Like we told you yesterday, the BlackBerry Curve has finally made it’s way to Sprint. The device can be ordered online and through telesales, though we’re not exactly sure when the handset will begin showing up in Sprint stores. You have to admit that $179.99 price is attractive. But, it must irk all you CDMA lovers that when your favorite CDMA carriers finally launch the beloved Curve, the BlackBerry 9000 is right around the corner…

You heard it here first, people! The much-awaited BlackBerry 9000 will be announced on May 12th, the first day of WES 2008 in Orlando, FL. There will even be booths setup so y’all can demo the device to your heart’s delight. Word has it that Mike Lazaridis will be up on stage announcing the device. You know, getting his Steve Jobs on! This is 100% confirmed, too. So…who’s excited?

P.S. If you absolutely can’t wait for the 12th, Kevin over at CrackBerry.com got his hands on a BlackBerry 9000 and has put it through the paces!

You know how we always beat RIM over the head for not doing some mainstream advertising? We’re hearing they are going to start with their own ads (not carrier-sponsored) tonight. You can catch them all on NBC this evening. They will air (have already aired) on My Name is Earl, The Office, and 30 Rock. Anyone catch one of them yet?

This could be one of the hottest UIQ devices… Ever! Spy shots of the Sony Ericsson Paris (P5i) made the rounds a while back but this is the first time we’re seeing crystal clear live pictures of this hotty, and we’re in love. Slim form, sleek styling, finger and stylus-operated 2.8" touchscreen; it’s all good. The Paris will run UIQ 3.2 supported by a 360 MHz CPU. Integrated GPS, WiFi, UMTS and an M600-style keypad are just a few of the highlights that we’re really loving. And let’s not forget the 5 megapixel camera that we know will be solid Sony Ericsson quality. Still no word on a firm release date for the Paris but we’ll keep an eye peeled as we’re definitely looking forward to getting our hands on one.

[Via Unwired View]

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Wii Fit is rookie stuff; real gamers use their Wii to pole dance! According to MTV, Peekaboo Pole Dancing is currently shopping for a partner to license its pole dancing game for the Wii. Peekaboo, for those who don’t keep up with the latest in stripper wannabe news, is the company behind Carmen Electra’s pole dancing kit. Apparently the Electra-pole set isn’t enough to get the younger demographic working the pole, so Peekaboo is setting its sights on the Wii. A rep from Peekaboo wasn’t exactly forthcoming with details on how this sacrilege would work exactly in terms of operation, but he did offer some insights:

Peekaboo will be all about fun and fitness for a new generation. Peekaboo wants to make the fitness benefits of aerobic pole dancing accessible to millions of Wii users. The goal is to encourage men and women of all shapes and sizes to improve their pole dancing skills while having fun, toning up and burning calories. Ultimately Peekaboo and AT New Media want to do for pole dancing what ‘Guitar Hero‘ did for rock n roll!

Did he say "men and women"? For real? Barring the occasional YouTube travesty, we can’t imagine any men running to the store to snag a Wii stripper pole kit - for themselves at least. Whatever the case may be, Peekaboo is apparently serious about this and already in discussions with developers about not only a Wii port, but a mobile port as well. We wish we were kidding.

[Via electric pig]

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The iPhone has recently seen price drops in a variety of countries including the UK. Apparently, said price adjustments caused a bit more of a rush amongst O2 customers than had been expected. As a matter of fact, O2 has run out of iPhones a good month and a half or so before the 3G iPhone is expected to drop. 8GB iPhones, done. 16GB iPhones, done. Apparently 02 is wiping its hands of the iPhone until the new model is issued, likely next month. Seems like quite the peculiar move, losing a month of iPhone sales that is. The iPhone is, after all, one of the most exclusive and fastest selling phones in the UK. Could this mean that the 3G iPhone may be released in the UK ahead of the US? Yeah, we doubt it too.

[Via Slippery Brick]

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Our AT&T ninjas are at it again! This time they’ve dropped us a note that the Nokia E71 will be making its way to the carrier. We’re working on getting pictures of the AT&T-branded Nokia E71, but until then, call this a rumor. You know, so you don’t totally hate us if this doesn’t turn out to be true.

[Image by DechoWireless]

By some weird stroke of luck, cruelty, or fate the movie Hitman has shown up for free on iTunes. You can access the film by heading to the Movies section of the store, hitting the browse button, and navigating to the "thrillers" genre section. There, at the bottom of the list, is the movie Hitman. Why anyone would want to waste 1.5GBs of storage space on this obomination is beyond us, but if you’re the type that can’t turn down a free offer, no matter how appalling the product, then this one is for you. Could this be a sign of more free content to come? Probably not, as it appears to be more of a glitch than a feature, but you never know.

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We’ve got a ton of tips over the past couple days surrounding the BlackBerry Curve’s debut on Sprint. Most if not all of those pointed to an official May 9th release date. Here’s a flyer detailing the release date, handset pricing, and specs. The no contract price of the Curve is $599.99! Don’t get too scared, though. If you’re signing up for a 2-year agreement with Sprint (don’t get us started) you can snag one of these CrackBizzles for $179.99 after instant and mail-in rebates. Happy Sprinting. Larger shot after the jump.

Thanks, Optimus, and everyone else that hit us up!

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Well, we just started really messing around with the latest iPhone SDK and OS, and came across something that’s pretty cool. Finally we have YouTube support in the web browser! Don’t get extremely excited though; this is not Flash support. It’s a plugin that enables you to click on an embedded YouTube video, which will then in turn open up the movie player and stream the video. This has worked with every single video we’ve tried so far, but does not work on YouTube.com as that checks for an installed Flash player. Check out the little bit we recorded above to see it in action

Ok seriously, we want it. Italian mobile site Cellulare-Magazine managed to get their hands on the N96 and popped a sweet 10-minute hands-on video up on YouTube. This thing gets sexier every time we see it. Solid build, smooth lines, sleek case and form factor; it’s all good. Cellulare-Magazine does a pretty good job touring this prototype and it’s definitely worth a watch if you’re interested in seeing where Nokia flagship devices are headed. They left some cool stuff out of the video however, such as showcasing the dedicated multimedia keys that illuminate to the left of the screen when a media player is accessed. Rotate the device 180 degrees and open N-gage (or "N-gadget" as the narrator says) and gaming buttons are illuminated giving the N96 a classic "dpad on the left, buttons on the right" gaming configuration. The narrator also mentions that the handset includes tri-band UMTS with US-compatible frequencies, but then lists only European frequencies so we’re still a bit unclear in that department. Either way, that 950 mAh battery is going to last about 45 minutes if you plan to make solid use of UMTS. Hey, that’s why Proporta makes battery packs we suppose…

[Via All About Symbian]

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Looking for a litle Verizon Curve fix before Friday’s official launch? We’ve got you covered. Nothing earth shattering here, though. Just a couple of pictures to verify that this thing is, in fact, real and that it will be launching soon never hurt anyone. Specs remain the same, and a year or so late arrival, well, remains the same. That said, we’re still secretly excited for this thing to launch into the American CDMA world, though we’re not entirely sure why. Couple more shots after the jump! More …

We sure are getting close to the east side of that road map pictured above. Could this be the final release before the 3G iPhone makes its debut? Apple has just made a fifth version of its iPhone SDK and 2.0 version firmware available to developers. So far in terms of changes in 2.0 beta 5, the only noteworthy items we’ve heard are that DRM music is now supported again and the Contacts search feature is now available in the the simulator (and presumably the firmware). We’ll have more for you soon, no worries.

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