The last picture we saw was a bit unclear with the glare covering up the home screen a bit.  Here we see the BlackBerry Bold 9780 up close and personal (not exactly).  But these are the clearest pictures we have had yet.  So what do we learn from these images? Well we are definitely reassured that there is a BlackBerry 6 for 480 x 360 resolution BlackBerry devices.  Also, we do see that it is 512mb as there is 300 some megabytes left in memory.  This one in particular is rockin’ OS 6.0.0.79 and says BlackBerry 9780 in the About screen.  But let’s face it, this is a Bold and you all know it is.

Source: Driphter

Attention all golf players who happen to own BlackBerry smartphones: we are giving out 5 free copies of AccelGolf today.  Contest will go through this Thursday at midnight, and the winners will be announced here Friday.

• Use this list of landmarks to check your precise distance to the front, center, and back of green, and distance to hazards.
• See the entire course before tee-off to determine distances for your planned strokes. Plan all shots before tee-off with a plotter that provides distances required for each stroke.
• Before your approach shot, check your distance to any point on the green with pinpoint accuracy.

Also, you get a full scorecard:

• Faster than your pencil and paper
• Know how far you hit with each club
• Access statistics only the pros track
• Understand the strengths and deficiencies in your play
• Store every game and scorecard for a complete history of your play

To participate, simply drop a line in the comments using a VALID email address, and the winners will be randomly selected Friday morning.

Here’s some more teasers for you folks.  These images are official ones from Inside BlackBerry as our friend Douglas Soltys interviewed the Director of UX Research at RIM.  Click here to check out the full interview or just check out some of the key highlights we point out (more after the jump) along with more official screenshots of BlackBerry 6.

If there was one thing you want our readers to know about the Home Screen redesign, what would it be?

• I’d say that the redesign of the Home Screen in BlackBerry 6 is fresh, but familiar. When you look at it, it still looks like a BlackBerry Home Screen (for example, wallpaper selection continues to be a key attribute of the visual design), but it’s been updated – much like a home renovation still ‘feels’ like home, but is actually new.
• With BlackBerry 6, we are introducing a host of new features in the design, evolving the look and feel and enabling the user to really customize the Home Screen. Overall, the visuals are cleaner and sleeker, and movement between and within the applications is more fluid, allowing users to navigate their BlackBerry smartphone in a much more intuitive and interactive way.

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Well, I finally came around to try out the BlackBerry Visor Mount Speakerphone VM-605 by RIM, and I have to say it is very impressive.  That’s a very general word to use with it, but seriously, that’s the overall idea here – impressive.

The design is very sleek and it actually looks like a BlackBerry to the eyes, kind of.  I even told people that it was the new BlackBerry Shuffle just as a joke.  In any case, there’s volume keys on one side and FM to speaker switch button on the other side.  Then the whole “screen” looking thing is all click-able to answer calls or to engage voice commands.

Battery life also falls under my “impressive” critique on the VM-605.  I’m not much of a talker, but I have had this running in my car for a few weeks now and have not needed to charge it yet.  Hit the jump for some more features.

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Domestically, we know that AT&T will be providing the BlackBerry 9800 Slider, but what about everyone else? Europe has carriers too (of course).  According to BBLeaks, here’s a list of European carriers who are testing out the BlackBerry 9800 Slider:

• Vodafone UK (and other countries)
• O2 UK and DE
• T-Mobile UK (and other countries)
• Telefonica
• Orange

Keep in mind that just because a carrier is testing the device, it does NOT mean they will be launching it.  That’s why it is called “testing” where they test the device to see if it will appeal to their customers or not.

-by Collin Sorp

On the Vodafone UK forums, an administrator addressed a question on future availability of the BlackBerry Storm 2.  And as you guessed right, they are selling the device until their out of stock on the device.  Could we have any more obvious hints that another touch screen BlackBerry is on its way soon? The Storm 2 is already an end of life device come August.  So what’s next in line? Storm 3? Revamped Storm 2? Slider 9800?

-by Otoniel Bruno

Source: BBNews.pl

We got the word from several T-Mobile retail locations that the BlackBerry Curve 8520 is not on shelves right now.  Whatever left over devices are hanging around can be sold, but T-Mobile is not sending any more in at all.  Some employees have also told a new device is expected to come around September to make up for the 8520.  Curve 9300 anyone? This isn’t huge news, but it’s a bit odd how the Fuchsia red Curve 8520 came out around the same time the white Bold 9700 did (not too long ago) and now it’s all been halted.  I guess both Verizon and T-Mobile are getting rid of this device.

There’s no word on AT&T as they are hiding discreetly hopefully unveiling the 9800 Slider soon.  Keep in mind they do also have a Curve 8520 on shelves but it seems to me the 8520 was not such a big hit with AT&T, but more with T-Mobile and Verizon.  So what else is going to be halted soon? Will we see the Bold 9700 go away and have the 9780 take its place when OS 6 come out?  Or will RIM impress us all by having OS 6 support the 9700?  Back to the 8520, I guess this is it, and it will be an end of life device as well from T-Mobile.

-by Mac Jadalhack

It’s a bit crazy seeing the BlackBerry Storm 2 9550 go down just like that.  When I think about it, I feel like it was too short lived of a device.  Then I remember last week where we saw Verizon BlackBerry Storm 2 OS 6 testing ceased.  Was making it an end of life device a decision after the testing failures or was it going down any way?

Second in line is the BlackBerry Curve 8530.  So what.   We have a Curve 9300 which is pretty much the same device as the 8530.  Everyone calls the Curve 9300 the 8500 series Curve with 3G.  Well guess what folks – the Curve 8530 did have 3G for those who forgot already.  Goodbye 8530!  Hit the jump to check out the full notes on the end of life devices and when their replacements are expected to launch.

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You bet.  We got the word from BlackBerry Cool that OpenGL has been updated to 4.1 with some new goodies included.  So far we have the BlackBerry Storm 2 and the Bold 9650 supporting OpenGL, which calls for better gaming and graphics.  As it is still in an early stage on BlackBerry, some of the games out now in OpenGL aren’t all that great just yet.  This is the full update list on what’s new with version 4.1

New functionality in the core OpenGL 4.1 specification includes:

• Full compatibility with OpenGL ES 2.0 APIs for easier porting between mobile and desktop platforms;
• The ability to query and load a binary for shader program objects to save re-compilation time;
• The capability to bind programs individually to programmable stages for programming flexibility;
• 64-bit floating-point component vertex shader inputs for higher geometric precision;
• Multiple viewports for a rendering surface for increased rendering flexibility.

New ARB extensions introduced with OpenGL 4.1 include:

• OpenGL sync objects linked to OpenCL event objects for enhanced OpenCL interoperability;
• The ability to set stencil values in a fragment shader for enhanced rendering flexibility;
• Features to improve robustness, for example when running WebGL applications;
• Callback mechanisms to receive enhanced errors and warning messages.

-by Otoniel Bruno

Not huge news, but hearing more bits and pieces on the BlackBerry 9800 Slider is always nice with many fanboys standing by for the official word.  According to BBLeaks, there could be some themes and apps out there compatible with the 9800.  Perhaps RIM has learned from their mistake in launching the BlackBerry Pearl 9100 without supported themes in the App World.  Now all the lucky pre-release owners can have in on the fun hopefully and so will the rest once the device launches.  August 15th launch please?

-by Mac Jadalhack