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BlackBerry Curve 83XX overtakes iPhone 3G in US smartphone rankings
The handset might've been surpassed in functionality and looks by its Curve 8900 successor, but nothing's got an edge on the BlackBerry Curve 83XX series in smartphone sales. According to NPD, the handset overtook the erstwhile champ iPhone 3G in the category for the first quarter of 2009, while BlackBerry's own Storm and Pearl handsets took the third and fourth slots, with the T-Mobile G1 rounding out the ranks in fifth place. Overall the smartphone market has grown from 17 percent of handset sales in Q1 2008 to 23 percent in Q1 2009. Compared to the previous quarter, RIM's gained a whopping 15 percent share of the US market -- owning nearly half of the entire scene -- while Apple and Palm both dropped 10 percent as they prep for their heroic mid-year launches.
Viettel, Alcatel-Lucent and RIM bring BlackBerry solution to Vietnam
It's a good week internationally for BlackBerry lovers. First we hear that South Korea finally has unbridled access and its own Bold to toy with, and now we're hearing a similar story for the people of Vietnam. Viettel (a mobile operator in the country), Alcatel-Lucent and RIM have all joined hands to make it happen, with "it" being the launch of BlackBerry wireless service. Speaking of launch, prospective buyers can look forward to wrapping their palms around the Pearl 8100, BlackBerry 8700 or the Curve 8320 initially, though we wouldn't be surprised to see even more flavors roll out soon. There's no talk of price just yet, but feel free to phone up your nearest Viettel shop and see what's up.[Image courtesy of thugian]
Hands-on with BetaBlue, JetBlue's WiFi-equipped Airbus
Generally we're the type to pass out the second we've stowed our carry-on items safely in the overhead bin, but on a recent test flight for a gang of reporters, photographers, Fortune 500 execs, and the obligatory PR team, JetBlue managed to keep us awake by magically letting us communicate with our friends and colleagues on the ground over IM and email. Actually, it takes a lot more than magic for the Airbus A320 named "BetaBlue" to bring limited WiFi connectivity to properly-equipped passengers throughout the single-class cabin: quite a bit of technical and administrative work went into getting this service off the ground, from snatching up and deploying a rare slice of 800MHz ground-to-air spectrum to effectively managing cell tower connections while traveling over 500mph to developing clients that would maximize the precious bandwidth being shared by so many mobile gadget lovers. Keep reading after the break for all of our impressions from this media preview voyage, and don't forget to hit up the gallery below for glimpses of the entire experience along with some of the screenshots you can expect to see in-flight... %Gallery-11394%
JetBlue introduces free in-flight email, IM
In a welcome first for domestic airlines, JetBlue will be rolling out free in-flight Yahoo IM and email services to passengers packing WiFi-equipped devices, starting aboard its new "BetaBlue" Airbus A320. Once this test-bed passenger jet reaches 10,000 feet, an in-plane network with three in-ceiling access points is activated, allowing most any wireless gadget with a Flash-enabled browser to view specialized versions of either Yahoo Messenger or Mail through a universal landing page. What's more, owners of certain BlackBerry handsets like the 8820 or Curve 8320 can keep feeding their addictions non-stop thanks to an agreement between JetBlue and RIM. Bandwidth for these services is provided by LiveTV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the carrier that provides the entire fleet with select DirecTV and XM radio channels, and which also happens to possess a valuable 1MHz slice of ground-to-air spectrum that it's deploying for this very purpose (with the help of some 100 existing cell towers around the country). If all goes well in what is admittedly a beta test, more aircraft will receive the WiFi makeover, and more features -- such as access to terabytes of locally-stored multimedia content -- will be rolled out, along with additional service providers besides Yahoo. Just don't expect an open pipe any time soon: that sweet little slice of spectrum is not nearly robust enough to handle the heavy Slinging, VoIPing, and Torrenting you all would obviously be doing.
BlackBerry Curve 8320 leaked on T-Mobile
Sure, we've heard whispers involving the BlackBerry Curve 8320 before, but there's nothing like official documentation from a trusted carrier to really get you jazzed up. As expected, this handset will tout WiFi, HotSpot @Home / UMA support, a two-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0, a microSD expansion slot, built-in multimedia player, a 320 x 240 QVGA display, and a 312MHz Intel processor to boot. Hit the read link for the full rundown of the official details.[Thanks, Hayden]
