After the initial BlackBerry Tour press releases from Verizon and Sprint a lot of people asked the question regarding the color of the devices... Would the Sprint and Verizon Tours look the same or feature different bezel colors?

PockLint went hands-on with both carrier versions and from the above shot you can tell the Verizon one will indeed come with a "Titanium" bezel whereas the Sprint version will come with a "Silver" Bezel (more photos here). So which do you prefer CrackBerry Nation? I'm thinking you're a winner either way!

A picture that is worth a thousand words.... aren't they beautiful?! If you haven't read our BlackBerry Tour 9630 review yet, be sure to check out Part I and Part II.

Man oh man I can't wait for this device to get released. Yeah, I *wish* it had WiFi and the optical trackpad that the Curve 8520 features (wouldn't it be sweet if they added it in last minute?!), but regardless it is definitely going to be a hit with the CDMA carriers out there. When the Storm 9530 went on sale, there were lineups at Verizon stores across the USA. Think we'll see the same excitement for the Tour? Anybody reading this planning to stand in line to grab one on day one?

Following up on our Hands-On Review of the BlackBerry Curve 8520, below you'll find a detailed breakdown of the device's features and specifications. We nailed most of it in the review, but now we have further clarification on a few outsanding items. In regards to the new form of navigation input replacing the trackball, this document refers to it as a trackpad, which makes sense - longtime BlackBerry users will have progressed from trackwheel to trackball to trackpad. The Curve 8520 will also support UMA, which is great news for those on carriers who will likely support it (T-Mobile, Rogers...). The baseline device software is slated as version 4.6.1, which also makes sense. While at WES, we've now heard in various presentations that 5.0 software will be rolled out in the fall / August. This means that devices launching in the nearer future (9630? 8520?) will likely launch with non-5.0 software and then get the upgrade at the same time as the Bold, Curve 8900, Storm, etc.. The one key spec we're still in the dark on (missing from the list) is processor. Read on for more!

The BlackBerry "Niagara" 9630 has yet to be officially acknowledged by Research in Motion, but that hasn't stopped it from going under the microsope a few times already (CB 9630 Review Part I, CB 9630 Review Part II, BGR 9630 Review). So while the 9630's goodness is already out there for all to know, I know most of us CrackBerry addicts never get tired of looking at pre-release device footage.

That said, this latest BlackBerry 9630 video tour comes via thebigwletman, who has to be the youngest reviewer to ever get his hands on a pre-release BlackBerry. Be sure to check out these forum threads for the CrackBerry community's initial feedback (he says a few things that aren't very accurate). Take a watch... and let the blog post comments begin. 

I like these smartphone comparison videos by Zara. For those who have yet to buy a BlackBerry or new device, in just a couple of minutes they provide a quick visual and highlight some of the pros and cons to a particular model without getting to technical.

We've previously rant on the blogs Zara's video shootout of the BlackBerry Storm, Curve 8900 and Bold, as well as a Pearl 8120 vs. Pearl Flip overview. In this vid she goes outside of BlackBerry and compares the BlackBerry Storm with the Apple iPhone 3G and T-Mobile G1. This year's Smartphone Round Robin began before the Storm was released, so while we went into detail on the blogs with Round Robin reviews of the iPhone 3G and G1, it was the Bold that made it into that comparison. So for those of you who wished the Storm would have been included, here's a mini-Round Robin for ya. Be sure to drop your reactions in the comments. And you can check out more of outube vids here. 

A couple weeks back we posted Zara's Video Comparsion of the BlackBerry Bold, Curve 8900 and Storm. The video got a ton of views and Zara's review got a lot of love and feedback. Zara listened to the constructive CrackBerry comments and has returned to the blogs... this time with a quick comparsion of the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 and BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220. To flip or not to flip, that is the question! You can check out more of Zara's videos here...

Been thinking about a new BlackBerry? Can't decide between the BlackBerry Bold, Storm or Curve 8900? If so, check out the video above. Zara of MobileChic let us know about the quick video overview and comparison she put together. In only two minutes she does a pretty solid job of summing up some of the pros and cons to each device. Whaddya think? Did she nail it? Missing any points? Drop your thoughts and reactions in the comments. You can catch more of Zara's mobile reviews on YouTube.

w00t! Embargoed review time! I love these nights! Here at CrackBerry.com we always love our BlackBerry smartphones. Heck, even when we're a little *less* in love with a particular device we still gush over BlackBerry newness. Once you get bit by the CrackBerry Addiction it's hard to look at a new BlackBerry and not get butterflies in your stomach.

That's why I love it when embargoes lift and reviews of new devices flood the Internet. 12:01am hits and BANG... you have enough reading to keep you going until 12 noon! Reading all the different reviews that surface provides a ton of insight - you can tell who is used to hardcore BB abuse, you get the viewpoint of those who are potentially 'fans' of other platforms and and you see a bunch of smartphone eyecandy... it's a ton of fun. At the end of the day you just want to get the device in your hands and make your own judgement call.

When it comes to the BlackBerry Curve 8900, a whack load has already been said about it on this site. I first reviewed the Curve 8900 (Javelin) back in September, and we followed up with another in-depth review the day it hit Rogers in December. But now the 8900 is finally coming to the good 'ole US of A via T-Mobile, which means the review flood gates are about to pour open. To make it easier to read all of the varying opinions, you can follow the links below. We'll keep updating the list as more reviews surface.

T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve 8900 Reviews

• CrackBerry.com's T-mobile BlackBerry Curve 8900 Review >>
• Engadget Mobile's Curve 8900 Review >>
• Gizmodo's BlackBerry Curve 8900 First Impressions >>
• WSJ.com - All things Digital - a Berry That's Easy on your Thumbs >>
• Laptop Mag's T-Mobile Curve 8900 Review >>
• CNet's T-Mo Curve 8900 Review >>
• SlashGear's T-Mobile Curve 8900 Initial Impressions >>
• PCMag's RIM Curve 8900 (T-Mobile) Review >>
• infoSync World's Curve 8900 Review >>
• ZDNet's BlackBerry Curve 8900 Review >>
• Wired's take on the BlackBerry Curve 8900 >>
• MobileBurn's Curve 8900 Review >>
  

Enjoy the show! Take a read through the links and be sure to report back and post all of your feedback in the comments. And if you can't quite wait for the official release date, be sure to check out this post :-)

When it comes to pre-release devices, pictures are news! And what you're looking at above (courtesy of Rogers Dude to BlackBerry Cool) is another marketing picture of the WiFi/North America HSPA band equipped BlackBerry Storm 9520 that's due out on Rogers in the weeks/months ahead. The first pictures of this surfaced back on Christmas day.

For those of you north of the border chasing the Storm feel free to drool now :)

Over the weekend I posted my First Impressions video of the HTC Fuze, and well, it wasn't very pretty. Over at our sister site WMExperts.com, you can imagine they were less than thrilled. Dieter did post a good tip for me though that has me feeling more comfortable on Fuze's touchscreen (so much so that I had to scrap my half-written Fuze review and start over as the first draft was now too mean! Look for it late today or tomorrow or Christmas day or the day after!).

To provide a quantum of solace to all those WinMob fans out there who's feelings we hurt, I just had to post the video above (thanks Adlen for sending it in!) from The Gadget Show. On this episode they take four touchscreen smartphones to task in smartphone showdown - the Vodafone Storm, the iPhone 3G, G1 and HTC Touch HD. It makes for a good watch!

Warning - The Storm doesn't do so well. But take the results with a grain of salt as the tests are being conducted by a guy who LOVES using a stylus! I couldn't help but burst out laughing 3m52s into the video :-)

Following up on last week's BlackBerry Storm Screen Scratch torture test, here is another one done up by Emilio Vignapiano in style!! Thanks to Michael for sending this in!

Rogers corporate office has yet to fire off a press release announcing the launch of the BlackBerry Curve 8900, but that doesn't mean it hasn't begun popping up in stores across Canada. My local searches for a Curve 8900 have turned up negative so far, but in Halifax our CrackBerry Forums Moderator / Blogger Bla1ze had lady luck on his side and managed to pick one up Saturday afternoon.

Just to make us all green black(berry) with envy, Bla1ze sent in a short video (captured on his Bold) of the mandatory, ritual unboxing. This is just the start. Bla1ze is set up with cans of Red Bull and take-out pizza and is pulling an all nighter on this one. Expect his full review to be posted up here in the CrackBerry blogs by noon on Sunday. Dammmmn Bla1ze, that Curve 8900 IS A SEXY THING!!

The guys over at Phone Wreck don't post often, but when they do they make it count. First they tore apart the BlackBerry Bold, then they ripped into a BlackBerry Storm, and now they've put them back together and compared them head to head over a series of tests (and yes they upgraded the Storm's OS to 4.7.0.75).

You'll want to click on over to see the showdown. There are some pretty interesting results and observations here. You know how everybody complains that the Storm lacks WiFi? Maybe that shouldn't be too big of a deal for us to harp at Verizon on considering the BlackBerry WiFi browser still doesn't seem to work properly for a lot of people. Just like my Bold's originally-buggered browsers, their Bold takes nearly twice as long on WiFi to pull up the same webpage as it does over 3G (wtf?!). 

How about photo snapping? The Storm's camera takes better pictures via it's 3.2 megapixel camera w/ autofocus, but it takes 3 seconds longer to snap a photo on the Storm vs. the Bold (definitely some Storm OS room for improvement there) making it more likely to miss the moment!

Typing speed test? In typing out a three sentence, 71 word paragraph, they managed to get their fingers humming along at 38.8 words per minute (with 4 errors) on the Bold vs. 26.7WPM with twice as many errors on the Storm.

Interesting stuff! This is definitely a head to head comparison I'll want to conduct myself once I get my Bold back after the Smartphone Round Robin (fyi - G1 final review should be up later today). PLUS I'll have the Rogers BlackBerry Curve 8900 to throw into the picture by then just to mix things up even further.

• Read Phone Wreck's Bold vs. Storm Comparison >>

Update: Brian did up a shorter revision of the video. Check it out here!  *

Wow. Do you have any doubts on the BlackBerry Storm's display's ability to resist scratches? Watch this video!! Ohhhh Brian... you're crazy man, you are crazy :-)

[ via engadget ]

Sure Verizon and Vodafone have been hard at work unleashing their versions of the Storm in the US and across the pond. But unlike the Bold launch where Canadian carrier Rogers (among many other countries carriers) had the Bold long before it made it's US appearance on AT&T, Canadian CrackBerry addicts are still waiting to actually give this device a whirl. The good folks over at BlackBerryCool have had an up close and personal look at the Telus-branded version of the Storm and came back with this to say about it..

 "Well let’s start first with what immediately stood out about the OS. First of all, let me state that the Telus Storm OS is not yet final.Telus has yet to confirm/load which applications will come on the Storm (this should be happening very soon), and I was told that they were still tweaking the OS for performance. I wasn’t told whether the optimization is for use on Telus’ network or the touchscreen interface, but I did notice a slight delay in letters appearing on the screen while I texted. I also had a bit of trouble getting the accelerometer to switch from portrait to landscape mode consistently, but I think this was due to blogger FAIL than anything else."

"Interestingly, the Telus Storm did not feature the BlackBerry Application Center that launched with the Verizon Storm. When I asked about its absence, I was told that Telus was ‘looking into it’ and ‘eager to talk to RIM’. While I wasn’t able to snag a peak at the OS version, the tweaking and the lack of apps or App Center leads me to believe that the Telus Storm will launch with something higher than OS 4.7.0.65."

Now, we know the device will be hitting Telus and Bell..prices and dates are still debateable at this point although BGR recently posted the $299.99 price point on a 3 yr contract from Telus, and lots of online banner ads have been dropping this price point as well. Rumors circulating also indicate a December 8th-15th launch date, but again... it's rumors which indicate that.

• Read the full article at BlackBerryCool>>>