In what could be an effort to remain competitive to AT&T’s iPhone, pricing on Blackberry devices appear to be in a virtual free fall. Over the holiday I noted that you can make $75 on a Blackberry Curve on AT&T or T-Mobile. This morning I see that Sprint has recently reduced the price on their Blackberry Curve 8330 for a net (after $100 rebate and contract) of $99. At this time Amazon does not show the Sprint Blackberry Curve as in stock. If you’re looking at this deal, please do yourself a favor and read my post on Sprint Everything Plus which will save you at least $10/month so long as you know a Sprint employee email and partial employee ID (which my post provides based on publicly available information).

Sprint

Google released version 2.2.2 of their Maps program yesterday and several users are reporting that this version adds voice recognition for the Blackberry Curve. Previously voice search was limited to users of the Pearl (8110, 8120, 8130). Once you install Google Maps 2.2.2 to your Blackberry Curve (use the over the air install link below), use the left convenience key to activate voice search. Maps recognizes your voice queries and converts them to search terms. The service is similar to Yahoo’s OneSearch which I created this video review for back in April 2008.

OTA Download - Google Maps v2.2.2
Google Maps for your Blackberry Phone - overview

If information posted in Howardforums is accurate (and it seems to jive with previous leaked dates), you may see a red Blackberry Curve and the Treo 800W appear in Sprint stores beginning July 13, 2008. The Blackberry Curve will be just another fancy color for Sprint to add to their inventory, however the Treo 800 W is a new model that is rumored to sport WM 6, Wi-Fi and EVDO Rev A. Look on the bright side, all the Samsung Instinct buyers will still be within their 30 day remorse period. Let the returns begin!

Link: HOFO

It’s been about six months since I purchased my T-Mobile Blackberry Curve 8320. As anyone who reads Geardiary knows, I recently abandoned it for my iPhone. I was browsing Howardforums and found an interesting forum post that anyone considering purchasing a Blackberry Curve should read. It concerns a problem that has existed on every new model of Blackberry that I’ve used.

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The Verizon Blackberry Curve (one of the first USA 1X EVDO Curve’s - BTW - NOT upgradeable to Rev A) is officially for sale on the Verizon web site. At the moment it seems to be “camera shy” with no product image displaying when you order. Based on reports and photos from those who persuaded Verizon CSRs in the Mid-West to ship them a Curve early, this is the silver model.

Link: Verizon Blackberry Curve 8330 Online Ordering