AT&T doubles down on BlackBerry with three OS 7 devices

Though you can't shake a smartphone this summer without hitting someone writing a BlackBerry obituary, AT&T is not even close to attending a funeral. Today, the carrier announced that it was adding three new BlackBerry devices to its roster, starting with the BlackBerry Torch 9810 later this month. It's all very good news for worried BlackBerry fans, who could see seven new handsets from the manufacturer through the end of 2011.

The Torch 9810, aka the Torch 2 (that phone cleared the FCC last month), will be a part of AT&T's "premium" BlackBerry family, which will offer a "faster and more fluid" user experience. The design doesn't break new ground, but its top features include the new BlackBerry 7 OS and support for the carrier's "4G" HSPA+ network.

We haven't had a full hands-on with OS 7 just yet, though we expect to take it for a test drive very soon. According to AT&T, the upgrade will bring a faster and more efficient user experience, HD video recording, improved graphics, a digital compass, and augmented reality. What's more, browsing should be up to 40 percent faster than BlackBerry OS 6 smartphones (like the first Torch) and up to 100 percent faster than BlackBerry OS 5 based handsets.

Other features on the Torch 9810 are admirable. There's a 1.2GHz processor, a 5-megapixel camera, and 8GB of onboard storage. The 3.2-inch touch-screen will be powered by BlackBerry Liquid Graphics, but you'll also get a slide-out keyboard.

BlackBerry Bold 9900

Later in the year, you'll be able pick even more BlackBerry goodness when AT&T unveils the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and the BlackBerry Torch 9860. The touch-screen 9900 doesn't come as a big shock given that we've heard so much about the phone since its unveiling three months ago at BlackBerry World (check out the hands-on from CNET Australia's Joseph Hanlon who was at the show).

Inside a thin design you should find OS 7, a 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor, a 5-megapixel camera, HSPA+ support, 8GB of internal memory, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS. T-Mobile has committed to carrying the 9900 already, though rumors of a delay have persisted.

We know less about the Torch 9860 except that it also will support HSPA+ and it will be AT&T's first all-touch BlackBerry smartphone (OS 7 as well). Otherwise, we imagine that its other features will compare favorably to its siblings.

Pricing and exact availability for the devices wasn't available at the time of this writing, but we'll fill in the details as we get them. And we'll do our best to get a hands-on as soon as we can.

Read more: http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-20087255-85/at-t-doubles-down-on-blackberry-with-three-os-7-devices/#ixzz1TzHBSsNC

iPhone 5 rumor roundup

Will the iPhone 5 resemble its predecessor the iPhone 4?

In a big change from the previous three events, Apple's 2011 Worldwide Developers Conference didn't reveal new iPhone hardware. Sure, attendees got details of iOS 5 at the June 6 keynote address, but true iPhone fans also left the session without any hint of what a new handset might offer or when it would arrive.
With Apple devices in particular, the rumor mill tends to kick into high gear in the absence of any official announcement. And that's certainly been the case with the iPhone 5. The first gossip started to trickle in even as the iPhone 4 went on sale last year, but as summer has droned on that trickle has become a flood. Some of the rumors contradict each other--one camp suggests a minor update with an iPhone 4S, while another predicts a big update with an iPhone 5--but disagreement, after all, often is what the rumor mill is all about. And since conflicting information can be hard to track, we offer this handy timeline of iPhone 5 rumors so far in 2011. We'll add to it as we go along, and please let us know if we've left any juicy tidbits out.

August 2

iPhone 5 out for testing
The Guardian (U.K.) reports that wireless carriers have received highly secure boxes containing iPhone 5s that the operators are using to test network compatibility.

August 1

No vacations for you
Gizmodo cites an e-mail allegedly from an AT&T employee, which says that the carrier is denying any vacations requested during the last two weeks of September "due to an event blackout." According to the employee, the only other times vacations were denied in the past were during iPhone release periods.
Or maybe in October
Going the other direction, a story on AllThingsD quotes a source "with knowledge of the plans" who says, "I don't know why AT&T's calling for all hands on deck those weeks, but it's not for an iPhone launch." Instead, the source says that the next iPhone will come in October.

Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-20073431-233/iphone-5-rumor-roundup/#ixzz1TzG7SMtZ