The new Blackberry flip phone from Research In Motion — aka Kickstart — gets put in a lineup with the Blackberry Bold. Neither phone has been released yet (they’re expected within the new few months - Bold with 3G speed on AT&T and Kickstart with EDGE speed on T-Mobile). This gives you a chance to compare the two devices and start making plans for your next Berry upgrade. Rumor has it the Kickstart is sporting the RIM OS v4.6, Wi-Fi and a 2 megapixel camera. My prediction? It’s all about the browser. From this point in any device that doesn’t have a browser than can match the iPhone’s desktop-like experience will be destined for the “we pay you to take it” bin. Even though I can’t wait to see these new Blackberry models - I’m very concerned that nobody has shown an improved browser running on any of them. All that keeps going through my head is “Lipstick on a pig“.

Link: Berryshack via Crackberry

Image: Crackberry.com

Web site Crackberry.com continues dissecting the pre-release/beta Blackberry 9000 they scored from an eBay auction earlier this week. This device has been deemed “drool worthy” for it’s 3G connection, improved 480 x 320 HVDA color LCD and advance peek at the new operating system (OS version 4.6.0.22 (67) is on their early release device). They have a short video that demonstrates the browser playing Youtube video, other than that the web browser seems largely unchanged. It’s unclear whether this is the final version web browser. From what I’ve read nearly all the improvements to the Blackberry 9000 have been cosmetic or LCD screen improvements. Not a glimpse of any HTML email capabilities, and comments from the reviewer about this being an “evolutionary OS” and “mainly visual” OS improvements - lead me to wonder if this Blackberry 9000 might be considered “lipstick on a pig” by users hoping for more?

Link: Crackberry.com - Blackberry 9000 Smartphone Review - Part III - OS4.6
Link: Great YouTube Video Created By CrackBerry.com - Live Demo of Blackberry 9000