Today, we are introduced to the latest device from RIM.  This new Blackberry device is a cross between the Storm and the Bold, as it contains all the main characteristics of the Bold while incorporating a touch screen.  In order to keep the device both aesthetically and functionally pleasant, the keyboard is hidden away behind the touch screen using a “slider” form factor.

More info will be posted as soon as it is available.

bbleaks.com via crackberry

We’ve been pretty slow on keeping you all up-to-date recently, so a quick apology for that. There are some big things in the works for later on this year and I’m working hard to get these new features up-and-running. Now back to the news:

• Apple updated its desktop line today, bring hardware updates to the Mac mini (long overdue), iMac, and Mac Pro. Most of these updates deal with detailed specifications on hardware (processor, hard drive, graphics, etc), so check out Apple.com for all the details.
• Amazon launched the “Kindle for iPhone” application yesterday, bringing almost all the features of a $359 device for FREE. Users cannot purchase books directly from the app and subscriptions are not automatically updated, but users can get their full Kindle library on the device and purchase books via the Safari Mobile browser on the phone and get them directly on the device. Basically, users have a fully loaded Kindle (without subscriptions and the controversial text-to-speech features) on the iPhone, something almost everyone has been waiting for.

So that’s the news everybody. Again, apologies for being pretty slow recently, but we’re working on big things, so stay tuned.

Amazon will launch it’s new Kindle at 7:00 AM Pacific (10 EST) this morning during a press event. Pictures of the device leaked to the media this weekend, while BGR had pictures of the device months ago. According to sources, the device will cost $359 and be available on February 24. All will be known in just a few hours, when Jeff Bezos will undoubtedly make the announcement of the new device. Engadget and Gizmodo will both have live coverage from the event, so check both sites out for up-to-the-minute news.

Palm needed something amazing during its CES keynote today. Basically, today was Palm’s last chance to live. Guess what? Palm is going to live, and they are going to live well. The Palm pre not only is a great looking device, it has a touchscreen worthy of competing with the iPhone and it has a slide-down keyboard for great texting as well as navigation. But that’s just the hardware, the interface on this device is fantastic. With similar MultiTouch gestures as the iPhone–flicking, zooming, etc–the pre’s interface organizes all of your web information together without creating duplicate information. The pre also has Microsoft Exchange support for the corporate types. Getting into the device’s core applications, the Calendar and Contact applications are pretty slick. The Calendar literally crunches free time when displaying the day’s events so the actual events are displayed. The Contact application can gather information from all of your information sites on the web and organize them together. The Mail application is relatively normal, but the Messaging application is pretty great. One messaging application for all your instant messaging services as well as text messaging, so less applications to clutter your device. Another cool feature of the phone: along the bottom of the display, the operating system leaves room for notifications from any of your applications. So if you get a message or got an email, it’ll pop up on the bottom. Dealing with price and release date: both are unknown; however, we do have the first half of 2009 as a launch period and Sprint is the exclusive carrier (a downer if you were hoping to use the device unlocked on a GSM carrier), hopefully we’ll see a GSM version down the line. Overall, the pre is a pretty sweet looking device. Coming from the standpoint of an Apple fanboy and an iPhone user, this device is tempting. And if it’s tempting for the Apple fanboys around the world, then it will definitely sell a good amount of phones. Hopefully the device’s Sprint exclusivity won’t kill it though, because Sprint is definitely not the most popular carrier out there. So good job Palm, you’ve finally done something right (and well).

UPDATE – Palm has confirmed to Engadget that a GSM version of the phone is still in the works.

This year marks my third for attending the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.  As a few of you might already know, my father is the almighty Yahya Ahdout, the owner and CEO of dreamGEAR, a video game/iPod accessory and speaker producer and distributor, and he is my ticket into this amazing show.  You can find his wonderful products at many places including your local Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Blockbuster.  One of his latest items is the Warbeast Guitar Controller for all Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Rock Revolution games on PS2/PS3. But, enough of that, lets get to the good stuff.  I will be at the show for its entirety, and I will constantly be blogging and posting every interesting thing that I find.  Like Engadget and Gizmodo, we will be posting about the biggest announcements by all the different companies, but I will also use my time to go around the smaller booths and post about the pretty cool things that everyone forgets about.  As I roam from hall to hall and booth to booth, I will be accompanied by a very good friend of mine, Michael York, who is getting his new blog off the floor, and will be working in compliance with us at blargKABOOM.

Finally, the things I will be bringing with myself on my journey:
Canon EOS 30D – To snap pictures of everything for all you guys to see!
Asus eee 901 – For blogging on the go while on the show floor.
Apple iPhone 3G – For constant tethering, and music on the go. As it is also of course my telephone.
MacBook Pro – Yes, mine is in fact the first generation model, but it will be my home-base for posting in the hotel room. 

And also, a little background for those of you who do not know what CES is; ah god im too lazy, just read about it on Wikipedia here!

Enjoy!

via Engadget

We aren’t big BlackBerry users here at blargKABOOM, being the Apple/iPhone fanboys we are; however, this month has been pretty exciting over at the BlackBerry camp so here’s the latest in BlackBerry news.

• the Bold launches on AT&T, finally: after seeing the Bold practically a year ago, the phone has finally launched on a major US carrier. AT&T users rejoice, the Bold is yours for a cool $299 with 2-year contract and $100 rebate. The phone has pretty much been branded, the greatest BlackBerry yet, and the combination of the screen, speed, and operating system give it that. This final product is definitely much improved from the version we previewed during this summer, so delaying it to keep out the kinks was definitely the smart move.
• the Storm’s Verizon launch date and price are still nowhere to be found: even though RIM and Verizon have been teasing us with press shots, manuals, simulators, and anything else they can delay us with, the launch date of the first ever touchscreen BlackBerry is still unknown. Vodafone, the phone’s European carrier, has supposedly been posting pre-order dates and launch dates, but nothing very concrete. Verizon, the US carrier, isn’t spilling on launch dates or pricing yet, even though they’ve had launch parties and released bundles of information about the phone.

Gizmodo got a hands-on preview of the BlackBerry Curve 8900, codename Javelin, this week and apparently, they like it. The model was only a pre-production model, though, so BlackBerry will undoubtedly make improvements based off of these hands-on reviews.

The 8900, the successor to the Blackberry Curve, includes Blackberry’s newest and best software, version 4.6, which can not be used with the original Curve. The operating system is not only sleeker and better looking, it is also smoother and an overall better experience, according to Gizmodo. The 8900’s screen is also much crisper and looks more like the Bold’s screen. Compared to the original Curve, it is a much more powerful phone all together. 

The trackball and keyboard are said to be exactly like the current Curve’s, however, the phone’s hardware as a whole is slightly thinner. It lacks 3G which is definitely a huge loss, but Blackberry users have been living without it for years. However with a phone this good looking and an operating system this nice, they can live without it for a little bit longer. Overall, the phone is definitely a more consumer version of the Bold and definitely has the same relationship that the current Curve has to the BlackBerry 8800. Overall, if you can live without 3G and want a smaller phone, get the Curve 8900. No pricing or launch dates are known as of know, but a mid-November/December launch is expected.

After months of delays and thousands of angry BlackBerry fans waiting for their new savior to launch, AT&T is about to finally release one of the most anticipated phones of the year, the BlackBerry Bold. Boy Genius Report has it on exclusive AT&T internal emails and official and good sources that October 27 is the launch date of the Bold. Of course, unless the phone is delayed for lack of quality again. However, if you can live without having the latest BlackBerry in your hands for about a month or two more, I would stick it out for the smaller, updated Curve 8900, codenamed Javelin. Probably launching late November, mid-December, the new Curve looks like a mini-Bold and includes the new user interface that makes the Bold famous. Looks like BlackBerry users have a decision to make, let us know what you want to get in the comments.

T-Mobile’s G1, the first Google Android-powered phone, is arriving for some lucky customers. Slated for an official launch Wednesday, the G1 has been selling extremely well in pre-orders and customers are slowly but surely starting to receive their Google powered wonders. Whether the phone and the platform itself will turn out to be a success, only time will tell, but if any of you out there have received your phone, tell us what you think in the comments.

The MacBook Pro’s update came first today, as Steve introduced them. Biggest updates to the Pro: the iMac-look with the glass and the black bezel covering the display, dual-graphics chips, and the new multi-touch giant button glass trackpad. The Pro is thinner than the current model, but heavier as well. Shockingly, only the 15″ MacBook Pro model was updated to the new model and the 17″ just received a slight component refresh. The new MacBook Pro is available today in two models, a base $1999 model including a 2.4Ghz processor, 2GB of DDR3 memory, 250GB of storage, and the dual Nvidia graphics cards. The better model is available for $2499 and has a 2.53Ghz processor (upgradable to 2.8Ghz for $300), 4GB of DDR3 memory, 320GB of storage, and new graphics cards.

The new MacBook is the largest updated product at the event. The current entry-level MacBook is still around for $999 and available in white, but then say hello to the new MacBooks. Probably a better term would be 13″ MacBook Pro, because that is almost what the new MacBooks are. The MacBook has the same design as the new MacBook Pro’s and the only features the new MacBook Pro has over the regular MacBook is the Firewire port (which the MacBook drops), the higher speed graphics card, and the faster processor. Besides those key differences, they are almost the same computer. The base new MacBook retails for $1299 and includes a 2.0Ghz processor, 2GB of memory, and 160GB of storage. The better MacBook retails for $1599 and has a 2.4Ghz processor, 2GB of memory, and 250GB of storage.

Both notebook lines are available today online and should be in stores now.

Nintendo announced a new addition to the DS line tonight with the DSi. Maintaining a similar design to the DS Lite, the DSi is much thinner because it is getting rid of the GBA slot and has 17% larger screens. Along with the larger screen size, a 3 megapixel camera is in the device and I’ll bet Nintendo has some fun ways to use that camera thought up. An audio player and a DSi shop are built-in as well. The DSi shop will use the Nintendo Points used for the Wii and will have downloadable content.  Japanese markets will see the DSi on November 1 and we shall have to wait until next year for a North American and European launch. The device sells for the equivalent of $180 and will be available in black and white.

via Kotaku

Yesterday, Dell popped out a netbook of its own to jump on the bandwagon made popular by the Asus Eee PC as well as other small notebooks. The Inspiron Mini 9 has an 8.9 inch screen and rocks a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor with either 512MB of RAM or 1GB depending on which model you spring for. There are two Windows XP models and there’s even an Ubuntu Linux version. The Linux version has a 4GB solid-state drive (SSD) and 512MB of memory, but includes 2GB of free internet storage from Box.net, that model retails for a cool $349. Next is a Windows XP model with the same 512MB of RAM but includes an 8GB SSD and retails for $399. Last up is another XP model, except this one not only has a memory boost to 1GB of RAM, but also brings up the storage space to 16GB (still using a SSD) and retails for $449. However, Dell is running a promotion until 6 am (central time) September 9 where if you are ordering another Dell computer (either the Studio 15, XPS M1530 or XPS M1330), you can get the Mini 9 for just $99.

After weeks of speculation, Palm has launched the new Treo Pro. Probably one of the best Treo’s ever, combining the small, sleek design of the Centro with the more business friendly atmosphere of the Treo 800w, the Treo Pro has a few tricks up its sleeve. Not only does it have WiFi, but GPS as well (a first for Windows Mobile Treo’s) and the phone has 3G capability. Probably the least redeeming aspect of the device is its Windows Mobile interface, which isn’t a personal favorite. No US carrier has picked it up yet, so it’ll run you about $549.99 unlocked, but Vodafone and O2 have the device abroad for around €399 w/ a contract. The new smartphone definitely looks like it could be one of the best Treo’s yet, now lets hope that a US carrier picks it up and lowers that hefty price.

Rumors have been spreading out around numerous websites that the iPhone 3G will get a (RED) makeover just in time for the holidays.  Could it also be joined by a 32GB upgrade for the iPhone 3G and a 64GB upgrade for the iPod Touch?

Photo Courtesy of http://www.macblogz.com

MacBook touch: no this picture isn’t real, but it’s a great mockup of what a product could look like. (courtesy of Gizmodo)

Apple had its quarterly earnings call on Monday and it revealed that a “product transition” would lower gross margin next quarter because “Apple makes state of the art new products that the competition just can’t match” and that means higher costs. In other words, Apple’s going to release a new product that is really cheap and that costs a lot, this way everyone will buy it, but Apple will make less money from it in the beginning.

Throughout the call, Apple’s CFO Peter Oppenheimer brought up this “new product that [Apple] [couldn't] discuss” or “new additions to the product line.” He also said this new product would have a direct effect on the September/fourth quarter. If this new product has an effect on the September quarter, that would most likely mean it has to come out sometime in the beginning of September/late August. And, if it’s going to have a large impact on gross margins, then it’s probably going to be a big deal.

So what could this new product be? Well, the product that sells really well during the September quarter is computers (notebooks specifically). The reason: this is the time when students are going back to school and need to computers. And if Apple wants to get to the students, they’re going to release this new notebook relatively soon. Not meaning tomorrow, but a mid-August launch is perfect if they are targeting those students getting new computers before school. If Apple wants to make an even bigger splash in the market and one that their competitors can’t match, they’re either going to revamp their notebook line (which is due for a redo in the MacBook and MacBook Pro areas) or release a new inexpensive laptop that will sell like crazy.

Most likely, an Apple event will be announced very soon and will take place in the beginning of August, there Steve will do his normal Keynote and will announce revamped MacBooks and MacBook Pros as well as a cheaper MacBook Air with better specs. Then, the “one more thing…” Everyone is speculating that it will be a MacBook touch, and it very well could be. Something else they could do: a small mini-notebook similar to the Eee PC or the HP Mini Note. If they really want to innovate, then they could use multiple screens having the bottom as a multitouch keyboard. Now, neither a MacBook touch or this mini-MacBook are very realistic, but if Apple is really going to “wow” everyone, they will do it in a big way.

Sad news BlackBerry fans: the BlackBerry Bold’s launch on AT&T has been delayed until August. AT&T and RIM need more time to deal with overheating and software issues with battery life, according to The Boy Genius Report. The BlackBerry Bold is still on target to launch on Canada’s Rogers Mobile shortly.

A real picture of RIM’s first touchscreen BlackBerry, the Thunder, has finally surfaced. The front, as previously reported, features only four buttons, but the phone itself features lots of side buttons (two convenience buttons, a volume rocker, play/pause, and a ‘lock’ key). The leaked image also confirms the exclusivity to Verizon that we previously heard. The Boy Genius Report has the full scoop on the Thunder.

via Gizmodo

Amazon Kindle, Amazon’s ‘New Wireless Reading Device’ that connects to EV-DO networks and lets you buy, download, and read e-books on the go, recently became available after being out of stock for months. Amazon also dropped the price of Kindle from $399 to the current $359, and included with purchase is free 2-day shipping so you get your Kindle quickly. No word on whether this is a promotion or the new pricing, but I would take advantage of it.

RIM’s BlackBerry is definitely popular these days, and it’s popularity is about to sky rocket. The Boy Genius Report has done it again, and this time leaked one of the biggest devices yet. RIM’s new device, codenamed Kickstart, is basically a Pearl put into the body of a clamshell; its got the SureType keyboard, the trackball in the center, and what looks like a slightly modified BlackBerry OS. Apparently it’s internal LCD is decent and it does have a camera. We should see the device by the end of this year, but no word on carrier, pricing, and other specs yet. For even more pics, check out BGR’s gallery.

Asus CEO, Jerry Shen, casually mentioned that there will be a 10-inch version of the Eee PC, but that will be the maximum screen size. An Asus rep later said that the sub-notebook will have Intel’s new Atom processor’s installed in June, at Computex. All in all, it seems that the Eee PC has definitely stepped up Asus’ game and has made a major impact on the laptop market.

Asus broke through the market invading thousands of homes with its sub-notebook Eee PC 700. The small device has a 7-inch screen, a linux or Windows XP operating system, and other small notebook parts. The main glory of the device is it’s ultra-portability, and Asus is making the Eee an even better notebook. The Asus Eee PC 900 will increase the screen size to an 8.9-inch screen, but still leaving the same small size. The inner parts are basically the same (sorry, no Intel Atom for you) and the notebook still leaves the tiny keyboard that most aren’t fond of. The updated notebook will make its debut on May 12 in the US, selling at $549 for either an XP or Linux version. My personal sub-notebook selection is the HP 2133 Mini-Note, its got a sleek, aluminum exterior along with a a better price tag for what’s included. Of course, my ultimate goal is for Apple to release something like this, even though the MacBook Air is in a similar category.

Verizon announced the true successor to the LG enV today, the enV(2) — yes, the name is a total shocker, and yes, those parentheses are definitely making the name even more hip. But besides those hip parentheses, the enV(2) is apparently slimmer than its predecessor and is a little smaller overall. The new model is very similar to the previous model; it has the flip-up keyboard and small display on the front for making calls. Other notable features include a 2 megapixel camera, an MP3 player, V Cast (music and video features), VZ Navigator, a microSD slot, and more. Grab yours for $129.99 with a 2-year contract and $50 rebate.

via Crave

 A recent patent filed by Apple seems to portray that they will launch a fitness application that not only gives you a fitness routine perfected for your specific height, weight, and  other fitness preferences, but ties in to your digital lifestyle as well (aka your Mac, iPod, iPhone, etc.) Apparently the iPhone or iPod touch would act as a main part of the routine by showing you your schedule and overall acting as your ‘physical trainer.’ After answering tons of questions, filling out some personal and physical information, and giving some preferences to what activities you prefer, Apple’s program will dish out a specific schedule for your needs and show your plan and how you will reach your ‘physical goal.’ The filing also hints at some accessories, as well. It seems that Apple’s dab into the fitness market could be a good thing for everyone. Considering that the obesity rating in the US has risen drastically, and Apple tends to do very well in the markets that it joins, Apple’s look into exercising and fitness could raise awareness of peoples’ health and get everyone into shape.

via AppleInsider