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RIM released their financial information for the first quarter yesterday. How did they do? According to Bloomberg, they slightly missed the mark. Their analysts predicted $2.27 billion in sales, while RIM recorded $2.24 billion. What’s more is that they didn’t give sparkling predictions for the second quarter, based on an increase in marketing expenditures. Yes, that’s in an effort to compete with the iPhone, which will hit shelves on July 11. Still, it wasn’t all bad for RIM.

Read the rest of RIM barely misses first quarter estimates…

Amid heavy rumors that the BlackBerry Bold will find its way to store shelves next month, Rogers and RIM have announced a series of release parties which will take place across Canada. If you’re in Toronto on July 8, Montreal on the 9th, Calgary on the 15th, or Vancouver on the 17th, you might want to consider crashing one of these babies. I kid, of course, but then again RIM does throw one heck of a party.

There is no release date set for the Bold, but this does suggest that we shouldn’t have to wait long. Invitation after the jump.

Read the rest of RIM, Rogers plan Bold release parties…

We talked about the 8820 before when it joined T-Mobile’s ranks, so there’s little sense in going over the specs again. Rogers plans to launch the device, and like its Pearl 8120, the WiFi will only work with Rogers Home Calling Zone. I seriously can’t stand when carriers cripple features in devices we pay for. It’ll cost you $349 on a three-year deal with a voice and data plan, and $499 for two years. You can check out our sister site for a quick update on Rogers data pricing.

Everyone’s clamoring for the official release of OS 4.5, especially us CDMA folks who haven’t even seen a beta release. A number of beta releases have hit the Internet over the past few weeks, but this is the first one looking official. Vodafone Germany has a listing on its website for what looks like the official build. While you should always wait for your own carrier to issue an OS upgrade, the multi-language support will allow you to use these on your own BlackBerry. So if you download and install these files, you do so at your own risk. Links after the jump.

Read the rest of Want OS 4.5? Check Vodafone Germany…

A report is currently circulating that Canadian provider Bell is now offering unlimited email, Web, and messaging for $30 per month. Yes, you read the words “unlimited” and “Web” in the same sentence regarding a Canadian provider. Of course, Telus offered a similar promotion quite some time ago. Still, it’s nice to see another Canadian provider catching up. Then again, it’s not on Bell’s rates page. So what gives?

So RIM and iTookThisOnMyPhone are not the only ones making significant announcements at the WES conference this week. Exchange hosting provider Exchange My Mail also had a little something to share.
Read the rest of Exchange My Mail is now a BlackBerry Systems Integrator Alliance Member…

This morning fans of the mobile.blackberry.com website woke up to a surprise. The official mobile site published by RIM has undergone a complete overhaul. . . or underhaul as the case may be.
Read the rest of BlackBerry Notes: RIM has updated the mobile.BlackBerry site…

Just a quick news hit this morning. Brightpoint, one of the top distributors of mobile phones, has entered a deal with Research In Motion to distribute its BlackBerry handsets. This might not seem like a huge deal, but Brightpoint spokesman Anurag Gupta mentioned that notch up RIM’s market share by a point or two. If that’s in addition to what their upcoming releases — the 9000 Series and the Kickstart — bring in, then they could be poised for a big year. Those new handsets just can’t get here soon enough. Speaking of…where’s Sprint’s Curve?

The boys at Engadget Mobile have the word. Verizon is set to debut the BlackBerry Curve 8330 on May 9 through their B2B, web, and telesales channels. For those who want to walk into a store and play with it a bit before buying, it looks like May 12 for you. The pricing seems a bit above Sprint’s supposed pricing, at least with a contract. It’ll be $269.99 after a $50 rebate with an agreement, and $439.99 a la carte.

Read the rest of Verizon sets Curve launch for May 9…

On Thursday, we heard that there was no ETA on the Alltel Curve. So you can imagine my surprise to see this announcement pop up at 8:30 this morning. Not only is Alltel getting the Curve, but they might beat Sprint to the party. It’s out on the first of May, and you can nab it for $229.99 after a $100 mail in rebate and the signing of a two-year contract. You can actually pre-order it today if you head to shopalltel.com/curve.