Posts Tagged ‘Blackberrys’

Jim Balsillie Announces RIM to Produce BlackBerrys in Brazil

March 12th, 2010 BBerryNews

Jim Balsillie announced that RIM have signed an accord with Singapore’s Flextronics to manufacture the Curve 8520 in Brazil. This is part of a greater market strategy at RIM to target Latin America, which Jim once described as an upcoming Western Europe. “It is extremely important for us to be here to manufacture locally and sell locally,” Basillie said in an interview in Sao Paulo, where he is on a visit. RIM currently manufactures devices in Mexio, which has helped them secure about 35% of the mobile phone device market in Latin America.

© Kyle for BlackBerry Cool, 2010



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Time Warner Cable to Help Decongest AT&T and Verizon Networks

March 12th, 2010 BBerryNews

Time Warner Cable is pitching to carriers such as AT&T and Verizon, a service that uses its underground cables to carry mobile calls and data traffic. The aim is to alleviate the network strain that smartphones (particularly the iPhone) are placing on the network. Remember, for every 1 iPhone, you can run 4 BlackBerrys on a typical network so it’s clear who is to blame.

The service is known as wireless backhaul, and has become Time Warner Cable’s fastest-growing business. Rather than have calls and data broadcasted over radio waves and routed using cell towers, the backhaul system pulls the signal from the antenna into the carrier’s wired network. Lines can be added to the backhaul pipes in order to mitigate the loads.

Backhaul isn’t necessarily a solution, but more of a temporary fix. There are still issues as the signal is sent over radio tower to tower, and carriers are still urging the FCC to allocate more airwaves to address this issue. Another solution will be to upgrade the networks to LTE. This will allow the networks to handle a greater load, and future proof our smartphones against failure due to infrastructure.

© Kyle for BlackBerry Cool, 2010



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Tether Celebrating Anniversary With Smartphone and App Giveaway

March 9th, 2010 BBerryNews

Tether are celebrating their 1 year anniversary providing BlackBerry users with a simple means of tethering their BlackBerry to their laptop. Incredibly, the company are announcing they have been installed on 110,000 BlackBerrys. While tethering can be done with a few good Google searches, many users love the ease and convenience that Tether provides.

To celebrate their big day, Tether are offering BlackBerryCool readers 25 copies of Tether. To win, just leave a comment with your email, Twitter or Facebook so we can get in touch with you.

In addition, Tether are offering 6 smartphones (3 BlackBerry and 3 Android) at their site.

Tether also took the opportunity to promote the BlackBerry platform’s openness, and specifically called out Apple on being a closed environment:

Together, we need to encourage more development on open environments like BlackBerrys’. Right now the big hype is around iPhone, but there is so much noise. Closed systems like the App Store, aren’t good for the mobile industry. Could you imagine if Microsoft had an approval process for all Windows programs? The BlackBerry platform is a little harder to develop on, but the potential is here and we need to encourage development.

Hear, hear! RIM understand the value in keeping an open market where companies such as Google are free to offer valuable and affordable services to users.

© Kyle for BlackBerry Cool, 2010



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Explicit Premium BlackBerry Theme from Hedone

March 8th, 2010 BBerryNews

Hedone let us know they have released their latest theme called Explicit. The theme looks particularly cool on a Storm, but it’s available for most BlackBerrys including trackball and trackpad. This theme comes with 10 customizable icons, as well a clean homescreen making it ideal for use with your own wallpapers.

For more information, check out Explicit in the BlackBerryCool store.

© Matt Cameron aka W4LNUT for BlackBerry Cool, 2010



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Rumor: BlackBerry Storm2 Getting Improved Touchscreen and Recall

March 6th, 2010 BBerryNews

The bad press and feedback from the BlackBerry Storm2 has been never ending. That’s not to say that the Storm2 is a bad device, but of all BlackBerrys it has had the hardest time garnering mass appeal and its rivals have set the bar for quality incredibly high. My personal experience with the Storm2 has been varied. The Storm has some major bugs but it also makes apps looks really crisp and the larger screen is much appreciated.

Rumor sources are reporting that we may expect a worldwide (Verizon first) recall of the Storm2, as RIM have enhanced the touchscreen and made older models eligible for a replacement. Apparently, RIM has added silicone actuators to the touchscreen to improve the performance and tactile response. As of February 10th, 2010, all Storm2 devices contain this enhancement. You can identify these devices by a green dot on the master carton and/or date code on the back of the device (more details below).

Those users who have experienced issues with the Storm2 touchscreen, and all warranty/eligibility requirements are met, will be provided a new and enhanced device, assuming the rumor turns out to be true.

To identify if the Storm2 is a newer model with this improved touchscreen, use the Date Code:

  • The date code is located on the label in the battery cavity of the device as shown in the red circle below for either 3 or 6 digit date codes.
  • The following 3 digit date codes contain the new hardware changes: # C2A, D2A, E2A, F2A, G2A, H2A, I2A, J2A, K2A, L2A, M2A and N2A.
  • Starting on February 22, 2010 or later the date code is displayed on the device label in DDMMYY format (220210).
  • All devices with the above 3 digit date codes or 6 digit date codes contain the new hardware changes.
  • Location of Date Code on Label in Battery Cavity in Red Circle

If this is true, and your device is eligible, will you be replacing it?

© Kyle for BlackBerry Cool, 2010



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