Aramation Mobile

RIM has finally gone ahead and officially unveiled its first flip phone Blackberry Pearl Flip 8820 for T-Mobile. Available in black and red, it is a spiritual successor of the consumer-level Pearl, but now available in a folder format for the first time. Some may prefer this design as you don’t have to hassle with screen locks as closing the folder automatically disables the keys.

Full press release after the jump:

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If the Industry Minister Jim Prentice is to be believed, Bell and Telus are planning to charge for each incoming text message unless you subscribe to a package product. The Industry Minister has sent to both companies a letter asking them to meet in Ottawa before August 8th in order to explain their decision.

According to Bell, the new fee for incoming messages will start on August 8th and Telus will start charging starting August 24th.

According to insider rumors, Apple has decided not to carry the iPhone 3G when it launches in just a few days. Instead, people will have to try Rogers and Fido stores if they want it. This is in an apparent spat over Rogers’ exorbitant monthly service fees that require 3 year contract. Apple has also apparently diverted a lot of the stock originally intended for the Canadian market.

Rogers has finally unveiled what it will charge you for monthly use of the iPhone 3G. Unlike previously rumored, unlimited data is not part of the deal.

All plans include unlimited evenings and weekends for voice, unlimited received text messages and unlimited visual voicemail. Also Rogers is throwing in unlimited access to Fido and Rogers branded Wi-Fi hotspots. Additional options are $15 value pack including Caller ID, Who Called, Caller Ring Trax, 2500 sent text messages and 2500 call forwarding minutes, and $20 value pack that adds 7500 additional sent text messages as well as early evenings (starting at 6PM).

Verizon will once again be the biggest carrier in the United States by absorbing Alltel. Priced at $6 billion, this acquisition will bring 13 million subscribers to Verizon in 34 states. Merger should be completed by the end of the year.

Continue on for the press release:

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As Rogers becomes the first carrier in North America to sell Nokia’s flagship N95, it is time to look at what has already been said about this super device. Nokia insists it is a computer, but we’ll settle for a pretty-smart phone.

CNET (7 out of 10): they like the fact that it is a feature packed phone, but dings it for poor standby battery life, sluggish performance and flimsy sliding mechanism.

Gizmodo: GPS and great quality 5 megapixel camera make this device stand out from the competition, but once again battery life and laggy performance are major turn-offs.

GSM Arena: they call N95 "crown of the entire Nokia portfolio" however they recommend you turn off 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS unless you want to charge the device twice a day.

Mobile Burn: this powerhouse smartphone is recommended for its amazing feature set, but they characterized the stand-by batter life as "horrible"

My-Symbian: N95 is a "great looking phone and a great performer" and suggests you go and get it.

If you want a feature-packed phone, there is no other device like it on Rogers lineup. With internal memory of 8GB, 5.0 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, 3G HSDPA network access, Bluetooth, 802.11g, and even built-in GPS will ensure your phone will have something for everyone.

Priced at $399.99 (after mail-in rebate), it is also the priciest phone available at Rogers. Only recommended for hard-core users that need everything (and more) in their phones.

So here it is, the leaked specs for Blackberry 9000.

It does indeed feature HSDPA 2100MHz, which means 3G for Rogers and AT&T in North America, the 2 carriers selected for initial exclusive launch. Downside is a 2MP camera (Really? Just 2MP?) but you never buy a Blackberry for its shooting performances!

Alltel is sweetening the deal for loyal customers of My Circle plans by adding you a free number. So if you have been on that plan for at least 2 years, instead of 10 and 20 numbers, you’ll now get 11 and 21 numbers. It doesn’t seem like much, but a freebie now and then doesn’t hurt anyone.

Sprint announced its iPhone-killer Samsung Instinct. Featuring 3.1 inch touchscreen, it bests Apple’s iPhone in several areas including EV-DO Rev A, GPS, haptic feedback, customizable home screen, expandable memory and even GPS navigation.

SPECIFICATIONS
• Dimensions: 2.17 x 4.57 x 0.49 inches; 4.4 ounces
• Display: 3.1″ TFT (240 x 432 pixels and 262K vibrant colors)
• Standard Lithium (LiIon) battery: up to 5.75 hours continuous talk time

ENTERTAINMENT/PERSONALIZATION
• Sprint TV® with an extensive selection of live and on-demand programming including Sprint Exclusive Entertainment (SEE), the industry’s only made-for-mobile sports and entertainment video
programming network
• Sprint Music StoreSM allowing users to wirelessly download full-length songs directly to their phone for just 99 cents each
• More than a dozen streaming-radio applications, including Sprint Radio with more than 150 channels
• Sprint Media Manager PC to phone transfer application
• Background music mode allowing the user to play music while text messaging, playing games or surfing the Internet
• Customizable Favorites menu

PRODUCTIVITY
• Sprint Navigation with GPS-enabled audio and visual turn-by-turn driving directions, one-click traffic rerouting and more than 10 million local listings
• Live Search for Sprint, powered by Microsoft, provides easy access to directory information, integrated GPS-enabled directions, interactive maps and one-touch click to call access
• Voice to Action button providing many functions using voice activation including call, text, picture messaging, traffic, movie, sports, news and search.
• HTML Web browsing
• Visual Voicemail allowing users to listen to messages in their order of preference and manage them with a tap of the screen
• 2.0 megapixel camera with 2x digital zoom and video camcorder
• Advanced Stereo Bluetooth® Wireless Technology with audio caller ID
• Access to corporate and consumer (POP3) email including AOL, Gmail and Yahoo!
• Threaded text messaging provides a view of the full conversation
• Mobile Sync to restore contact information if the device is lost, stolen or damaged
• Phone as Modem connects the phone with a computer for Internet and email access

As expected, Sprint (together with Nextel) has launched its own $99/month all-you-can-eat plan. Outdoing AT&T and Verizon’s voice-only plan, and even T-Mobile’s voice and text plan, Sprint’s plan includes voice, data, text, TV and GPS, basically every service Sprint offers… It even has Nextel’s push-to-talk service!

Whether this is a desperate attempt by a dying carrier or not, competitors better sweeten their deals.

Read full press release after the jump:

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