9630 -- Engadget

9630 posts

Video: BlackBerry support coming to REDFLY Mobile Companion, adds only marginal appeal

by Ross Miller posted Sep 16th 2009 at 7:48PM

Listen, we feel your pain, we know you've been dying to find another use for your REDFLY Mobile Companion, and while we're not sure this is it, at least you've got another thing you can tell your friends when justifying the purchase. Celio Corp's announced it'll be bringing BlackBerry support to the Companion C8N and C7 as a free update in mid-Q4 of this year. It works via either physical cable or Bluetooth, and at this point supports Bold 9000, Curve 8900, and Tour 9630, with more phones promised as they're released. Crackberry's managed to obtain a video demonstration, which is after the break if you're interested. It's okay if you're not, we understand.

Read - Press release
Read - First look

Continue reading Video: BlackBerry support coming to REDFLY Mobile Companion, adds only marginal appeal

Video: RIM's BlackBerry Tour respectfully torn to bits, reassembled

by Darren Murph posted Jul 18th 2009 at 9:51PM

We've already given you our thoughts on RIM's BlackBerry Tour, but our warm hearts just wouldn't let us take the crowbar to it. Thankfully, the tool-wielding fiends over at GSM Phone Unlocking are a bit more calloused, as they've decided to dissect and reassemble the aforementioned smartphone in a nail-biting 5 minute, 38 second YouTube clip. Head on past the break if you're interested in seeing the innards of Verizon's newest 'Berry, but unless you're ready to rock, we'd recommend nailing the mute button first.

[Thanks, Omnifox]

Continue reading Video: RIM's BlackBerry Tour respectfully torn to bits, reassembled

BlackBerry Tours, come and get 'em on Sprint and Verizon

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 12th 2009 at 11:59AM

If you've had you eye on the Tour, we bet you didn't forget they were going on sale today -- but just in case you had, consider this your official reminder. Both carriers are now offering RIM's latest and greatest CDMA BlackBerry for $199.99 on contract, so you're probably not going to see a lot of defections between carriers this time around. Pardon us if we don't shed a tear for the lack of exclusivity on this one.

Read - Sprint
Read - Verizon

Verizon BlackBerry Tour 9630 review

by Jacob Schulman posted Jul 7th 2009 at 1:30PM

It's here, folks. The BlackBerry Tour has been unboxed, and now that we've had a few days to mess around with it, we're able to tell you how we truly and deeply feel. There have been countless leaks and unofficial reviews circulating for the past few months, but now that it's finally legit we can give this sexy piece of tech a proper shakedown. It's been roughly described as a CDMA Bold, but does it surpass its GSM counterpart? Be sure to head over to Engadget Mobile for the full review!

Sprint matches Verizon's pace, launching BlackBerry Tour on July 12

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 1st 2009 at 1:14PM

So much for exclusivity, eh? Sprint is staying toe-to-toe with Verizon in the race to get the BlackBerry Tour to market, launching the consensus hottest RIM device to date on July 12 for $199.99 on contract after rebates. It's awfully refreshing to see an ominous statement like "later this summer" morph into "early summer" instead of slipping into the "dead of winter" as is all too often the case with hotly-anticipated phones, and we have a sneaking suspicion the Tour's gonna sell like a remastered Bonnie Tyler live album (that's a good thing, by the way). Who's in?

Verizon BlackBerry Tour unboxing

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 1st 2009 at 12:12PM

You might say that Verizon's brand new BlackBerry Tour 9630... ahem, took a "tour" through our offices this morning, gracing us with its QWERTY-having, global-roaming, 8830-killing presence. There's absolutely no question it's the best-looking CDMA BlackBerry to date and we also think you'll be able to stop Bold owners in their tracks as you flash this thing around town; we'd argue that the Curve 8900 is still a cuter handset when you take the company's lineup as a whole, but then again, the 8900 lacks 3G, and the Tour's keyboard might just be the best RIM's ever crafted for a phone. Bottom line, owners of any BlackBerry on Verizon or Sprint should be salivating at the sight of this thing -- and if they're not, honestly, they need their salivary glands checked. Stay tuned for our full review, but in the meantime, enjoy an unboxing and a few quick shots of the Tour taking its first breaths!

Gallery: Verizon BlackBerry Tour unboxing

Sprint launching BlackBerry Tour on July 20th?

by Jacob Schulman posted Jun 27th 2009 at 2:40PM

When the teaser went up, we knew the hotly anticipated BlackBerry Tour for Sprint was right around the corner, but the only hint of a release date was "later this summer." Lucky for us, the, um, insiders at Inside Sprint Now have clarified the vague window for all of us mere mortals. They confidently state that the Tour will be available on July 20th, just over a week after the purported release date on Big Red. This hasn't yet been confirmed by Sprint, but we're sure they want this baby out sooner rather than later, so quasi-mark your calendars, quasi-set your alarms, and get your $199.99 ready.

BlackBerry Tour hitting Verizon on July 12 for $199.99?

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 26th 2009 at 10:12PM

You know what'd sell like a cold glass of water in hell? A $199.99 BlackBerry Tour on Verizon, that's what -- and it looks like that might be what the carrier's planning to unleash. Boy Genius Report has what seems to be a promotional graphic advertising the release of the Tour on July 12 -- just over two weeks from today -- which has the potential to make it the first Tour release anywhere, beating Telus' July 15 date and Sprint's nebulous "later this summer" window. Who's camping out in line with us?

BlackBerry Tour announced by Sprint, too: $199.99 later this summer

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 16th 2009 at 12:37AM

New BlackBerry models are few and far between -- particularly of the CDMA variety -- so when one is announced, the usual carrier suspects typically fall in line within a few weeks of each other and announce their branded versions in rapid succession. This one was particularly tight, though: Sprint has announced its plans for carrying the Tour 9630 just minutes after Verizon. It'll launch "later this summer" for $199.99 after $150 worth of rebates and a two-year contract, which makes the Pre comparison virtually inevitable. Keep the comments civil, though, alright?

[Thanks, Martin]

BlackBerry Niagara 9630 OS 4.7.1 previewed: good mix of Storm and Bold features, OS 5.0 in disguise?

by Ross Miller posted Apr 2nd 2009 at 8:14PM

We know you're hungry for some more details on the BlackBerry Niagara 9630, so here we go. Crackberry's released the second part of its impressions with the device, this time focusing on the OS 4.7.1 that they note functions like a hybrid of the Storm's OS 4.7 and Bold / Curve 8900's OS 4.6. Features lovingly borrowed from the SurePress-equipped touchscreen include app switching by pushing down the menu key, trackball gestures in the photo gallery, a revised profiles menu, bubblier boxes in the options menu, and possibly a new memory manager within the media center. On their own, these all seem pretty minor, but they add up to a much more pleasant experience. Judging by the preview, it looks it's still shaping up to be one of the best 'berry's you can buy. The CB crew conjecture this might actually be the upcoming OS 5.0 in disguise, judging by their similarities. We'll find out for sure sometime in May, when we can get our hands on the phone and can check that version number ourselves.

BlackBerry Niagara 9630 reviewed in all its prerelease glory

by Chris Ziegler posted Mar 24th 2009 at 1:44PM

Most of us are going to have to wait until at least May to get our hands on a 9630, but for well-connected individuals whose blogs rhyme with "Soy Beanius Report," patience isn't in the vocabulary. BGR's gone and landed a 9630 and put it through its hybrid CDMA / GSM paces, and in short, it sounds like it's a phone worth waiting for (not to say you've got many other options if you're tied to Sprint or Verizon anyhow). Voice quality is described as "the best phone we've ever used," battery life seems to be enough to get through a full day of use (and we wouldn't be surprised to see this get better as the firmware continues to get tweaked ahead of launch), the screen is as good as the Bold's amazing example, and the keyboard is "just right." What's amazing is that RIM's managed to package all of this action into a device considerably smaller than the Bold -- and if only they'd manage to throw in WiFi, it seems like we might be looking at the closest thing to BlackBerry perfection here. Verizon, Sprint, your move.

BlackBerry 9630 Niagara headed to Verizon in May?

by Jacob Schulman posted Mar 19th 2009 at 2:36PM

"Buckle up folks," because if the TheStreet actually has any, er, street cred, then it looks like the BlackBerry 9630 Niagara might very well be hitting Verizon Wireless by May. Citing omnipotent BlackBerry gods / "analysts familiar with the plan," the oft leaked device should indeed be landing fairly soon. Obviously, no word on price or even an official acknowledgment that the damn thing exists from RIM, but this latest intel -- coupled with whispers we've heard of hardware finalization -- makes us think that this is definitely nearing release. We just hope they can at least make the phone turn on (and stay on) by the time they get it to market.

BlackBerry "Niagara" 9630 given yet another pre-release shakedown

by Jacob Schulman posted Mar 17th 2009 at 4:42PM

Man, RIM's just full of leaks when it comes to the purported next CDMA BlackBerry, and as long as they're not memory leaks, we don't think we'll be complaining. CrackBerry has somehow managed to secure yet another pre-release device, and this time it's none other than the CDMA Bold / Curve 8900 / Storm hybrid. Like we saw with the latest Mr. Blurrycam video review (and all those other leaked pics) the keyboard sure looks to be a real winner and to quote CB, it's "the optimal solution." The form factor is also described as "awesome" and its narrower size made it even nicer to hold than the Bold. Unfortunately, this particular device was running -- or trying to run -- OS 4.7.1.10, which is basically a dummy phone equivalent at this point, while .17 is purportedly available somewhere in the Great White North. We've heard that the hardware has indeed been finalized, and that RIM is mass producing these like crazy -- and if they can get the software to match what we've seen of the hardware, it looks like they're going to have another winner on their hands.

Video: BlackBerry 9630 Niagara shown off... and on, and off again

by Jacob Schulman posted Mar 15th 2009 at 6:00PM

As if the both sets of pictures weren't enough to give you a glimpse at the BlackBerry 9630 "Niagara," now CrackBerry forums member salisa.m has graced us mortals with some honest-to-goodness video of the thing in all its rebooting glory. Of course -- in the tradition of all things leaked -- the video's got a good amount of blurriness, but it's not like we haven't seen it before. Apparently this 'Berry's rocking OS 4.7.1.10 -- not 4.6 like its sibling the Bold -- but it's got a "very likable Bold keyboard" albeit with a bit smaller keys. The back battery cover looks to be a piano-like carbon fiber plastic with a new hinge design to prevent dust accumulation, and it's described as being very light and sleek. Unfortunately, the OS was super buggy, and the videographer couldn't even get the device fully powered on for a tour of Verizon's presumably tweaked software -- but with this latest torrent of information over the past few days, we're sure that we'll be seeing a lot more of this bad boy in the not-so-distant future.

BlackBerry 9630 Niagara pops up in more glamorous spy shots

by Ross Miller posted Mar 14th 2009 at 4:31PM

Ladies and gentlemen, we now present even more shots of the CDMA-equipped BlackBerry 9630 Niagara that was caught strutting its stuff earlier this month. Not only is the phone turned on this time, but we've also caught it lying across some shagadelic leopard print. Additionally, the fine folks over at the Crackberry forums have a couple of less stylish pics, allegedly uploaded by someone trying to hawk the phone on craigslist for a cool $800. Those images show off what appears to be a battery slot on the back that's slimmer than current models. Until RIM decides to give us some official visuals, we remain ever-hopeful that someone with the leaked phone manages a sexier photo shoot. More spy shots, including that of the mobile's underside, after the break.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Read - Device-on photo
Read - Pics of underside

Continue reading BlackBerry 9630 Niagara pops up in more glamorous spy shots