Filed under: Handsets, RIM, Rogers Wireless, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS, BlackBerry OS AT&T and T-Mobile customers have a little bit to wait yet before they can clamp down on a 9700 of their own, but Rogers — which has a history of being in the VIP section for new BlackBerry launches — has already brought the new Bold flavor to market. RIM’s latest high-end full QWERTY device will run you CAD $299.99 (about $281) on a three-year contract, scaling all the way up to CAD $599.99 (about $563) commitment-free — so needless to say, you have to really want this thing.

Filed under: HTC, RIM, Sprint, Windows Mobile, Android Sprint’s vice president of consumer marketing David Owens sat down with the community at large last week to answer a few burning questions about Sprint’s current and future lineup, and there were a few juicy tidbits, reaffirmations, and rumor confirmations that came out of it worth mentioning: There will be a WiFi-enabled Tour (the phone we know as the Essex) along with other WiFi BlackBerrys in the future. Sprint’s 2010 HTC lineup is said to be “robust” with a number of additional Android-powered models in the pipe. WiMAX phones are apparently on track for 2010, which would put them head-to-head with MetroPCS’ goal of a Samsung handset for its new LTE network next year

Filed under: Handsets, RIM, Verizon Wireless, EV-DO, CDMA, BlackBerry OS Assuming RIM and Verizon didn’t completely scorch the earth of prospective touch-screen BlackBerry buyers, some of you might like to know that Verizon’s Storm2 9550 is now ready for purchase. As expected, the Storm2 will cost you $180 after $100 on-line discount and after you prostrate yourself to a two-year tithe

When we heard the news that the BlackBerry Storm2 would be launching on Verizon on the same day as their much heralded Droid, we got a gut feeling that the Storm2 would fly pretty much under the radar all day. And sure enough, it has. So, let this serve as a reminder for anyone who’s itchin’ for Waterloo’s latest who wasn’t camped out this morning: the BlackBerry Storm2 is now available for $180 bucks on a 2-year contract in both the online and meatspace stores – even if it seems like Verizon doesn’t really want you to notice.

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, LG, Nokia, RIM, Telus Mobility, Apple Telus already announced that it’d be launching the iPhone in November, but it’s just now gotten official with an actual date: November 5th — which just so happens to also be the day that it lights up its brand new HSPA+ network. Unfortunately for anyone hoping that a little competition would spark a price war, Telus is matching Rogers’ prices across the board, starting at $99.99 for the basic 8GB iPhone 3G, and moving up to $199.99 for the 16GB 3GS, and $299.99 for the 32GB 3GS (all on a three-year contract, of course). What’s more, Telus has also taken the opportunity to offer the first official confirmation of some of the other devices that’ll take advantage of its new network, including the HTC Hero, the previously rumored LG New Chocolate (a.k.a BL40), the Blackberry Bold 9700, and the Nokia E71 (plus a USB stick, for good measure).

Filed under: Handsets, RIM, Verizon Wireless, EV-DO, CDMA, BlackBerry OS The phone you’re peering at above has more names than we’d care to count, but the so-called Aries (or the Gemini’s CDMA’d sibling, if you please) may end up on Verizon as one of two things: the BlackBerry Curve 8530 or the BlackBerry Curve 2. The folks over at CrackBerry managed to get their hands on a unit far before this thing has even been officially released, and of course they’ve given us the rundown just as the Storm2 is stealing all of the attention over at Big Red. The WiFi-equipped handset (yeah, you read that right) was said to be “identical to the Curve 8520″ with the exception of the back cover design, meaning that while solid, the device definitely felt “entry-level.” The interface was said to be satisfactorily snappy, the optical trackpad was dubbed “really great” and the web browser was still thoroughly worthless

Filed under: Handsets, RIM, Verizon Wireless, EDGE, EV-DO, HSDPA, UMTS, CDMA, BlackBerry OS Say you’re North America’s largest wireless carrier — how do you go about burying a product you’re about to carry that you secretly wish didn’t exist? One creative option would be to opt out of announcing it when its manufacturer does, then quietly launch it on the same day that you’re announcing the phone you’re calling the “must-have device of the year.” Tricky, eh? Yeah, sure enough, by all appearances it seems that Verizon doesn’t plan on celebrating the arrival of the Storm2 with the same fanfare it gave the Storm, despite the fact that the new device directly addresses the biggest complaints dogging the original model.

Oh look, yet another BlackBerry has shown up on a carriers website before its existence has been officially acknowledged. This time the honor falls upon T-Mobile Germany and the BlackBerry Bold 9700. Listed without a price but as available in November, T-Mobile is positioning the 9700 as the “Bold the size of a Curve,” something easily confirmed by on quick glance at the accompanying spec sheet.