bellagio
Latest
RIM tells devs to get ready for BlackBerry Curve Touch and Bellagio
If you're going to give your devs a nugget of info about some of your unannounced devices on a publicly available site, we hope you won't be so surprised that word actually gets out about them. That's exactly what happened to Research in Motion, as the company let it "slip out" to devs that two future BlackBerry OS7 smartphones -- the Bellagio 9790 and Curve Touch 9380 -- are inbound. The whole point in the message was to inform developers of what kind of resolution to expect in the new phones' displays. From the bits and pieces we're given, it appears that the Bellagio will have a 2.4-inch screen using 480 x 360 resolution to produce a respectable 245 PPI; the Curve Touch, on the other hand, will feature an identical res on a larger 3.2-inch display, resulting in a PPI of 189. The probability of hearing an official announcement this week is pretty high, but we'd say the intended (and likely unintended) message has come through loud and clear for now, wouldn't you?
BlackBerry Bold 9790 Bellagio photographed in the wild, poses for family portrait
If you haven't yet snagged one of RIM's two newly refreshed Bold devices, you might want to hold off for the runt of the litter. Originally leaked back in May, the Bellagio 9790 borrows the bumped-up specs of its recently unveiled cousins, while staying true to the slimmed-down form factor of its 9700 predecessor. The leaked shots over at BGR show the diminutive portrait QWERTY next to the 9900, clearly showcasing the former's likely 2.4-inch touchscreen, optical trackpad and 5 megapixel rear-facing camera. We already know this phone's destined to ship with BlackBerry 7 OS, but as for the rest of the feature list, expect it to pack 8GB of storage, NFC-capability and a 1.2GHz processor. Of course, rumors being what they are, this could all very well change before the handset's purported end of year launch. Curious to see more? Then hit up the source link below for additional in-the-wild shots.
BlackBerry Bold 9790 Bellagio offers unsanctioned tutorial (video)
Well BlackBerry fans, yet another variation of the Bold is now making the rounds on the internet: it's the 9790, otherwise known as the Bellagio. Although the device was first leaked in late May -- where we learned it would feature BlackBerry 7 OS, 8GB of internal memory, a touchscreen, and NFC -- RIM's latest QWERTY companion has remained below the radar ever since. Now, it's reappeared in some official tutorials, which reveal a familiar user interface. Also, two other videos offer views of the handset's exterior profile and a quick peek beneath the battery cover. Why are Lazaridis and Balsillie prepping this for sale when the Bold 9900 has yet to reach consumers? All we need is one, and the similar hardware and specs aren't building a compelling argument. Sure, RIM said it would be releasing seven upcoming smartphones in the coming months, but haven't its leaders learned that less is more? Follow the source for an extended peek at the redundancy.
XtremeMac shows off new docks and chargers at CES 2011
XtremeMac had a suite at the Bellagio (my favorite hotel on the Strip, I think) for last week's CES conference, and I stopped by to check out their latest lines of accessories and cases for the upcoming year. My favorite product in the booth is pictured above -- it's a speaker dock called the Tango TRX, which features a removable dock that can be unattached from the sleek speaker. It's Bluetooth-enabled for streaming audio directly from your iDevice, and there's a free universal app that will let you control the speaker with a virtual remote. The Tango TRX is shipping soon, and it will be available for US$179.99. The other dock they were showing was the Luna SST, a bedside stand with a detachable speaker that will actually send two alarms out to the two separated speakers (so that a person on one side of the bed can supposedly wake up without bothering the other). The Luna also has an app that can be used as a clock face, or even set alarms or settings on the device while docked. I also saw a new line of InCharge chargers -- there are auto-based chargers coming that will allow you to not only charge your iDevice in the car but also plug in an aux cable or charge another USB device. XtremeMac is also introducing an iPhone case called the InCharge Mobile that serves as both a 2300 milliamp battery and a relatively thin case with a kickstand for just $79.99. Finally, I was walked through some of the cases that XtremeMac offers -- all pretty standard affairs. I was told (not the only time that week) that black is by far the number one color for case sales, and that while customers will say they want different colors and will judge a brand based on many colors, in the end they mostly choose black for their own phones. Cases are mostly a matter of taste, so it turned out that what I learned about case buying was more interesting than any of the actual cases on display there.
