BB Geeks » BlackBerry Bold

A tale of two expensive BlackBerrys

Joe — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:26:25 +0000

As a friend of mine would say, holy crap-moley! We’ve got a little tale of rich and obsessed BlackBerry fans for you — spread over two different new models, no less. First up is the BlackBerry Bold, via Boy Genius Report. You know, that device that’s made us tap our foot and glance at our watch. Turns out, some guy in New York got his hands on five bolds, and unloaded them for $1,299.99. His name, as described by BGR, is “Joe at BlackBerry Business,” which sounds like a radio-show caller. They are sold out now, though I’m not sure anyone reading this is particularly disappointed. I mean, thirteen-hundred dollars! Pic of the listing, and another expensive listing, after the jump.

Next, via BlackBerry News we get the results of a pre-release Pearl 8220 on eBay. It sold for $1,725.00. I am speechless. I only hope this doesn’t turn out like Kevin’s episode with the pre-release Bold. Not that it was bad — he got an exclusive review just before the announcement at WES. But ask him if it works right now. In any case, congratulations to the winner.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

A tale of two expensive BlackBerrys

Pricing info on the AT&T Bold and Rogers 8220

Joe — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:25:59 +0000

We’ll start off with the juicy BlackBerry Bold info. I caught this on BlackBerry News, though they got it through Gizmodo. Rumor is that the Bold will hit AT&T shelves on September 12, and carry a $299 price on a two-year contract. So it’s just like Rogers, except minus a year of commitment. Let’s hope they got that 3G reception issue worked out. The Boy Genius is hearing October 2, but he admits that this isn’t “double or triple confirmed.” Let’s hope BlackBerry News is right.

Kevin delivers some bad news. You know those scintillating rumors that the BlackBerry Pearl 8820 would come in with a low price point, possibly $50. Sorry. Looks like $149.99 on a three-year deal with Rogers. There’s still hope with T-Mobile, I suppose.

C’est la vie.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Pricing info on the AT&T Bold and Rogers 8220

BBGeeks BlackBerry Bold Wallpaper

Cooper — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:15:04 +0000

So we finally got our hands on the Bold yesterday morning and we are VERY excited. This device was touted as an iPhone killer and has been hyped to no end by the legions of devoted RIM enthusiasts around the world.

After a little bit of hands on time, we have to say that the BlackBerry Bold delivers on most fronts (minor issues with browsing the web) and we are thoroughly impressed.

BBGeeks Loves the BlackBerry Bold

It is for this reason that we would like to share a special wallpaper with you, our loyal readers.

Please feel free to download this custom BBGeeks BlackBerry Bold wallpaper and show your support for the site whenever you are showing off your new gadget.

The wallpaper has been designed specifically for the half VGA resolution of the BlackBerry Bold, but if you have an older model we would be glad to whip you up a version that is suited to your particular device.

BBGeeks Custom BlackBerry Bold Wallpaper

Swapping your BlackBerry Bold wallpaper

Swapping out the default Bold wallpaper for our new custom BBGeeks image is really easy and can be accomplished in a few short steps.

Save the custom BBGeeks wallpaper to your desktop or another easy to remember location. Be sure to click through and get the full sized image)
Email the image to yourself or transfer the image to your BlackBerry Bold via USB to your PC.
Save the image in your Photos folder or any location you choose on your BlackBerry Bold.
On the Bold, navigate to the BBGeeks wallpaper image and press the BlackBerry menu key.
From the available options, choose “Set as Homescreen Image” and exit the menu.

Thats it, you now have the custom BBGeeks.com BlackBerry Bold wallpaper profiled nicely on your homescreen. Thank you for downloading it and showing us some love!

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

BBGeeks BlackBerry Bold Wallpaper

Video reviews of the BlackBerry Bold

Joe — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:05:01 +0000

With the release of a new phone normally comes a slew of unboxing videos and video reviews. The BlackBerry Bold, despite its delayed release, has generated a decent level of hype. At least as enough for Kevin’s unboxing video to get approximately 80 bajillion links across the Internet. His isn’t the only one, though. Mobile Syrup has a hands-on review of the device which focuses on its multimedia aspects. Magawhat.tv also did a hands-on, specifically to see if the Bold measures up to the iPhone. We’ll embed all the videos after the jump.

First, the CrackBerry video:

Before we get into the Mobile Syrup video, a particularly praise-worthy paragraph a about the Bold:

This has a 2 megapixel camera with 3x zoom (iPhone has a 2 megapixel and no zoom), WiFi and 3G for surfing the web, a video recorder (iPhone has no video recorder), music player that has wicked sound and can now sync with your iTunes (BlackBerry Sync)… also, the screen features 480×320 resolution (twice as much as the BlackBerry Curve).. which makes for great viewing when it comes to your movies, videos etc.

And finally, from Megawhat.tv:

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Video reviews of the BlackBerry Bold

BlackBerry Bold roundup

Joe — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:59:24 +0000

In celebration of the BlackBerry Bold launching on Rogers, marking the first North American release of the device, we’re going to take a short tour of the Internet to find out a bit more about the Bold. Some is good, some is not so good. But it will be entertaining. I can promise that.

First up is Douglas Stoltys of BlackBerry Cool. He’s put together what he calls the ultimate review of the Bold. I thought it would be tough to top David Flynn’s monster, but Doug has left no stone unturned. Check it out for yourself. You might become overwhelmed when you scroll to the bottom: nine pages of pure Blackberry Bold review.

Might the Bold be experiencing 3G reception issues? jkOnTheRun takes a look at the issue. It seems that these are issues similar to those experienced by iPhone 3G users. Hopefully, it’s a kink that can be worked out. Maybe it helps explain AT&T’s reluctance to release the device. You can also find the ballyhooed Bold vs. iPhone browser battle, though I’ve seen that it’s really the 2.5G iPhone vs. a pre-production Bold. What’s the point of that?

Want to disassemble your Bold?

Of course, you’re going to want to put it back together, right?

Thanks to Kevin for linking to those videos.

Finally, Carlo Maglinao hits us with the final BrickBreaker level. Has anyone been this far yet?

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

BlackBerry Bold roundup

BlackBerry Bold gets official on Rogers

Joe — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:24:44 +0000

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Well, at least those of us north of the border. We heard earlier this week that the BlackBerry Bold was to hit Rogers today. Then again, we’ve heard rumors like that before, only to see the date come and go with nothing to show. Not this time. Head over to Rogers Website, where you’ll find it sitting there for $399.99 with a three-year contract (voice and data plan required). Don’t want to sign a contract or extend yours? The price is looking like $599.99 and the device is delivered via UPS in 3 to 5 business days. But in any event, Happy Bold Day everyone!

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

BlackBerry Bold gets official on Rogers

Your BlackBerry broke when you dropped it? You don’t say.

Joe — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:22:27 +0000

Funny how one person posts a story, and the entire tech-loving Internet picks it up. Turns out that the Boy Genius dropped his BlackBerry Bold over the weekend. Nevermind the fact that he actually has one. He says it happened while opening his trunk, and that it was from two feet high. Unless he has a smart car, then no, it was higher than two feet. And guess what? It cracked. That’s usually what happens when an electronic device meets asphalt. So a ton of articles pop up on various blogs, asking if the Bold can really hold up.

The moral of the story (and BG agrees): get a skin for your BlackBerry. And not just the Bold. Or, at least, if you don’t get a skin, don’t complain when you drop the thing and it breaks.

If you want to see the damage for yourself, head over to the photo gallery. It actually doesn’t look all that bad.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Your BlackBerry broke when you dropped it? You don’t say.

BlackBerry Bold: Expensive, more expensive, and delayed again?

Joe — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:38:34 +0000

Update: Looks like Rogers will be carrying it on Thursday the 21st. Hat tip to DigitalJournal.com.

It seems Rogers customers, or potential Rogers customers, have been dealing with three weeks of bad news. So many reports had the BlackBerry Bold set to launch through them on July 25, or some date close thereafter. It is now August 18, and that has not happened. Not only that, but we’re now getting word on the pricing, and it ain’t pretty. Rogers best price, which includes a ridiculous three-year contract, is $400. It could be worse, though. You could pay $650 through Tiger Direct, though the upside is that there’s no contract with that.

Oh yeah, and one source suggests yet another delay for AT&T.

According to Mobiledia, the Bold is slated for a mid-September release. Last time I checked, September 1 was not mid-month. Remember when people were rabbling over a mid-August release? Yeah. We’re well beyond that.

RIM had announced a summer release for the Bold, but issues with chips and battery life caused a delay. It unveiled the Bold in Chile on July 22 and in Germany on Aug. 6.

The good news, at least, is that it taps the Rogers release for late August. Hey, that’s almost now!

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

BlackBerry Bold: Expensive, more expensive, and delayed again?

BlackBerry Bold to hit Orange on August 16?

Joe — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:55:08 +0000

Here’s some good news for BlackBerry users in the UK. Orange plans to launch the device in August 16, a few weeks ahead of rival T-Mobile, according to Telegraph (via Engadget Mobile). The best part is that the report further says that the phone itself will likely be free. Hey, AT&T, you might want to take notes here. In exchange, customers will have to sign an 18-month contract, and pay GBP45 per month, which should give them unlimited data.

“This is really the next generation of phones, and we are confident we can take on the competition,” said Philip Lander of RIM. “We believe our users want a keyboard, and that they are going to be very happy with the Bold for business and personal use.”

They’ll be happy indeed. While I’ve cast a skeptical eye on the Kickstart, the Bold truly is the it device. Not only does it have a mechanical keyboard, which appeals to many users, but it’s a good keyboard. There’s no substitute for that. Just ask most 8800 users what they think of their keyboards.

Over the next few months, the device should be released through Vodafone, O2, and 3. The last has to complete its 3G upgrade. O2 is the exclusive carrier of the iPhone, so like AT&T, they might not be so inclined to rush the Bold to market.

Things are starting to get exciting. Just 18 more days until we supposedly get the Bold on AT&T.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

BlackBerry Bold to hit Orange on August 16?

New Bold info: AT&T gets shipments, preorder available

Joe — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:47:13 +0000

Yesterday, we learned from BlackBerry News that AT&T has received “seed stock” of the BlackBerry Bold. These are basically for training purposes, though BBN points out that seed stock normally doesn’t show up in inventory unless we’re less than 30 days away from launch. I wouldn’t take that seriously, though. All signs still point to the September 1 release. But could you get it sooner through a third party?

Via Boy Genius Report, we see that Mobile City Online has the Bold available, unlocked, for the ultra-low price of $699.99. Okay, so maybe ultra-low was the wrong term. Regardless, the expected arrival date is August 14, so while you’re paying extra, you’re also getting the device early. Then again, that’s just an expected date, and you could just as easily get it when everyone else does.

Via IntoMobile, we also see the Bold available for preorder from Tiger Direct for $50 cheaper. They, however, will ship on launch date, which it estimates as, yes, September.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

New Bold info: AT&T gets shipments, preorder available