Isaiah's Tech

These two devices above from RIM should look familiar. Yup, that's the BlackBerry Storm 3 and the Bold Touch 9900 smiling for the camera. Furthermore, they're both reportedly running on Telus' network in Canada so it looks like that carrier will be launching both of these smartphones. Specs for the Storm 3 are still unknown right now so we'll have to wait for the official word from RIM.

[Mobile Syrup]

It looks like a new smartphone from RIM has just leaked in a sub 1 minute video and it's actually looking pretty good. This one's reportedly the "Monaco" which will be the Storm 3 whenever it hits the market. Specs are rumoured to be a 3.7-inch WVGA display, a 5MP camera with 720p HD video recording, 768MB of RAM, 4GB of RAM, a microSD card slot, Bluetooth / WiFi support, NFC, dual-band CDMA / EVDO Rev. A connectivity, a Qualcomm 1.2GHz CPU, an 11.5mm thin body, and BB OS 6.1. Specs seem pretty good for now but I'm afraid that by the time it actually hits the market it'll be behind. Check out the video above!

[CrackBerry]

One of Phone Arena's tipsters have just told them some beefy information regarding Verizon's upcoming smartphone line-up. Later in Q1, they're expected to launch the HTC Thunderbolt, the DROID Incredible HD 2, and the Samsung (i520) 4G LTE smartphone. The Samsung smartphone is rumoured to feature a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED+ display, a 1GHz CPU, an 8MP rear-facing camera, a 1.3MP front-facing camera, and the Android OS.

In Q2 we can reportedly expect the Motorola DROID Bionic and the LG Revolution which we got a glimpse of at CES about a month ago. Apparently, RIM will have some devices ready for that quarter as well. We could be getting their BlackBerry "Monaco", which could be the Storm 3, and the "Monaco", which will be the company's Bold with a touchscreen display. Interesting stuff, we'll see if it pans out to be true.

[Phone Arena]

An anonymous tipster sent the image you see above to Engadget and it looks like the BlackBerry Storm 3 is still alive. The image above is from an internal "Mobile Genie" system and actually may not be confirmation that it'll actually be launching. Don't hold your breath, unless the rumoured spec sheet for the Storm 3 is correct.

[Engadget Mobile]

There's a couple of new rumours going around regarding some future smartphones from RIM. First off, there's said to be a BlackBerry Storm 3 which is being codenamed as the Monaco internally. Specs are still unknown right now so you'll have to wait around for that important information. All that you can take out of the rumour right now is that there will be a Storm 3 - if this rumour turns out to be true. Keep in mind that the supposed Storm 3 image that leaked in September did have a sticker of a giant "M" on it - this could be reaching a bit.

What could be the more exciting smartphone is what's being rumoured as the BlackBerry Montana. This smartphone is said to be a touchscreen Bold so you can think of this as the 99xx or the Pluto. You should definitely take these with a grain of salt because neither rumour has been confirmed at this point - not even by CrackBerry or BBLeaks.

[CrackBerry]

Coming from BB Leaks is the rumoured spec sheet for the BlackBerry Storm 3 which will likely be hitting the market in 2011. RIM isn't exactly the best company in the world when it comes to keeping up with the specs of the current times, but with the Storm 3 they could be doing just that. Rumoured specs for the Storm 3 include a 3.7-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display, a 5MP / 8MP camera with fixed focus and a dual-LED flash, 8GB / 16GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, 512MB / 1GB of RAM, 1GB of ROM, an optical trackpad, Bluetooth 3.0 / WiFi support, a 1,200mAh battery, GPS, Class 32 GPRS, and an OS developed by QNX.

Yes, you should be taking these specs with a grain of salt, but it's coming from multiple BB Leaks sources - even they're taking them as rumours. Apparently, the Storm 3 could also be RIM's first 4G BlackBerry, but who really knows at this point

[BB Leaks]

Thanks to the image above, taken of a Cellebrite, it might be confirming that RIM's BlackBerry Storm 3 (9570) actually isn't dead. This was spotted in Verizon's systems so it should be heading there just like we've heard on countless occasions. No other details are known right now so we'll have to keep waiting.

[Phone Arena]

According to Into Mobile, RIM has / had a couple of touchscreen smartphones in the works. Sadly, this is coming from an analysts' perspective so we'll have to wait and see if this actually turns out to be true. These smartphones are said to be three iterations of the Storm 3. One of them (like we heard before) was sporting haptic touch but that has been cancelled, the other one is said to be a non-haptic model which has more memory, BB OS 6.0, and a similar thickness to the Storm 2. Apparently, and more impressively, RIM is supposedly working on another Storm 3 model which has an "iPhone-like form factor, but slimmer" body and this could be running on software developed by QNX.

Into the tablet business, another PlayBook model (the PlayBook 2) could be available in the second half of 2011, which is quite interesting as well. Last, but not least, the analyst mentions that BlackBerry App World will somehow be integrated into the new QNX OS which should be on the Storm 3 and the PlayBook tablets.

[Slash Gear]

There was a leak today and the faucet is definitely still running. This is a huge leak regarding Verizon's upcoming devices and they're all below for you via Engadget. Before you scroll down I'll just mention the best / worst parts.

The Storm 3 reportedly isn't headed to Verizon anymore and that might be good / bad news depending on whoever you are. The rest of the BlackBerry line-up will reportedly be updated in October so maybe that means the OS 6.0 update is on the way. The Continuum - just like we heard this morning - should be available in late October or maybe in early November. The Motorola DROID Pro is reportedly also going to hit the carrier in late October / early November - this will be the Global Edition of the DROID 2. The Motorola Venus is apparently going to launch October and will sport a BlackBerry-style. This smartphone will sport a 1GHz CPU along with the Android OS. The LG enV Pro is apparently going to launch in November with Android and a 1GHz CPU. The HTC Merge that has been leaking out lately is reportedly also going to be available in the next month or so with a 1GHz CPU and it's another global handset. Clearly, it's reportedly going to be a big month for Verizon.

Last, but not least, there's the Motorola Stingray tablet which will sport a 10-inch display, 16GB of internal storage, Nvidia's Tegra 2 chipset, CDMA connectivity, upgradeable to (4G) LTE support, and Android 3.0 "Gingerbread". There's also talk of a bunch of hubs, so you can check that out below.


The BlackBerry 9570 Storm3 has been canceled. It could still launch somewhere, but it won't be on Verizon, apparently -- and considering that it was shaping up to be an ever-so-slightly-retuned Storm2, we can't say we blame them.


The Tour, Bold 9650, and Curve 3G will all get updates in October. "Known issues" and the like.


Samsung SCH-i400 Continuum on tap for late October. We'd heard from our other source that it'd be on tap for early November, but either way, the wait shouldn't be a long one. It's got a 1GHz processor and is known internally by the codename "Garnett."


Motorola Venus in October. This is an interesting one -- Verizon bills it as having "BlackBerry look and feel" with a QWERTY keyboard up front below the screen, possibly mimicking T-Mobile's Charm, but higher-end thanks to a 1GHz processor and both CDMA and GSM / HSPA radios on top of Froyo.


Motorola Droid Pro tentatively scheduled for late October or early November. It's listed as having a 1.3GHz processor, Froyo, global radios, and Flash 10. We still have every reason to believe this is the phone we've been calling the Droid 2 World Edition (or Global Edition), but it's unclear whether it'll replace the Droid 2 altogether.


HTC Merge / Lexicon / Lexikon coming in late October / early November, too. Don't be fooled: all of these code names refer to the same device, and even Verizon's communication uses both "Merge" and "Lexicon" interchangeably. As expected, it's a global phone with a 1GHz Snapdragon.


LG enV Pro -- with Android -- coming in November. In all likelihood, this is the phone we referred to as the enV Touch 2 back in August. It'll maintain the enV Touch form factor and feature a 1GHz processor plus a global radio, making it the best enV (and frankly, possibly the best Android phone from LG anywhere in the world) to date.


Motorola Stingray tablet in Q1 of 2011. Now this is interesting. We'd previously thought the Stingray would be a smaller tablet, but it now seems it'll be a full 10 inches with Android 3.0 Gingerbread, 16GB of on-board storage, and Tegra 2. Oh, but that's not the best part: it'll also be "hardware upgradeable to LTE," initially launching with CDMA alone. Whether that means you'll need to purchase and insert some sort of module or something, we're not exactly sure.


FiveSpot next month, three USB modems for LTE in November, LTE MiFi after that. After a few fleeting rumors that it had been deep-sixed, it seems that the ZTE-sourced FiveSpot mobile hotspot will finally launch on October 7. We'll then get a trio of USB LTE modems in November from LG, Pantech, and Novatel -- perfect for Verizon's first round of commercial LTE launches -- and an LTE MiFi (from Novatel, naturally) either in the fourth quarter or first quarter. The "initial launch" of it will be domestic only, presumably meaning no GSM support.


[Phandroid, Engadget]

WSJ has just mentioned that RIM's tablet could be announced soon. When? As soon as next week if you believe what they're saying. The tablet we're talking about here is running on an OS made by QNX along with WiFi support and tethering. Furthermore, future RIM smartphones may actually be running the QNX-made OS in the future - maybe starting with OS 7.0. The name of the tablet is unknown right now but it could be the BlackPad or maybe even SurfBook which would just be weird. Then again, the "iPad" name was always being made fun of, but the jokes quickly stopped.

Inside you'll find some CPU by Marvell and Quanta is said to be manufacturing the tablet itself. So, let's see if this big announcement could actually be happening next week.

Update: CrackBerry has just found out that RIM will be holding an event called DevCon from September 27th to 30th which is next week. At this event we could very well see the new OS, the tablet, and maybe even the Storm 3.

[Engadget]

Alright, there's some more information about some smartphones in the USA - the ones from RIM. On August 15th, the BlackBerry Storm 2 (9550) on Verizon will see its doom and on August 1st, the Curve 8530 will be getting their end-of-life papers as well. Verizon will be replacing the Curve 8530 with the Curve 3G (9300) and the Storm 2 may be replaced by the Storm 3 later this year.

Another carrier that will dump their Curve 8520 smartphone is T-Mobile, which will be replacing it with the Curve 9300. This smartphone will be available in the next few months.

The next information is nothing surprising at all. The BlackBerry 9780 will be a part of RIM's Bold line-up. That is all.

[Boy Genius]

We just heard about a bunch of new Verizon devices this morning and we have a bit more information about them now - along with a new one. The first is above and it shows a bunch of DROID 2 photos. Engadget is hearing that the smartphone will cost you $199.99 on a 2-year contract, $599.99 contract-free, and there'll be an 8GB microSD card pre-installed. Like I said, this smartphone could be available starting on August 23, so just mark that down in pencil on your calendar.

The madness doesn't stop there. The leaked slideshow picture you see above is apparently the BlackBerry Storm 3 which is also headed to Verizon in the holiday season of this year. As you can [barely] see, the Storm 3 should feature WiFi 802.11n support, a 5MP camera, 512MB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, and the oh-so-important BB OS 6.0 with the WebKit browser. This smartphone can also be used as a 3G mobile hotspot so that's some good news. As you can see, it looks pretty much the same as the other two Storm's so the display should stay the same - 3.25-inches.

The other handset that Verizon will be getting is another one that will be in their DROID line-up. This smartphone is different from the rest, packing a slide-up QWERTY keyboard along with four touch-sensitive buttons and a touchscreen display. Of course, the OS will be Android here and it's from Motorola. The specs are unknown yet, but you can call it the Motorola DROID Pre if you want to.

Motorola DROID 2 Coming On August 23rd?: Engadget
BlackBerry Storm 3 Leak: Engadget
Pre-Like Motorola DROID: Phandroid

Out of nowhere Engadget has picked up another Verizon leak. This time it outlines a bunch of devices that will likely be hitting the carrier later on this year. This, of course, includes the DROID 2 along with the BlackBerry Storm 3, Curve 3, and even a 10.1-inch tablet. The Storm 3 is a possible launch for the holiday season and could be the 9800 but I doubt it. It'll likely be similar to the original Storm and the Storm 2 - that is, no slide-up QWERTY keyboard. The Curve 3 is likely the Curve 9300 that we've been hearing about lately. Unfortunately, we don't know much about the 10.1-inch tablet that's on the way. It could either be a RIM BlackBerry tablet (different size from the rumoured 8.9 and 7-inch ones) or one running Android.

[Engadget]

According to BlackBerry Cool, the BlackBerry Storm 3 will be quite the upgrade over its predecessors. Apparently, the smartphone is being tested in a private beta which isn't surprising and that it's being disguised in a Storm 2 case - I don't know if this one's actually real or not. Anyways, it'll supposedly feature 8GB of internal storage, a new screen we haven't seen yet, and apparently an entirely new OS - possibly not OS 6. This smartphone will be hitting Verizon and could also be one of their first LTE phones. None of this is confirmed right now so take it with a grain - or more - of salt.

[Phone Arena]

It shouldn't be a surprise that RIM is reportedly working on a new Storm Series handset. Apparently, in the latter half of this year we should expect the BlackBerry Storm 3 to launch and it'll feature a "perfect" SurePress touchscreen system along with their new BlackBerry OS 6.0 with their WebKit browser. They're going to try to focus on gaming with this handset, which I believe will be a challenge to them.

More rumours are stating the BlackBerry Storm 4 will be launching in 2011 and it'll focus on aspects like augmented reality, a magnetometer, a better GPS, and a 5MP camera.

[Slash Gear]

The BlackBerry 9800 Slider "Mr. T" has just been caught on video. It's definitely sporting the BB OS 6.0 and shows us a tiny bit about the phone. Although, I know you'll be craving for more when you watch it. It's only 14 seconds, so just check it out below.



[Boy Genius]