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We’re still no closer to finding out whether this is the next iteration of the Bold, Storm or some other BlackBerry line, but the unofficially coined BlackBerry Slider continues to pique our interest. Here in the third round of spy shots, we’re seeing the elusive RIM-branded device from a few new angles, namely a round of side shots and a side-by-side with Curve 8900. You’ll notice that the new guys is a bit thicker and longer, and you’ll also see a complete lack of labeling beside the camera. There’s a fair chance that hitting that Source link will simply lead to increased frustration and stress in your life, but c’mon, anything to keep you from finishing up those 2009 taxes is worth a look.

BlackBerry Slider undergoes further undercover inspection, side shots emerge originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mobile manufacturer and platform market share stats for the US are in for the month of January thanks to comScore, and as usual, they tell a fascinating (and somewhat unpredictable) story of what’s actually going on at the cash registers. Motorola — which has long since fallen off its high horse on the global stage — still maintains a commanding presence in the American market by representing some 22.9 percent of all subscribers, though that’s down 1.2 percent from October 2009; that’s particularly interesting in light of the Droid’s success, and a possible sign that smartphones still aren’t on the cusp of dominating the phone market overall. Samsung recently touted the fact that it had held onto the States’ overall market share crown, though Sammy was undoubtedly referring to sales, not subscribers — in other words, there are still a ton of legacy RAZRs out there inflating Moto’s stats.

Turning our attention to smartphone platforms, BlackBerry OS, iPhone, and Android all saw gains, while Windows Mobile and Palm both saw significant downturns. You might use Palm’s loss of 2.1 percent of overall market share in a single quarter as a big nail in webOS’ coffin, but we’re inclined to believe this includes legacy devices — and considering the huge installed base of Palm OS-based handsets (Centros, for instance) that are coming off contract these days, it’s neither surprising nor alarming to see that kind of drop. Android’s gain, meanwhile, likely comes in large part from WinMo’s whopping four percent loss — it’s no secret that WinMo 6.x is well past its expiration date with customers leaving in droves (even before Windows Phone 7 Series announcement), and our informal observations lead us to believe that many of those folks are heading for Android. After all, it’s kind of convenient that Android gained 4.3 percent and WinMo lost about the same, isn’t it? BlackBerrys still dominate the American smartphone landscape, and the iPhone market looks like it might be mature for the time being — Apple added just 0.3 percent to its market share in the quarter, possibly a sign that folks are holding out for whatever Cupertino brings us come Summer. Is this a sign that Palm needs to step up its game yet again? Undoubtedly — but at the same time, we wouldn’t call the loss of those Palm OS subscribers a death knell just yet.

Android’s American market share soars, WinMo pays the price originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember Nokia’s E52 and E55? Espoo took an interesting tactic with these two: start with the same basic phone and operating system, but offer it with two different keypad layouts (in fact, HTC did the same with its Touch Dual). It’s not a bad idea — different strokes for different folks, right? Indeed, not everyone can really get into RIM’s SureType layout, but the Pearls that usually underpin it have a distinct opportunity to appeal to a wider audience. To that end, an OEM full QWERTY module for the unannounced Pearl 9100 has made an appearance on Chinese accessory reseller TrueSupplier’s site that suggests RIM’s learned this lesson and might be prepping to offer the newest model in two different versions. What’d be tragic here is if only one flavor was offered on each carrier that picked it up — and given RIM’s history, that wouldn’t surprise us — but for now, we sticking with the “choice is a good thing” line.

BlackBerry Pearl 9100 to come in SureType and QWERTY flavors? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember Nokia’s E52 and E55? Espoo took an interesting tactic with these two: start with the same basic phone and operating system, but offer it with two different keypad layouts (in fact, HTC did the same with its Touch Dual). It’s not a bad idea — different strokes for different folks, right? Indeed, not everyone can really get into RIM’s SureType layout, but the Pearls that usually underpin it have a distinct opportunity to appeal to a wider audience. To that end, an OEM full QWERTY module for the unannounced Pearl 9100 has made an appearance on Chinese accessory reseller TrueSupplier’s site that suggests RIM’s learned this lesson and might be prepping to offer the newest model in two different versions. What’d be tragic here is if only one flavor was offered on each carrier that picked it up — and given RIM’s history, that wouldn’t surprise us — but for now, we sticking with the “choice is a good thing” line.

BlackBerry Pearl 9100 to come in SureType and QWERTY flavors? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What looked like a drizzle last night seems to be turning into a full on downpour. The folks over at BlackBerry Leaks have gotten themselves even more facetime with that mysterious BlackBerry slider device — and it looks a lot better than we thought. Right now the theories are flying about just exactly what kind of phone this is, with BBL suggesting it might be the next phone in the Storm family, while Kevin over at CrackBerry has it on good authority that this new handset will be part of the Bold line. Kevin also says that the rumors he’s heard on this device call for a 360 x 480 touchscreen display (sans SurePress) and expectations for BlackBerry OS 6.0 to be onboard. The pictured phone apparently has a battery issue which is keeping it from powering up, but hopefully someone will find a way to spark this thing to life and we can get some more solid info. For now, check out one more pic after the break.

Continue reading More BlackBerry slider pics appear — is this the next Bold?

More BlackBerry slider pics appear — is this the next Bold? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey BlackBerry friends — we’ve got some news for you. The Engadget application (which is also available for the iPhone / iPod touch and webOS devices) has gone and gotten itself a little update on RIM’s platform. It’s nothing crazy, but we’ve made some bug fixes, and more importantly, added support for 5.0 devices (Bold, Curve, and Tour)! The devs also thoughtfully included keyboard shortcuts (T, B, N, P, and the spacebar) in this version for your convenience. All you have to do to get your hands on this baby is point your phone’s browser to our download page, or if you’ve already got the app installed, it should prompt you for an update automatically next time you open it. Storm users — we are working on a version for you as well, and everyone who is curious about the Android app: you should see it released this month!

The Engadget app for BlackBerry gets updated to 1.0.1 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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