In a few weeks, carriers will start rolling out RIM’s new Blackberry lineup which includes the Torch 9810, Bold 9900/9930, and the Torch 9850/9860. All of these will come with a faster processor and runs the newer Blackberry 7 OS. The star of the show would be the Bold 9900/9860 which is nicknamed the Bold Touch because of its 2.8” capacitive touch screen. The Bold Touch will be sporting a 1.2 GHz processor, 5.0 MP camera capable of 720p HD video recording, and it’s the first Blackberry with NFC support. Near Field Communication (NFC) is a short range (4cm or less) wireless technology which allows 2 devices to communicate. Most noticeable use of NFC would be using your phone as a digital wallet by just bringing your phone close to the payment device to transmit the necessary credit card information.
Lately, Research In Motion hasn’t been having a great time with layoffs and loyalty issues with their Playbook (me being one of them). Let’s hope this new lineup will redeem their corporate image.
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For years now I have had so many problems with my multiple BlackBerry Storm and Storm 2 phones that I’ll likely never get another RIM product. I’m stuck with my current Storm 2 until I’m eligible to replace it, but Verizon has been no help with the mulitple glitches that these phones have. I have multiple lock-ups per day (have to pull the battery to clear it), and every day or two the phone just resets itself. Every time it locks up or resets there is a 5 minute wait while it boots up and loads the software.
I have coworkers with iPhones and droids and they just laugh at my pathetic blackberry piece of ….
If RIMs new phones aren’t greatly improved they should just go out of business.
@Fred – I have similar problems with my current and past Blackberries also. And yet I keep buying them just because of their awesome keyboard. That’s actually the only reason I like the Blackberry. The iphone would be the best phone for me if it had a physical keyboard but we all know that will never happen.
@Jackie what about one of those keyboard cases for the iPhone? I need to try one of those…
if the Bold Touch is a touchschreen gadget, then why the Track Pad still there?? It’s like doubting its own new technology
@ruben, I don’t have a Bold Touch, but track pads and touch screens aren’t mutually exclusive. My Android-based T-Mobile G2 has a touch screen and a track pad. It’s actually quite useful at times to have an offscreen method to scroll, move the cursor and select items.
I used a Blackberry for several years, but it was the standard Edge and then Bold. Both were solid phones that rarely gave me problems, but also had small screens and very poor web browsing. I believe that RIM got content and didn’t see the market changing. There are still some features from the BB that I miss. BBM, the ease of using it with one hand, the keyboard and their “Traffic” app were best of breed.
No matter how pretty they get, Blackberry is on the way out. They blew their one and only chance about 2 years ago and instead of overhauling their OS and App devkit when they should have, they messed about with bolt-on touchscreen interfaces that did nothing to fix the mess underneath. Even if RIM fixes the OS tomorrow, they are still years behind Google and Apple who have fine-tuned their own OS platforms. Bear in mind that Android 1.5 is still superior than today’s Blackberry and that’s obsolete! I have no idea where RIM can possibly go from here. They are just too far behind.
What’s next, A new MySpace app for Blackberry 7 ?
Welcome to 2008 Blackberry.
Will the last person still using a RIM device, please turn out the light.
@Julie – There’s been mix reviews on those bluetooth keyboard cases for the iphone. You should do a review on one to see if it’s even worth it. One annoyance I find with those is that you have to charge it separately. Wish they will have one that slips into iphone dock port and not have to rely on bluetooth.
@Jackie I’ll see if I can get one…
I used to love my berry, up to when my Bold speaker just failed on me and my company provide a very cheap one (crappy screen that doesn’t even allow the Kindle app to be installed, a keyboard that clics on evry key like a 1984 IBM keyboard and is impossible to use quietly during a meeting, an impossible to use web browser and overall lcksup and freezes galore). Now evn my company’s IT, that has fought so hard not to corporately support the iphone is now doing so. I the next few months, i’ll be coughing up my own money to make the switch to an iphone and the happiest man ever to officially, once and for good, ditch and never have to be limited by a blackberry. This is almost sad though, as RIM as once been a leader, but is now just a pathetic money sucking organization that can barely see forward to its own demise…
Whether judging by benchmarks or by impressions of the people that have actually _used_ the devices the new browser (on OS7) is flying.
@Ruben
The track pad is like a ‘fine’ pointer, extremely helpful when trying to select a tiny link with sausagy fingers. I also use it to save the touchscreen while I’m cooking 🙂
@Fred
if your the performance of your mobile device is so important and the Storm did not satisfy you, why wait until you get a handset renewal? Why not put up the money and get what you like?
@Di Fiasco (and others…)
I don’t know where you get your info from, I would be interested in the part supporting your “Android 1.5 is still superior than today’s Blackberry”.
Engadget has a full review of the 3 new devices and they’re pretty spectacular. For instance the browser is 2x faster than the fastest Android 2.2 (which I think is an hTC phone). Mind you, an Android Nexus is 2x faster than an iphone.
Even AllThingsD, which traditionally don’t give RIM any slack, now have a very positive review (just ignore the title and go for the facts).
Even if by “today’s BB” you mean comparing an OS5 Curve that you can pick up for a quarter of an Android, I still think you are still exaggerating a bit 🙂 My old Curve running either Opera or Bolt was on par with most of the devices I had around.
All this in case you really wanted to know what BB OS7 really does.
If all you want to do is bash, well, I don’t care anymore, you probably deserve your droid pro or whatever.
@ginger rogers: your cooking explanation makes lot more sense to me. thx
I think the Pearl3G is RIM’s last best move. It looks like a regular ordinary phone, but with full service. Gave a false sense of leaping to the future. But then they throw a bigger gadget (bigger sceen, touch, etc) with the same brain and 4 times the $…… there goes the fans club.
@Ginger
I would have changed to something else LONG ago, but this is my ‘work’ phone and our old IT guy had a thing for BlackBerry – he wouldn’t let us get anything else. We have a new guy now who is an Apple guy so most people are getting iPhones now. As soon as I’m eligible I’ll be able to switch, but he won’t do it if the company will get charged for it. I’ll ask him if I can pay for it myself and get the iPhone…
It’s a shame none of these devices will be able to upgrade to the next gen OS QNX. What an epic failure RIM.
New way to Bypass BBM line without forcing close or waiting… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gETPZ6CxvWQ