Rogers

Attention all BlackBerry users looking to pick up the Pearl 8220, Bold or Storm, your time is coming. The end of October and throughout November we will be seeing BlackBerry launches sweeping North America and Europe as RIM expands its offerings across At&t, Rogers, Verizon, Vodafone and Bell networks. To kick things off, as early as yesterday (October 29th) Rogers began shipping the BlackBerry Pearl 8220 so that devices would be in stock for Halloween.  We all know that At&t will be quickly following Roger’s Pearl 8220 launch with their BlackBerry Bold for $299 on November 4th.  

Next we head to Europe where Vodafone will be launching the BlackBerry Storm around November 11th (not confirmed) in full touchscreen glory.  Back in the states the Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Storm assault will begin picking up steam with Corporate stores selling units by November 15th, followed by Best Buy on November 16th and then all retail channels November 17th.  To help ease the launch Verizon Wireless stores will be opening 1 hour earlier to ease the launch.  Rounding out the release dates this November will be Bell’s BlackBerry Storm scheduled to launch November 21st.

BlackBerry Storm (9500 Series) Specifications:

O2 might be pulling the BlackBerry Bold off their shelves, but the scare is not stopping Rogers Canada from releasing an OS update.  Proud Canadians using the Rogers BlackBerry Bold will be delighted to see that their device has been upgraded to a new OS, version 4.6.0.162. The updated OS should fix many of the issues users have been reporting including: random restarts, dropped calls and battery woes.

Since the Bold was released by Rogers, all devices have been shipped with OS version 4.6.0.125.  To get the new updated OS simply head over to RIM’s website with the link below, install the package and open Desktop Manager.  As always make sure you backup your phone before running any software update and enjoy.

BlackBerry Handheld Software v4.6.0.292 (Multilanguage)

Package Version: 4.6.0.292
Consisting of:
Applications: 4.6.0.162
Software Platform: 4.0.0.155
File name: 9000M_PBr4.6.0_rel292_PL4.0.0.155_A4.6.0.162_Rogers.exe
File size: 93.43MB
Note: The Software Platform and Applications version numbers can be found under Options-About screen on the handheld.

Download Rogers BlackBerry Bold OS 4.6.0.162

We know Italian carrier, TIM, was the first to land the BlackBerry Pearl 8220 Flip (KickStart), but Rogers Canada is not far behind.  Previously we were told that Rogers would be launching the Pearl 8220 Flip is Gray, but now we can add Pink to the color selection.  In the advertisement below you can see the Pink Pearl Flip in action, set for an arrival this holiday season.  Both the Pink and Gray versions will be available for $49.99 on a 3 year contract for Rogers subscribers.

Source: Mobile In Canada

We’d like to feel bad for early adopters, honestly we would, but with the BlackBerry Bold non-existent in the U.S. right now it is hard to feel bad for Rogers customers who purchased the BlackBerry Bold at launch.  After only 6 weeks since launch on Roger’s network, the BlackBerry Bold will be getting its first major price drop from $399 to $299 on 3 year contracts.

Stack this lower pricing with the new BlackBerry data plans bringing 300MB of data for $45 per month or 1GB of data for $45, things are getting brighter for BlackBerry users to our north.  The big question now is how well is the BlackBerry Bold selling if they are already dropping the price $100 so soon after launch.   In any event now is the time to get on the BlackBerry train for the best pricing and plans of the year.

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Joining the Rogers LG Shine family of pink and gray releases is the LG Shine TU720 in Black.  The sleek slider, complete with 2.0 megapixel camera and mirrored finish bezel has been a hit here in the states via At&t and enjoyed similar success in Canada on Rogers.  The device is currently compatible with Roger’s Vision Plan and it is available for the same price as the pink and gray versions.

The Shine Slider is a tri-band GSM unit with HSPA video-calling capabilities. It features a scroll wheel navigation instead of the D-pad or joystick found on most phones. Other specs of note include a MP3 player, microSD expansion slot, Bluetooth and a large 2.2 inch display (240 x 320 pixels).  The device first made its Canadian debut back on October 11th and hit stores in early November.

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The first-ever touchscreen BlackBerry Storm will be making its debut in early November, but in the meantime we have some exclusive screen shots to keep you updated on the current OS build.  From the looks of things, the interface is starting to shape up a bit over the previous shots we’ve seen from the Storm.

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Rogers Canada has just announced their first-ever rugged phone, the 3G enabled Motorola Extreme VA76r.  The Motorola Extreme VA76r meets the military standard 810F for drops, vibration, humidity, dust and extreme temperatures. In consequence, the handset can operate at temperatures between -10°C and +55°C, under pouring rain and even after 4-feet drops.  Our take on the VA76r is we are all for the rugged handset as long as the Nextel Chirp never makes its way onto Roger’s network.

Rogers Motorola Extreme VA76r Specifications

• A 2.2 inch TFT internal display
• Web browser, to make good use of that 3G connectivity
• Stereo Bluetooth 2.0
• A 2 MP camera with 8x digital zoom
• Expandable memory, up to 4GB

The VA76r is exclusively sold by Rogers for 199 CAD with a 3-yr contract agreement.  While the price is not too friendly, the target consumer looking for a rugged device that can withstand more than basic wear and tear really has no other choices on the network.  Motorola Canada claims that the Extreme VA76r is available on Rogers, but the website is not showing the device as of now so you’ll need to check back soon www.rogers.com/rugged.

Fresh off the press, Rogers Wireless has announced the upcoming ‘affordable’ BlackBerry Enterprise Server Plans (BES) that will go live October 1st.  These plans will follow up the ‘affordable’ BIS Plans for consumer users announced earlier last week, but we still wouldn’t venture to say they are ‘cheap’ by any means.  The existing $40/7MB plan will remain the same, but things take a big jump for the better starting with the $45/300MB and $100/1GB plans.  To match the BIS plans, BES users will now have the Flex Rate plan option as well as the traditional plans.

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Some lucky Rogers customers had a surprise Monday when they received a special invitation to the Thursday launch of the BlackBerry Bold 9000.  The event will be held at Velma Rogers Graham Theatre from 10am until 12pm by invitation only, limit one person per invitation.  As ‘Canada’s fastest mobile network’, Rogers customers will be the first North Americans to get their hands on the highly-anticipated BlackBerry Bold and we can’t help but feel jealous.

At&t will be following Roger’s release of the BlackBerry Bold with a mid-September launch, but this doesn’t help weeks from feeling like years.  If you were lucky enough to be invited to the private BlackBerry Bold 9000 launch remember that you must RSVP by August 19th, today.

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