Sneak Peek: Pre-Launch BlackBerry Storm Pics and Specs

Posted by Daniel Ionescu | Tuesday, September 16, 2008 4:14 AM PT
Here it is: the first ever BlackBerry with a touchscreen, long anticipated and rumored for the past few months - after all the blurry photos and patchy info. And this time, it looks like Apple really has competition.

Leaked information on a few specialty blogs revealed late yesterday the BlackBerry Storm, Research in Motion's (RIM) first touchscreen smartphone, launched exclusively on Verizon Wireless. The news of having the phone exclusively with one carrier is nothing you haven't heard before, as Apple created a precedent when it launched the iPhone only on AT&T.

Specs Revealed

In a document for Verizon employees (PDF) many of Storm's specs are revealed (PDF) and are not too shabby. Actually, some are better than the iPhone's. One that strikes first, given the consumer nature of the device, is Storm's 3.2-megapixel camera (possibly auto-focus but no flash) which outdoes by far iPhone's 2-megapixel 2006 style camera (actually, Nokia's N90 had a 2MP camera and flash).

Even better, some of iPhone's harshest critics will be dazzled when they will see that BlackBerry Storm has a removable memory (on board memory not mentioned) and a removable battery. Even iPhone's long awaited picture messaging feature is already present in the Storm.

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Coming Soon

You want to be able to deliver your presentations with ease. So leave your laptop behind and use BlackBerry® Presenter to deliver your presentations. Designed for professionals who are on the go, you simply plug it into a projector or monitor, and present Microsoft® PowerPoint® files wirelessly from your BlackBerry® smartphone. While presenting, view your speaker notes or loop slides when you're at that big convention. And, when you need to reference information on a different slide to answer that critical question, you can easily freeze your presentation on the overhead display while you search through your deck on your BlackBerry smartphone. Discover an easier way to present and impress your audience with BlackBerry® Presenter.

System Requirements: To use BlackBerry® Presenter, you will need a video output device and a VGA cable or an S-Video cable. BlackBerry Presenter is not supported by the BlackBerry Curve 8300 Series and/or BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8200 Series smartphones. Upgrading BlackBerry® Presenter firmware requires (a) an Intel® compatible computer with an available USB port that is compliant with USB 1.1 or higher and that is running the Microsoft Windows XP® or later operating system and (b) BlackBerry® Device Software v4.6 or later. Please refer to www.blackberry.com/presenter for more information.

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top 10 sites accessed from mobile phone in united states

1. Yahoo!Mail
2. Yahoo!Mail

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Top 5 Reasons to Buy a Refurbished Or Used Cell Phone

By Christopher G Samaras

Reason #1 - Save Money Buying a Used or Refurbished Cell Phone - On average you will spend at least 33% or less on the refurbished version of a brand new cell phone model. Save even more if you decide to go pre-owned. Use the money you saved towards a vacation, or something else you want. You can save several hundreds of dollars buying used or refurbished.

Reason #2 - Buy Refurbished or Used Cell Phones - Keep the Planet Cleaner - Did you know that well over 100 million cell phones are dumped into landfills every year? If more and more people buy refurbished or used cell phones we can really make a dent in this number. Look around you. You probably don't know anyone that does not use a cell phone. Think about where that phone is going once they upgrade...

Reason #3 - Get a Refurbished Cell Phone with More Features - Can't afford the latest and greatest phone that just came out on the market? Maybe the latest and greatest thing doesn't appeal to you because you know it is going to be half the price in 3 months anyway. Why not buy the phone that was the hottest thing just a few months ago and get more features than you would if you were on a new model of the same price (most likely more expensive). The refurbished Blackberry model from 3 months ago will most likely be less expensive and have all the features you could possibly want in a phone.

Reason #4 - No Need for Lengthy Contract Extensions - The big cell phone carriers probably do not want you to know this but if you buy a used or refurbished phone online, most likely it will not require any type of contract extension. If you decide to downgrade your plan after several months or something goes wrong and god forbid you can't pay your cell phone bill you won't be signed into a contract and pay any cancellation fees if you decide to switch carriers, etc. I do not like being forced into long term contracts and like the freedom of doing what I want, when I want.

Reason #5 - A Longer Warranty on Refurbished and Used Cell Phones - Most people do not know this, but a lot of vendors of used and refurbished cell phones are offering extended third party warranties on their phones that will give you coverage in case something goes wrong for up to 3 years. Companies such as SquareTrade offer extended coverage options that won't break the bank. The average person usually gets a different phone every 18 months so a 1 or 2 years warranty option is plenty of time. Pay about 10% of the price of the refurbished or used phone (a fraction of what you just saved from the new version) to extend your warranty to longer than you would ever need.

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Sales Training Ideas on Mobile Cell Phone Use

By Patricia Weber

Salespeople naturally take advantage of mobile or cell phones regardless the modes of travel. In general, it makes the job of selling easier and allows them to maximize each selling minute of the day. The catch of using this invaluable sales tool is the likelihood of never unplugging ourselves to recharge our own batteries.

1 - Stay in touch with your cell phone when you travel out of the USA. Not every cell phone company offers this International calling, but you can find one that does. In Europe and many places out of the USA, mobile phones are a different technology. I've used a relatively inexpensive and highly reliable rental cell phone service when traveling abroad. Even calling just two days ahead of leaving, with an overnight service, the international travel kit arrives in plenty of time.

2 - At an extra charge you may be able to get call-forwarding. Your USA wireless number can be forwarded to your international cell phone. When you're back home, call and opt-out of this feature to avoid extra costs.

3 - Minimize cell phone time when you are on vacation. A 2007 Ipsos and Associated Press poll of 1,000 men and women found that 80% take a one on vacation. If we use it during vacation for business, when do we really vacation? Vacation is a time to rest, relax and recharge ourselves.

4 - Put your cell phone number on your luggage tag regardless of whether you're traveling on business or for pleasure. If you have a rental one, insert a temporary label with that number noted on it.

5 - Purchase two chargers, one for home and one to pack for travel. It's a small investment to save you one more thing on your "to-do" list.

6 - Be proactive. Upgrade to blue tooth or use your speakerphone. Many more states are now legislating hands-free cell phone use only. Debate and research continues about the necessity for hands-free operation, as studies have show that using hands-free devices improve overall general safety. If you error on the side of caution, it may be helpful to upgrade to Bluetooth capabilities. As the legislation continues to change, no matter where you travel in the USA you'll be ready.

Keep your mobile phone charged while you appropriately stay 'unplugged' while on a vacation. The mobile cell phone is likely not a fad! It's the responsibility of salespeople and sales managers to manage the effective use of it and maintain optimum safety at the same time.

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Free Cell Phone Offers That Benefit Parents and Teens

By Jimmy Wilso

Free cell phone offers are becoming a more lucrative business tool for all the major phone companies. Free always plays well in any business advertising and when we are talking the phone business it's a big deal. Cellular phone companies are coming into a new area of consumer awareness and they know what they must do in order to control the majority of phone customers.

Anytime free cell phone offers go out, you can rest assured that there will be anxious consumers reading the fine print for sure, so the cell phone offers must be legitimate and attractive since the cellular phone market is becoming wise to the fine print and added costs involved on the consumers phone bill.

Free does not always mean free in the truest sense of the word, so beware mobile phone users, you are being targeted first and foremost and having you sign up for free phone offers is the tool of choice by the cell phone companies.

One of the biggest cell phone offers currently being employed is the free phone with any new cellular phone plan. One aspect of the mobile phone business that most consumers do not understand is the ownership of the cell phones. While you would think that the cellular phone companies own the mobile phones they provide, they don't and this helps to explain why existing customers cannot easily change or upgrade their portable phone model when a new style becomes available.

If the cell phone company can offer new cellular phone styles to new customers for free, they cannot offer upgrades for free since they have to pay for the new style cellular phones in their promotions.
Some styles of mobile phones remain popular for a long time, these are the mobile phone style geared toward the upper age group of cellular phone consumers. The new and ever changing styles of cell phones that get the most attention are geared toward the younger mobile phone consumers, mainly teenagers. They are the most user friendly group according the phone giants and they love nothing better than to entice that group of the buying public.

Free cell phone offers are a smart business tool for the cellular phone services industry but beware of the usual extended or longer contract times that typically go along with the free cell phone offers. There are very few things in life that are free and even less when someone is advertising something for free, so buyers beware.

Does your kids, wife, or husband spend a lot of time and money on their mobile phones? If so, and you need some financial relief from phone charges, you need to read more about this new cellular phone opportunity.

If you think cell phone bills are high or you have a pet peeve about cellular phone users, then ther is a new business opportunity that has just become available that could allow you to get even with your high cellular phone bill or those crazy mobile phone talking car drivers that get in the fast line and go slow because they are talking while driving. This new business opportunity will allow you to make money from mobile phone users and put way more money in your pocket than the mobile phone bills you currently are getting. Find out more about free cell phone offers that can benefit you in more ways than one.

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