Sprint Launches the Blackberry Curve 3G

The Blackberry Curve 3G smartphone, the next phone in the large Curve line from RIM, has been launched on Sprint. Besides a few minor cosmetic tweaks, the phone is very similar to the Curve 8530, featuring a 2.0 megapixel camera, a QWERTY keyboard, and an optical trackpad for navigation. The differences lie in the internals of the phone, where the Curve 3G sports double the memory as the Curve 8530. This means that the phone will be upgradable to Blackberry OS 6, which gives the Blackberry a much-improved web browser and other features, such as universal search and a redesigned home screen. The phone is available now for $49 with a new two-year contract, and an eligible data plan. (Sprint)

Boost Mobile Launched Blackberry Curve 8530

Boost Mobile, the prepaid service running on the Sprint and Nextel networks, has now launched another smartphone on their service, the Blackberry Curve 8530. The Curve features a full QWERTY keyboard, a two-megapixel camera, and 3G data services. The addition of the 8530 improves the lineup of phones for Boost mobile, which is known for its cheap unlimited plans that also feature free push to talk on phones that support it. The phone will cost $249, with no contract agreements. (Sprint)

Blackberry Curve 3G Announced for Sprint

The Blackberry Curve 3G, yet another update to the popular Curve series, has been announced for Sprint. The phone will be coming on September 26 through Sprint's telesales and online sales, and then in brick and mortar stores on October 10. The phone will cost $49 after a $100 mail-in rebate and a new two-year contract. The Curve 3G is very similar to the Curve 8530, with the main differences being a slightly updated housing and double the RAM inside. A 2 GB microSD card will be included with the Curve 3G. The phone will be coming in Graphite Gray and Royal Purple, with a new textured battery cover on both. The main reason for the release of the new phone is that it will be compatible with Blackbery OS 6, when it comes out for phones other than the Blackberry Torch. The phone is a bigger upgrade for GSM users, however, because the Curve 8520 did not include 3G like the Sprint and Verizon versions. An Everything Data or Simply Everything plan is required to use the phone.
-Sprint Blog

My Experience With PdaNet for Tethering

As most hardcore Sprint subscribers know by now, when you switch to one of the Everything Data plans that includes the unlimited mobile to mobile calling you cannot get the tethering feature for your phone. Now, all that this means is that you can't use Sprint Smartview to tether your smartphone to your computer like a data card. For the past few months I have been trying out an application called PdaNet, which is a lightweight and free to try application for Blackberry's and other smartphones.

There are other applications that you can buy, such as Tether (previously Tetherberry), but those have a thirty day trial and then you have to pay up to fifty dollars for the program on your phone. Before going on a trip, I decided to install PdaNet to see if I could get it to work and how fast it was.

Setup was a breeze, you just had to install the lightweight app on your computer and desktop machine (I have a Windows 7 laptop but there is also a version for Mac), plug in your app, and go to the app and click use USB connection. You will either get a prompt on your computer to connect, or you have to click on the task bar and click connect on the pop up menu. After that, you can start surfing the web! The speed of the connection isn't bad, although I live with good Sprint 3G coverage and it depends on how fast your phone connection is.

After about a month of using the software, I now get a popup every once in a while to purchase the program because my "trial is expiring." You are allowed to just click exit to the make the popup go away. I think that the more data that you use when tethering your phone to the computer the more the popup will come, from what I have noticed.

If you are looking for a tethering application for your smartphone, go ahead and see if PdaNet will work for you. I am writing this article using the program to get online, since the hotel I am at doesn't have very good Wifi. Just make sure to watch your usage, because it can be easy to eat up your 5 GB of data every month tethering your smartphone to your computer. (June Fabrics Technology)