The price of data is rising. While most carriers haven’t explicitly raised the price of their base-level data plans, they have implemented caps. Users who could once consume unlimited data must now monitor their data usage, lest they incur penalties or face throttled speeds. It’s not a welcome development for consumers.
Time was, the price of a data plan was pretty level across carriers. There were some variables to consider, but at least in America it came out roughly equal. Now there are some real chances to find a better deal. Here’s what you’ll find from America’s top four carriers.
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What would it take for you to switch carriers? I know plenty of people who have switched because of poor service, or because they didn’t like the phone options available to them. Would a bribe get you to change your allegiances? Sprint’s betting that it will. They’re now offering a $125 credit if you purchase a smartphone and port your number from another carrier. That seems like an opportunity to check out Sprint’s BlackBerry lineup. If you do switch, what Berry would best fit you?
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After months of anticipation, we have finally received official word on the first full-sized BlackBerry flip phone. Yesterday Sprint announced that the Style will go on sale October 31 for $99.99 on contract. While it is the newest BlackBerry model, it’s not exactly the most heralded. I’ve heard many people instantly turned off by the idea of a flip QWERTY BlackBerry, and I’ve seen many turn away in disgust after seeing the actual design. But the Style does have its strong points. Is it the right device for you?
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BlackBerry Curve fans got good news earlier this year when they learned that RIM would release a 3G version of the device. The Curve has always been a second-tier device in terms of power and display, and on GSM it had the further handicap of an EDGE radio. From the Bold on up, GSM BlackBerry devices have had a 3G radio. That didn’t change when RIM introduced the Curve 8520 last summer. About a year later we finally got the 3G GSM Curve, the 9300. But we also heard rumors of a 9330 for CDMA carriers. Since then I’ve wondered what it would bring to the table. CDMA BlackBerry devices, of course, are all 3G, so that doesn’t bring much of a change. I’ve asked for input, but have yet to hear from anyone. So today I’ll take a look at the differences between the 8530 and the 9330.
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While our main goal here is to help you best use your current BlackBerry device, we also love to see new devices in use. RIM has satiated us to that end, releasing a handful of models each year. That creates a conundrum for users, though. Do you want to buy the current model, knowing that RIM will release an upgrade in a year? I discussed this in a guest post at RIMarkable, but didn’t draw any concrete conclusions. That’s because the question is of a personal nature. No one guideline can inform your decision of whether to upgrade now or wait for the next model. We can lay things out, though, and perhaps make the decision a bit easier. Today we’ll do just that, looking at the latest releases.
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BlackBerry does email better than any other platform. It’s why many people buy the device and then stick with it. They’re not the only ones using a push email platform, but they do it the best. Unfortunately, this superiority does not extend to other areas of RIM’s software. The company is constantly criticized for having software inferior to its competitors, and there is no application that draws more ire than the default BlackBerry browser. There are a few decent alternative, though, that should work for users while we wait for RIM’s WebKit browser.
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Ronen at BerryReview makes a good point when he links to a BlackBerry comparison video: You can’t go into a store and compare various BlackBerry models side by side. Well, that is, unless it’s the BlackBerry Store. Go to a T-Mobile retail outlet and you’ll have the Curve 8900, Curve 8520, and then some older Pearls and Curves. Go to AT&T and you’ll see the Bold, Curve 8900, and some other models. Verizon’s (and Sprint) the only place for the Tour, so you can’t compare it side by side with a Bold. That’s why I’m also linking to this video. It’s a good look at the various BlackBerry models out there right now, and it can be a good starting point when making a decision about your next BlackBerry purchase.
Read the rest of Comparing BlackBerry models, Curve through the Tour…
A while back, we wrote up a quick history of the BlackBerry. In it we chronicled our favorite device from its infancy as a pager-like unit to the full-blown data and multimedia powerhouse it has become today. To celebrate their new regional headquarters in Sydney, Australia, RIM has set up a visual history using something unavailable to us when we wrote our history: the actual devices. PC World has the whole visual story, After the jump, some pics of the display.
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Earlier this year, the late Russell Shaw made his ten mobile predictions for 2008. One in particular struck me back then: “Mobile search will still suck.” He mentions that Google had it wrong, as many non-mobile sites would come up in a search. Seeing as we’re entering the waning days of 2008, it sounds like a good time to put Shaw’s prediction to the test. Does mobile search still suck? To find out, we’ll check out the four biggest search engines: Google, Yahoo!, Ask, and MSN. We’ll pit them against one another, no holds barred, to gauge how well they handle searches from a BlackBerry device. May the best engine win.
Read the rest of Mobile Search Wars: Google, Yahoo, Ask, MSN…
