BlackBerry 8520 swoops through FCC

While BlackBerry world tends to be filled of tales featuring the latest Berries brimming to the top with gooey feature goodness, some people enjoy the slower pace of life. All of the increasing demands these new features place on the oh so taxed lithium battery within all of them isn’t worth it to them. For those people, the BlackBerry 8520 is their Berry. Since it just passed through the FCC, a release is farely close, (read: by August is likely). Since AT&T has focused more and more on 3G lately, one can only assume T-Mobile will be the go-to for this new old BlackBerry. A quick recpap of the specs include a 320 x 240 2.46″ display, Quad-band EDGE, 256MB internal memory, OS 4.6, 2.0 MP camera w/ no flash(?), and optical trackpad. So lovers of the golden years, does that suit you?

Source: Cellphone Signal

Why I will *probably* never buy another iPhone

That’s a pretty bold statement considering I have no idea what the future holds for Apple and their mobile devices. But it is one I can honestly make. However, the way they’ve handled themselves, the control over the various iterations of the iPhone, as well as other entities such as the app store signals to me that Apple is not here for the customer but merely to make money. (Shocker…I know). It is by no means a new revelation in my mind, but one that I hoped over time, as Apple became more and more entrenched in the mobile market, would loosen up. So what exactly is all of this anger and resentment about?

Stacks comes to Windows 7 by way of “7Stacks”

While the dock is a love it or hate it feature in OS X, most people who enjoy the dock’s company also in some form enjoy stacks. The expanding folders that reside on the dock make it easy and quick to see inside a particular folder. Until now, Windows users have had to suffice with….nothing (please correct if I’m wrong). However, your patience has paid off as Windows 7 will finally bring with it a nifty 3rd party app called “7Stacks”.

Sony provided backwards compatability coming back into focus?

Chances are that most individuals with a PS3 have at least one PS2 game floating around their house. If they don’t own one, they’ve at least played one on the next gen console before. While the Xbox 360 has more or less buried its predecesor, negating it to but a mere thought that crosses our minds every now and then, the PS3 has yet to decimate the PS2. Heck, the PS2 is having some of the best sales numbers of its life. Still, the push to next gen hardware won’t go away. Sony knows this. The original PS3′s had hardware based backwards compatability from the start. Over time that support was dropped to reduce building costs. Still, after several years on the market, the PS3 is now overpriced and going nowhere.

Verizon again takes top honors in call quality/speed tests

While AT&T and their iPhone may claim to be the top dog in the cellular marketplace, they’re nothing but an old dirty mutt gimping along on two and a half legs. Yes…it’s that bad. But hey, lets start with the good. A test conducted in 13 cities by PC World shoed Verizon pulling ahead in the mobile speed race with download speeds averaging 951Kbps with an 89.8% “uptime” (read: uninterupted performance). Sprint wasn’t that far behind passing the gates at a still brisk 808kbps and 90.5% reliability. And now for the bad….

The sad state of U.S. broadband speeds

The next time you want to toot your own, Red, White, and Blue color horn in regards to broadband speeds here in the states, look at the chart above and remember one thing…we lag…greatly. It’s a joke. A joke that isn’t funny. Why we are so far behind is beyond me. Lets hope to god congress updates the “official” classification of broadband as something that is faster than the now grossly antiquated quote of 222kbps. Whether or not you’re “giving it your all”, 19th place sucks plain and simple. Heck, South Korea has a goal of 1Gbps speeds for all individual homes means the U.S. is even more out of touch with internet and anything remotely close to real home broadband.

Source: Tech Digest

Onkyo coming to Best Buy Magnolia

While some may still be saddened at the downfall of Circuit City, many hailed its death as a death to shoddy policies and even shoddier CS. Still, losing the company meant losing several brands and products as those respective companies have so far declined to do business with any other brick and mortar electronics store. Thankfully, Best Buy Magnolia shoppers will soon be treated to Onkyo products once again as their manufacturer has voiced the new relationship.

Onkyo:

“We have worked diligently to position the brand where the product’s performance, capabilities, feature set and uncompromising build quality can be effectively and professionally demonstrated.

“The establishment of the relationship and placement of the product with Magnolia Home Theater is the culmination of these efforts.”

Those of you waiting out for Onkyo instore products that you could touch and feel, proke and proud, can take comfort in knowing that your steadfast patience and determination has paid off. Look forward to the new additions at your local Best Buy in the near future.

Source: Crunch Gear