Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

We’re still sitting around waiting for an official release date from RIM, but perhaps this will help things along: the BlackBerry Storm has been OK’d by the FCC and is ready to send harmful radiation straight into your head. That’s about all the info we’ve got from this fairy secretive approval report — which doesn’t even specify the name of the device — but the label placement diagram shows off the back of the phone, with appropriate lines, button placement and world-roaming SIM slot that all point to Storm. “November-ish” can’t come soon enough!

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Just can’t get enough BlackBerry Storm minutiae? Well, Verizon’s popped out a few reels of B-roll that should just about do it. Check them all out after the break, with enough screen clicking, device rotating and battery installing to crack even the most hardened of RIM fanboys.

Continue reading BlackBerry Storm in action, ad nauseam

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/First_hands_on_with_RIM_s_iPhone_killing_BlackBerry_Storm’; RIM’s a little late to the touchscreen party, but comes bearing goodies. The BlackBerry Storm is a beast of a phone in more ways than one. Fronted by a meaty, high-resolution touchscreen with an innovative clicking mechanism, the phone is easily the prettiest by RIM to date. There’s a brushed metal back, a beautiful new OS interface, and enough radios to give your grandkids cancer (EV-DO Rev. A, quad-band GSM, Europe-friendly HSPA, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, though sadly no WiFi). But the real test of a phone is usability, not flash. Check out our impressions after the break.

Continue reading BlackBerry Storm 9500 hands-on

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Vodafone_debuts_BlackBerry_Storm’; We’re still waiting on Verizon to stop teasing us about this thing, but Vodafone (who’s been hinting at the phone since last month) just announced the BlackBerry Storm, RIM’s touchscreen flagship. As if you didn’t know already, Vodafone is confirming a 3.25-inch 480 x 360 touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera, automatic orientation flipping, 1GB of built-in storage and a host of multimedia capabilities, including iTunes sync.

[Thanks, Bob]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Get ready, Blackberry fans. After weeks of leaks and goofy internal videos, it looks like the Storm’s finally a-comin’ — the first ads for the RIM’s touchscreen wonder aired on CBS tonight. We’re on the lookout for a better video, but even at this low res we can’t help but notice how chunky this thing looks — but we’re totally willing to trade some heft for some sweet, sweet copy / paste action. Video after the break.

[Thanks, Jerry]

Continue reading First Blackberry Storm commericals air on CBS

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Filed under: Cellphones

Get ready, Blackberry fans. After weeks of leaks and goofy internal videos, it looks like the Storm’s finally a-comin’ — the first ads for the RIM’s touchscreen wonder aired on CBS tonight. We’re on the lookout for a better video, but even at this low res we can’t help but notice how chunky this thing looks — but we’re totally willing to trade some heft for some sweet, sweet copy / paste action. Video after the break.

[Thanks, Jerry and deltajam]

Continue reading First Blackberry Storm commercials air on CBS

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Filed under: Cellphones

Look, we love finding out the pre-release minutiae just as much as anyone, but this is getting a little absurd. Yesterday we spotted a Storm slide pack, just this morning we ran across a sneak peek of RIM’s BlackBerry Application Center, and merely hours later we’re being treated to the BlackBerry Storm User Guide. What’s next, internal information on how to best polish the casing? C’mon Verizon, get this thing out in the open already!

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Filed under: Cellphones

At this point, you’re probably wondering what section of the Storm’s UI you haven’t seen. Enter a few new sneak peeks, this time showcasing the purported BlackBerry Application Center. Granted, these shots are from the Vodafone edition, but we don’t suspect the Verizon version will look much different. Reportedly, the Application Center will be available on v4.7 Storm devices, and carriers themselves will be responsible for hosting the data and sending updates; additionally, the download / installation will be handled by the browser in the first release, meaning that the software cannot restart the app or download intelligently. Give the read link a look for a few more tidbits / pictures.

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Filed under: Cellphones

RIM’s BlackBerry Storm 9500 / 9530, which is more affectionately known ’round these parts as the Thunder, is definitely within striking distance. Still, just because you don’t have too much longer to wait doesn’t mean you aren’t anxious to get your hands on as many details as possible beforehand, right? The Boy Genius has managed to procure a few mundane stacks of PowerPoint slides that just so happen to contain some pretty scrumptious information on the touchscreen-based BlackBerry, and while there aren’t any mind-melting surprises in there (like, confirmation that it can indeed read and reply correctly to each e-mail automatically), it’s not the kind of data any real RIM fan would want to overlook. Go on and hit the read link, what exactly are you waiting for?

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Filed under: Cellphones

Well, it’s not quite as big as that gigantic promo Bold, but dummies of the Blackberry Storm have started appearing in Verizon stores, and it’s looking a lot, uh, more robust than we remember from all those leaks. Specs include an appropriately multicultural photo of happy people, non-functioning buttons, and a list of Verizon talking points. Still no hard release date, but we’re guessing something this big can’t be contained for much longer.

[Via Blackberry News]

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Filed under: Cellphones

So you’ve already seen what RIM’s BlackBerry Storm looks like in Vodafone garb, but if your feeble mind just can’t envision what it’d look like with a Verizon logo on there, feast your retinas on this. A few new press shots of the VZW Storm have swooped in, though there’s nary a surprise to be found. Still, we know you enjoy gawking, so hit the read link for a few more angles. As for a hard release date? Puhlease.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Let’s do a quick recap, shall we? So we pretty much know everything there is to know about Verizon’s forthcoming BlackBerry Storm save for the price and release date, and so far as we can tell, Verizon’s version of the Touch Diamond is still expected to be totally underpowered compared to Sprint’s iteration. Now that we’ve rounded the tables, let’s have a look at this image above. This here is Verizon’s internal training schedule, and given that employees have to complete their Storm courses before November 2nd and their Touch Diamond courses before December 3rd, we’d say you now have a pretty good idea of when these two will be landing. Hey VZW — think you could make that “Blocking Features Assessment” available to the public? We’re guessing it’d be a real hit.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

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Filed under: Cellphones

We’ve seen most everything about the BlackBerry Storm that Verizon wanted us to see, but this is the first real (clear) glimpse at what the UI is apt to look, taste and smell like whenever it decides to ship. Of course, we’d still caution you to take all of this with a grain of salt until Vodafone comes clean, but the screen shots captured in the read link do look fairly believable. Can you stand any more teasin’? If so, you know where to head.

[Via The Boy Genius Report]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Let’s be honest here — there’s precisely two three things you still need to know about the BlackBerry Storm. Launch date, price and whether it’ll play Doom. Sadly, we’re no closer to helping you on those last two, but the datasheet you see above does give us a general idea of when we’ll see this puppy in stores. Obviously looking to get this out before the holiday rush, it looks as if the carrier will be making things official sometime between September 22nd and October 1st, and that little “eligible for Annual Upgrade (by 11/1/08)” bit gives us hope for a November 1st release. In case you were wishing for the impossible, Verizon gets all red-text up in here with a note that this thing will not, come hell or high water, be sold sans an e-mail / data package. Interestingly, the Boy Genius has asserted that VZW is playing the fiddle by loosing all these “leaks” on the unsuspecting public. We’re not very confident of that being true, but it’s decent fodder for discussion if nothing else.

Read - BlackBerry Storm pre-launch information
Read - Verizon slipping Storm details?

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Filed under: Cellphones

It was redirected for most the of the day, but Verizon’s BlackBerry Storm page just went live, hopefully meaning we’ll be see RIM’s first touchscreen phone make its debut sometime soon. All you can do at the moment is sign up for an email alert, but we’ve got you covered with the internal promo video, box art, talking points, and even a ninja-themed hands-on — yeah, let’s get this released, guys.

[Thanks, Nick]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Yep, that’s the BlackBerry Storm, with Verizon branding and everything — too bad there isn’t a shot of the pricetag or release date. Soon, please? Check two more at the read link.

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Filed under: Cellphones

We’re still waiting on Verizon’s official launch of the Blackberry Storm, but the anticipation is running high, especially since we just received a list of specs and talking points distributed to store reps about RIM’s first touchscreen phone. As expected, the 9530 Storm will feature that controversial “click” touchscreen with built-in tactile feedback, GSM connectivity for global use in addition to EV-DO, visual voicemail, a 3.2 megapixel camera with video, and a full HTML browser. Sadly, there’s no pricing information or specific release date, but we’ve got a feeling we’ll get those soon — stay tuned.

[Thanks, HTCKid]

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