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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.

It appears RIM is an ACE, as they’ve taken home an award in TechInsight’s EE Times Awards for Creativity in Electronics. The awards were announced at ESC Silivon Valley, an electronic systems design event. RIM took home the Company of the Year for those with over $750 million in sales. The award “elebrates the company that exhibits the highest degree of professionalism, staff development and retention, customer focus, technical excellence and profitable growth — a true leader in the electronics sector.” Congratulations, RIM!

All the hype has been about the Sprint and Verizon BlackBerry Curve releases. And while they’ll still be hyped, they’re not the first to hit the market. Canadian provider Telus has beat them to the punch, as their Curve is currently available. There’s not a whole ton left to talk about since we’ve talked about the specs and seen the pictures.
Read the rest of Telus first to launch Curve 8330…

Not sure how I missed this one from Friday, but it appears that Sprint is planning a BlackBerry release for Nextel. There aren’t very many BBs on the iDEN network, so this does fill that void. Since the iDEN network is sticking around, they might as well release some quality devices for it. The device will be WiFi-enabled, which will help compensate for the iDEN’s less-than-optimal data network.

Just a quick note before I post the podcast. RIM posted huge earnings in the fourth quarter, with a revenue of $1.88 billion. That’s up from $930.4 million a year ago, an increase of an amazing 102 percent. They’re forecasting bigger things for the first quarter of this year (of course): $2.23 to $2.30 billion in earnings. Analysts are a bit less bullish, forecasting $2.02 billion. With the impending CDMA Curve releases, I’m apt to believe the higher numbers at this point.

First it’s the first ever BlackBerry Store, now it’s the U.S. headquarters. Research In Motion announced that they will set up shop in Irving, Texas, for their home base in the States. This is good news for the area, as it is projected that 1,000 jobs will be created. Not only that, but it could create business for other local telecommunications companies, according to Dallas-area economic and technical experts.
Read the rest of RIM to open U.S. headquarters in Texas…

Usually, when shopping for a BlackBerry, you might have to hit a number of stores. Because the devices are carried by all different carriers, there is no one central place to shop around for which BlackBerry device and service works best for you. Until now, that is. If you live near Farmington Hills, Michigan, you can take a trip to the world’s first BlackBerry store, where you can find phones, accessories, software applications, and service activation from the four major carriers: Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon.
Read the rest of First ever BlackBerry store opens…