Ritz Camera has this brand new BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8229 (Black) on sale for $99.99. While it’s not the newest BlackBerry – it still packs an ok feature set. You’ll have Wi-Fi plus T-Mobile UMA capabilities, all of the standard BlackBerry functionality plus a 2 MP camera. This phone does not require a contract but is locked to T-Mobile for service and if you want BlackBerry push email you’ll have to pay for a data plan. There’s no sales tax and shipping is $9.95.

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Wayne informed us this morning that the Blackberry Storm 2 is now available.

Verizon Wireless has also released its first commercial for the new device and they couldn’t help but take another shot at AT&T.

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Verizon’s BlackBerry Storm 2 has appeared right on schedule on Verizon’s site and for the expected $180 2 year contract price. What’s interesting is there’s also a BOGO (buy one – get one) sale running where you can also get a “free” BlackBerry Tour 9630, Gateway LT2016u Netbook, MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot, UMW190 USB Modem, BlackBerry Curve 8330, BlackBerry 8830, BlackBerry Storm 9530 or Storm2 9550, BlackBerry 8703, BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230, or USB760 wireless modem when you purchase a Storm 2. Naturally the monthly data service and calling plan is extra per line but you already expected that, right?

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BlackBerry Storm users can officially download version 5.0 of their operating system today. New features include improved power/lock button functions, interactive home screen, face detection for dimming screen, popup keys when SurePressing, better cursor and key controls. The download is free and you must cable your monster instead of the typical over the air download.

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If there’s a smartphone company more blessed than Research in Motion I don’t know them. RIM’s made a hugely successful business out of basically selling the same damn phone in a zillion different configurations with tiny differences between models. Carrying on the tradition is the just announced BlackBerry Bold 9700 (aka Onyx). Look for it to hit AT&T and T-Mobile during November for about $199 after contract. At first this device looks cool until you notice it has the same processor as the Bold it replaces – and a mere 256 MB onboard memory versus the 1 GB of the Bold 9000. Respectably RIM axed the greaseball in favor of track pad and ROM gets a boost from the prior Bold’s 128 MB to 256 MB so now you’ll only reset your memory 4 times a day versus the 6 you were used to. For the rest of us these specifications look an awful lot like a BlackBerry 8900 with a 3G modem squeezed inside or a Tour with Wi-Fi.

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Want to complain about your BlackBerry browser, or do you want to actually do something about it?  Now’s your chance.   If you have the skills, it looks like RIM has some openings for WebKit Developers.

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The BlackBerry Storm is a touch screen device that users either love or hate. It seems the love/hate line is often drawn between those who’ve never used a BlackBerry before (love) and those that have spent time with the BlackBerry devices that include keyboards (hate). The big deals with BlackBerry Storm 2? Updated BlackBerry OS 5.0, WiFI, ability to press two keys at once on the keyboard (increases typing speed) and a different method to using the touch screen which no longer requires as much physical pressure to move the screen up and down as you type. Read the full review below to find out all the new features added to the Storm2. And, no, there’s still no official Verizon release date though the Storm2 is now live on their site here.

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The Gartner group has predicted, via research, that Android based phones will overtake the iPhone and jump into the number 2 position in popularity in as little as two years.

Currently the iPhone sits in the number 3 slot behind Blackberry and Symbian.  Gartner further suggests that RIM, makers of the Blackberry, will lose close to 7% of their market share at the same time Android sees a 12.9% increase.  This would leapfrog Android into number 2 and leave the iPhone at number 3.  The loss RIM would take on would cause them to drop down to the 5 spot behind Windows Mobile.

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I was excited to see the release of Blackberry Desktop Manager for Mac a few hours earlier than expected. Of course I immediately downloaded the application which is relatively small — the DMG file is just 28 MB. And they did a great job with it!

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RIM, makers of the wildly popular BlackBerry smartphones, reported earnings for Q2 yesterday that fell short of expected levels. The company blamed the settlement of patent litigation with Visto for lower current quarter earnings and set the stage for reduced Q3 earnings. During the earnings call RIM said that 80% of all new subscribers were from non-enterprise markets. While that growth in non-business users is impressive it also could be dangerous since RIM’s aging operating system seems to perpetually play catch up with other phones such as iPhone, Windows Mobile and Android in terms of features and applications. One new tidbit to emerge from the earnings call was the mention of a new “services” platform but unfortunately no details on what that platform will include or when it may arrive.

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BlackBerry users with OS version 4.5+ can download upgraded versions of RIM’s Instant Messaging clients for BlackBerry. Versions are available for Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, Google Talk and AOL Messenger. New to these programs is the ability to create a standalone contact icon on the BlackBerry Home Screen, search saved conversations and add contacts and display pictures or avatars to the address book to easily instant message, email, SMS, or call right from the address book or conversation box. For easy over-the-air downloading guide your Berry over to http://mobile.blackberry.com

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The Blackberry Tour is the hot new corporate device and is also popular with consumers, but it is starting to make even more frequent appearances somewhere else – at the return desk! According to a new study published in Computerworld, the Tour is seeing a 50% return rate, though no carrier has gone on record confirming or denying this. Continue Reading

There is a new kind of switcher on the rise these days, and whiles its numbers are limited, they are nonetheless notable. No, we aren’t talking about people who make the move from Windows to Mac; we are talking about people who dropped one device for the iPhone, but now find themselves making the move back again- most of the time to a Blackberry it seems.

The latest victim to succumb to this switcher-mania is CNET’s Adam Richardson. Continue Reading

You’re out of the office, get a call and the boss needs a quick change on a presentation.  You’re an IT admin, you’re enjoying some time out of the house for the weekend and you need to reboot a server –  while your laptop is back at home.  You want to show off a photo of the kids from vacation while you’re at a soccer game, but then you realize it’s back  on your home computer.   What do all of these scenarios have in common?  Each situation used to require you to physically use the computer that is in the office or at home.  Before, if you didn’t have your laptop or computer with you, well, you were just out of luck.

Not anymore.  If you have RDM+ you can access and control your computer straight from your phone.

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