Meet the Bold 9700

RIM announced my next phone today. It has been a while in the making. No, it is not Earth-shattering, or an iPhone killer, but what this Bold 9700 does do is improve every problem I have with my current phone (the Blackberry Curve).

You can find out more about the Bold 9700 here: http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/blackberrybold9700/?iid=RIM_Bold9700_Homepage

This phone will be available for purchase in early November. The carriers (AT&T and TMobile) have not announced pricing, but I have heard it should be around $200 (they can't make it more than the iPhone for sure).

Now, I know you probably aren't going to click that link, so let me tell you what improvements in the phone make this the next phone for me:

• First TMobile 3G phone - finally some speed while on the cell network (I hate EDGE)
• 3.2 megapixel camera - I cannot stand my 2.0, it is horrible (evidence of this is all over my blog). By the way, my current digital camera is only 3.2 megapixel, I will be able to get rid of it once I get this phone.
• WiFi calling - that really works. My Curve has wifi calling, but I always (OK, maybe not always) lose the connection when the phone switches between UMA (wifi) and cellular calling.
• Better QWERTY keyboard than my current Curve

And all this in a form factor that matches my current phone (the old Bold was quite a bit larger - width and height - than a Curve).

I am still waiting for TMobile to announce their launch date and pricing. Need to get me one of these.

My Next Blackberry

Meet the Blackberry Onyx.

The Uber-Blackberry.

It has everything.

I will own this (as soon as it comes out for T-Mobile that is).

If you love your Blackberry you will want to see your next one.

You just have to follow the link: http://crackberry.com/blackberry-onyx-review

All I got for you today. See you tomorrow!

Skype for iPod

A lot of iPod news on the blog this week.

Skype was just released for iPod Touch/iPhone. The phone part of Skype will only work on a wifi access point (not over 3G/cell network). The IM part of Skype will work over any network. For more info on Skype for iPod Touch/iPhone click the link: http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/technology/skype-available-apple-app-store/

Now you are asking, "How will this work for an iPod Touch user? You have no way to talk into it." Now, I know what you mean (I do own a Touch), but check this out: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MA814LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA1MA&mco=MTY1ODg2OA. There is also a $79 super-new version of the headphones as well! You just have to buy Apple's in-ear headphones with microphone for iPhone. Now, you are making Skype calls on an iPod Touch! And you are also the awesomest person in the world!

DirecTV App on my iPod **Update**

Both shows I set to record from my iPod worked without a hitch. It was awesome. The light came on the bedroom DVR right at 11:30 to record Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on The Food Channel (which is one of my favorite TV shows right now). I checked the downstairs DVR and that recording worked as well. Awesome.

I recommend downloading the DirecTV app and getting it on your iPhone/iPod now!

New iPods!

New iPods!

The Nanos are cool because they are back to the gumstick design and they come in a large collection of colors. A color for everyone. Diana wants the purple one. I want the new Touch. read more here.

The Touch, see more here, are great also. They now have a speaker which is sweet. Also, you can change the volume without swiping into the iPod. That sounds weird, but if you have a Touch or have used one - you know what I mean. It is way annoying.

Someone in my house will be getting one of these. Soon.

LINKS

Being able to load videos onto my iPod and then plugging the iPod into my plane seat for a long flight would be awesome. Almost enough for me to want to switch to United. In reality I just want Delta to do this also. It would be awesome.

While it would be great if your company could provide every electronic gadget for you, in reality very few actually help the company and would be paid for by your company. I think everyone should be outfitted with a Blackberry, but not everyone likes being connected to work every second. For me, it is priceless.

Get the computer license to drive. I aced the part I took.

Some email really just is not delivered. Weird. Some of those emails that just go off into the ether have to be mine. I swear that. I think only about half the emails I send are actually delivered and read.

Some cool new laptops from Dell. I like Dell machines. The ones I have bought work great. The one I got from my IT team from work is a piece of junk. It is starting to freeze up sometimes on startup.

Click here for a freaky site. It takes a minute to load. Also, turn up your speakers.

43rd (And Could Be Final Post) Of The Month

Once I finish this post I probably won't post again until May, which is a little more than an hour away. One thing I have learned this month is I need to use the spell check. The blogging program provides for spell check, I just do not use it. Stupid on my part.

Today in the mail we got 27 Dresses and Revolver. We have not watched either movie yet, and probably won't stay up tonight to watch one, we can stay up late tomorrow. Plus, Jordan is laying on the floor (at least it is not me this time).

A couple links for today:

Like I said in an earlier post. Microsoft needs to dump Vista and just go back to XP. Sometimes you can go forward by going back. I guess.

Sometimes I wish I could send the people that send you those really cheesy emails to prison too. Don't those count as spam? Mom, I am just kidding, keep sending them. Not really, please stop. Just kidding, again. What am I saying she will never stop. Just make sure you send them to Diana and she will show me the really good ones. And Diana, you are welcome.

The Mavs fired Avery Johnson today. He was not the best coach, but with that team what can you expect. They were flawed from the beginning and Jason Kidd, their big pickup during the year, is nothing now, especially in the western conference. This team needs a complete overhaul. They should try to trade Josh Howard to Denver for Carmelo. Try to move Kidd for anything (he will be easier to move 2 years from now when his contract is expiring). Move Stackhouse for some rebounding/big man help. If they could pull of the Melo deal I think they will be OK for next year. If they try to stand pat, they might not make the playoffs. And if you do not think Denver would do that deal you are crazy. The Nuggets have to move someone, they have the 3rd highest payroll in the NBA, and cannot get out of the first round in the West.

I hate the BCS, but it will never change. The good old boys club just has it too good. There will never be a playoff even though it makes such sense to turn all the small bowl games into playoff games and then BCS games as the championships, how is that not a good idea? Back to the golden rule - whoever has the gold makes the rules.

Fed lowered the interest rate. Waiting to see what this does to car loan interest rates. We are going to get an All Wheel Drive car for this winter (not a Honda Pilot, we test drove one and Diana did not like it). Hopefully car loan rates go down a little more so we can get a sweet deal on whatever car we get. The one problem with the lower rate is inflation and the dollar, this is bad for oil and gas prices can only go up in the fed keeps lowering rates. They need to stop before things really get out of hand.

New clamshell blackberry coming out for all of you that want a blackberry, but love your clamshell phone. I still love my blackberry.

I am buying my old computer from my work. It still runs great and will be a good addition to the fold. I just need to get a wireless card for it and then it will be ready to go. I just bought a 19" widescreen flat panel monitor for it and I am excited to see it in action. We are going to let Diana have the desktop for her scrapbook room and still have the laptop when she wants to roam, and then go from there. This is like the one I got, but mine had a different brand name, Envision I think.

This is what I should be spending my tax rebate on. But, we are saving as much as we can. We are going to try and do Hawaii this fall/winter. Hopefully, we can just save my June and September bonuses and then we would have plenty for a trip in the fall. But by the time I get those bonus dollars we usually have them spent on something - like Jordan's surgery or house stuff! By the way, if you want the above TV but don't have a Costco card, let me know and I will help you get it, it has to stay at my house though.

Scout O Rama

Today was Scout O Rama and me and Jordan went and volunteered for an hour. We then went and walked around for 45 minutes. There was some fun stuff and some stuff that sucked. Overall, there was a lot of scouts just getting crazy. Our pack had a chinese new year theme. We had a great looking dragon poster for the background and a chinese game. The game has 4 strings with a dragon plaque on each. The string is then tied through another board. You then try to move the plaque from one end of the string to the other. It is a fun game, until you get the hang on it, and then it is easy.

After Scout O Rama me and Jordan went to Costco, my favorite store. We had to return a cutter I had bought Diana. She didn't want it becuase it was gray - she has seen a purple one that she wants before. So, we returned that and then got some lunch. Pizza and a churro. It was some good pizza, I had combo, Jordan had pepperoni. After that we decided to get some toliet paper and go sample all the free stuff Costco has on Saturdays. I went to look as cell phones (Diana wants a Pearl) and decided that I would get her one. Am I just not the nicest husband ever? After making the deal for the phone I was walking to the cash register and lo and behold - there was Littlkins. Littlekins works at Burton Group with me. She actually replaced me when I moved up to Program Manager, and her cube is right outside my office, so we see each other a lot. We chatted as we walked up to the register. We said goodbye to Littlkins and went to pick up the phone. After that we went and snacked around Costco. I don't usually do this, but Jordan likes to get a sample of everything. I got a something if I liked it, but I did not try the spinach tortellini or the seafood sampler they had - and some others. Jordan would make us go back if something wasn't there. He is a hard core food sampler. He needs to gain the weight so why not, right? After Costco we ran to WalMart. Diana had emailed me a list of things we needed (another great thing the Curve can do for you). We got through the list except a couple things, went to the checkstand and there was no line! Now, if you have gone to Walmart on a Saturday afternoon you know that the lines are usually huge. We literally walked right up to the checker and started putting our stuff on the conveyor belt. It was awesome. After WalMart we had to run to Albertsons to get a couple things for Diana. Cereal - they were having a 10 for $25 sale. Most of the cereals were gone so I got Golden Grahams and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Two kinds that our family loves, but most other families must not like because they were still left. Diana wanted to build up our food storage of cereal, and this sale seemed like a good way to do it. I also got Halibut portions becuase they were on sale for $6.99. Diana tells me that is a good deal. I have no idea. The sign did say that you saved $3. I got four of the halibut filets. I go to this checkstand and the checker rings me up...over $60. But after I give her my phone number for the "preferred customer" discounts (do you think they turn someone down for the sales if they say they don't have a preferred customer card? That would be hilarious, but I am sure the checker just gives them the deals anyways. Once my preferred card deals go through it costs around $40. So, overall today, I spent a lot of money, but got a lot of good deals.

Last thing, to get Diana's phone for FREE, which was my ultimate goal, we had to add a line to our Tmobile service ($9.99/month). Then we got the Pearl for free. Awesome. Now the kids can have a phone when they go to friends houses or out by themselves, but not to school. We will never let our kids take a phone to school, they just do not belong there. Anyways, Diana has a Pearl now, I hope she is happy. I just got it set up for internet and email as well. I am sending files back and forth between my Curve and her Pearl. I love technology.

Blackberry Curve

I know, you are all wondering how I posted from Chloe's dance studio. Well, I recently got a blackberry curve with tmobile. And it is awesome. I do realworld stuff with it, like look up addresses and phone numbers on the fly. I almost always have my IM running on it and I am in constant communication with the office. I am in the beta of blackberry enterprise server at work. So having my work email and calendar is invaluable. I like it. When I got rid of our cell phones a couple years ago I never wantesd to get another one. I still find the phone to be a nuisance, but the rest of the features on this curve are sweet. One of the best features is that at home my phone switches to my home wifi connection and all calls are free. Now I just need to get into texting, which I currently find completely annoying. Once you go blackberry you never go back.