BlackBerry Bold 9930 Now Available on Verizon’s Website!

I just hit publish on the post about the Verizon BlackBerry Bold 9930 rumors and Jim let me know that the device is now available! You can now pick up the BlackBerry Bold 9930 on the Verizon Wireless website for $249. It requires a 2 year activation for that pricing. Another thing worth noting is that it makes no mention of the NFC radio built in which is odd. If you don’t want to sign a contract you can pick up the device for $509.99.

Check it out on Verizon’s website at this link

The real irony is that the BlackBerry Bold 9930 product page tells you to “Forge ahead with the BlackBerry Bold 9650 smartphone.” I guess Verizon needs to fix their typos…

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Updated: BlackBerry Bold 9900 Has Wireless Charging Built In?

Update: We just heard from another reliable source that the contacts on the back are not for inductive charging but rather just for the NFC antenna. We knew that it had an NFC antenna in the cover but we will be keeping an eye on this one. Check the picture above to see what the contacts look like.

We knew that RIM was looking into wireless charging but it seems like they were holding back when they announced the BlackBerry Bold 9900 in May. We have been hearing rumors about RIM adding wireless charging but now two sources have confirmed the story. They heard from RIM that the BlackBerry Bold 9900 is packing wireless charging inside. We know that RIM is part of the Qi Wireless Consortium which promotes magnetic inductive charging (unlike conductive which has metal exposed) but I have not been able to confirm that it is using inductive charging.

From what we are hearing the technology is built into the back cover which connects to the device. There are also two tiny prongs on the bottom of the device possibly for a cradle. I am really excited to see RIM getting in on the forefront of a new technology with wireless charging. This is the kind of engineering that will create buzz sort of like the Palm Touchstone wireless charger. It could also explain why this Bold 9900 is eschewing the faux leather back cover for this new meshed metal design. Originally we were told that the back cover was for NFC communication but it looks like it will be pulling double duty.

I am still trying to confirm this rumor but the signs seem to be pointing in this direction… RIM has also been really hush about the Wi-Fi mobile hotspot feature in BlackBerry 7 devices so this could just be another hush feature.

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BlackBerry Bold 9900 Has Wireless Charging Built In?

We knew that RIM was looking into wireless charging but it seems like they were holding back when they announced the BlackBerry Bold 9900 in May. We have been hearing rumors about RIM adding wireless charging but now two sources have confirmed the story. They heard from RIM that the BlackBerry Bold 9900 is packing wireless charging inside. We know that RIM is part of the Qi Wireless Consortium which promotes magnetic conductive charging (unlike inductive which has metal exposed) but I have not been able to confirm that it is using inductive charging.

From what we are hearing the technology is built into the back cover which connects to the device. There are also two tiny prongs on the bottom of the device possibly for a cradle. I am really excited to see RIM getting in on the forefront of a new technology with wireless charging. This is the kind of engineering that will create buzz sort of like the Palm Touchstone wireless charger. It could also explain why this Bold 9900 is eschewing the faux leather back cover for this new meshed metal design. Originally we were told that the back cover was for NFC communication but it looks like it will be pulling double duty.

I am still trying to confirm this rumor but the signs seem to be pointing in this direction… RIM has also been really hush about the Wi-Fi mobile hotspot feature in BlackBerry 7 devices so this could just be another hush feature.

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Verizon Ups Fee by 3 Cents – Might Get You Out of Your Contract Without an ETF

I always love when carriers do things like this. Verizon Wireless put a “Notice of Change to Regulatory Charge” in this months bill saying they plan on upping the charge to $0.16 from $0.13 per line each month. The Consumerist is always first to jump on these “Material Changes” to your contract as an opportunity to get out of your cellphone contract without paying an Early Termination Fee. When I first heard about this with text messaging charge increases I didn’t believe it but since then I have seen quite a few people get away with it.

In short you need to stick to your guns when calling Verizon and stating that this extra 3 cents is a “Materially Adverse” change to your contract. If you want to give it a shot you can read up more about the method and details on the Consumerist. A few of the people I know who did this managed to also keep their number by going through this process and not actually cancelling the line but rather having the retention department note their account that the ETF was waived. Then then ported their number off. No promises but you can try to pull that off and port your number to Google Voice…

PS: The thing that really pisses me off about all these fees from wireless carriers is they try to make it sound like it is some sort of government imposed fee or tax when it really is just the carrier trying to squeeze everybody for more money. Tack that on top of Verizon’s horrible new data plan tiers and the world starts looking a bit scary with an AT&T/T-Mobile merger allowing AT&T and Verizon to screw customers left and right.

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