The BlackBerry Storm 9530 has already been seen at the Verizon website, but that’s only for the US market…

If you live in Canada and are interested in picking up one unit, head over to the Future Shop website where you can find the RIM device for a mere price of $650. It has a limit of 1 unit per household, and the expected release date is December 18.

In case you don’t remember, the BlackBerry Storm 9530 boasts a 3.5-inch touchscreen, a virtual QWERTY keyboard, and a battery life of 5.5 hours in talking mode.

Future Shop

BlackBerry Storm owners should be happy to know that the firmware update they have been waiting is out there. Firmware 4.7.0.75 has not been officially released to the masses yet but it has been leaked. More people have gotten it and it looks like the update works fine so far. Let’s see if RIM confirms this firmware and if they have a different version ready to release.

via CrackBerry

Commandos sent to get the Mumbai terrorists were surprised to find BlackBerries in the bags of terrorists. After the authorities have cut the cable feeds to the hotels the terrorists followed the news and the world by going online from their handset. What’s surprising is that the officials were surprised to find smartphones with terrorists. And with all the technology available they were not capable of tracking down cell phone usage from inside the hotels before while they were negotiating?

It’s always sad to report such news but we shouldn’t be so amazed that more and more people are using advanced communication technologies, no matter what their intentions are.

via businesssheet

A while ago we told you how President-Elect Barack Obama will have to give up his famous BlackBerry handset. It looks like now he’s trying to keep it.

Here’s what he said in an interview with Barbara Walters:

One of the things that I’m going to have to work through is how to break through the isolation, the bubble that exists around the president. And I’m in the process of negotiating with the Secret Service, with lawyers, with White House staff … to figure out how can I get information from outside of the 10 or 12 people who surround my office in the White House. Because one of the worst things I think that can happen to a president is losing touch with the struggles that people are going through every day.

We’ll keep you updated on this particular BlackBerry user! He might be a President that likes to modify the Presidential Records Act.
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After we have over-analyzed Vodafone’s and Verizon’s BlackBerry Storms it’s time we take a look at Telus’ offer.

A Storm from Telus will cost $299 on with a three year contract. It will cost $549.99 if you substract a year and $599.99 for just a year contract. The full price of the Telus Storm is $649.99. We don’t have a definite date for the Telus Storm release but we’ll keep you posted.

The iPhone and its 3G successor have been cracked. So did the G1 and lots of other phones. But has the Storm been cracked already?

It looks like someone has done that already using a SIM unlock code from Verizon. Then the Storm was given some Bold software and therefore it was used in T-Mobile’s GSM network. That means the Storm can be used with T-Mobile’s 2G voice network and with Verizon’s 3G data network.

I dare to say the Storm hasn’t been really unlocked yet. We’re still waiting for a different version.

via SlashGear

The Storm has some OS problems and there’s no way to deny that. That’s OS v4.7.0.65 if you are wondering. Luckily a firmware update is scheduled for early December, which means that some of your problems might be solved. Will Verizon and RIM be able to fix everything eventually?

The first OTA update - Maintenance Release 1 - will arrive in the first week of December. Here are some of the issues that will be initially fixed:

If a customer receives a call while listen to music at low volume using a wired headset, the music volume may suddenly increase to the highest level (!). Interim recovery instructions: Lower the volume using the buttons on the side of the handset.

When using voice-activated dialing, incoming audio may be muted. Interim recovery instructions: Enter the menu and select “Activate Handset or Speaker”.

The handset may reset itself while sitting idle or while using multimedia applications. No interim recovery instructions provided.

A future Maintenance Release should also take care about the following problems:

Customers may intermittently lose email connectivity via CDMA and/or international roaming modes. Interim recovery instructions: Main menu -> Manage Connections -> Select mobile network -> Turn radio off, then Turn radio on. If this does not resolve the issue, pull the battery.

When powering on the handset, the radio sometimes does not turn on. Interim recovery instructions: Main menu -> Manage Connections -> Select mobile network -> Turn radio on. If this does not resolve the issue, pull the battery.

Pressing the send key while the device is in landscape mode will open the phone application in portrait mode, but the speed dial function may not work. Interim recovery instructions: Press escape until the home screen appears, then press the send key with the handset in portrait orientation.

Sometimes entering characters on the virtual keyboard doesn’t work. Interim recovery instructions: Re-select the character.

What’s your Storm experience? Come on, don’t be shy! Tell us all about it!

via BGR

Well people, just hold on to your horses people. The Storm is available online for now. By available we mean same price, same specs, but a later shipment. Verizon suggested a weird ship date, December 15th. Weird ha? That’s what the people with giant forks and tranquilizers guns marching to The Network’s headquarters said too. And Verizon quickly managed to renegotiate the waiting time. You will get the Storm on December 8th if you order it online now. Otherwise get back in that line in front of the store!

The BlackBerry Curve 8330 is a very old-school cellphone that was announced last year to Verizon, but for the folks living in Canada that couldn’t purchase one in the past, can now do it thanks to Virgin Mobile. Like the saying goes: better late than never… right?

Anyhow, the handset has a ridiculous prices:
- $50 with a 3-year contract
- $330 with 2-year contract
- and finally $380 for a 1-year contract

Virgin Mobile Canada

Did you manage to get your Storm these days or are you still waiting for that to happen? Either way you must be curios about how the whole haptic feedback works right?

Well some other curios people got their Storm and then they tore it apart to see how it works. Behind the touchscreen there’s a single microswitch ready to be pressed whenever you press the screen. Basically there’s a whole big button which reacts whenever you press certain areas of the screen. Nothing out of the ordinary here right?

via phonewreck

As I had been expecting, the latest Blackberry model, coming into the world to defy Phonejesus iPhone, hasn’t remained long enough on the store shelves to gather any dust. Verizon hasn’t yet officially announced anything regarding the exact Storm sales figures but they’ve must have done pretty good.

Unfortunately for those who didn’t get to a Verizon Store in time but still want one, I’ve got some bad news! Shipments are being delayed until December 15th.

via engadgetmobile

The Blackberry Storm is instantly disappearing from Verizon stores everywhere. And Verizon is having quite a hard time keeping up with the demand. The Storm is available in stores now for $199.00 with a plan. What do you think happened if the latest Blackberry were available for $99.99?

Apparently the online retailer letstalk.com is going to sell it out there for the bargain price of $99.99.

I guess the plan is to sell a lots of units over the holiday season. You would have to pay $69.99 per month for the following two years, but hey, it must be all worth it. You should also know the whole $99.99 deal starts on December 2nd.

via BlackBerry News

In case you want to avoid those lines at Verizon Wireless stores, go online and check out the official page of the BlackBerry 9530 Storm. It’s available for the same $199.99 after mail-in rebate and with a contract. I’d be curious on that stock supply. Would we be better off ordering online or should we get a sleeping bag ready in front of a Verizon store? What was your experience when you purchased your Storm today?

Verizon via BR

Today is the day Verizon subscribers, and not only, were waiting for. It’s the day when the BlackBerry Storm gets released. How will it be? Well for now it looks like Verizon stores have lines with more people in them than the Storm stocks. But we already knew that right?

iPhone 3G launch deja vu? The phone wasn’t available for days at AT&T and Apple stores and that’s what’s going to happen to Storm too. If you happen to spot irregularities in the whole process do tell us. Until know we’ve heard how certain stores deliver Storms only to new customers which is totally not cool!

Well this is an out of the ordinary test. While waiting for a plane why not get your iPhone and Storm out of your bag and start a head to head… thing! Let the fight begin! This is probably the best way to compare them anyway, so take a close look and decide for yourself what suits you best, because the latest Blackberry will be launched on the market tomorrow! If Verizon is up to it!

via CrackBerry

Does Verizon have enough Storms stacked all around their stores starting tomorrow? Are we going to see iPhone-like-queues in front of Verizon’s establishments across the USA? Well it looks like that. People are saying that Verizon might have a problem in shipping all those Storms to its stores. And it’s not because there aren’t enough Storms to go around but because of a tiny OS security flaw which made Verizon re-flash the handsets.

Here are some hints suggesting that the new Berry will be a rarity in stores the following days. A Verizon Corporate store was promised 100 units on launch day but it will only be getting 20 today, 40 tomorrow and 40 on Saturday. Is this what’s going to happen to all stores? Will Verizon spread out the stock? Unofficially that looks to be the case. Best Buy might even delay its Verizon launch as Verizon will surely send Storms to its stores first. We’ll see how this whole situation evolves in the near future.

via BGR

In case you didn’t know it by now, Verizon is selling the BlackBerry Storm starting this week. And in case you didn’t know it by now, The Network has a BlackBerry Storm Private Sale going on for you. The Private Sale was supposed to go on from November 17th to November 21st. The only problem seems to be that there aren’t any Storms to go for. No Storms in the stores, no demo Storms and no good customer service. The only thing Verizon could do for you is to put you on a pre-order waiting list for Friday. What do you think? Is this all a mistake or Verizon messed up this time?

Is RIM working on an LTE ready BlackBerry? Well sure it is! LTE is part of the near or far future. LTE will bring an extra G to current 3G speeds and it will be available sometime in 2011 or 2012. Hopefully by then 3G will be a common network for any carrier around the world.

Is RIM getting ready for 4G too early? Well I’d say the company should better prepare for the times ahead. If they’re going to keep rolling out handsets at least as promising as their latest Storm, they should be prepared to offer 100Mbps download speeds in the future.

via BGR

In case you were waiting for the Storm to hit this Sunday you will just have to wait some more. Best Buy has issued disclaimer on its website confirming that the Storm will be arriving late. November 23rd is the new release date even if you’re holding a newspaper where it says it’s November 16th.

The price is still $599 and you might still get the free Plantronics 360 Bluetooth headset with every Storm purchase.

via BGR

Barack Obama is one of the tech-savviest presidents ever but he might just have to give up its BlackBerry once he moves to the White House. Due to strict email laws and traditions and due to that Presidential Records Act which requires that all official correspondence to be made public, Obama might have a hard time working on its famous BlackBerry emails. Maybe it’s time he switched to a full time laptop which might fit perfectly on a certain desktop in a certain roundly shaped office.

via Gizmodock