BlackBerry 9500 Storm Official - Storming into India...!

Here’s what we know about BlackBerry’s “Thunder” Storm - the 9500. It has a 3.25-inch TFT touch screen display with a 320 x 480 pixel resolution and an accelerometer for auto screen rotation. It has a 3.5mm earphone socket (thank you), microSD slot for external memory (8GB cards are good to go) and 1GB of internal storage to play around with. The 9500 also has a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera with an LED flash, a media player that supports DivX and XviD formats, internal GPS (with A-GPS) using Blackberry Maps, support for Stereo Bluetooth and USB v2.0. It's also a 3G ready handset, not that it matters to us at the moment. 

The 9500 Storm employs some cutting edge technology like the world's first “clickable” touch-screen that responds like a physical keyboard and also supports single-touch, multi-touch and gestures for intuitive and efficient application navigation. 

“We are proud to introduce the first touch-screen based BlackBerry smartphone together with Verizon Wireless and Vodafone,” said Mike Lazaridis, president and co-chief executive officer at RIM. “The BlackBerry Storm is a revolutionary touch-screen smartphone that meets both the communications and multimedia needs of customers and solves the longstanding problem associated with typing on traditional touch-screens. Consumers and business customers alike will appreciate this unique combination of a large and vibrant screen with a truly tactile touch interface.”

Specs aside here’s the big news. The BlackBerry 9500 Storm is going to be launched (according to the RIM) quite soon right here in India via Vodafone. There’s still no price yet so, stay tuned.

RIM Announces its First BlackBerry Flip Phone

Research In Motion (RIM), has unveiled the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 smartphone, the first BlackBerry phone to come in the flip form factor. The quad-band EDGE-based BlackBerry weighs 3.6 ounces and measures approximately 3.9 x 1.9 x 0.7-inch. Featuring two high-resolution, light-sensing color displays, the external LCD makes it easy to preview incoming emails, text messages and phone calls without opening the handset, while the large, 240 x 320 internal LCD displays messages, videos and web pages.

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone includes features like Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), support for MP3 ring tones, smart dialing, conference calling, speed dialing, call forwarding, voicemail attachment playback and enhanced background noise cancellation. It also features a speakerphone and Bluetooth 2.0 for use with hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, car kits and other Bluetooth peripherals such as a GPS receiver.

It features a large SureType QWERTY keyboard, plus provides access to up to 10 supported personal and work email accounts. The DataViz Documents to Go software suite is also preloaded, allowing users to edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip is supported on BlackBerry Internet Service, BlackBerry Unite!, BlackBerry Professional Software and BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which provides tight integration with corporate email systems and the security and IT policy controls that enterprise customers require to allow smartphones in their organization.

It features a 2 megapixel camera with flash, zoom and video recording, and includes BlackBerry Maps to deliver maps and step-by-step driving directions. An enhanced HTML browser displays web pages in either "Column View" or "Page View" and different emulation settings allow users to choose between desktop-style HTML content and the mobile version of web pages. The browser also supports RTSP for watching online streaming video from sites like m.youtube.com. 

In addition, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone features built-in Wi-fi (802.11 b/g) with support for UMA (unlicensed mobile access), extending wireless email and data coverage and supporting carrier enabled voice calls over home Wi-Fi networks, enterprise wireless deployments and Wi-Fi hotspots. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 smartphone will be available from wireless carriers around the world beginning this fall. 
Specific availability and pricing details will be announced at a later date.

BlackBerry Launches The Bold

Enter the BlackBerry Gold in all its splendor. RIM has finally launched their latest handset - The Bold. The handset is RIM’s first smartphone to support HSDPA and has features that include a half-VGA LCD display (480 x 320 resolution at 217 ppi), a 624 MHz processor, integrated GPS and Wi-fi support as well as 1GB internal storage memory and a microSD/SDHC expansion memory slot.

The Bold also features a 2 megapixel camera with video recording capability, built-in flash and digital zoom. The advanced media player can display pictures and slideshows and play movies in full screen mode (thank goodness). Audio can be played over the handset's dual speakers stereo sound, and when using headphones or external speakers, the media player gives the user an equalizer with 11 preset filters.




With the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution, users can stay easily connected to their email, calendar, contacts and other corporate applications in IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise environments. The BlackBerry Bold smartphone also allows users to download Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files in email attachments that can be saved to the handset and edited with the DataViz Documents to Go software suite, which is preinstalled.

There’s no word yet on the Bold's ETA in India nor a price for the same. Personally, I’m waiting for the Thunder.

First Trojan for Blackberry.....!!!!!!

Varun Srivastava, the Business Development Head at APPIN Security Group that just happens to be a leading player in ethical hacking and information security, has recently come out with a Whitepaper on what causes hacking of BlackBerry phones, whether it is secure/ lawfully interceptible, and how can it be avoided. Needless to say, BlackBerry users are probably fretting right about now, as most offices these days issue some of their executives, especially the ones that are constantly traveling, with Blackberry handsets.What the guys at APPIN have stated is simply, as soon as a Trojan for the BlackBerry is out and making its rounds, Blackberry users are going to have a problem with keeping their data secure. A hacking code called the BB Hacking toolkit, which comes with the Blackberry Trojan called BBProxy is what can be deployed into a BlackBerry server and it’s ‘Troy’ all over again. What this deceitful Trojan does is open up a back-door to the company’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) and the information stored is then up for grabs. In technical terms it will bypass all the company’s security systems that protect data stored on the servers. Not only can the hacker simply remove information undetected they could also infect the system itself. Since the communications channel between the BlackBerry server and handheld device is encrypted and cannot be properly inspected by typical security products, a tunnel is usually opened by the administrator to allow the encrypted communications channel to the BlackBerry server inside the organization's network. When launched, BBProxy opens up its own hidden tunnel between the BlackBerry and the user's corporate network, as the hack runs in the background.Thanks to the R and D conducted by APPIN, they also enclosed a few countermeasures in their Whitepaper release – To counteract this potential threat Secure Computing recommends isolating servers that face the public internet, including a BlackBerry server and the mail server working with it, in their own Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which would reduce the risk of a compromised server providing access to other critical servers. The BlackBerry server and mail server should also not be permitted to open arbitrary connections to the internal network or Internet, and internal users should not be permitted to open arbitrary connections to either the BlackBerry server or mail server. There is something like 250 plus commands that allow the administrator to have full control over how the BlackBerry as a platform is used by the users within the BlackBerry Enterprise Server community. This gives administrators full control over what third party applications can be installed on employee handheld for example. Setting one policy can disable unwanted software altogether. So you never have to worry about malware or anything else that's not authorized.Source

BlackBerry Blackout By Indian Govt....!!!!!!

CNBC-TV18's Sandeep Gurumurthi reports that Tata Teleservices' application to offer BlackBerry Services in India has been rejected after the Department of Telecom (DoT) forwarded the request to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).Anil Sardana, Managing Director of TTSL, told reporters in New Delhi this morning that they were told by the MHA that the BlackBerry service does not allow for "lawful interception" mandated for all Value Added Services (VAS).Sources tell CNBC-TV18 that when Tata Tele asked DoT why other operators were being allowed, the DoT fired off letters to existing BlackBerry providers seeking an explanation. Sources also say that two rounds of discussion have happened between these operators and the MHA. A final call is expected to be taken in a meeting with the Telecom Secretary next week.A spokesperson from RIM – the company that offers the BlackBerry service – said: "RIM supports its carrier partners in India and we will work together with them to seek further clarity."Security experts we spoke to were sceptical of the claim, saying that in June last year the French government had advised officials not to use Blackberry Services for precisely the opposite reasons. At that time, officals at RIM claimed that even they did not have access to the data on their servers (a questionable claim in itself), an explanation that could have them in a spot when they meet with Indian authorities.Of course, we at Tech2.com are also sceptical about the national security bogey being brought up on every occasion. Indeed, the last thing the increasingly tech-savvy terrorist is likely to use is a BlackBerry. After all, he will either have to use corporate email or operator-provided mail (@blackberry.airtel.in, for example) both of which are easily traceable – it's not like RIM is a company that's going to disappear overnight.Source

BlackBerry Pearl 8110 hits the INDIAN market...!!!!

A day after Valentine's Day, Vodafone and Research in Motion (RIM) have launched the stylish BlackBerry Pearl 8110 smart phone in the country.

Highlights of the new Pearl are: built-in GPS, rich multimedia features, and powerful communication capabilities of the BlackBerry solution, to name a few.
The elegant Black-colored BlackBerry Pearl 8110 pinpoints a user's location using GPS capabilities, and according to RIM, offers out-of-the-box support for a variety of location-based applications and services including Google Maps.

The smart new phone is capable of accessing up to ten supported email accounts using the BlackBerry Internet Service, and corporate email and data systems via the BlackBerry enterprise server.

Another lifestyle edition of the BlackBerry, the BlackBerry Pearl 8110 makes it easier for professionals on the move to make calls, email, surf the net, take and send photographs, listen to music, and access their organizer and a range of other applications for both work and play. By inserting a microSD card, videos can be recorded on this smart phone.

Specifications of the BlackBerry Pearl 8110 smart phone from Vodafone include: support for GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity; built-in GPS to support location-based applications and services; 2 mega pixels camera with 5x digital zoom and enhanced Flash; video capture in two resolutions (240 x 180 and 176 x 144) for sharing via MMS; BlackBerry Desktop Software that includes Roxio Media Manager for BlackBerry and Roxio Photosuite 9 LE; support for Bluetooth stereo audio profile (A2DP/AVRCP); supplied standard 3.5mm stereo headset jack; Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD); Bluetooth 2.0 support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits, and Bluetooth peripherals; externally accessible microSD/SDHC card slot for additional storage; trackball navigation system; and RIM's SureType keyboard system including word completion and spell checker.

Speaking at the launch, Harit Nagpal, director (Marketing and New Business) of Vodafone Essar, said, "The sleek new BlackBerry Pearl 8110 is yet another convenient and stylish smart phone solution for our customers. With its novel features, the new model is designed to support our customers' business and personal needs."

The BlackBerry Pearl 8110 is available across Vodafone Stores in the country for a price of Rs 24,990.
Source: Techtree