Friendly reminder, folks… RIM’s latest candybar device and lower cost QWERTY 3G handset are now available for purchase from your friendly AT&T store. If you need a refresh on the products, here we go:

BlackBerry Pearl 9100

• SureType keyboard
• 3G
• Wi-Fi
• GPS
• 3.2 megapixel camera
• 1150mAh battery
• $149 with 2 year agreement

BlackBerry Curve 9300

• QWERTY keyboard
• 3G
• Wi-Fi b,g,n
• GPS
• 2 megapixel camera
• $99 with 2 year agreement

If you’re in the market for a BlackBerry handset from AT&T which one are you going to go for? Or do you think you’ll hold out for the BlackBerry Bold 9780?

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One of our solid Sprint guys just shot us over this slide on the upcoming BlackBerry Oxford, the device we first showed the world, and the big news? A release date and price! Here is the breakdown: the BlackBerry Oxford (maybe “Style” wasn’t stylish enough?) is indeed a Sprint exclusive, and is set to launch on October 31st in the color Seattle grey. There will be a purple model being released in the near future, or as Sprint likes to put it, it’s “coming soon”. The BlackBerry 6-powered flip device will run you only $99.99 with a two year agreement after $100 mail-in-rebate. Not a bad price for a 5 megapixel-toting, full QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi and GPS capable EV-DO Rev. A device, right? So let’s hear it — yay or nay on the Oxford, guys?

According to Research In Motion, the company now has over 10,000 applications in their application store, App World. While 10,000 is not a number to be scoffed at, BlackBerry pales in comparison to Apple’s 250,000 apps and Android’s estimated 100,000 figure. RIM also has the challenge of fighting Google and Apple in the application quality department; BlackBerry apps are probably the most unpolished at this point. Let’s hope RIM’s developer conference — DevCon — will kick things into the next gear.

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Quantacast has released their mobile web consumption numbers for August 2010, and Android continues to perform extremely well. The study shows that the Android web market-share grew 2.0% from July to August and has grown 5.5% on the quarter. The jump gives Android a 25% share of all mobile web consumption. Apple’s iOS dropped 0.3% from July to August, however, iOS is still the front-runner with 56% of all mobile web consumption. BlackBerry maker Research In Motion registered 10% of the mobile web pie; a pie that will continue to grow as more and more people adopt and use smartphones.

[Via MobileBurn]

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You’d think that RIM would be replacing highest-end product with a brand new device, right? Well, previous rumors suggested that the BlackBerry Bold 9700 would get nothing more than a simple refresh, and we’re able to confirm those rumors. We have a leaked internal document detailing all sorts of fun stuff. Market positioning, technical overviews, and a bunch more. The big picture view? The BlackBerry Bold R020 (9020? 9750? 9780? We’re just guessing) will be practically identical to the 9700 visually. Internal changes include a 5 megapixel camera sensor, and 512MB of RAM up from 256MB. It will also launch with BlackBerry 6 — obviously. We’d love to say there is more, but there isn’t, so check out the leaked document and let us know your thoughts, ok?

Click on over to our BlackBerry Bold R020 overview gallery!

Popular online storage solution Dropbox has just launched its BlackBerry client as a limted beta. The app, compatible with OS 5.0 devices, already was gobbled up by the 500 user slots for testing. Those that snagged a copy are reporting that the application is similar to the Android and iPhone client, but is still missing some key features like the ability to upload non-picture files, the ability to delete/move files, and the ability to manage folders. BlackBerry owners that are interested in the beta should keep checking the beta site as additional slots are apparently being added to meet this initial demand. If you manage to get in on the beta, hit us up in the comments with your first impressions.

[Via CrackBerry]

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If you use BlackBerry’s App World to download applications, updates, and regularly find new content, you’ll be pleased as punch to know that App World 2.0 has just gone live in beta form. App World 2.0 brings a number of enhancements to the app — some much needed — and even some new payment options. For starters, credit cards are now directly supported instead of having to go through PayPal, and RIM has brought along support for carrier billing. In true RIM fashion, however, this is not available now, and RIM won’t say which carriers will support it. Next up is the ability to drill down different top 25 lists, something much needed. There are now top 25 paid, free, and theme sections. Simplifying the entire user experience is BlackBerry ID, something you can probably guess. It’s a device-independent user ID, something separate from PIN mumbo jumbo, and will streamline your purchasing profile, keep track of your downloaded applications, etc. Not much of a finder/gatherer? Lastly there is QR barcode support in the new version of App World, so look for developers to start using barcodes in promotional materials, emails, really anything. It’s available now on RIM’s beta site below for download.

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This isn’t exactly shocking news, but we thought we would share anyway. BBLeaks is reporting that Verizon Wireless will give the BlackBerry Storm 2 9550 and the BlackBerry Curve 8530 their end-of-life papers on August 15th and August 1st respectively. The move comes as Verizon makes room in its inventory for newer BlackBerry devices; BBLeaks reports that replacements for the 9550 and 8530 are due out in Q3/Q4 (which is a pretty large 6-month window). The 8530 is likely going to be replaced by the 9300 series, and we’ve heard grumblings from sources that an updated Storm, the Storm 3, will follow the Storm 2 (although we haven’t been able to pin this one down).

PocketBerry is reporting that T-Mobile has ceased shipments of the BlackBerry Curve 8500 series to retail stores and should be rolling out the new Curve 9300 series to its customer base within the next few months.

And finally, driphter.com got a few snap shots of the BlackBerry 9780; which will purportedly fal into the “Bold” family. The device is very Bold 9700 looking with 512 Mb of RAM and BlackBerry 6. We’ve got a few images of the leaked handset after the jump.

There you have it!

Read [BBLeaks] Read [PocketBerry] Read [Driphter]

The AP is reporting that the United Arab Emirates has declared BlackBerry smartphones a national security risk. UAE government officials commented saying the handsets “operate beyond the jurisdiction of national laws and are open to misuse. [...] As a result of how Blackberry data is managed and stored, in their current form, certain Blackberry applications allow people to misuse the service, causing serious social, judicial and national security repercussions.” The State is referring to the relaying of data — for compression and optimization — through RIM’s BlackBerry infrastructure data centers. RIM has not released an official comment, and members of the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority have said no decisions about the handsets future in the UAE have been made.

Thanks, Mitch.Read

MetroPCS, a company known for their low priced cellular plans and lack of annual contracts, has just announced that it will be adding the BlackBerry Curve 8530 to its lineup. The Curve 8530 can be purchased for $279 ($229 after a $50 MIR), and for $60 a month will include: “unlimited talk, text, Web and data service, Wi-Fi connectivity, e-mail, and turn-by-turn GPS navigation [...] including all applicable taxes and regulatory fees.” Say what you want about MetroPCS’ urban-centric coverage map, $60 per month for unlimited usage — including taxes — on a smartphone is pretty impressive.

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After compiling and posting ROMs for hundreds of smartphones — from HTC, RIM, Motorola, and more — Conflipper is throwing in the towel and no longer updating his popular Shipped ROMS website. The decision is part of a compromise negotiated with HTC following a Cease and Desist letter from the handset manufacturer over these publicly available ROMs. As part of the agreement, Conflipper is permitted to keep all current ROMs on his site but is forbidden to upload any new ones. Rather than go head-to-head with the handset giant, Conflipper announced, in a blog post, that he is begrudgingly accepting this agreement and leaving the PPC community to pursue other interests.

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Yesterday, RIM teased the BlackBerry-loving masses with seven new screen shots of BlackBerry 6 in several multimedia-like poses. The music player, picture viewer, camera, social capabilities, and new podcast application all got a little love on the official BlackBerry blog. Things are starting to shape up nicely, but like most of you, we want to see BB6 running on some hardware! Hit the read link to see all RIM is willing to show you.

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Salomondrin took BlackBerry’s upcoming webkit browser — expected to debut in OS 6.0 — and ran it through its paces using a BlackBerry 9800 Slider. Salomondrin subjected the browser to several acid tests, the de facto standard for browser performance, and compared the results with the iPhone 4 and the HTC Incredible. Much to the surprise of many a reader, the BlackBerry webkit browser scored 208 on the test and outperformed both the iPhone 4 which scored 185 and the HTC Incredible which scored 151. Salomondrin also put together a nice video review which compares the current non-webkit browser with the upcoming webkit version highlighting the goodness that is to come to the world of BlackBerry. Video is after the jump for your viewing pleasure.

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Now that the dust from the HP Palm merger has settled, some new details are starting to emerge. The Business Insider is reporting that Apple, Google, and RIM all had serious conversations with Palm about a potential acquisition. An anonymous source “familiar with the matter” tells BI: Apple and Google were interested in Palm’s 450+ patent library and pending patents, while RIM “had the deal in their hands” before things went south. The report goes on to say that Nokia was no where near the deal. Hit the read link for the full report.

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We said we’d be back with a follow up to our hands on post, but to be completely honest, and based on the comments and response you guys gave, there’s not too much to write about. A lot of you wrote in and wanted more photos, so we’ve taken some great high resolution photos of the device like we promised.

In terms of the phone itself, RIM isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel. In fact, they aren’t even reinventing the Curve. With the same features as the original Curve 8520 (plus the addition of 3G), we’d be shocked to see this device launch with great fanfare. Knowing RIM, however, they’ll try and milk this for all it’s worth and so will T-Mobile, but it will be hard to justify anything more than a model refresh.

We like the BlackBerry Curve 9300 a lot, but it’s beginning to feel extremely outdated even for a lower-end low cost handset. Yeah, even with 3G. Plus, it hasn’t even launched yet.

Click on over to our BlackBerry Curve 9300 gallery!