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BBGeekcast: October 30, 2009 – Episode 88

Posted by Joe on October 30, 2009

No, I didn’t add Halloween sound effects to the BBGeekcast. Sorry. But we heard a lot of device news this week, so you know I’ll be rambling past my allotted 10 minutes. It’s actually three new devices we’re talking about. And then I figure out a way to work in a fourth.

So click on over here to hear the BBGeekcast (10 min, 51 sec)

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Highlights include:

Last time around we talked about the BlackBerry Bold 9700, the Bold 2. AT&T and T-Mobile picked it up as expected. That still left a few BlackBerry models unannounced, but we heard a lot more about them this week.

Verizon announced the Storm 2 on Monday and released it on Wednesday. That was pretty quick, though it was somewhat expected. While the Storm 2 greatly improves on the original, it appears Verizon is more focused on the Droid, its first Android device. Which is doubly a shame, because there are two more BlackBerry models that could drop with the carrier before the holidays.

First is the known, the Curve 8530, the Curve 2. It’s already out on T-Mobile, and Verizon should get a CDMA version in November. It packs in the best of the BlackBerry world, including the fast processor, optical trackpad, and Wi-Fi. The only downside is that it doesn’t have a high-res screen. Oh well. There’s a solution to that, too.

The BlackBerry Essex has been outed as the Tour 2, though we pretty much knew that already. That’s the big upgrade, as the device has all the features of the Curve 2, plus a high-res screen. While it was originally thought that it would drop sometime after the holidays, Kevin at CrackBerry has word that Verizon is going for a pre-holidays release. I wonder what original Tour users think about that.