The T-Mobile BlackBerry Gemini 8520 is slated as a low-end BlackBerry Curve, and it will definitely suit the intended market. While Power Users are going to yawn, early Pearl owners are going to want to upgrade to this device, especially because we’ve heard it’s going to come in some beautiful colors.

Before reading this review, as usual it’s not a commercially available device and therefore may not be the device you pick up from T-Mobile.

The 85xx Series Devices

The BlackBerry 8520 is a new-generation Curve and while the xx20 is the only device in the series so far, it surely won’t be the last. In the coming months (year), we can expect a rollout similar to that of other BlackBerry devices. The BlackBerry 8510 will have GPS and the 8530 will be CDMA.

About the OS

The 8520 that I’m using is running OS 4.6.1.227, which seems to be the consensus around other sites who have got their hands on the device. While OS 4.6.1 is decent, it isn’t the OS 5 that we’ve all been waiting to use. Because this is a pre-release device, it could possibly ship with OS 5, which would be a dream come true.

The Trackpad

The first thing that hits you about this device is obviously the trackpad. The shift to a trackpad is likely in response to the number of complaints from BlackBerry users about having to replacing the trackball because it got sand or dust in it. The trackpad seems impervious to this sort of damage and is sure to make your device last longer. At first, you may find the trackpad doesn’t respond exactly how you remember the trackball responding. Make sure to go into your settings, in the same place where you change your trackball sensitivity, and crank it up for a smoother trackpad experience.

While I like the new trackpad strategy, there is a learning Curve (pun intended). While navigating menus and browsing the internet, I found I was missing the mark a lot. This is because the trackpad requires a slightly different approach which I can only explain as “swiping” versus “rolling.” With a trackball, you can almost feel the cursor movement but with the trackpad, I felt I had to swipe my finger across the pad, and adjust. If this doesn’t make sense, all I can tell you is that it feels weird at first but you get used to it quickly. I didn’t test the trackpad in varying lighting conditions but I’ve heard this may have an impact on the responsiveness.

3G versus EDGE

Not having 3G doesn’t really have anything to do with RIM, and this is a decision that is made at the carrier relation level. It’s the same deal with WiFi, where I wish every BlackBerry came with WiFi but it’s clearly the carriers who put the kibosh on it. Since WiFi saves on data, carriers don’t want it on their consumer devices because they want their customers eating up large amounts of costly data. While it would be great to have 3G on all BlackBerry devices, EDGE is still a large market that needs servicing.

BlackBerry 8520 specs

For a consumer device, the 8520 has an average screen size and resolution at 320 x 240 pixels and 65,536 colors in TFT. For a device that is rumored to be a consumer phone, I’m a little surprised at the lack of consumer features. For example, the camera megapixels have been downgraded from the average 3.2 that comes with devices today, to only 2 megapixels with no flash. Picture and video are therefore going to be less than attractive for this device.

The battery has 1150 mAh (Milliamp Hours), which means it won’t be able to store as much charge as previous Curve devices. Perhaps this is where no flash will actually help in that there is less charge but less to use up the charge.

Continue Reading

The Palm Pixi has officially arrived, and if you’re an avid reader of Engadget (you’d better be), this device should look a little bit familiar to you. We first broke specs and images of the phone — codenamed Eos and the alternately-spelled “Pixie” — back in April, when we nabbed what appeared to be a leak of a new, Centro-esque phone headed to AT&T. Today, Palm has announced that the Pixi — a tiny, sleek webOS-based handset — will be coming to Sprint this holiday season. The phone will hit shelves sans-WiFi (EV-DO Rev. A only here), with 8GB of storage onboard (a nice bump up from the rumored 4GB), 2 megapixel camera (with flash), a full QWERTY keyboard, and a minute, 2.63-inch, 320 x 400 capacitive display.

Along with the new handset, Palm will offer five artist-designed back covers in the “Palm Pixi Artist Series” — similar to Zune Originals and Dell’s Design Studio laptops — which can be purchased separately… of course. Touchstone owners take heart: those backs, as well as a separate black backing that you’ll also pay extra for, are all compatible with the accessory. In addition to the hardware, Palm will be introducing a native Facebook app when the Pixi hits, as well as new Yahoo! and LinkedIn integration for Synergy. Right now no date for launch has been set, though Palm says the phone will be ready in time for the holidays. The company is also mum on price, but coupled with the news that Sprint will be slimming the Pre’s entry point down to $149.99, we have to assume it’s going to be in the $99-or-less ballpark. We had a chance to play around with the new phone, so read on after the break for our initial, early impressions.

Gallery: Palm Pixi official shots

We’ve obtained pictures of a device that we’re told is the “Onyx,” a 3G-enabled GSM BlackBerry that looks like a slightly sexier, smaller version of the Bold with some Niagara / Tour genes thrown in for good measure. We’d previously heard that this phone is ultimately destined for AT&T (while a UMA-enabled version might come to T-Mobile as the Driftwood), which definitely takes the edge off of the impending 8900launch over there — but then again, this is a prototype, and it’ll be many moons (at best) before this thing gets launched. Every time we look at the Bold, it looks more out of proportion — and sexy beasts like this one certainly aren’t helping matters. Keep on keepin’ on, RIM.

Gallery: BlackBerry “Onyx” in the wild

From engadget

The dust has begun to settle around Palm’s event yesterday, and we’re still sorting through all the news. Palm certainly packed a lot of “New-ness” (yet weirdly, no actual “New-ness”) into its announcements yesterday, and it’s pretty easy to get lost among all the Palm Pre / webOS related news. Lucky for you, we’ve consolidated the goods below, so feel free to experience all the Palm-related bliss you can handle.

The liveblog

Live from Palm’s CES press conference

Impressions / hands-on coverage

Palm Pre first hands-on with live updates!
Palm Pre in-depth impressions, video, and huge hands-on gallery
Palm Pre interface tour

Product announcements

The Palm Pre
Palm announces webOS platform
Palm Pre’s wireless charger, the Touchstone

In depth / details

There will be a GSM-friendly 3G Palm Pre
Palm stock on a rocket to recovery
Palm’s Pre gets its own spot on Sprint’s website
Palm Pre website now live with official images, video
Palm’s the master of its own domain, the king of its own Castle
Palm’s Pre boxed
Palm Pre’s “New-ness” event video now viewable
Palm Pre ads appear on Engadget

From engadget

Video from Vimeo:

Palm’s 2009 CES Keynote from DevilsRejection on Vimeo.

Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) today unveiled its groundbreaking Palm(R) webOS(TM) mobile platform, built from the ground up to be constantly connected to the web, and the new Palm Pre(TM), the first phone based on the new platform.(1) Pre is scheduled to be available exclusively from Sprint in the first half of 2009.

Palm webOS is a brand-new kind of platform, invented exclusively for mobile use. webOS recognizes that you want your people, calendars and information to move with you, wherever you are, wirelessly, as opposed to being bound to a personal computer. Palm webOS is the first mobile platform to automatically bring your information from the many places it resides – on your phone, at your work or on the web – into one simple, integrated view.(1) The new Palm Pre and webOS are designed to be so in sync with your needs that it feels like Pre is thinking ahead for you.

“Palm products have always been about simplifying lives and delivering great user experiences,” said Ed Colligan, Palm president and chief executive officer. “webOS and Pre bring game-changing simplicity to an increasingly mobile world by dissolving the barriers that surround your information. It’s technology that seems like it’s thinking ahead to bring you what you care about most – your people, your time, and your information – in the easiest and most seamless way.”

“Pre continues Sprint’s leadership in open access to the content customers want for a great web-connected experience,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint chief executive officer. “We look forward to bringing this remarkably innovative device to our customers on America’s most dependable 3G network.”(2)
Palm’s new OS is the first mobile platform to be built from the ground up to combine standard technology, innovation and integration. At its core, webOS leverages several industry-standard technologies, including web technologies such as CSS, XHTML and JavaScript. On top of that, Palm has included creative and innovative advancements to enhance the overall user experience and provided a deep integration of all elements within the platform.

The new platform was designed to allow a vast ecosystem of partners, including developers, hardware suppliers, and accessories manufacturers, to develop core solutions to complement the platform and product line. For developers, webOS shatters traditional barriers to mobile-application development by offering a rich open development environment that’s familiar to tens of millions of web developers. More people can develop for the platform and can do it faster than ever before. The platform’s flexible environment will also allow developers to distribute their applications over-the-air via an on-device Palm application store.

Your Life, Brought Together

The new platform introduces Palm Synergy(TM), a key feature of webOS that brings your information from all the places it resides into one logical view. You don’t have to worry about tracking multiple calendars, contacts and messaging applications – Synergy brings it to you for a more comprehensive and truly representative view of your life.

• Linked contacts – With Synergy, you have a single view that links your contacts from a variety of sources, so accessing them is easier than ever. For example, if you have the same contact listed in your Outlook(3), Google and Facebook accounts, Synergy recognizes that they’re the same person and links the information, presenting it to you as one listing. And if you update a contact on your webOS device, it also will be updated in your various accounts, whether on a personal computer or on the web.

• Layered calendars – Your calendars can be seen on their own or layered together in a single view, combining work, family, friends, sports teams, or other interests. You can toggle to look at one calendar at a time, or see them all at a glance.

• Combined messaging – Synergy lets you see all your conversations with the same person in a chat-style view, even if it started in IM and you want to reply with text messaging. You can also see who’s active in a buddy list right from contacts, and start a new conversation with just one touch.
Your Information, Effortlessly

By smartly integrating your information, webOS is designed to think ahead for you and keep you on top of the things that happen in your life, but that’s just the first step. The platform’s unique interface brings your information to you with the ease that only Palm can offer.

• Web-connected applications – Applications are seamlessly connected to the web and always active(4), ensuring you have the most up-to-date information.

• Run multiple applications at the same time – Palm’s revolutionary webOS lets you manage multiple activities more effectively than any other mobile platform today. It lets you keep multiple applications open and instantly flip from one to another.(4)

• Instinctive user interface – With its multi-touch interface, webOS lets you move easily between activities like flipping through a deck of cards and rearrange items simply by dragging them; when you are done with something, just throw it away. And finding what you need is easy with universal search – as you type what you’re looking for, the OS narrows your search and offers results from both your device and the web.(5)

• Intuitive and unobtrusive notifications – When important things come up or new updates arrive, you’ll receive notifications with a diplomacy that’s a radical departure from other mobile platforms. For example, if you receive a text message or email, a scrolling notifications bar at the bottom of your screen lets you address it right away or leave until later. webOS alerts are one step ahead, ensuring that you never miss a thing, but never lose your place or train of thought.

Palm Pre: The First webOS Phone

Pre has a breakthrough interface and hardware design that makes it the most integrated and user-friendly phone for mobile users. Featuring a smooth, rounded ergonomic design and a physical keyboard that slides out only when needed, Pre is engineered to feel natural in the hand and comfortably small in the pocket. When closed, the phone is ideal for phone calls, web browsing, music, photos and videos; when open, Pre is optimized for email and text messaging. With its curved slider and gesture-controlled touch interface, Pre fuses exquisite design with the revolutionary webOS software for fast access to anything on the device or web. It’s an instinctive user experience that seems to anticipate your needs.

“As our lives revolve more and more around the web, devices like Palm Pre that transform how we interact with the web will lead the way,” said Hesse. “We are focused on bringing our customers a superior experience that includes easy-to-use devices, simple pricing and value with Simply Everything all-inclusive offerings, plus Ready Now, our exclusive retail program that helps customers leave the store feeling comfortable and confident they know how to use their new device.”

Pre will support a variety of differentiated on-device Sprint services, including Sprint TV(R), offering an extensive selection of live and on-demand programming. Sprint Navigation provides GPS-enabled audio and visual turn-by-turn driving directions, one-click traffic rerouting and more than 10 million local listings. Sprint also offers more than a dozen streaming-radio applications, including Sprint Radio with more than 150 channels.

Palm Pre features include the following:

• High-speed connectivity (EVDO Rev. A or UMTS HSDPA)
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g(6)
• Integrated GPS(7)
• Large 3.1-inch touch screen with a vibrant 24-bit color 320×480 resolution HVGA display
• Gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation
• Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
• Email, including Outlook EAS (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers), as well as personal email support (POP3, IMAP)
• Robust messaging support (IM, SMS and MMS capabilities)(4)
• High-performance, desktop-class web browser
• Great multimedia experience and performance (pictures, video playback, music), featuring a 3-megapixel camera with LED flash and extended depth of field, and a standard 3.5mm headset jack
• Bluetooth(R) 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
• 8GB of internal user storage (~7.4GB user available)
• USB mass storage mode
• MicroUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
• Proximity sensor, which automatically disables the touch screen and turns off the display whenever you put the phone up to your ear
• Light sensor, which dims the display if the ambient light is dark, such as at night or in a movie theater, to reduce power usage
• Accelerometer, which automatically orients web pages and photos to your perspective
• Ringer switch, which easily silences the device with one touch
• Removable, rechargeable battery
• Dimensions: 59.57mm (W) x 100.53mm (L, closed) x 16.95mm (D) [2.35 inches (W) x 3.96 inches (L, closed) x 0.67 inches (D)]
• Weight: ~135 grams [4.76 ounces]

An array of compelling accessories also will be available for Pre, including the first inductive charging solution for phones (sold separately). Simply set Pre down on top of the elegantly designed Palm Touchstone(TM) charging dock without worrying about connection, orientation or fit. Pre is active while charging, so you can access the touch screen, watch movies or video, or use the speakerphone.

Availability and Pricing

Palm Pre is scheduled to be available first in the United States exclusively from Sprint in the first half of 2009, and will be followed by a world-ready UMTS version for other regions. Sprint’s pricing for the phone has not yet been determined.

From PDA247 and treocentral
more gallery here

A new thin and light BlackBerry smartphone is coming to T-Mobile: Meet the anticipated BlackBerry Curve 8900.

T-Mobile and Research In Motion will soon release the anticipated BlackBerry Curve 8900, the thinnest and lightest full-QWERTY BlackBerry smartphone to date (see specifications). The BlackBerry Curve 8900 for T-Mobile, in a titanium-colored finish with chrome highlights, combines a compact design with a range of features and a full QWERTY keyboard.

The BlackBerry Curve 8900 features built-in GPS and support for location-based services. It also promises easy access to social networking sites such as Facebook and has built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) supporting both voice and data.

Equipped with a 1400 mAh battery, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 will offer a talk time of 5.5 hours and a standby time of up to 14 days. Its multimedia capabilities include a 3.2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0, a 3.5mm stereo headset jack and a microSD/microSDHC memory card slot with a 256MB card inserted. The memory slot supports up to 16GB memory cards.

The BlackBerry Curve 8900 is also equipped with a media player capable of playing DivX 4 (DivX 5/6 and XviD partially supported), MPEG4, H.263 and WMV3 video formats, as well as all common music formats. It’ll come pre-loaded with BlackBerry Maps powered by Telenav.

Productivity and messaging features include easy setup of personal as well as corporate e-mail accounts, instant messaging as well as viewing and editing of Microsoft World, Excel and PowerPoint files. The BlackBerry Curve 8900 will also offer RIM’s great range of calling features, including voice dialing, smart dialing, conference calling, mute button, speakerphone, background noise cancellation, speed dial, call forwarding and voice attachment playback as well as click-to-call integrated dialing.

Needless to say, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 will be among the most significant releases on T-Mobile’s network this year. A great Web browser is still missing, but so is support for 3G data speeds. Check out a comparison between the BlackBerry Curve 8900 and the BlackBerry Bold (AT&T) here.

The BlackBerry Curve 8900 for T-Mobile will be available in February 2009. The price has not yet been announced.

From infosyncworld