BlackBerry 8310 is the “Papa Bear” and the BlackBerry Pearl 2 (Comet) goes to AT&T
Our beloved "Papa Bear" BlackBerry…it’s great to finally see you, but there’s one problem — we thought you’d have GPS and WiFi — what do you mean, no? Well, here’s the deal BlackBerry fiends. According to one of our very friendly RIM informants, the BlackBerry 83xx (Papa Bear) is in fact the BlackBerry 8310 and will just have GPS. As it turns out, there simply wasn’t enough space to fit both in the current case design, and frankly who could blame them. The BlackBerry Curve is the smallest full QWERTY BlackBerry, and a staff favorite here at BGR. We are sooo not done, though! Who’d have thunk that AT&T would get first dibs on the BlackBerry Pearl 2 (Comet)? Release date is still looking like the 1st of second week in September, and AT&T should be the lead carrier. They’ve got like 8 different colors for it! We also heard T-Mobile will be getting new Pearl colors too. I don’t care if you’re in a meeting at a Fortune 500 company, or taking care of Diddy’s electronic assistant search, put them ’Berrys down and yell "We love you BGR BlackBerry informant!" as loud as you can. Feel better? We do too.
How is it a bad design? The trend is miniaturization. Technology is getting smaller. People want smaller. Everyone is making smaller phones. Those smaller phones are what sells. That is why the Razr became so popular quickly after its release. It is a bad idea to keep a big size just so you can fit in future technology, when business analysis says consumers would rather buy a smaller phone.
Consumers are taking to the Pearl like mad right now, and a HUGE part of that is its size … HUGE. If the Pearl were bigger it would not be popular. So saying they should keep the size big and ignore consumer trends is not good for business. NONE of the phones you mention I would consider popular or mainstream. You may not mind a big device, but you know what? That does not matter. Right now they want to sell as many units as possible to make the most money possible. And the ONLY way they will achieve mass acceptance with general consumers is to go small.
you just proved my point, people want small devices, nothing new there. To design cases for the 83xx or 88xx that do not have the space to fit wifi, camera, gps is the design flaw. I can understand it on the 8800 because it is the corp. model but in the 83xx it costs them sales to not be able to compete with these other consumer devices with all three features.
Its not a sales flaw. Very few people in relation to everyone the has mobile phones will care that the phone has all of those features in one handset. Nobody cares. The most popular and mainstream phones right now are the Razr and kRazr phones because of their size. As a matter of fact, all of the ultra slim phones achieve automatic success. What RIM needs to do to make maximum penetration is to create as slim a device the consumers will love, while doing what BB does best, which is email. They are going in the right direction. Make it any thicker just so you can add features most people don’t care about, and you tilt the scale of mass consumer acceptance the other way.
I am willing to bet lots of money, that you can release a paper thin phone with only a basic camera, mp3 playback, and a sexy look … and it will sell a lot more than any thick blackberry with all features known to man.
yeah because BB is all about looks, keep guessing.
BB is about the OS and secure Push. However they are trying to get into the consumer market while they still can. In the next year their competition will be putting out full featured phones and they will struggle to match them, if its because of a case that cannot fix more than 2 features then its a design and sales flaw. BB users in general are not the flashy trendy users, unless your talking about the Pearl crowd that complains about having to get a data plan…
Ummm no. BB is all about the OS and secure push like you said. And also like you said, they are trying to get into the consumer market. What you don’t seem to understand is NOBODY CARES ABOUT FULL FEATURED PHONES when you take into account general consumers. The only ones that will truly care are a small subset who actually like the features. You can create the most advanced BB in the world, and I will GUARANTEE that an ultra-slim Razr will ALWAYS sell better and be more powerful just because of its size and look. GUARANTEED.
I am loving the 8800 and Pearl. I would not like a bigger BB. I really don’t care about all of these features. All I care about is GPS and push email … PERIOD. As long as it is small … im good. make it thicker to fit in more stuff, and you get away from consumer trend. Which, is very bad for marketing if you want mass consumer penetration.
what you dont seem to understand is that no BB user/buyer cares about a Razr, the thing is a POS.
Slimmer is good I agree but look at other phones that are popular and have wifi and camera. GPS is a small component and should not be an issue.
BG had a wifi enabled 88xx in Feb and wifi enabled curve in march. They will be unable to put out a gps and wifi enabled curve because of the size of the case i guess. however wifi is hurt by the lack of a full browser so it makes little difference.
Ya I hate the Razr too. But there is no doubting that it is more popular and sells more than any other feature phone you mention. Any phone that looks good and is slim will ALWAYS sell more than a bigger phone with all features, even if it is slim on them. I use Razr because it is a good example of this. I know nobody here cares of the Razr. Its just to prove a point that to sell units you don’t have to include all features. All you have to do is follow consumer trends.
BlackBerry is in the business to make money, and sacrificing features to follow the current consumer trend is the right thing to do if the goal is to make the most money possible.
They are doing things perfectly, and to REALLY get mass acceptance with consumers they need to put out a slimmer phone than the 8800, add 3G, dump wifi and gps, and go multiple colors with it. THAT will overcome the most popular consumer handset out there.
I love features, but for BB it has absolutely nothing to do with providing the most powerful handset out there. It should be about winning over the general public who, again, buys phones more for their size and look than sheer number of features.
its not a pda, its a phone with a camera thats all. you opinion is that they should dump wifi, that will not happen. In most corp. /govt. environments they would welcome the voip options above every other feature.
multi colors? who are they LG? sad to see them bend over for the consumer market but fall behind in the pda market. You opinion is very much slanted towards a consumer budget phone that is much different than mine, there’s the difference, I’m hoping RIM can get their act together and compete with the more advanced pda’s rather than hold off and use the “most secure” stance against including more new tech.
My only point here is that to be successful, they do NOT have to create a phone with 3G, GPS, AND WiFi just so they can be top. The only reason I brought up Razr and a flat BB with no features and multiple colors is purely to point out that phones without features that are flat and look cool are what sells and not a device jam packed with features.
BlackBerry should do what they do best and provide a kick butt messaging phone with secure features, good PIM features, and a stable OS. They should NOT concentrate on providing a phone will EVERY feature and make it bigger just to compete with the other huge phones with ALL of those features. Those phones will never get mass popularity. With the way BB is going now, they can.
RIM … Give us a secure messaging phone that is simple, rock solid, and small. Slow and steady wins the race. Don’t make your devices bigger and have everything in there but the kitchen sink.
your obsession with big phones is annoying, most blackberries are not pearls. the 88xx, 83xx, 87xx, 72xx are some of their most popular models and are not at all what i consider big.
The features of wifi, 3G, 4G, GPS and camera do not make the phones that much bigger or thicker. But if you want a slimmed down razr like phone then go with their peal, but for the rest of the people why be stuck in 2006?
I think you should be happy with a Pearl2 but for those of us that want a full pda with the latest technology in ti then its looking like RIM will not offer it anytime soon. And its their call, they know they can make money by milking the models, its been done before. But for those who dont want to get pay for 2 or 3 models of the same phone then it gets old waiting.
Features? Do you mean 3G? GPS? What exactly do you mean? Pearl can do everything a “full featured” PDA phone can do. Wifi is an equivalent to 3G in terms of workplace use, and we still have the EVDO coming out in the CDMA market. GPS? BT modules. Anyone who is geeky enough to want this will be able to buy the BT unit. Recording video is seriously not that big of a deal. The resolution at this point is so poor that it’s moot. It’s got PIM and 3rd party stuff for it. Please don’t tell me WM6 is the “latest” technology. To me, it’s the same as a PDA phone but without the touchscreen. As a smartphone, it’s at the top of my list, surpassing any BB, HTC, Treo, Samsung, Moto, or HP. All it needs is the camera, GPS, and wifi and it’s good to go.
“All it needs is the camera, GPS, and wifi and it’s good to go.” My point exactly, thanks.
And it will only take 3 years for the Pearl to have what you want in it. Thanks RIM for thinking ahead.
Question: If the Pearl 2 is due out in Sept, when will we officially hear about its release? Wouldn’t there be a lil’ fan fare a few weeks before its release date? Hhhhhhhmmmmmmm!
and that is why i’m switching from VZ to T-MO… no matter how I look at it, it makes sense to switch (better phones, better plans, etc). i’m just waiting for the “comet” to come out…
and i understand about jersey… HUMID!
I have one question… Why is wi-fi so important? I mean if you have evdo or 3G, why do you need wi-fi? GPS is nice when you’re out, you can find nearby food, movies, etc. I’m just not seeing the importance of wi-fi in a cell phone..
Lots of reasons. VOIP, or the biggest for me … access to internal network resources. I could connect to the local network and access resources while I am at a meeting or not at my laptop. Not everyone is willing to put their internal servers on the Internet so that they can be access by an outside device using a 3D device.
The AT&T website has a “check availability and pricing” link next to the Pearl, while the other phones have the pricing details spelled out next to the respective phone. Also the price of the Pearl has been dropped from $149 to $99. Is it a sign that AT&T is not replenishing stock in order to liquidate remaining inventory? I wonder (and hope). My phone is on its last leg and I am not sure if I can hold out any longer. DOES ANYONE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ITS RELEASE DATE?
Well its now September 18th and yet no sign or word of the Blackberry Pearl 2, Comet, 8120(depending on your carrier).. So I would like to say that Blackberry-RIM needs to get their act together and present the consumers with information about the product and when its going to be released.. we’ve been in the dark long enough!
Will AT&T ever release the pearl 2. I have been hearing this rumours since last august. we have seen the CDMA version of pearl 2 release 2 months back.
Hope At&T and RIM release the pearl 2 for GSM also.