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 930...

One of our Bell connects was kind enough to pass along an internal memo regarding the carrier’s upcoming release of the BlackBerry Storm2. According to the document, it will be available on April 13th for $349.95 on a 3-year contract before data subsidies are applied. Add in a voice and data subsidy and you’re looking at $199.95, a whole $40 cheaper than TELUS. Hit the jump to check out the all of the pricing options.Thanks, Anonymous! (more…)

It was mentioned in one of our whispers and now it’s here: Verizon has released a Push-To-Talk application for its fleet of BlackBerry smartphones. Free to download but requiring a monthly fee of $5 to use, Verizon’s BlackBerry PTT app allows for unlimited nation-wide calls to other PTT devices. Other key features include:Make group calls with up to 50 participants.Use Presence to see who’s available for Push to Talk calls.Manage Push to Talk contacts for your entire company online.Access email...

Just a quick  little heads up for our Canadians brothers and sisters that at this moment may or may not be doing battle with polar bears on glaciers the size of Manhattan — TELUS has released the BlackBerry Storm2. Retailing for $599.99, the Storm2 is also available at the subsidized price of $199.99 provided one is willing to take on a 3-year contract with a minimum of a $50 voice and data plan. So what’s it going to be, Canada? Yay or nay? (more…)

Better late than never, right? The BlackBerry Storm2 isn’t exactly rocket science. Usually companies whether it’s a car manufacturer, handset company, computer maker or others follow up on an existing product and label it “new and improved.” Just like clockwork, RIM has spit out another iteration of their BlackBerry Storm series and this time it’s the much-awaited BlackBerry Storm2 9550 for Verizon. Finally the handset packs everything you’d hope for in a BlackBerry as far ...

Recently, TELUS issued a press release letting Canadians know that their handsets are now being offered through Black’s, the nation-wide digital camera chain. This news in itself didn’t interest us in the least, but for giggles we clicked on through to Black’s website just to see what handsets it was going to be offering considering the odd partnership. What did we see in the line up? None other than a TELUS branded BlackBerry Storm2. Unfortunately what you see above is all we have for now a...

After months of leaks, teasing and previews, yesterday was the first day that Verizon Wireless started selling the BlackBerry Storm2. Available on a 2-year contract for $179.99 after rebates (or $539.00 contract free), the Storm2 intentionally regrettably has been released on the very same day both Verizon and Motorola took the wraps off of the DROID. Verizon and RIM were at least kind enough to include it in their latest BOGO campaign, though. Sure, the BOGO sale lets you get other devices like the Tour and ...

Lovers of all things BlackBerry might want to stop on by their local Verizon dealer this Wednesday as that’s the day “a powerful new Storm rolls onto Verizon Wireless’ network” (sorry, we couldn’t resist.) Going for $179.99 on a 2-year contract after a $100 MIR — no word yet on full retail — the Storm2 is everything that Storm 9530 users could hope for in that it is reliable, dependable and has Wi-Fi. We’ve got a production unit from Verizon that we’re cur...

Verizon Storm users have reason to celebrate tonight because they’re part of a very special user base — the first BlackBerry users to recieve BlackBerry OS 5.0. We’ve already gone over the benefits of OS 5.0 a whole bunch, so all there is left for us to do is tell you how to get the goods. Either fire up BlackBerry Desktop Manager for PC or Mac and accept the prompt to update your handheld, or visit www.verizonwireless.com/storm. We’re just in the process of updating our 9530, but in t...

It’s only a small matter of time now before the BlackBerry Storm 2 officially hits the streets, but Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam has been seen flaunting the goods a little early in New York City. Apparently, McAdam has been carrying the device for weeks now and feeling it out. To put it to the test, he showed it to some NYU students and it was well-received according to the New York Times:“I let them play with the second-generation Storm device,” he said. “They came back and said ‘Oh, my gosh.’ T...

Need more proof that Verizon is on the cusp of releasing the BlackBerry Storm 9550? If so, you might want to check out this BES 5.0 flyer that one of our BlackBerry connects just sent us. Aimed towards corporate folks, the flyer lists what a glorious and indispensable business tool the still-unannounced BlackBerry 9550 is when running on BES 5.0. You know, good stuff like follow-up flags, advanced folder management, calendar appointment forwarding, wireless contact sync, document editing with DocumentsToGo an...

RIM made us remove the photo because they obviously don’t care about product hype. We’ve got some new info that leads us to believe the BlackBerry 9550 will be the model number of the BlackBerry Storm 2 due out later this year on Verizon and probably Vodafone. Besides a much better (hopefully) screen tech, the big news with the BlackBerry Storm 2 is the inclusion of Wi-Fi. Here’s a run down of the specifications for the BlackBerry 9550:CDMA 1xRTT/EVDO Rev. AQuad-band GSM/EDGESingle-band UMTS...