BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion Inc. (RIM) has officially unveiled the new BlackBerry Storm 2, the successor of RIM’s very first touch-screen based device.

It is expected RIM will be announcing availability in the coming days. The phone should head to Verizon first in the U.S. and later in the Europe from Vodafone.

The Storm 2 will feature basic enhancements compared to the first-generation Storm. RIM has enhanced the SureType text-entry to only electronic-based, and there will now be no moving parts. The memory has also been doubled to 256MB of flash memory, and there is now 2GB of on board storage. The device features GPS, a 3.2MP camera, and now includes 802.11 b/g WiFi.

Read the full story

The BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) today officially announced the new BlackBerry Tour smartphone.

“BlackBerry continues to be the top selling smartphone brand in North America and we are proud to add this powerful new 3G world phone to our successful product portfolio,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion.

The BlackBerry Tour supports 3G EV-DO Rev. A networks in North America, as well as 3G UMTS/HSPA (2100Mhz) and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks abroad.

The BlackBerry Tour features a chic black finish with chrome highlights (112mm x 62mm x 14.2mm and 130g). It includes a full-QWERTY keyboard. In addition, the large (2.44″), bright display (480×360 resolution at 245 ppi) delivers the highest resolution available on a BB smartphone.

Read the full story

According to a WSJ report, Microsoft is developing a new Microsoft branded phone dubbed “Pink”, that will likely be powered by Windows Mobile 7, coupled with Zune, Marketplace, and My Phone services, among other services developed by the MS Danger team.

The device will exclusively support the features above; the features will not be available for licensing for other vendors who power their devices with Windows Mobile.

The report also indicates Microsoft is in talks with Verizon to launch the device exclusively in the U.S.

There is currently no other information relating to a possible release, pricing, features, or even what the device will look like.

Read the full story

There currently appears to be a BlackBerry BIS email outage affecting users in North America. The outage affects various carriers including T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, Rogers, among others. Some users are reporting an all out outage on Verizon while others are getting their emails with a delay with other carriers. No official word from RIM yet.

It appears RIM is readying the launch of its new unlimited TV download service. Blackberry users will be able to actually download full TV show episodes from RIM’s extensive catalog of partners. RIM will restrict downloads only from WiFi because of pressure from network carriers over bandwidth concerns. It is unclear how Verizon customers will use the service because Verizon BlackBerry devices do not support WiFi since the company wants subscribers to add mobile Internet to their plans. We can also expect iTunes to enable video downloads to the iPhone as iTunes currently only lets you download music and podcasts over-the-air.

Update: It is now passed May and this BlackBerry has yet to launch. It is believed it will launch either late June or mid July 2009 on Telus, and therefore likely in the U.S. as well.

There are rumors that the BlackBerry 9630 World Edition is set to launch this May on Verizon. We can expect Telus in Canada to also launch this handset in May, bringing the first full physical QWERTY next-generation BlackBerry on Telus. Expect this BlackBerry to be highly aggressively priced.

Verizon is being forced to sell part of its wireless spectrum in order to comply with competition regulations from the fed. There is speculation as to who will buy the $3 billion spectrum. Reports indicate AT&T is the most likely company to bid as it has the cash to buy it. Verizon remains the largest US carrier based on subscribers with about 80 million, while AT&T is second with about 77 million.

Verizon has just released Q4 results. The Blackberry Storm contributed to higher profits, with an impressive 1 million Blackberry Storm units sold. Analysts were expecting about 500,000 units sold. Verizon also reported 1.4 million new subscribers added during Q4. Verizon CEO and Chairman Ivan Seidenberg said “Verizon has shown that it is able to compete effectively in this economic environment,” Verizon posted $24.65 billion in total revenue and $1.24 billion in net profit in 2008. The Blackberry definitely Read the full story

Verizon is set to become the largest carrier in the U.S. in terms of the number of subscriptions as the Alltel merger is about to be finalized. Verizon will add about 13.2 million Alltel subscribers to its 66 million current base, edging AT&T as the top carrier in the U.S. with 78 million subscribers. AT&T has about 72 million subscribers. Verizon will take on $22.2 billion in Alltel debt as part of the merger. Both companies failed to discuss possible job cuts as a result of the merger and consolidation. Job cuts should be expected in this case given the magnitude of the merger. Both companies use the CDMA network standard.

Verizon has been awarded $33.15 million against OnlineNIC in a cyber-squatting suit. However, no one from OnlineNIC appeared in court, and none has been identified at the San Francisco based company. It is unlikely Verizon will receive the money. OnlineNIC has essentially made a business by registering domain hundreds of Verizon domain names such as itunesverizon.com, among hundreds of other domains, and has simply profited from advertisements.  Verizon said in the filing OnlineNIC made “bad-faith registrations of Verizon-related domain names…to attract web users who were seeking to access Verizon’s legitimate websites.” Other companies have also previously filed suits against OnlineNIC including Microsoft and Yahoo.