Dual-camera BlackBerry with QWERTY appears in renders

The BlackBerry brand is enjoying its new lease of life under TCL Technology ownership. Last year we saw the rebirth of smartphones with QWERTY keyboards with the arrival of BlackBerry Keyone. After its market performance was dubbed as “Mission Accomplished”, the device is getting a successor. According to leaked images from the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO), the new phone will be called BlackBerry Athena and will have a dual camera on its back.

The BlackBerry Athena looks to follow on the formula of Keyone. It’s dual camera setup, paired with dual-LED flash, will be a first for BlackBerry devices. The Convenience key now makes its way in the middle of the right side, instead of being on the left like on the Keyone.

  
BlackBerry Athena

The front seems to have a taller display from the previous 3:2 panel, but initial calculations lead to 16:10. The QWERTY keyboard is below and pretty straightforward.

The bottom will house the grill speaker and the USB-C charger, while the 3.5 mm jack is on the top. There will be only one selfie camera on the front, while the back appears to be plastic, chamfered from top to bottom with the BlackBerry logo.

Source (in Chinese) | Via

Blackberry Playbook Finally Available for Prebook- Go and Grab It

Blackberry Playbook Finally Available for Prebook- Go and Grab It

Blackberry- One of the world’s first professional grade tablet is ready for prebooking  in US in many different stores like AT & T, Best Buy, Verizon, Office Depot, Cbeyond, RadioShack, shopblackberry.com, staples etc.

Playbook, the much awaited tablet is available for prebook in three different versions, starting from &499. Some of the best features of playbook are as follows: 

• Super Convinent 7″ 1024×600 WSVGA capacitive LCD touch screen
• Running on Blackberry Tablet OS.
• 1 GHz dual-core CPU
• 1 GB of RAM memory
• 1080p HDMI output
• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
• Web without limits like full flash supported
• Built in support for HTML
• Built especially for Business Class Users
• 5-megapixel camera on the back, as well as a 3-megapixel one on the front for video chats.

BlackBerry Storm 3 Spy Specs and Photos Revealed

RIM has its new BlackBerry smartphone in the pipeline which is named as BlackBerry Storm 3. Recently its photos and specs are leaked which shows that this Storm model will be far better than the previous Storm version. The new Storm 3 has also assigned some codenames as Monaco and Monza and may be it will be released on these mentioned brand names instead of Storm.

The leaked specs of the upcoming BlackBerry Storm 3 are:

• 1.2GHz processor
• 3.7-inch 800 x 480 capacitive display
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• Tri-band UMTS/HSPA
• 5-megapixel camera with 720p video recording
• 8GB eMMC (storage for apps and data), 512MB of RAM
• microSD slot
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• 2.4GHz b/g/n and 5GHz a/n Wi-Fi + UMA
• 3G Mobile hotspot
• Optical trackpad
• BlackBerry OS 6.1

It is expected that if it is launched according to the mentioned specs then it will definitely get top position among other advanced market handsets. The features which make this BB Storm 3 unique is its screen resolution which is the highest resolution of any BlackBerry set and its powerful 1.2 GHz processor which will run latest BlackBerry 6.1 OS. After knowing these specs we just can wait for the new BB Storm 3 which will hopefully be launched in September 2011.

Blackberry Storm 3 Leaked

Blackberry Storm 3 Leaked

RIM isn’t ready to give up on the Storm just yet.  BGR got their hands on leaked images of what they’re saying is the Blackberry Storm 3.  Arg, enough already RIM.
In terms of specs, and despite the model name, which has long been regarded as a mistake by RIM, this version of the device is rounding out to do some heavy lifting.  The  big take aways?  A 1.2ghz processor and 3.7-inch 800×480 capacitive touchscreen.
Others specs include a 5 megapixel camera with 720p video mode, quad band GSM connectivity, microSD card slot, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, 3G mobile hotspot, optical trackpad, 1230 mAh battery and Tri-band UMTS/HSPA support.
Word has it the Blackberry Storm 3 will launch sometime this September, but don’t count on it maintaining the Storm moniker, at least not internationally.

The New Menu System

The all new Blackberry Torch has been created with every customer’s needs in mind and both the icons and graphics have been produced to work the way each individual does so. In order to answer all users needs the Blackberry 6 supports a more intuitive menu style than ever before.
Not only has this handset been designed with the customer in mind, it also operates on a substantially revamped UI and new, Webkit-powered browser.
The first thing you’ll notice about the Blackberry Torch is the layout and that it appears to be the current produce of all existing BlackBerry handsets and that it differs just a little in that the phone slides open. Other than that it still offers the same infamous Blackberry style and design. This is good news for those that are fans of the business-like look of such a handset.
Both the dimensions and the form of the Blackberry Torch are almost identical to that of the Blackberry 9700, measuring 4.4-inches up and down by 2.4-inches across when closed. The thickness differs by a small amount, the Blackberry Torch measures 0.57-inches thick, whilst the Bold has dimensions of 0.56-inches thick. Despite this the Blackberry Torch feels much more significant and solid to hold. This is possibly due to the full slide out QWERTY keyboard that has been adopted by the new model.
The Torch sports the infamous metal-like bezel around the edges of the phone, which is again the signature style of most Blackberry’s, especially the Bold, the only difference is that the metal edging appears to be separated into two sections due to the separate screen and keyboard sections of the phone. The entire front of the phone offers a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen that is 480 x 360, just as the Storm and Storm2 are. Housed on the front of the screen are all your standard features such as BlackBerry call, menu, back, and end buttons and then there is the optical trackpad, this is situated just below the display.

Read more: http://www.newgadget.org/technology/the-new-menu-system/#ixzz1AcjaKySf

Blackberry Javelin gets release date

Following the high profile launches of the Blackberry Bold and the Blackberry Storm, RIM continues its assault on the smartphone market with Javelin. Carphone Warehouse has said that the Blackberry Javelin will be released exclusively in its stores just in time for Christmas on 20 December 2008, with the moniker 'Curve 8900'. Carphone Warehouse could not confirm to IT PRO anything regarding pricing or the network carrier, but did say that the Javelin will have the, "sharpest screen, for the brightest, sharpest icons". At first glance the Javelin looks similar to RIM's Blackberry Bold, featuring a Qwerty keyboard and a trackball. It also has GPS with Blackberry Maps and a 3.2-megapixel camera on the rear. However, it is intended as an entry-level product and lacks 3G connectivity.