If you didn’t think the “Kickstart” would hit Rogers, send us over what you’re smokin’! Canada’s largest GSM provider will most certainly be grabbing the Kickstart. We haven’t confirmed the release date of the device on Rogers just yet, but we’d guess it would be around a couple weeks of T-Mobile getting it. Rogers is going to be changing the name of their “Home Calling Zone” UMA service to “Rogers Talkspot,” something the Kickstart will be able to make use of just fine. In addition to the Q3 Kickstart launch, Rogers has also got the Motorola ROKR E8 for $99.99, the Samsung T336 for $49.99, the Sony Ericsson Walkman W760a for $79.99, and finally the Sony Ericsson W350a for $29.99. All the aforementioned handset prices were on 3-year agreements — duh! But seriously, if RIM prices the Kickstart right (we’re hoping $49.99), Motorola and Palm employees might as well just hand in their resignation letters directly to RIM — it’s over! Couple more shots after the jump…

Thanks, Rogers ninja!

Like our Best Buy ninjas in blue didn’t out this one already… Oh well. It’s always nice to see some more color choices on T-Mobile, though. We were getting pretty darn tired of the gold and titanium Curves. The phone will be available starting today at all T-Mobile retail stores and over the phone for $149.99 with a 2-year agreement. We’re waiting to hear back from T-Mobile to get confirmation of the OS, but we’re betting it’s going to run 4.2.2 even though our leaked doc says any BlackBerry launches before September will run 4.5. Here’s the full spec rundown in case any of you were MIA for the past year:

• GSM, GPRS, EDGE, Wi-Fi
• Quad-band world phone 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• 2.5” display, 320×240 pixels, QVGA display with more than 65,000 colors
• 3.5 mm headset jack
• Dimensions: 4.2 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches; 3.9 ounces
• microSD slot supporting up to 4 GB of optional removable memory
• 2 megapixel camera
• T-Mobile myFaves-enabled
• Stereo Bluetooth® capability

Larger pics after the jump as well as the press release!

The BlackBerry Curve 8320 in Sunset is enabled for Unlimited HotSpot Calling from T-Mobile (previously called T-Mobile HotSpot @Home) offering great mobile coverage and unlimited calling over any accessible Wi-Fi network and at all T-Mobile HotSpot locations across the country. When leaving home or a T-Mobile HotSpot, calls are seamlessly transferred onto T-Mobile’s wireless network, and the same is true for transferring calls from T-Mobile’s network onto Wi-Fi.

The BlackBerry Curve 8320 in Sunset includes a 2 megapixel camera, music and video multimedia player, a microSD expandable memory slot that supports up to 4GB of memory and stereo Bluetooth® as well as HTML Web browsing at Wi-Fi speeds, personal and corporate email and built-in spell check.

It will be available at select T-Mobile retail stores and online at www.t-mobile.com for $149.99 with a two-year service agreement.

Purchasers of Nokia’s latest Eseries devices may be a bit distressed to learn that BlackBerry Connect will no longer be updated for Nokia’s S60 devices, effective immediately. Just after a recent update was issued for the latest E90 firmware Nokia made the announcement and was hardly indirect with its reasoning for the move. Nokia’s Simon Ainslie had this to say:

RIM are a competitor and have done a reasonable job in a space that is traditionally ours, so it’s no great surprise that we see this as an opportunity to give consumers a proper choice on what email solution they want.

Perhaps the most confusing part of this move is the simple fact that Nokia’s OEM email support is, well, shoddy at best. Unreliable, poorly-executed and horrible are more descriptive terms that have been tossed around from time to time. The integrated POP / IMAP support is just north of unusable. Nokia’s Mail for Exchange client historically hasn’t been much better, though the most recent client addresses many issues of the past. Mail for Exchange however, as the name might dictate, only supports Exchange email. This might be fine if you use your device strictly for work (and your company uses Exchange) but in the day and age of “convergence”, most people like to have access to personal email as well. Nokia’s recent “Nokia Email” beta does show signs of life, though slight. All this aside, if your company uses RIM’s email system and you had plans to snag an E71 instead of a BlackBerry… Think again.

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Well what do we have here? Despite the fact that the BlackBerry Bold has been delayed with several carriers as we reported earlier this month, Mobile City Online has made the highly anticipated handset available for preorder as of today. What’s more, it lists an expected arrival date of August 14. While this date is well ahead of the handset’s anticipated availability via many carriers it’s certainly not unthinkable that an unlocked version could be available ahead of time. Unlikely perhaps, but not impossible. We’ve seen MCO availability dates pushed back plenty in the past but we’ll wager that there are hoards of BlackBerry fans hoping that won’t be the case this time. We’ve yet to see the same availability date on other online retail sites, which also doesn’t bode well. Only time will tell of course. As for pricing; drum roll please… $700. Quite a price point considering this is a handset that is going to be picked up and subsidized by tons of carriers around the world. If you’re a die hard and you can’t wait another month or longer to get your hands on a Bold however, shell out the cash and keep your fingers crossed that the August 14 date stays put.

UPDATE: It’s up on Tiger Direct now as well, but without an estimated date of availability. Surely more sites will follow…

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In keeping with the theme of delays, it looks like the sunset-colored BlackBerry Curve we told you about earlier this month has been pushed back a week. Why? We have no idea but lately it seems like “delay” and “BlackBerry” are becoming synonymous. Software delays, hardware delays; is the strength of the CAD compared to the USD so shocking that RIM employees are all taking some time off to vacation south of the border? Of course a matter of a week is hardly the end of the world and besides, it’s just a red Curve. While BlackBerry fans anxiously await new devices we just don’t think a sunset Curve is going to be quite enough to tide anyone over. After all, reports are swirling right now with regards the BlackBerry Bold having been delayed yet again to a September release with many carriers. Wait a minute, didn’t we tell you that almost two weeks ago? Oh well, some may have missed the memo. Hey at least the Thunder hasn’t been delayed… Yet.

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Apparently the BlackBerry Bold browser walk through wasn’t enough to hold you guys over… we’ve been getting a flood of emails from y’all wanting some video hotness, and who are we to disappoint? We have to warn you though, it’s not organized that well, but you should get the jist of it. Something we should point out as well is that when using Internet Explorer or Firefox browser emulation, a lot of sites don’t load and it gives an error, even over 3G or Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi was turned off for the first part of the video, and then later turned on. What do you think of the browser now that you’ve seen it in action?

Yeah, we’re not sure if Canada can be categorized as a part of the “concrete jungle” either, but semantics aside we’re looking at the first full review of the upcoming BlackBerry Kick Start 8220. The first ever flip ‘Berry has been an item of significant interest ever since we leaked the pictures back in April. Not much has changed, with the device still sporting the same clunky styling, large LCD, and Pearl-esque control layout. As far as we know, we’re still on for an early Fall release, so you won’t have to wait too long to get your grubby hands on one. For the time being, however, these shots and review will have to suffice as the next best thing.

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Bored at work? Counting down those hours until you’re free? Hopefully this will help take your mind off of things. The biggest request we’ve been getting so far regarding the Bold is to post a browser walk through. We’re about to take you on a magical journey, friends, to BlackBerry Bold browser land. Somewhere you’ve never been before. Just for kicks we included some screen shots of the iPhone’s browser loading the same web pages, but as you can see, the Bold does a pretty decent job at banging sites. Hit the jump for all the pics and our comments!

As you can see, the browser renders pages worlds better than previous browsers on the BlackBerry OS. It’s a welcome change, but it’s still not perfect. It doesn’t do a great job with our header.

This is still in the initial view mode. All you have to do to zoom in is press in the trackball. You can do this as many times as you’d like until you get the desired zoom level.

Don’t get too freaked out with the jaggedness of the text here. It looks very clean and sharp on the device itself. Images also look better than in the screen shots.

Like eBay? Well then, you’d obviously like to check it out from your BlackBerry Bold.

While the browser handles a lot of pages with no problem, there are some sites that the Bold doesn’t play nice with. As you can see, the Bold didn’t render anything in the upper left box, the lower right box, and there’s still a decent amount of content missing.

This is the default browser screen you are greeted with. Anyone running a semi-recent version of the BlackBerry OS will be perfectly accustomed to this.

Here’s where things get a little tricky… Since the BlackBerry has a huge following, many sites have created BlackBerry-optimized versions of their web pages. The issue is that since the Bold is still seen as a BlackBerry, it serves up the optimized pages instead of what you’d really like to see. CNN does the same thing, and there’s no option on either site to exit “BlackBerry mode”. Though we’re sure this will be fixed soon enough.

We also checked out CNET to test the Bold’s rendering abilities. It did pretty well here, but again, there’s a lot of blank space, and even worse, the left column is actually all the way down on the page when it’s displayed on the Bold. Below are the iPhone browser images of the same sites…

Want us to test some more sites? Let us know in the comments and we’ll update this post with them!

Remember that BlackBerry Thunder pre-sale we told you about a couple of days ago? Expansys, the site that had the Thunder up for pre-order, has issued a formal apology for the listing on its blog. Apparently, someone over at RIM got wind of the listing, (we wonder how) and ordered the company to take it down. Check the full text of the apology here:

“I have just received a call from a very irate PR guy at Blackberry to complain that we were breaking the embargo on the new Blackberry 9500 Thunder by listing it on the site for pre-order.

It was a big mistake on our part – sorry to RIM and sorry to anyone who got excited to think it was coming out soon – it’s still slated to come out towards the end of the year.”

What’s the matter RIM, feeling a little sensitive after a hard year of product leaks? We’re guessing this was a PR stunt, but that’s just our take on it.

[Thanks Bryan!]

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If there’s ever been two devices so closely pitted against each other, it would be none other than the BlackBerry Bold and the iPhone 3G. Heck, people we’re even putting the original iPhone against the Bold. We’re going to break down each device piece by piece and give you an unbiased comparison of both. We’ll give you our personal opinion at the end, but besides that, we’re going to be completely accurate and fair. Hopefully this will help you make up your mind on what phone you’re going to get. You know, if the Bold is ever released, and the iPhone 3G is ever in stock. Hit the jump for the craziness!

Design:

BlackBerry Bold:

Some could agree the Bold is the sharpest and cleanest-looking BlackBerry ever to come out of Waterloo. With a complete black face, chrome border and sides, and faux black leather back, the device looks great. From all the matching chrome accents all over the phone to the simple and not confusing layout, RIM has designed a great BlackBerry which should set the bar for future devices down the road.

iPhone 3G:

If there’s one iconic handset design in the last couple years, it would certainly be an iPhone. There’s not too many people on earth who couldn’t easily recognize the device. The iPhone 3G is a logical extension of the previous model, still holding true to its original design roots. While there are two color choices, each both work marvelously well with handset’s design. It would be hard to find a more solid and sexy design on a phone. From the gorgeous screen to the matching black (or white) back, you’ve definitely got a true Apple product — totally minimalistic, yet offering enough access to the most commonly used functions.

Even though the Bold is definitely a looker, we’d be hard pressed to find anyone who wouldn’t give the design award to the iPhone 3G.

Build quality:

BlackBerry Bold:

The BlackBerry Bold is built extremely well. Not including minor screen scratches and things of that nature, the Bold should be able to last you as long as you want to keep the thing. The unit is a little lighter than it looks and there no creaks or anything to get you worried about. The only negative thing we’d have to say, it that the build quality on the BlackBerry Curve slightly trumps the Bold. We’d ever go as far to say that the 8800 does too. But not the Pearl. Hell no.

iPhone 3G:

Unless you’re talking about military-grade handsets, we don’t think you’d have an easy time finding a handset as well built as the iPhone. From precision-laser-cut glass, to the absolute stunning engineering on the inside of the device, we see the iPhone 3G lasting you a very long time. Even with key scratching and concrete-dropping, the iPhone 3G definitely holds its own.

The BlackBerry Bold’s build quality is great even if its not as good as the BlackBerry Curve, but we can’t help but feel the iPhone 3G will last the average user longer. You know, there’s no moving parts. That alone gives the iPhone a head start, and since the screen is proven to stand up to a lot of abuse, the most fragile part on the device is actually the strongest.

Size:

The Bold is the biggest BlackBerry to be released in a pretty long time. Well, since the 8700. It is larger in every way than the BlackBerry 8800 and can sometimes feel a little hard to hold in one hand. It’s definitely no Curve. Comparing it to the iPhone 3G, the iPhone is a tad bit taller than the Bold, but less wide, and thinner. The iPhone 3G feels much better when holding it and using it, but since the Bold’s keyboard makes use of the larger size, we’re going to call this one a tie because of the pretty comfy Bold QWERTY.

Screen:

As much as we we’d love to say the iPhone’s screen is better, it isn’t. Not in terms of displaying graphics, text-based content, or even videos. Everything looks better on the Bold due to the incredibly dense ppi ratio. You have to see it to believe it. Honestly. On the other hand, the iPhone’s screen is a close second, with a vibrant and large 3.5″ display. When you’re not using the on-screen virtual keyboard, the entire screen is your oyster, and you can make full use of it. We’d rather look at awesome MP3 album images, watch videos, web browse, and even look at our email on our iPhone rather than our BlackBerry Bold. This is going to be another tie, fellas. We’d rather use the iPhone specifically looking at the screen side of things, but we’d rather look at the Bold’s screen.

Applications:

You probably already know the answer to this one, but we’re still going to break it down for you. RIM has some very loyal developers working on applications for them, but the tools the developers use are outdated, and don’t give them enough access to core APIs on BlackBerry handsets. Ever notice how the nicest applications are always ones made by RIM? An outside developer could never create the BlackBerry Facebook application in a million years, again, because of the API access. We heard RIM is actively trying to listen to developer’s cries for help, open up some APIs, give them newer and better tools, and possibly include things such as OpenGL graphics support. But it’s still extremely difficult to develop for BlackBerry devices and distribute those applications. Desktop loading, OTA loading — it isn’t the most straight forward way to handle things. On the flipside, we have Apple who as you all should know, finally released their own SDK and have launched the App Store. Not looking at distribution for the meantime, we can honestly say that the iPhone is the easiest device to develop applications for. We’ve only worked on our BGR Mobile application for around a day, and even with some of the cool features like geo-tagging photos, commenting on posts, and more, it’s been a breeze. More on the BGR Mobile application another day. But don’t listen to us, listen to the thousands upon thousands of developers that have created beautiful games with full 3D graphics, or awesome instant messaging clients, and so forth. While the BlackBerry Bold is prettier than other BlackBerrys, the applications and tools to create them are the same. Without a doubt, this round goes to the iPhone. Scratch that, the iPhone wins over any other handset in the world in regards to applications.

OS:

BlackBerry Bold:

This is a tricky and sensitive subject for a lot of people. Many of us live and die by the BlackBerry OS. Some could say we even know it better than we know some of our significant others… But therein lies the problem. While RIM has been on a mission to revamp the BlackBerry from the old school “pager” into an all-in-one communications device for consumers and business alike, we can’t help but wonder when the OS will get a real makeover. Not a Mariah Carey cover page airbrushed makeover, more like a Carnie Wilson 300lbs to 150lbs makeover. But, we do have to say that RIM has a great thing going. The BlackBerry minions have figured out every single tip and trick there is to squeeze every ounce of usability out the operating system, and for a lot of people, the OS is fine. It does what it is supposed to, and there is nothing wrong with that. It’s just that the market has changed so drastically in the last year and half. People want to be connected more, they want to do more while doing less.

iPhone 3G:

Whether you believe Apple’s words of the iPhone OS actually running a scaled down OS X or not, it’s very difficult to rip apart the iPhone’s operating system. Sure, we’d absolutely love copy and paste, and it’s pretty sad we even had to write that, but for the most part, this is the finest and most technologically advanced mobile operating system on the planet. That’s not even open to debate, ok? There is always room for improvement, however, and we have no doubt that Apple will begin addressing some of the shortcomings of the operating system pretty soon.

iPhone 3G wins by a landslide.

Call quality:

Let’s assume we’re talking about voice-calling over a 3G network, ok? If that’s the case, then we think both devices held up pretty well against each other. The iPhone 3G sounded a tiny bit better and more natural than the BlackBerry, and wasn’t distorted as much. But that’s relative. Both devices fared extremely well with voice-calling, and you’d be pleased to use either one of them as your phone. Aww, how sweet!

Battery life

While the Bold has taken its fair share of battery life criticism, we’re happy to report than we don’t have a battery issue with the Bold at this point. The latest hardware and software are pretty top-notch when it comes to battery life, and you’d most likely get the same amount of usage out of the Bold as you would from your current BlackBerry. Now, going up against the iPhone, we’d say the Bold wins. Not by too much, but definitely by a little bit. Again, there isn’t too much of a difference that we’re finding, but the Bold does last a little longer in everyday usage. We’re not talking about talk time vs. talk time, or web browsing over 3G vs. web browsing over 3G. Just general everyday usage, and the Bold wins on this one.

Keyboard:

Let’s face it, virtual keyboards aren’t for everybody. Check out our personal thoughts and impressions at the end of the article for more information. The BlackBerry Bold holds true to RIM’s roots with their excellent QWERTY keyboard execution. The layout, key travel and feel make RIM’s keyboard a winner. But not so fast. Plenty of people don’t want a QWERTY keyboard. A lot of iPhone buyers came from a simple phone like a RAZR, and they rave about the keyboard. Well, it can’t take the place of a hardware keyboard, no matter how we try and convince ourselves. And if you’re going after a real keyboard on a mobile device, RIM is going to win. 9 times out of 10.

Email:

BlackBerry Bold:

Listen, you can’t throw around the word “BlackBerry” without thinking about email. That’s RIM bread and butter, and we don’t see that changing for a very long time. There are probably 500 competitors vying for the title of “Best. Email. Ever.”, but they’re not coming close anytime soon. While Windows Mobile offers some of the same feature-set, there is nothing like using a BlackBerry for email. From changing your out of office message, to configuring email filters on the go (what, you think we actually get all 6,000 comments from our iPhone 3G giveaway post on our BlackBerry?), to remote searching (awesome!), RIM has perfected email on the BlackBerry for the most part. When new features like full attachment viewing and HTML get introduced, though, it gets a little murky. Instead of viewing attachments natively off the bat on your BlackBerry, RIM’s data network will compress and send you what you need bit by bit. There is also a clear separation between RIM’s BES services and BIS services, and they are totally unnecessary. There is no reason we should have the ability to view HTML on BIS, but not on BES yet (unless you hacked that in), and there is no reason file type support is so convoluted. For instance, we can listen to our voicemail MP3s on our BIS email, but not on BES because even the latest BES service pack still doesn’t support the encoding used in our MP3s. Things like this really confuse users and there’s no reason for it. BIS features should mirror BES features as much as possible and be upgraded at the same time. If we have to email an attachment from our BES to one of our BIS email accounts one more time… One last thing, RIM. Please for the love of everything holy, allow us to edit forwarded messages. Please. Pretty please.

iPhone 3G:

Up for much debate is how well the iPhone 3G competes in the email arena. They have made strides in regard to improving the email application, even going as far to supporting full Exchange 2003 and 2007 email, but Apple has left a lot to be desired when working with anything other than simple POP and IMAP accounts. Forget the sexy stuff like filters and out of office messages, there is still no access to remote email search, or heck, email search period. There’s no way to mark multiple items read or unread, and if you have multiple email accounts, have fun switching back and forth to check them. Things aren’t localized like they are on a BlackBerry, and you don’t have the fun keyboard shortcuts to make things easier and get to them faster. When it comes to how email is rendered and behaves, though, the iPhone probably beats any other device out there. The HTML rendering is second to none, it murders the BlackBerry HTML, attachments can not be saved locally which is a real pain, but in terms of viewing them, it offers the most organic way of looking at them or playing them. From flipping the device to goto landscape mode, to double-tapping and zooming, the iPhone makes email a pleasure to read.

No question who the winner is here. RIM’s email can’t be touched, but for not-so-hardcore email users, Apple’s iPhone definitely offers a great experience, even with an Exchange server or their MobileMe service.

Corporate usage:

BlackBerry Bold:

RIM has made the BlackBerry the hands-down winner for a perfect desktop extension. Pretty much whatever you can do from Outlook on your Exchange server, you can do from your BlackBerry. In addition to looking at the device specifically, RIM’s BES server offers the now standard way of managing, controlling, and deploying devices across a corporate infrastructure. Their BES servers allow IT admins to tweak and configure every possible setting, making this is the ideal solution for mid-to-large businesses and government agencies. RIM’s focus on security also make the BlackBerry the most secure device on the planet to use in a corporate environment.

iPhone 3G:

The iPhone still has a lot to prove to corporate entities. Apple has made device deployment tools, but they aren’t as easy to use as RIM’s setup. While the iPhone is pretty secure, it’s security has not been fully tested, and there are many corporations still wary of allowing iPhones on their infrastructure. Sure, it has things like remote wipe and password enforcement, but it doesn’t come to offering the customization abilities of RIM’s BES servers and security.

Again, corporate usage goes to the BlackBerry. Heck, without corporate users, we don’t think RIM would still be in business. We don’t see the iPhone 3G making BlackBerry users in mid-to-large corporations switch that quickly, but we do see the iPhone being a possible device choice for small businesses that don’t rely so heavily on RIM already.

Pricing:

BlackBerry Bold:

Bold pricing has not been fully announced, but we’d wager on it being $199-$299 with a 2-year service agreement. Probably $299, but let’s see what happens. We know RIM went back to the negotiating tables after the iPhone 3G pricing was announced, as they were going to price the device much higher.

iPhone 3G:

You have a choice of $199 (8GB) and $299 (16GB) for the iPhone 3G. People have said that the pricing scheme is confusing because of the eligibility factor and upgrade factor, but that’s how mobile operators have worked since we can remember. So, that’s not new to 99% of people. Some will have to pay more, some will get to pay the aforementioned prices, just like with the Bold.

Pricing looks to be pretty even between both devices, so we’ll call it a tie.

Device longevity:

This is hard to speculate on, because we’re not talking about which device will physically last longer in terms of not breaking. We’re talking about how long the device can last you, the consumer, as a phone. And how long you’ll want to use it for. Taking a peek at RIM’s road map, we know that they’re coming out with four new devices (including the Bold), all likely to appear before the year’s end. We’d also bet on them churning out update replacement handsets a lot quicker if they can manage to. There will also likely be a new iPhone in a year’s time, or even less. Assuming you don’t upgrade to a new handset, we’d say the iPhone will last longer as you have an ingenious method for doing software updates and upgrades, and you have the App Store which will constantly be fresh with newer and better applications.

Personal Opinion:

Here’s where we’re going to voice our opinions of both devices as we kept the head-to-head review completely unbiased. True BlackBerry fans will want the Bold. It honestly is the best BlackBerry ever. There is no other choice — it’s the Bold. Plus the Bold spoils you. We cringe at the sight of our friends using Curves now. From the screen, to the keyboard, to the OS, which hate it or love it is pretty darn solid, the Bold is fantastic. But when you throw the iPhone 3G in the mix, it’s gets pretty difficult. A lot of early criticisms surrounding the original iPhone have been addressed. Corporate email, 3G, GPS, price, 3rd party applications, and so on. The honest truth is that if we had to use only one of the two devices, we’d be happy enough with whichever one you gave us. We could deal with the email shortcomings on the iPhone, and we could deal with the improved but not incredible browser on the Bold. It really comes down to what you need more in a phone. While the Bold certainly has improved media and other consumer features, it really is a business device at the end of the day. The iPhone 3G is a consumer device that happens to play nice with a lot of corporations, and we honestly think you won’t find many people dropping their BlackBerrys for an iPhone. They’ll carry both as long as they can afford it.

Earlier this month we told you about a great service from a company called PhoneTag. Competing with the likes of SpinVox Voicemail-to-Text and GotVoice G2 Voicemail-to-Text, PhoneTag provides a service that converts your voicemails to text and delivers them to your handset. No longer do you need to dial into a voicemail system to listen to your voicemails; just read them! We like that there are several companies offering this service as competition is rarely a bad thing for the consumer. Amidst it all however, there is something special that sets PhoneTag apart from the pack: SimulSays. SimulSays is PhoneTag’s beta application for BlackBerry and Windows Mobile that combines that best of both worlds - think iPhone Visual Voicemail with integrated voicemail transcriptions! You see a list of all of your calls and associated voicemail audio files are automatically downloaded to the phone. The list however, also includes the first line of each voicemail transcription. Select any message in the list and you’ll be brought to a screen with the full transcription and a player that will allow you to listen to the message if you so chose. Yep, best of both worlds! SimulSays is free for PhoneTag customers and the pricing breaks down like this:

• Tag per message: $0.35/message
• Tag40 (40 transcriptions/month): $9.95
• TagUnlimited (unlimited transcriptions/month): $29.95

PhoneTag offers a free 7 day trial to make sure you’re game before you start paying, but wait! BGR readers can have a special extended 30 day trial period so that there’s absolutely no doubt before you start forking over that hard-earned cash. To get the party started just hit the read link below and sign up. Then from your mobile browser, go to mobile.simulsays.com to download the latest beta and you’re good. Note that PhoneTag can be used with any handset while the SimulSays beta app is limited to the Blackberry Curve (AT&T), 8800 (AT&T or T-Mobile), Pearl (AT&T or T-Mobile) and any Windows Mobile Smartphone.

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Expansys doesn’t seem to be in any rush to pull a seemingly large mistake from its UK and Irish sites, but we imagine they will soon enough. What exactly is the mistake you ask? Well a quick click on the read link will bring you to an Expansys page where you can pre-order the “BlackBerry 9500 Smartphone” aka BlackBerry Thunder. Beyond the fact that the image on their sites look like it was pulled off of the net and watermarked, we don’t see too many sites offering pre-orders on a phone that probably won’t drop for another four months. Either this is some kind of mistake and Expansys has jumped the gun, or this will be the first handset that Canadian messaging-master RIM launches a new handset in… the UK and Ireland. The specs listed on Expansys’ pre-order page seem odd, at least the little info that is there. 3G, quad-band GSM, OS 4.7 and so on. The site also adds Wi-Fi however, and makes no mention of a camera. No pricing info is up on the site and no hints are given in terms of their expected arrival date either. The BlackBerry 9500 is not listed for pre-order on Expansys’ US site.

UPDATE: Yep, Expansys pulls the Thunder pre-order pages from both the UK and Irish sites shortly after this post was published. Oops…

[via Electricpig]

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This might be a shocker out there to many, but we do actually, you know, not leak things from time to time. What’s important here, is that we’ve been rockin’ a BlackBerry Bold for around a month now, and we’ve got a great handle on the unit. From hardware to software, this is going to be the most complete BlackBerry Bold review, period. If you’re really ready, hit the jump. You might need a couple cigarettes and a cup of coffee — it’s long!

RIM’s BlackBerry Bold 9000, huh? We knew it was coming since October of last year ever since we broke the news, and since then, this has been the BlackBerry communities iPhone. Sorry for an iPhone reference so early on in the review, but it’s true. This is the device every single BlackBerry user has been waiting for. Finally a BlackBerry that “has it all.” 3G, GPS, Wi-Fi, QWERTY keyboard, camera, great screen, clean styling, and more. Since this has been our day to day BlackBerry exclusively, we’ve been through a lot of ups and downs with the Bold. Here’s a recap on our first day with the Bold, followed by our full review…

Remember all that talk about overheating and battery drain? It definitely wasn’t crap — we’ll tell you that! Even still, the device gets a little warm, but nothing to get too concerned about. RIM has made strides in regards to updated software builds for the Bold. Let’s bring you back to when we first got the device, ok? We thanked our very friendly FedEx Sameday delivery man (or delivery person since there’s this cute female that sometimes brings us goodies… anyway) and proceeded immediately to remove the SIM card and microSD card from our BGR edition BlackBerry Curve 8310. After that, we took a bat to it, Office Space style. Once the battery was installed in the Bold, we patiently waited for the unit to turn on.

One minute went by. Then two. Then three. What in the heck? Isn’t this supposed to be at least double the speed of the older models? When the unit finally powered up, we were greeted by the usual Setup Wizard. After canceling out of that (I can remove languages manually, athankyou) it was time to explore the device. At first glance, the first thing you’ll see is obviously the gorgeous screen on the 9000. We can safely say that this is the best screen we’ve ever seen on a mobile device. Hands down. So, yeah, after messing around with a couple applications and exploring, it was time to turn on wireless and connect to AT&T’s mothership. 5 bars of service showed up with the GSM indicator. Then EDGE. Oh boy, we’re so close! Finally 3G appeared. We were in business! But not so fast. No sooner than the 3G indicator showed up, the device for some reason restarted. All ‘Berry lovers will know this all too well. Red LED, black screen. After waiting for another three or four minutes for the device to power up again, the same thing happened! Everything was ok until we tried to turn wireless on. Oh bother. What now? The Bold did this in an endless loop for a good two hours. The battery was only at 40% so we figured we’d let it keep passing out until it was fully charged. Bad plan because that didn’t help. After managing to sneak in right at start-up and turn off wireless mode, the device was stable again. Great. What good is a BlackBerry as a PDA? Don’t answer that. By now we practically had a gun pointed to our heads. We messed with a Bold before, but we can’t even use our first unit? After a quick call to one of our BlackBerry ninjas, we were promptly sent an updated software build. Now it was time to update the OS.

We opened up Desktop Manager 4.5 and proceeded to update the device. This part totally blew us away! Gone are the days of a 30-45 minute backup and update. It probably took no more than 6 minutes to backup the device, erase the applications, load the system software and what not. The only part that took a little bit was waiting for the device to initialize after everything was done. As soon as we booted up with the new OS, we were good! The Bold connected to the network just fine and we did our enterprise activation. First thing we did? Check out BlackBerry Messenger! God knows if there’s one thing making us keep out BlackBerrys… The new client isn’t drastically different but has some semi-cool additions. For instance, the layout is the same but graphics for online, away, and unavailable have changed. You can set an alert so you are notified when a buddy comes back online, and you can broadcast a message to everyone you have an open conversation with. Digging a little deeper into Messenger, we found that you can enable an option to change your status when you are on the phone, and even change your status automatically to reflect whatever MP3 you are playing on the device. Totally iChatish, but not that bad.

After Messenger, it was on to the browser. At first, nothing looked different at all. That was until we brought up BGR on it. The BlackBerry web browser has indeed been redone to act more like a web browser and not a piece of garbage 1990’s WAP browser. Pages render awfully quick over 3G, and even on EDGE. They are formatted 90% of the time correctly and images look sharp and crisp. You’ve now got new controls with the trackball. Instead of just a mouse cursor like before, the default setting is a zoom key. Just scroll over what you’d like to zoom into, press the trackball and zoom. This can also be achieved by pressing “i” and “o” for zoom in and zoom out respectively on the keyboard.

We fired off some emails on the keyboard, made some phone calls, and started to sit back, relax, and have fun with our new BlackBerry Bold. Battery life improved 10 fold when the new OS was installed, and the overheating we noticed quickly dissipated. It still gets a little warm when you’re freakin’ it, but oh well. Here’s the full review on the device and the most recent software build. We’re not basing the review on the extremely crappy builds before this.

Design:

Some might say it looks awfully like an iPhone. But not Mr. Lazaridis. According to him, every BlackBerry device is “three years in the making.” They couldn’t possibly have made the device around the iPhone since they started it three years ago, right? In all seriousness, it has a couple similar design features like a chrome border around the unit and black front, but it really stops there. We don’t think they said to themselves, “let’s copy the iPhone.” The chrome you see on the Bold is nothing more than cheap plastic that scratches very easily, though.

Screen:

We said this before, but this really is the screen to beat. It might be a little too “contrasty” at times, if you know what we mean, but overall, it steals the show. It is the most vibrant, color-rich, sharp screen we’ve ever seen on a mobile device. It can be extremely bright if that’s how you like it, or subtlety lower. The auto-dim features on BlackBerry devices let the screen adjust to your surrounding so it doesn’t disrupt you. One major problem with the screen, though? It, like the chrome border around the device, is made of cheap plastic and scratches incredibly easily. We kept the Bold in either pants pockets with nothing else in there or a BlackBerry leather holster. After only a day or so, scratches started to appear out of no where on the gorgeous display. They better ship this thing with free scratch protectors!

Keyboard:

If you know us, you know we don’t let keyboards off easy! And if there is anyone who understands keyboards, it’s usually RIM. Think of the 9000’s keyboard as a cross between the 8800 and the Pearl. The keys are pretty large in size, a little squishy, but still firm. They are not plasticky-feeling like the Curves. After only around 10-15 minutes we found ourselves typing almost as fast as were on our 8310. The layout of the keyboard is exactly the same as you’d find on other BlackBerrys. Even all symbols and other markings are in the same spot. This makes it easy to jump right into the device. The send, BlackBerry, back, and end keys are abnormally large, though. It’s not bad. It’s just awkward for some reason. They all work fine, but we can’t figure why RIM decided to make them so big. Possibly a design situation where they had an overall device size ready, couldn’t make it any smaller, and ended up filling the dead space with larger keys. Keyboard back-lighting is great, too. Just the accents, letters, and symbols light up white. Not the entire key like the Curve.

Connectivity:

Every BlackBerry users’ dream lies in the Bold. 3G data, GPS, and Wi-Fi make this a hit. Unless you’re really trying not to be found, there’s a good chance the Bold is going to help you stay connected no matter where you are. A-GPS in the Bold works wonderfully, always getting a fast and accurate lock on location whenever requested. The included BlackBerry Maps works well, but since TeleNav hooked us up, we’re using that for the moment without a hitch. Er, AT&T Navigator. If you’ve ever used a BlackBerry with Wi-Fi, it’s pretty much the same concept. Select a Wi-Fi network and off you go. This is especially useful when you’re in a low or no coverage area yet have access to a Wi-Fi hotspot. We found no issues while using the 3G cell network and Wi-Fi at the same time, though it was actually using Wi-Fi for data. You can’t use Wi-Fi if you turn the cell radio off, but you can use Wi-Fi when you have no cell signal. Food for thought? We’ve noticed that sometimes while using Wi-Fi, the device will lose connection to the BlackBerrt network on the cell network. Possibly a battery-saving enhancement?

OS:

We said this from the start… the 4.6 OS is 99% the same as your current BlackBerry. Assuming you’re not using an 8700 or something like that. Little things have been tweaked to make using the device a little easier and quicker, but for the most part, you’re basically looking at a skin on the top level. That’s not to say there haven’t been some changes beneath the surface, but for the average BlackBerry user, you’re not going to really notice anything besides the semi-pretty UI enhancements. It’s now July 15th, and even running the latest 4.6.0.93 build, we’re still pulling the battery out a good 10 times a day. Why? Between the constant java errors, and the BlackBerry completely losing service and informing us it’s “Searching for Network…”. That’s why. What’s sad is that even with this bad-ass 624MHz CPU, we still get slow downs and we still get freezes. Don’t get it mixed up, it is 100% faster than any other BlackBerry. We just can’t understand why this thing isn’t really optimized like it should be. Ah! Because the OS is from 1999. That’s it.

Applications:

Again, mostly top level stuff, but there have been a couple added applications. These include WordToGo, PowerPointToGo, WordMole, and a couple other games that have been around for a while. There’s something beneath the surface called BlackBerry Game Service, and what this does is allows true multi-player games over either the cell network or Wi-Fi. We beat the crap out of our friend in WordMole who was half way across the country. Sorry, buddy. One of our favorite applications, if not the favorite, is BlackBerry Messenger like we said before. In the updated BlackBerry Messenger, you’ll find added functionality such as being able to broadcast a message to all open conversations, letting your status change automatically when you’re on the phone, and also changing your status to reflect whatever song is playing on the media player. HTML email is obviously a go assuming you’re on a BIS 2.5 carrier or your company has hacked HTML email back into BES 4.1.5. Totally awesome feature, though? If you’re downloading an attachment and highlight that email, it will show you a status bar indicated how far along the download is. Welcome to 2008, RIM. Now could you please stop being pansies and show us a progress bar for outgoing messages please? You know, some of us actually like to send videos and pictures and what not. Oh yeah! Video over BlackBerry Messenger too, while we’re at it. Kthnkz.

Browser:

The web browser was actually one of the last things ready on the Bold as we were told. The earlier versions had a browser nowhere near what we’ve been using, and we have to say… it’s pretty darn good! It’s no iPhone, but it definitely does the job. Any BlackBerrry user whether corporate or consumer will definitely appreciate the new browser’s improved rendering, speed, and controls. It actually shows web pages how they are supposed to be shown, but the navigation can get a little tiring. Instead of the regular mouse pointer that we’ve been used to lately, the pointer is now by default a zoom in pointer. A couple clicks of the trackball, and you’ve zoomed into the web page. Sometimes the page will reformat to the screen, sometimes it won’t. Forget about Flash or anything sexy, but the browser has definitely been upgraded pretty nicely.

Battery life:

Another concern possible Bold buyers have is battery life. There’s been so much information floating around, what’s the real story? Up until around 3-4 weeks ago, every build of the OS we tried had major battery problems. Random restarts, device totally dead within a couple hours, etc. With the latest software version, we can safely say we’re getting as good or better battery life than we did with our Curve. Yes. Isn’t that awesome? Thanks to 1500mAh battery and a crap load of engineering on RIM’s part, they’ve finally got it nailed down. To give y’all a little usage detail: 300-500 emails a day, one hour of web surfing over 3G, Wi-Fi usually turned on, Bluetooth turned off, JiveTalk connected, and around one hour of phone calling (we don’t really use the BlackBerry as a phone) lasted us from 9AM until 4:30AM.

Sound quality:

RIM is trying to step it up in the sound department, and it shows. Instead of a covered speaker like the Curve, there are speaker grills on both sides of the device, and also on the top as well. Sound quality from playing back music sounds decent. Not great, not terrible. It could be a little louder, but even as it stands, music is still distorting on the loudest volume setting. Also, the speakerphone volume could definitely be louder as we found it lower than our Curve.

Call quality:

We’ve found call quality to be fantastic. It’s definitely the most phone-like BlackBerry to date. People we spoke to sounded crystal clear and they said we sounded great. The earpiece volume was also sufficiently loud, so there should be no problems there. That 3G network is also probably helping a lot with call quality as well, no?

Build quality:

This one is a tricky one. We have a production hardware unit, and the trackball can get a little shady. Then again, don’t all BlackBerrys? There are no creaks with the device, and it seems sturdy as heck. The screen could possible be an issue as it looks like it’s a cheap plastic, and the “chrome” border around the body is also a lower-grade plastic. At least it seems that way to us. Expect for the screen to be scratched to all hell, and for nicks, scrapes, and dents to show up on the device body. On our unit, the back battery cover is a little loose towards where the release button is and kind of moves in and out when you press it. We’re not sure if that will be resolved when the device is released, but it can definitely get kind of annoying. We wouldn’t call the Bold fragile but we don’t think its built as well as the Curve.

So what do you guys think? Happy with our review? Want a Bold even more now… even less? Sound off. And look for some more posts on the Bold coming shortly.

Dying to get a sneak peek at the BlackBerry Thunder’s on-screen keyboard? Had enough with the iPhone madness? Check out these shots that surfaced yesterday evening. While we can’t tell how well the unit works from the pictures, you can certainly get a feel for how it’s going to look. We’ve heard that there are newer OS versions floating around, so let’s just hope RIM plans to skin those keyboards faster than an Alabamian on a puma — they’re hideous.

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We can see smoke rising up all over the country. Legions of BlackBerry addicts are none too happy as a result of the unending iPhone coverage that culminated today with the release of the Jobso’s latest brainchild. Sure we played our part with photos and a video of the first iPhone 3G unboxing in the US, some exclusive info as well as some coverage. Hell, we’re even giving a couple of iPhone 3Gs away. The whole time we still had love for you BlackBerry fans though. So here we are now. It’s d-day and to be honest we’ve had about enough of Apple for the time being. So let’s close out the week right with a few new live shots of the BlackBerry Javelin that found their way out into the fray. A reminder of what we can look forward to:

• QWERTY keyboard
• 480×360 LCD
• Quad-band GSM/EDGE
• GPS
• WiFi
• 3.2 megapixel camera
• 4.6 OS platform
• BES 5.0 support
• ArgonV processor

Two more pics after the jump.

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Honestly, haven’t we had enough already? Giz, you don’t want it with the kid, I promise. I never said it was delayed, ever. I said it had major issues as any device four to five months out should! Never, ever, did I mention a delay of any sort. Instead, I actually repeated my previous scoop saying it’s on track for the same time frame we reported before. Please take a minute and re-read yesterday’s post again before complicating things and putting words in our mouths. You’re wrong. And you’re wrong about the name, too. Thunder is the codename. Bigger shot after the jump…

BlackBerry fans here in the US will be happy to learn that the BlackBerry 9000 aka Bold has just passed through the FCC testing process and received its approval. It has been quite a ride with the Bold dating back to October when we first broke it and even further back to January 2007 when we started telling you about the 90xx series. Now we’re likely just over a month away from a release and the only remaining question is whether or not people are still excited about it. Sure we all already know the specs but a quick highlight recap:

• Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
• Tri-band UMTS (850/1900/2100) with HSDPA support
• WiFi
• 480 x 320 pixel display
• New UI including full-HTML browser
• 1500 mAh battery

So there you have it. We’re closer than ever to a release; which by the way should happen on AT&T in mid August according to our sources. We’re almost there people - think it’ll warrant any iPhone-esque lines at AT&T stores?

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Like, for realz? You’re going after the kid right now? The Bold-breaker? Javelin-leaker? Thunder-scoopster? Kickstart-poster? I’m not even going to get into too many details but I will respond to a couple of the more stupid questions and insinuations posed. First off, you’re saying one of my AT&T sources gave me information on the Thunder, right? Because that makes so much sense. You know, a device which very few people have had access to, being used by someone who works for AT&T. If you haven’t heard by now, it’s coming to Verizon. Idiots. But what about time frame BG? “IT’S COMING OUT IN AUGUST!!!” What did I tell you when I broke the Thunder story? November. What’s 4-5 months from now? November. Oh, ok. Secondly, my source is a source I would trust 100x over almost anybody else. Not going to give too much away to protect him, but let’s say they work for RIM and has helped BGR out a ton in the past. Sorry guys, but we don’t regularly cite commenters as our “high-up sources.” Lastly… the iPhone fanboy accusations. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but 65-70% of our readers are BlackBerry fanatics, and we’re the world-leader in BlackBerry news. I didn’t want to get into this, but if you’d really like to, go add up all your “exclusive” BlackBerry stories and let’s see how many were correct. Then add up mine. Go ring-a-ling that bell somewhere else, because I don’t play games. I bring factual heat.

P.S. Please stop using the term ninja. Ninjas are people who risk their jobs and livelihood for your site and your readers, not people who comment on your blog.

That’s what one of our RIM ninjas are telling us! We’ve got the scoop on the BlackBerry Thunder, and contrary to most reports, we’ve been told that the unit is nowhere near being able to enter production, let alone being released. Here’s a quote: “Thunder is in no way shape or form market-ready. If Bold was any indication, Thunder won’t be ready for at least another 4-5 months.” Our source goes on to tell us that the keyboard is incredibly annoying to type on, and the screen actually shows ripples even when pressed ever-so-lightly. There is an accelerometer in here, but it goes “bonkers” when the device is moved. In its current state, the UI blinks and lags when you try to scroll, and for every key press, you have to wait half a second until you get a response. Our guy, when talking about haptic feedback, said that the screen “clicks.” We were informed there are “buttons” on each corner, so when you press the screen, you might feel one click, two clicks, or four simultaneously. We’re told these four independant buttons actually press, so you do “click” the screen. RIM implemented a touch-and-drag approach which is the only way to select on screen buttons at this point. We were also told this was the latest build of the software, and to quote him, “Most of the people who have handled it thinks it’s a joke.”

Google Maps Mobile is probably Google’s most actively developed mobile application. It seems like there are new versions popping up for one platform or another every couple of weeks these days. In the past few months for example, Google has issued a native S60 version updated several times, various versions that can make use of internal GPS, versions that can integrate with device phonebooks and Nokia Maps, cell-based location, etc. For the most recent feature addition, Google has decided to implement a bit of voice recognition. Sweet! A new version of Google Maps Mobile has been made available for the US BlackBerry Pearl 8110, 8120 and 8130 that allows users to speak their search criteria rather than type it. Voice search uses the same voice recognition engine as GOOG-411, Google’s free information service, so we know the accuracy will be spot on. Using pretty much couldn’t be easier:

1. Press “0″ to center the map view around your location
2. Press the left-side key and hold it while you say the name or type of business you’re looking for (for example, “pizza”)
3. When you’re done speaking, release the left-side key, and our voice recognition technology will figure out your request and find the business you’ve been looking for, no typing needed.

These days there’s a pretty good chance that the rest of your BlackBerry-toting friends make fun of you from time to time because you’re still carrying a Pearl. Opportunities might be few and far between, but here’s a good chance to show them a little something they can’t have quite yet. Hit http://www.google.com/gmm from your Pearl to snag the latest build.

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Wednesday means that your week is just about half over, but here at BGR, our work is never done. Our ninjas know that that they can never rest, and hump day is no exception. So what do we have here: how about a little Best Buy info for your viewing pleasure? One of our anonymous buddies has uncovered some info that all you Danger and RIM fans might enjoy - like a few new handsets coming your way this month from Best Buy. First, the Sidekick Gecco and limited edition Sidekick LX Tony Hawk will both be making their way to the retail giant later this month, both on T-Mobile. Inventory will be received on Sunday July 27 to be exact. On the same day, Best Buy will also be receiving what is labeled as the BlackBerry Curve Sunset; a new color of Curve for those of you you like to be a bit different. The carrier for the new Curve isn’t clear but T-Mobile is likely a safe guess. Hit the jump for more pics and a clearer view of some more stock that Best Buy will be receiving at the end of the month.

Looking for your AT&T fix for the remainder of 2008? We’ve got you covered. The carrier has a number of exciting new handsets planned for the coming months, which should be good news for both the carrier and consumers. Everyone loves selection, right? Right. First up, AT&T is planning to release the BlackBerry Curve 8320 (yeah, we’re scratching our heads too), and the BlackBerry Bold by the end of Q3. On the Windows Mobile side of things, AT&T is planning to drop the Samsung BlackJack III, which should see Windows Mobile 6.1, a 528 MHz processor, 3MP camera, aGPS, and more. Look for a new Pantech Duo sporting Windows Mobile 6.1, GPS, HSDPA, and a 528MHz processor. They also alluded to an HTC Tilt replacement, tentatively dubbed the Tilt II, which should feature a Qualcomm 528 MHz processor, aGPS, HSDPA, 256MB ROM/ 128MB, and more. Touch Pro anyone? Expect to see all three of those by Q4 of this year. Excited yet? Yeah, we thought so, but why stop here. AT&T is also planning a slew of Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrades for existing handsets. The current Pantech Duo should see 6.1 by October, while the BlackJack II, Moto Q9h, and AT&T Tilt will get the royal treatment by July.

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By now you all have heard that BlackBerry BIS 2.5 is rolling out to U.S. carriers on June 29th. Heck, there’s even going to be some downtime. But, maybe that isn’t enough? Maybe you’d like more information. We’ve definitely got you covered in that area. We just got a hold of this presentation outlining BIS 2.5 and all the various features. The sad part? As some of you know, all the sexy stuff requires BlackBerry OS 4.5 which according to the presentation will not be available until September. That’s not to say some of you aren’t running it already, but September guys? For reals? Head on over to the gallery to check it out for yourself, but we’ll break down the more interesting stuff here for all you lazy bums:

• You can save attachments including audio and video formats.
• Full list of supported downloadable attachments are: .doc, .ppt., .xls, .wpd, .txt, .html, .pdf, .zip, and the aforementioned audio / video formats.
• File size of attachments is limited to 3MB.
• The 4.5 OS will be “available for all BlackBerry’s in September.” This includes the 8100, 8800, 8820, 8300, 8310, 8120, and the 8110. No 8320 love?
• “If a BlackBerry launches before September, it will have 4.5 software.”
• Addition of push AOL email and Hotmail/MSN accounts.

Click on over to our BlackBerry BIS 2.5 presentation gallery!

Ok, so maybe our ninjas weren’t done for the day! We have good news and we have bad news; which do you want first? The bad news is that BlackBerry users on T-Mobile have a pair of outages coming their way. The first is scheduled to be a nice 8 hour block tonight from 9:00 PM until 5:00 AM PST tonight. The second will be tomorrow for 4 hours between 11:00 PM and 3:00 AM PST. The good news, aside from the fact that the timing is decent if everything goes according to plan, is that the outages will result in a shiny new BIE/BIS 2.5 upgrade. That’s right people, it’s coming! HTML, MSN and Hotmail support, AOL push-email support… It’s always best to end on a high note. Hit the jump for the full T-Mobile slide outlining the plans.

We know what you’re thinking… but this is for reals! We’ve just confirmed this now with two high-level sources: the Bold is actually delayed until August on AT&T. It seems like AT&T and RIM are still having software issues with battery life and overheating. It has not been certified by AT&T yet. This new information goes against our previous intel and thoughts, but it really looks like everyone on AT&T either needs to wait it out, get a Bold from Canada, or think impure thoughts. What you thinkin’? RIM = FAIL? Yeah, us too.

If you haven’t yet heard of Fusion Voicemail Plus by PhoneFusion, prepare to be impressed. In a nutshell, Fusion Voicemail Plus centralizes all of your voicemail boxes and presents your voicemail messages visually on your mobile handset. Instead of receiving voicemails in separate boxes for your mobile number, home number, VoIP number, office number, etc everything goes to your PhoneFusion One voicemail box. The messages are then displayed visually on your handset a la iPhone. Each entry displays caller info and incoming number along with your number corresponding to the relevant phone service (so you know if the caller dialed your mobile number or home number for example). And did we mention that the service is completely free? Excellent. Phone Fusion has a long-standing history providing the Fusion Voicemail Plus service for Windows Mobile. The service is currently in beta for BlackBerry but expect a solid offering upon signing up. To get going, simply hit the read link and enter your info. You’ll see a message that your handset is not currently supported but you can then sign up for the beta. After Doing so, you’ll get an SMS on your mobile with a download link to snag the BlackBerry app. Beyond BlackBerry, Phone Fusion is also currently working on cooking up Symbian, Android, Linux Mobile, Palm and Java versions as well. Tie Fusion Voicemail Plus in with a voicemail to text service like SpinVox and you’ve most definitely got our vote for President.

[Via Press Release]

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It seems like we’ve been waiting so long for native HTML email support on BlackBerrys that we never thought this day would come. Thankfully, RIM is planning on upgrading their U.S. BIS system later this month, bringing a host of updates in anticipation of the arrival of their next-generation 9xxx device family. Most significantly, v2.5 of BIS will include support for HTML email delivery and rendering, a move that should finally bring the ‘Berry’s email appearance out of the stone-age. Further enhancements include support for OTA upgrades, calendar improvements, and a bit more. Bear in mind that your par