Isaiah's Tech

If you want to get the BlackBerry Tour (9630) or the HTC Droid Eris, you should probably do it soon. Apparently, they're looking to discontinue the Tour this June and the Droid Eris will be gone in May (next month). The Tour should get replaced by the Bold / Tour 9650 that we've been hearing so much about, but I don't know about the Droid Eris. The HTC Incredible is on the way soon, so I guess they're just trying to make way for that phone - maybe they'll drop the price of the DROID at the same time. Let's see what takes place.

[Boy Genius]

It looks like US Cellular has just launched the BlackBerry Tour. That means for $199.95 USD after rebates you can get it now, even though it comes without WiFi. Of course, you'll also be able to get it for $499.95 USD contract-free. Get it now if you want! Check it out on their website here.

[CrackBerry]

We're hearing that a new BlackBerry Tour will be launching on Sprint in the USA in 2010. This BB will have WiFi support, so it could very well be the BlackBerry Essex which is essentially the Tour with an optical trackpad and WiFi. It's unconfirmed at the time, so we're just going to have to wait and see what all the buzz is about.

[CrackBerry]

It looks like US Cellular will be launching the BlackBerry Tour pretty soon. That's all I really have to say, since it's been out for a while on other carriers. Check it out on their website here. To be honest, I think it would be better for you to wait for the BB Essex, which has WiFi, but it's up to you.

[Boy Genius]

RIM looks like they're working on the BlackBerry Essex and the BlackBerry Dakota - formerly known as the Magnum. We already know that the BlackBerry Essex is essentially a CDMA Tour with WiFi, but we're also seeing that it will also sport an optical trackpad. Other improvements are said to be an improved camera, and it could be launching in early 2010.

The Dakota, on the other hand, looks like it will have a full QWERTY keypad and a touchscreen display / optical trackpad as well - the almighty touchscreen Bold. This would definitely be pretty sweet. To make things a bit more surprising, RIM looks like they'll be implementing a liquid camera lens into this BlackBerry, which I know nothing about. If you want to know about the liquid lens just check it out here.

That's all we have for now, so just wait around.

[CrackBerry]

A new BlackBerry Atlas video has just been spotted online. The guy in the video does a good job showing it off. The Atlas doesn't have 3G, but it does have EDGE and WiFi connectivity over top of the BlackBerry OS 5.0 (Platform 6.0). There's not much to tell you here, so just check out the BlackBerry Atlas below - don't mind the ugly "MacDonald's" BlackBerry Tour in the video though.

We've heard about the Essex and the Curve 8530, but what's the Striker 9100? Well, first off, the BlackBerry Essex is basically the Tour with WiFi, a trackpad, and has another feature that we will apparently love. The BlackBerry Curve 8530 is just a CDMA version of the BlackBerry Curve 8520, it's headed to Verizon in the near future. The BlackBerry Striker 9100 appears to be a slimmer BlackBerry Bold 9700 that has 3G connectivity and an optical trackpad. We still don't know when any of these smartphones will launch.

In related news, a source has mentioned that RIM is working on getting out 16 new smartphones in 2010!

[Unwired View]

Sprint is now selling the cameraless BlackBerry Tour. It's the exact same thing as the regular Tour, except this one has no camera - obviously. Unfortunately, this smartphone still doesn't have WiFi on-board; I guess we'll just have to wait for the Essex. Check out Sprint's website online, so that you can get it for $199.99 on a 2-year contract.

[Crunch Gear, Unwired View]

Thank you RIM! According to the latest rumour, RIM will be launching the BlackBerry Essex, which will basically be the BlackBerry Tour with a new trackpad (optical?) and WiFi capabilities. There's nothing much else to say here, but we're hoping that this rumour comes true. The sexiest BlackBerry could get even sexier soon.

[Mobile Syrup, Engadget]

The BlackBerry Tour has been around for a while, but maybe you're waiting for your favourite carrier to have it in their possession. Well, in case you have a secret love affair for Alltel, they are now selling the Tour for $199 on a 1-year contract after a $100 mail-in rebate. The cheapest plan costs $69.99 USD every month, so that could be a bit too expensive for you.

[Boy Genius]

If this is true, August 23rd will be a big day for everyone in the US. It looks like a lot of phones are going to be available on that day, probably one of the biggest days of the year.

Samsung Gravity 2 (berry) — T-Mobile

Samsung Solstice — AT&T

LG Xenon (red) — AT&T

Global AirCard (G2) — Verizon

Samsung Rogue — Verizon

LG Chocolate Touch — Verizon

Samsung u450 Intensity — Verizon

Samsung Omnia 2 — Verizon

BlackBerry Tour — (new shipment, Sprint)

What did I tell you? The LG Chocolate Touch is more than likely the LG BL40; the Samsung Omnia 2 is probably the I8000 Omnia II; the Samsung Rogue is basically what it says it is. What's also fairly interesting is that at the top there's an "M330" listed to be available on September 3rd and we've actually heard nothing about it before. Let's hope this leak stays true to its word!

[Boy Genius]

If you check out Verizon Wireless' official website, they've dropped almost all of their smartphone prices to $99 USD. Here's a timeline of some of their upcoming phones, if you're interested. The Touch Pro 2 looks like it'll be here sooner rather than later since the original Touch Pro dropped from $419 USD to $99 USD. The only smartphones over $99 USD now is the BlackBerry Tour and the Samsung Saga. Let's hope the Samsung Rogue U960 is on the way. Like I said, check out Verizon Wireless' website for more information.

[Boy Genius]

If you still haven't got to purchase the Tour, today could be your lucky day. Wirefly is now selling the Sprint BlackBerry Tour for just $169.99 USD to new customers. If you buy it directly from Sprint it costs $199.99 USD after rebates on a 2-year contract. In case you're interested, you can check it out here.

[CrackBerry]

The only reason why we know this information is because of U.S. Cellular's rebate plan that was just leaked out. It has a bunch of phones on the list, but the most interesting ones are clearly: the BlackBerry Tour, the HTC Snap, and the HTC Touch Pro 2. This rebate sheet is effective from July 17th (today) to November 12th. All three of this handsets - and all of the other ones - are expected to launch within this time frame. The exact date and pricing has not been mentioned yet.

[Phone Arena, Boy Genius]

So much for Telus launching the HTC Snap S510 today (July 15th). It was scheduled to launch today alongside the BlackBerry Tour, but it looks like it's still "Coming Soon" according to the official Telus website. Looks like HTC Snap and WinMo 6.1 fans will have to wait a couple of days longer or maybe until tomorrow.

On a side note, the HTC Touch Pro 2 is scheduled to be available in under a week. It will probably hit Telus for more than $199.99 CAD ($178 USD) since the original HTC Touch Pro is listed at that price. I'd guess $249.99 CAD ($223 USD) or $299.99 CAD ($268 USD) on a 3-year contract. We'll just have to see in the near future.

[Telus Mobility]

Bell was first out of the gate, launching the BlackBerry Tour this past weekend. The good news is that Telus has just launched the BlackBerry Tour as well, so us Canadians now have two carrier options. The sad part is that Telus won't have the BlackBerry Tour in stock until Wednesday. I don't know what kind of launch [flop] that is, but you'll just have to wait until tomorrow for your Tour. July 15th is when we were expecting the Tour to drop anyway, so this shouldn't shock some people.

For existing customers of Telus, the BlackBerry Tour costs $299.99 CAD ($262 USD) on a 3-year contract, $499.99 CAD ($437 USD) on a 2-year contract, $549.99 CAD ($480 USD) on a 1-year contract, and $599.99 CAD ($524 USD) with no contract. But, new customers can pick up the Tour for just $229.99 CAD ($201 USD) on a 3-year contract. Who are you going to choose, Bell or Telus?

On a side note, don't forget that the HTC Snap will also be available tomorrow - if the release date still stands.

[CrackBerry]

Just like I said earlier, today is BlackBerry Tour day! Today the BlackBerry Tour is now available on Sprint and Verizon for $199 USD on a 2-year contract. You can check it out on Verizon's website here, and you can check it out on Sprint's website here. Go and get yours now!

[Boy Genius]

I went to the mall yesterday - in Canada - and I saw the BlackBerry Tour in the flesh (below) and it's damn sexy. I have the picture for you below, it's blurry since my phone's camera is only a pathetic 2MP. It was "coming soon" at a Bell store, but it was already available at another location - still on Bell's service though. But, apparently, it's available today!! Like the price listed in the picture above, I saw it retailing for $249.95 CAD ($215 USD) on a 3-year contract - also $699.95 CAD ($602 USD) contract-free. You can go out and get yours now, but don't forget that the Tour doesn't have WiFi. Apparently though, the supplies will be short for a couple of days.

[Boy Genius, CrackBerry]

According to an e-mail, Sprint will be holding training events for the BlackBerry Tour. This is solely because Sprint is launching the BlackBerry Tour in 2 days. Along with the Tour, it looks like Sprint will also be launching a new BlackBerry "Inferno" 8330 and a new red Curve 8350i. The new colour lines up with what I talked about 2 days ago.

[CrackBerry]