addition to the BlackBerry Curve series of smartphones, with availability expected on August 5.

The slim new BlackBerry Curve 8520 is an incredibly approachable smartphone that comes in two attractive colors from T-Mobile – black and frost. For people who like to be connected, it provides easy mobile access to email, messaging (IM, SMS, MMS) and popular social networking sites (including Facebook(R) and MySpace) and features a highly tactile full-QWERTY keyboard for comfortable, accurate typing. It also features rich multimedia capabilities and access to music, games and other mobile apps for entertainment on the go.

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone is a world phone, and is also Wi-Fi(R)-enabled to arm customers with fast Web browsing and Wi-Fi calling. T-Mobile customers can continue to get great mobile coverage and unlimited nationwide Wi-Fi calling with T-Mobile’s Unlimited HotSpot Calling service as well as unlimited nationwide calling to five people with T-Mobile myFaves(R) service.(i)

In addition to providing the industry’s leading mobile email and messaging solution, the BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone is designed to be efficient and convenient. It introduces an innovative touch-sensitive optical trackpad, which makes scrolling and selection smooth and easy for a great navigation experience. It is also the first BlackBerry smartphone to feature dedicated media keys, smoothly integrated along the top of the handset, giving customers an easy, convenient way to control their music and videos.

“People increasingly expect a rich, diverse experience with their phones because they’re using them in new and different ways,” said Travis Warren, director of product marketing, T-Mobile USA. “Adding the BlackBerry Curve 8520 to the T-Mobile line-up gives our customers a phone capable of helping bring balance to the chaotic demands of a busy professional and personal life.”

“More and more cell phone users are choosing to upgrade to a smartphone and the new BlackBerry Curve 8520 will undoubtedly convince many more people to make the switch. It delivers all the great messaging, social networking and multimedia features that have made BlackBerry the top-selling smartphone brand in the United States,” said Carlo Chiarello, vice president, product management, Research In Motion. “T-Mobile customers are going to love how easy it is to keep in touch on Facebook and MySpace and the full-QWERTY keyboard is amazingly fast and comfortable for typing on the go.”

Key features of the BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone include:

- Full-QWERTY keyboard and touch-sensitive optical trackpad for reliable, responsive typing and navigation

- 256MB Flash memory and a 512Mhz next generation processor for enhanced performance

- Premium phone features including voice activated dialing, and Bluetooth (2.0) support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits, stereo headsets and other Bluetooth peripherals

- 2 MP digital camera with zoom and video recording

- Advanced media player for music, pictures and videos, with dedicated media keys and a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack, plus BlackBerry(R) Media Sync, which makes it easy to quickly sync music from iTunes(R) or Windows Media(R) Player with the smartphone(ii)

- Access to BlackBerry App World(TM), featuring a broad and growing catalog of third-party mobile applications developed specifically for BlackBerry smartphones. Categories include games, entertainment, social networking and sharing, news and weather, productivity and much more

- BlackBerry(R) Internet Service support for access to up to 10 supported email accounts, including most popular ISP email accounts such as Yahoo!(R), Windows Live(TM) Hotmail(R), AOL(R) and Gmail(TM); and BlackBerry(R) Enterprise Server support, which provides advanced security and IT administration features for corporate deployments

- Expandable memory via hot swappable microSD/SDHC memory card slot, supporting cards of up to 16 GB today and expected to support next generation 32GB cards when available; a 1GB card is included

- Built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) with support for T-Mobile Unlimited Hotspot Calling service

- Quad-band world phone: EGDE/GPRS/GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)

The new BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone from T-Mobile will be available on August 5 at T-Mobile retail stores, Walmart Stores, select authorized dealers, and online at http://www.T-Mobile.com.

Prior to retail availability, customers can learn more about the BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone at www.blackberry.com/curve8520.

(i)Unlimited nationwide Wi-Fi calling requires Unlimited HotSpot Calling mobile plan, qualifying rate plan, broadband Internet connection and wireless router. Regular plan minutes are used when call does not originate on Wi-Fi network. For more information about Unlimited HotSpot Calling, visit http://www.T-MobileAtHome.com. myFaves only applies to calls directly between two people and allows unlimited nationwide calling to five U.S. numbers. Use of some device features may require a specific plan and incur separate, additional charges. See T-Mobile.com for rate plan information, charges for features and services, and other details.

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

An official announcement has yet to be made, however rumors are the BlackBerry Curve 8520 will be hitting T-Moblie USA on August 5th. It’s rumored that T-Mobile will be offering some sort of exclusive launch with Walmart, but we don’t have a lot of details yet. Both new and existing customers will be able to get the Curve 8520 on August 5, 2009. The BlackBerry Curve 8520 will be introduced as an entry-level model to replace the current Curve 8320. Stay tuned for more details…

[Source]

It was a date hosted by RIM for T-Mobile’s release of the BlackBerry 8520. The Boy Genius Report has a picture that a reader who won sent in. The event had some goodies, a giveaway which is delivered by mail, and the new movie Transformers 2. You have to love RIM, they know how to treat a date!

And some people wonder why we BlackBerry addicts appear to love our phones and pay more attention to them than our significant others, wonder why?

[via: The Boy Genius Report]

Hmm looks like the Tour wasn’t the only thing to clear the FCC this week. The BlackBerry Curve 8520, formally known as the Gemini has cleared the FCC. This means that we could see a launch on T-Mobile USA almost anytime. In case you’re not familar with the 8520 its the new low end addition to the Curve family. It will feature Quad-band GSM with EDGE, Wi-Fi, GPS, 2.0 megapixel camera without flash, and RIM’s new Optical trackpad.

It looks like we will see this new device launch on T-Mobile soon. Apparently RIM is also working on a CDMA varriant which we might see in stores soon than later. If you want to check out the FCC documents for the Curve 8520 click here.

[Source]