Well, it looks like that long, painful wait is finally over. According to all kinds of tipsters, the BlackBerry Bold touches down for the first time in North America (in its home country of Canada, obviously) come August 21st (that's this Thursday, in case you don't own a calendar, computer, or have any friends). That's right -- the Bold will land on Rogers (where else?) with a price tag set somewhere between the dark valley of $300 and $400, according to Research In Motion co-CEO Jim Balsillie. Reports say the phone will be available from other carriers by the end of the week, though we don't have any definitive rumblings that confirm such heavenly ideas. You'll know more when we do, of course.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Okay, pretend you had absolutely no inclination that this so-called KickStart was real. Surprise! E-tailer expansys has spoiled RIM's thunder (no silly, not that Thunder) by posting up detailed product pages for both the BlackBerry 8220 (WiFi) and BlackBerry 8210 (GPS). The current specs list points out a 2.6-inch 320 x 240 primary display, 160 x 128 pixel secondary display, 2-megapixel camera (with LED flash), video recording and a microSDHC slot. There's no price or release date listed for either, but at least you can shelve those worries of this thing never making it to market.

[Via Cellpassion]

Read - BlackBerry 8220
Read - BlackBerry 8210

Always looking to make lemonade out of lemons, the self-proclaimed BGizzle took the opportunity to inform prospective (and current) BlackBerry Bold owners of the handset's fragile nature. To no one's surprise, the naked Bold didn't stand up too well to pavement when dropped from about two feet -- maybe this is where a real metal bezel would come in handy? Anywho, we're not told whether or not the essential functions were fubared, but we'd recommend taking his advice and snapping up a skin / case before welcoming it to the world.

Though the pricing is a bit (and we emphasize "bit") easier to swallow than the $600 Movistar is charging in Chile, it's not even close to free. Rogers will soon be offering up a palm-sized version of its gigantic BlackBerry Bold (which will hopefully swap those informational cards with cell radios and such) for a staggering $399.99 on a 3-year contract. Who knew highway robbery was legal, anyway?

A little easier on the pocketbook than the nearly $600 Movistar's asking for in Chile? Yeah, we'd say so. The BlackBerry Bold has now launched on KPN in the Netherlands, where it apparently takes nothing more than a €36.25 per month (about $54) plan on a two-year agreement to skirt any and all charges for the handset itself. Heck, even on a mere €26.75 monthly deal, you're still only shelling out €99.95 for the phone, which works out to something like $148 -- dirt cheap for a phone of the Bold's capability. AT&T's pricing on the other hand... well, we really don't know yet what they plan on charging for the pleasure, but something tells us we're going to need a Heineken or three to get over the sticker shock. A trip to Amsterdam wouldn't hurt, either, come to think of it.

[Thanks, hellejoep]

Indosat customers (or folks traveling through Indonesia) may be interested to know that the carrier has teamed with RIM to launch "BlackBerry On Demand," a prepaid option for fetching BlackBerry Internet Service in the country without a multi-year contract. Available in 7-day and 30-day packages, the on demand service is available to customers with prepaid and postpaid voice plans, though there's no word on pricing just yet.

Though it won't have the pleasure of being the first carrier on planet Earth to offer up the BlackBerry Bold, Orange will be the first provider in the UK to do so. Reportedly, the handset will be available for purchase on August 16th, a few weeks earlier than T-Mobile's purported September launch. We're told that the unit will likely be free on contract, but buyers will be politely forced to sign an 18-month agreement and hand over £45 per month (for unlimited data?). Just a few more long, painful days to wait.

We understand the need to catch eyes these days, and while Rogers will certainly not be the first nor last to promote a new piece of kit with an obscenely large version of said kit, this one just takes brobdingnagian marketing to a new plateau. The absolutely gigantic Rogers Bold launch kit includes a plethora of Bold flyers, informational pamphlets and all sorts of other goodies that'll be handed out to prospective buyers shortly. The real question is: who gets to take this thing home once the buzz dies down?

[Thanks, Michael]

Usually we'd say that late trumps never, but in this case, we're not so sure. Two months shy of a full year after RIM announced the BlackBerry Pearl 8130 for CDMA carriers, Virgin Mobile Canada is just now adding the handset to its arsenal. We'll go ahead and assume you already know what this thing is packing, so here's the dirt you aren't familiar with: free on a 3-year contract (as if!), $299 on a 2-year plan, $349 on a 1-year plan (have we reached the absurdity ceiling yet?) and $399 on a 30-day contract (ah, there it is).

[Via mobilesyrup]

Uh oh, Moto. Go 'head with your bad self. Just days after posting a meager profit (but a profit nonetheless) and maintaining your position in third in worldwide mobile market share, along comes a report claiming that you're still numero uno in the United States. While handset sales overall shot up 5.3% here in Q2, Motorola maintained a 26% share and managed to stare down at least a few naysayers. In related news, LG held tight to the silver with 22%, while RIM gained a double-digit market share increase thanks to sales of its oh-so-hot BlackBerry handset. Number nerds, feel free to tap the read link for even more fractions and decimals.

[Via RCRWireless]

If that 3G action on the Bold is just a little too extreme for your EDGE mind to handle, fear not: the more pedestrian Javelin is looking hotter by the minute. Newly leaked spec documents reveal a phone that is fully modern in every single way but one -- its lack of HSDPA -- with a 512MHz core, 256MB of onboard storage, that gorgeous 480 x 360 display taken right out of the Bold's playbook, WiFi with UMA support, and a 3.2-megapixel cam. All told, it's looking ripe for T-Mobile as a replacement for the Curve in its HotSpot @Home lineup -- if RIM would hurry up and frickin' launch it, that is. We still haven't heard anything to make us believe it'll launch before next year as we'd been told a while back, and we're not sure how a company like RIM can justify launching a brand new 2.5G device in the year 2009, but we're sure they'll push a few if the price is right.

We guess the BlackBerry fanfare is still focused on the Bold until we get past a whole bunch of launches around the world, but beyond that, the biggest news has to be the Thunder, RIM's first full touchscreen device (and indeed, its first touchscreen device period). Like the KickStart-to-Pearl metamorphosis, the Thunder name is anything but set in stone -- in fact, we'd venture to guess it'll be something else by the time it launches -- but it now seems that we can at least nail down a model number: 9530. Verizon documentation leaked to Boy Genius Report is showing a "RIM BlackBerry BB9530 Global" in its ranks, which is allegedly scheduled for an October 13 launch. Of course, we all know how this works: even if the October 13 date is legit, a whole host of contingencies could end up slipping the date by days, weeks, or even months, so don't plan a vacation around it just yet (and don't even act like you've never taken a day off to play with a new cellphone, you gadget lovin' son of a gun).

Nothing says "I'm more important than you, but not as important as John Mayer" better than a Bold in hand these days.

[Thanks, Mo]

We've been calling the KickStart "KickStart" for so long now, it's going to be awfully difficult to call it anything else -- even if it's just another name already in RIM's toolbox. Cell Phone Signal seems to have stumbled across some sort of internal documentation that suggests that the first BlackBerry flip on the market will go by the "Pearl" name, an admittedly logical choice considering its seemingly consumer-oriented slant. As we've heard before, there'll be both GPS (8210) and WiFi (8220) versions on tap; the document actually indicates that only the 8220 will go by Pearl, we'd be hard pressed to believe that they'd break it up in such a nonsensical way. But seriously, RIM, think twice about ditching the KickStart moniker, yeah?

For better or worse, it turns out GSM networks aren't the only ones to enjoy the BlackBerry Curve in a decidedly pale shade of red. The pink Curve 8330 has now been confirmed for Verizon, with sales starting as soon as this Friday for $99.99 after rebate on a two-year contract. We still want that mythical near-black version that Sprint had originally showed off, but this has to be a close second. Or third. Or definitely in the top five.