Isaiah's Tech

A couple of phones on Canada's Rogers has just gone through a price drop today. They're all listed below so I won't even bother listing it myself - thanks to Mobile Syrup. All of this great news is accompanied by the ZTE 636 and the Sony Ericsson MD 400 Rocket Sticks which will retail for free on a 1-year contract from now until May 1st, 2010.

Here are the device price drops:
BlackBerry Bold 9000: Was $124.99 and now is $99.99 on a 3-year contract
BlackBerry Curve 8900: Was $99.99 and now is $49.99 on a 3-year contract
Samsung Galaxy Spica: Was $79.99 and now is $49.99 on a 3-year contract
LG Eve: Was $49.99 and now is $19.99 on a 3-year contract
Nokia N86: Was $149.99 and now is $99.99 on a 3-year contract
Nokia Surge: Was $49.99 and now is $19.99 on a 3-year contract
Samsung Propel: Was $29.99 and now is $9.99 on a 3-year contract
Sony Ericsson C510a: Was $19.99 and now is $9.99 on a 3-year contract

[Mobile Syrup]

Starting today AT&T is going to be real generous. Right now, they have just slashed all of their BlackBerry prices to 50% off. You'll receive the 50% via mail-in rebate, but it's better than nothing, right? Anyways, included in this deal is the BlackBerry Bold 9000, Bold 9700, Curve 8900, Curve 8520, Curve 8320, and the Curve 8310.

If you don't want to get a BB than you can always get a Samsung Solstice for free after a mail-in rebate. This would normally be priced at $50, so you'll be getting all of that as a mail-in rebate.

[Slash Gear]

We heard about it last week and it's now in effect. Rogers has just launched a couple of smartphones in the sub-$100 CAD range - on a 3-year contract. These include: the original BlackBerry Bold 9000 in black and white (for $99.99), the Curve 8900 (for $79.99), the Curve 8520 (for $49.99), the LG Eve GW620 (for $49.99), the XPERIA X1 (for $99.99), and the HTC Magic (for $79). You can actually head over to Rogers' website here to check out all of these deals.

[Mobile Syrup]

What you see here appears to be a CDMA variant of the BlackBerry Curve 8900. This handset looks like it could launch with WiFi and it appears to have the Curve 8900 keyboard and an optical trackpad. RIM is really making a push with these optical trackpads, since they're slowly getting rid of those trackballs. At least there'll be no more problems with their future BlackBerries like there was in the Tour on Verizon.

[CrackBerry, Engadget Mobile]

Interested in an expensive BlackBerry Curve 8900 "laced with 4,459 brilliant cut diamonds (weighing 28.43 carats) and also is made with solid 18-carat yellow gold"? Well, this could be exactly what you're looking for. Alexander Amosu, a UK based luxury designer, spent over 350 hours making this smartphone. If you're interested, you better act now because he's only making three of them and one of them has already sold - so there's only two left now. It's retailing for $240,000 USD.

[Mobile Syrup]

You better act fast and head to Amazon right now because only today will you get the best deals known to mankind. Every handset on AT&T - except for the iPhone - is now available on Amazon (here) for just 1 cent. Yes, just $0.01 USD. Go now and stop reading this. Don't forget that you're going to have to be a new AT&T subscriber. So, make the switch now.

[Boy Genius]

Just yesterday, I reported that the AT&T would be launching the BlackBerry Curve 8900 this Friday. Well, it looks like it's already available today, if you go on AT&T's official website. It is now retailing for $199 on a 2-year contract. In addition to that fee, the cheapest plan costs $39.99 USD and that includes 450 "inclusive" minutes, 5000 nights/weekends minutes and unlimited mobile to mobile calls. Check it out now, here.

[Slash Gear]

AT&T will be launching the BlackBerry Curve 8900 this Friday, the 22nd of May. Unfortunately, the Curve 8900 will not have 3G, so that's a disappointment. The good thing is that it will be cheaper than the Bold, since it will be $199 USD on a 2-year contract when it launches. So, this Friday for $199, don't forget.

[Mobile Crunch]

AT&T has already confirmed that the BlackBerry Curve 8900 will indeed be hitting their shelves. According to the latest rumours, the BlackBerry 8900 will be hitting AT&T on May 25, instead of the "early Summer" / June release date. It is also said to be launching for $149 USD on a 2-year contract. AT&T's BlackBerry Bold will also apparently see a price drop to $199 on a 2-year contract, so this Summer looks like it will be a large BlackBerry-filled pie. Especially with the release of the sexy BlackBerry Tour aka Niagara aka 9630.

[Boy Genius]

The rumours were true. AT&T has just had a press release revealing the availability of the BlackBerry Curve 8900 said to be available this Summer. The press release did not reveal any pricing details or an exact release date, but it said the "Summer." Take a look at what AT&T had to say below, courtesy of Boy Genius:




[Boy Genius]

The BlackBerry 8900 that has found its home on T-Mobile - and on ice sculptures in Canada - could be making its way to AT&T this June, according to the latest rumours. The specs will definitely stay the same, so don't expect anything different. If this comes true, all of the news will probably be made official next week at RIM's Wireless Enterprise Symposium. On a side note, don't forget that the BlackBerry Niagara will be available in early Summer and it's definitely something to look forward to.

[Gizmodo]

According to the newest rumour, RIM's BlackBerry 9630 Niagara may be coming to Verizon Wireless in May. That's less than 2 months from now! The Niagara, in my opinion, is the sexiest BlackBerry to ever hit the market. The Niagara combines the BlackBerry Curve and the magnificent BlackBerry Bold to look so sexy. RIM makes me proud to be a American Canadian.

[Gizmodo]

At Ottawa's Winterlude festival, some Canadians have sculpted an ice sculpture of a Blackberry. Gizmodo points out that it could be the Blackberry Curve 8900, but i don't know for sure. I do know that it looks amazing though.

It's about time that Nokia finally decides to release an app store. We all know about Apple's app store, but Blackberry, Palm and Samsung also have one, just in case you didn't know. Nokia should be announcing this app store at MWC and i find it surprising that they didn't already have something like this. Nokia holds the top spot, in terms of selling the most mobile handsets.

Remember the LG KM900 Arena? I pointed out that it looked a lot like the iPhone's UI, but it actually resembles Linux more than the iPhone. Since the Arena's UI will spin like a cube (uber 3D-ness) it is similar to Linux's desktop OS, which also has the 'cube'. It's amazing that LG has decided to go with a '3D' UI, but i feel like it is not needed. Unless it has some amazing features, i don't really see the need of making the UI 3D. It should be good for multi-tasking though, right?

Panasonic's new HDC-HS300 HD camcorder was one of the many camcorders featured at CES. But, the reviews are now out and they have nothing but good things to say about this wonderful camcorder. One critic mentioned that this "could be the best [consumer] camcorder released all year" and that it is "nothing short of stunning in virtually all conditions." This camcorder also has a touchscreen LCD (for your menu needs) and a microphone that can record 5.1 audio. It's sets itself apart from the crowd so much that critics mentioned that the VIXIA, from Canon, should look out for this camcorder.

The Samsung NC10 netbook looks like it will have a "special edition" model that will be released. With the special edition, this netbook will be able to run for 9.5 hours (like the Asus EEE PC), have a larger trackpad and a new glossy screen. The special edition NC10 will cost $50 USD more than the original, which is a good deal. This will bump the price to $500 USD. Say hello to the new "smudge-loving screen."

Blackberry Ice Sculpture (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5148755/nationalistic-canadians-sculpt-giant-blackberry-out-of-ice
Nokia's App Store (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/07/nokia-launching-a-symbian-app-store-at-mwc/
LG Arena KM900's UI (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5149010/lg-arena-km900-combines-iphone+inspired-interface-with-touch+based-3d-cube
Panasonic's HDC-HS300 HD Camcorder (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/08/panasonics-hdc-hs300-hd-camcorder-reviewed-thoroughly-enjoyed/
Samsung NC10-11PBK (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5148990/samsung-nc10+11pbk-special-edition-boosts-battery-life-price-tag

So, the first 'official' review came out for Killzone 2. The Official Playstation Magazine has stated that it liked the game, a lot. They gave it a 5 stars out of 5 and even mentioned that it is a "powerful contender for the best game of 2009." This is pretty good news and i just hope that the magazine isn't being biased, since it is the Official Playstation Magazine and this game should be the game to go after in 2009, for Playstation 3 owners. I hope this game is all it's hyped up to be, even if i don't have a Playstation 3 by the time this comes out, which is very likely. Hopefully, we'll see more review's from other sites and magazines soon, since we can't base our whole point of view of the game on just one review, from the Playstation Magazine.

There is new rumour that says that the Blackberry Curve 8900 is going to come out a week earlier than scheduled. It is now reported to be releasing on T-Mobile on February 11. Unlike the [good-looking but terrible] Blackberry Storm, the Blackberry Curve 8900 will have Wi-Fi. The camera is also pretty decent at 3.2 megapixels. The release date for Canada is currently unavailable, but hopefully it'll be around the same date as when the US gets it. The Blackberry Bold is quite popular in Canada, so i wonder if this Curve will top the popularity of the Bold.

After my last blog post, i went to Wal-Mart and the mall near my place, Bramalea City Centre, with my mother. At Wal-Mart we got more Ferrero Rocher and i got myself some more sliced pineapples. Thanks to my girlfriend, who actually introduced me to such a good tasting fruit. Anyways, after Wal-Mart we went to the mall. I got hangers, for my clothes, and my mom sent some package to the Philippines or something, i think it was money. So, on our way home, i plugged my iPod into the radio in the car. I played "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith and we both sang the whole thing all the way home. And no, i do not listen to Aerosmith all the time, so do not ask why that's on my iPod. Anyways, we got home and as i was eating a Rogers Internet commercial came up. It's the commercial where one guy is on the computer and his friend is over his shoulder watching what he does. The friend on the computer shows the other friend a video, and what do you know, it starts buffering. The friend watching asks if he has Rogers and he says, "No, but look how fast it's going." When clearly, it is buffering and being utterly slow. The guy watching says, "You should get Rogers High-Speed Internet because it's the fastest." This is where my mom commented and said, "That's not true." I asked her, why she though that and she said because when she clicks on Chikka (some texting program) it takes forever to show up on her computer. I laughed and asked, "Do you mean when you click on the icon on your desktop, it takes forever to pop up." And she said, "Yeah, it takes forever because the Internet is so slow." I laughed really hard and explained to her that, her opening an icon on her desktop has nothing to do with the Internet. The reason that it took forever to pop up was because her computer is 9 years old now and running Windows 2000. She told me that she's going to get a new one and i told her to just wait until the new AMD's come out with Windows 7, since it will be a significant upgrade. If she gets a new computer, i know that, that's coming to me and i'm just going to give her this one that i'm using now. If i get a new desktop, i'll be ready for Starcraft 2 easily. Anyways, i just though i'd like to share that amusing story with you all. Time for me to play Hot Shots Golf Fore until i sleep. Have a good night everyone.

Killzone 2 Review (and picture): http://kotaku.com/5123687/the-first-killzone-2-review-is-in
Blackberry Curve 8900 (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/t-mobiles-blackberry-curve-8900-seemingly-pegged-for-february-1/