RIM unveils two new Blackberries

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Today, RIM kicked off their annual WES by introducing two new Blackberrys, the Bold 9650 and the Pearl 3G.

The Bold 9650 is a device that’s been promised since last summer and though now under the Bold name, it is essentially a Blackberry Tour with an optical trackpad and Wi-Fi. Everything else is the same including Dual-Band networks for world roaming, a 3.2 megapixel camera, a 2.44 inch HVGA screen and 512MB of built in flash memory. Though not too exciting of a release, it wasn’t disappointing either, considering it was anticipated for awhile.

The Pearl 3G is a bit more exciting, considering it’s a more fresh update to the widely popular Pearl. Its design has been face-lited and looks much more modern, but still resembles previous-generation models with its very pocketable size, measuring in at only 4.25 inches tall and 1.96 inches wide. Also like previous models, the Pearl 3G comes with the SureType keyboard, but there will actually be two configurations, the 9100 will have a 20-key SureType and the 9105 will only have a 14-key SureType. Again, this device is now shipped with the optical trackpad instead of the trackball for navigation, and operates on the new 5.0 Blackberry OS, GPS and 3G (obviously). This device definitely sees a successful future when widely released.

What is 4G?

4G is a new generation of wireless technology for cellular devices, and it is basically capable of doing everything 3G can, twice as fast. The tree of developing technologies for cell phones is just an upgrade of speed, as 2G was faster than the first generation, and 3G is faster than 2G and so forth. As 4G becomes more and more popular and demanding on today’s smartphones, a proper understanding could definitely help in deciding if you really need it for your next phone. There are different types of 4G, as there were different types of 3G (UMTS, HSDPA and EV-DO). The two main divisions of 4G are WiMax and LTE, but you don’t need to go into the deep technological details of the two.

LTE, which stands for long term evolution, is when the cellular devices transmit everything, even voice, as data. This is a completely new way of receiving and sending data, which is why it’s an “evolution”. Many of the large U.S carriers, including AT&T and Verizon Wireless have announced they will be using LTE for their future 4G technologies, and testing has shown LTE is capable of speeds up to 50mbps.

WiMax, which stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, isn’t considered an “evolution” because it’s way of transmitting data, is very similar to today’s Wi-Fi. WiMax is capable of speeds up to 10mbps, much slower when compared to LTE, which is probably why Sprint is the only carrier in the U.S so far that is supporting WiMax.

Currently though, WiMax has much more of an availability than LTE as it’s still being tested, but by 2011, carriers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless will be introducing 4G phones and 4G coverage all over the map.