Verizon announces BlackBerry Pearl 8130, new BlackBerry plans
Oh the sweet smell of victory! Verizon Wireless has officially announced the first American-bound CDMA BlackBerry Pearl. The Verizon BlackBerry 8130 is no secret horse, having been rumored and revealed time and time again. Even so, it’s nice to see our CDMA-loving friends get a bit of SureType love. The Verizon Pearl sports Ev-DO, GPS (which happens to be locked to Verizon’s proprietary VZ Navigator), a new browser, 3.5 mm headphone jack, and an external microSD slot that provides support for cards up to 8GB in capacity. Not too shabby. The handset will be available online and in physical stores on November 8th for a somewhat shockingly high price of $249.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate. On the flip side, Verizon is bringing its BlackBerry BIS plans in line with Sprint’s recent price drop, offering unlimited data for $29.99 a month. Not too bad.
Thanks, to everyone that sent this in!
On Nov 6, 2007 @ 5:01 pm, GeorgeBushJrDuh Said:
One more thing, the ribbed part of the case is to protect the trackball. It only took me a day to figure it out! Duh!
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On Nov 7, 2007 @ 4:13 pm, Bachlogic Said:
I just came from the Verizon Phone. My rep had the new Pearl in the back. Was happy to go and unbox it and fire it up for me. (That’s what salespeople do) I didn’t think that I would like the silver but I do. It is another Pearl but on the VZ network this puppy should fly. It is $29.99 for BIS and $44.99 for BES. Text messaging is still separate. $10 for the VZ Navigator which would be worth it. I however, like driving around aimlessly lost and not asking for directions so I probably will not turn the service on for now. I am currently with Sprint for another 83 days (but who’s counting) and then I am out of there. I drop so many calls a day it is not even funny. I also get VM notifications when the phone is in my hand with 4-5 bars. Sprint NEVER wants to admit there is a problem.
The size of the Pearl is perfect and the sure type is fine when you get use to it.
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On Nov 8, 2007 @ 6:56 pm, denis free Said:
verizon reminds me of the soup nazi.good product but mean atitude.they always try to take advantage.
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On Nov 10, 2007 @ 4:54 pm, becky Said:
how does the verizon version of the pearl compare to the at&t, I am thinking about switching back to verizon…
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On Nov 11, 2007 @ 6:22 pm, Dan Said:
Can someone please explain to me how these data plans work?
I need to get outlook email along with aol email. BIS, BES…29.99….44.99????
What’s the story?
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On Nov 20, 2007 @ 6:10 am, raj Said:
I am a Verizon Wireless Manager and let me lay down on the new pearl for those of you confused…
The BIS server is for your personal email, pop, imap, etc. It does not sync over the air appointments and contacts. The only way to sync is with a cable. Since 75% of bb users are personal users they go with BIS server which is only $29.99 for unlimited email and web.
However if you are using corporate email and your company uses a blackberry BES server then it is $44.99 and that gives you the corporate over the air sync with your outlook, contacts, calendar, etc.
Also this blackberry that Verizon has is the 8130 or otherwise known as Pearl 2 with the latest software on it. Different from its counterparts on ATT and Tmobile. Verizon’s has a 2mp camera, enhanced html web browser, ability to stream youtube, voice/memo recorder, 8gb micro SD support, high speed 3g network support, and verizon decided not to use Blackberrys GPS because of security issues. Verizon has a lot of buisness customers and felt it very important to have software that worked.
So they used their VZ navigator software which is precise and offers turn by turn directions and gps. This is only $9.99/month or $120/yr which you would have to use for 3yrs to make up the cost of a $300 tomtom. VZ navigator is always updated over the air.
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On Nov 23, 2007 @ 8:42 pm, new to syncing Said:
Got my Pearl 2 days ago and love it but I can’t figure out the syncing thing. can you sync windows live calendar with the pearl?
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On Nov 27, 2007 @ 11:21 am, Matt H Said:
Yeah, VZNavigator may offset the cost of a tomtom for 3 years. But what if you could get the tomtom for free. Oh wait! That functionality(for the most part) is already in the phone. So let me figure out the deminishing returns here. VZNav @ $9.99/Month for 24 Months(what I would consider the life of the phone planning on two year upgrade)=$239.76 vs. $0.00/month for 24 Months=$0.00
I won’t argue that the turn by turn directions of vznav may have the advantage over the built in GPS; but when I consider how often I would use VZNav and how rarely I would need turn by turn directions, I can’t see paying more for a service over two years than it costs me to buy the phone.
The fact is there are alot of people who would like to use GPS on their phones, but not enough to justify a recurring charge. I know for a fact I don’t want GPS bad enough to use VZNav. I doubt cripled GPS will drasticly increase VZNav subscriptions.
VZW could easily market VZNav as an upgrade to the built in GPS(if it is better as they claim), cripling the feature just pisses people off.
In the meantime, I’m still contemplating the BB 8130. With the exception of the whole GPS issue, I absolutely love the features of this phone. I think I could probably live with out the GPS. Ultimately, where I live VZW has the best coverage and this is first and foremost a phone. I guess I’d rather have a pretty kick butt phone that works than a really pretty GPS enabled brick.
But come on VZW, let us have our cake and eat it too.
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On Nov 28, 2007 @ 8:28 am, CP Said:
True, I got mine for $99 with my customer discount at Verizon, and I am lovin’ it completely. It is everything I expected and then some!
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On Nov 30, 2007 @ 6:55 pm, Lainey Said:
How functional would this phone be for someone who didn’t want the additional charge for email/web? I pay $45 for roadrunner and find it ridiculous to pay more to get email on my phone. Does anyone have this device and not use that feature?
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On Dec 1, 2007 @ 1:42 am, raj Said:
well unfortunately the web/email feature for this phone must be added to your account. There is no way to use this phone without the 29.99 data feature.
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On Dec 1, 2007 @ 4:28 am, Jason Roysdon Said:
Google Maps 2.0 figured out a way around the Verizon GPSr block, just using the cell phone tower information to give you a 1000meter/3,200ft radius of where you are. It was just a few blocks off, and when I wanted directions I just panned over a little to give it my starting location.
Google Maps 2.0 beta - My Location
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On Dec 5, 2007 @ 9:42 pm, g-money Said:
DAMN GOOD PHONE I WOULD SAY
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On Dec 7, 2007 @ 5:11 pm, Jeff Garvin Said:
Will I be able to sync this phone with my outlook address book, calendar, etc?
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On Dec 11, 2007 @ 2:56 am, rajeev Balwani Said:
yes you will…wired connection will sync outlook address book and calendar.
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On Dec 17, 2007 @ 11:29 pm, Amy Nelson Said:
I have a treo and am thinking of switching to the Pearl. Am a little concerned about the calendar application. I heard not as good as on the treo. Any thoughts?
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On Dec 18, 2007 @ 1:40 am, rajeev Balwani Said:
the calendar option is pretty clean…you get agenda,daily, weekly and monthly views and if you link it to your blackberry server you can do invites and such. i think its just abotu the same. Go into a store and play with the calendar application so you can better get a feel for it. But Blackberrys operating system beats Palms hands down!!
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On Dec 18, 2007 @ 1:08 pm, Maria Said:
Got my Pearl about a week ago..Love everything about it. A little dissapointed I can’t use the color pearl application on it but that’s about it. Any good applications out there that people recommend? Sites?
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On Dec 19, 2007 @ 2:46 pm, mike Said:
how do you get the verizon bb8130 to stream youtube?
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On Dec 19, 2007 @ 2:50 pm, raj Said:
go to http://m.youtube.com
that will allow you to search and stream a lot of youtube clips but its only the recently .mp4 converted youtube clips so a lot of classic clips are still not on youtube’s mobile website….however you can use http://tinytube.net and this will allow you to search every youtube clip and download it to your device which is awesome so all the great youtube videos i know and love i am able to share with anybody at anytime.
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On Dec 19, 2007 @ 3:02 pm, mike Said:
anyone having problems with answering call waiting on bb8130? when I hit the answer button, it ends the call I was on, but does not connect the incoming call.
Also when using the mute button to go into standby mode after disconnecting from Toyota Camry bluetooth, mute button does not work to enter standby mode. Anyone else having this issue?
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On Jan 6, 2008 @ 10:01 pm, Scott Said:
Jay has it right….”something to be desired” is a nice way of saying AT&T’s service SUCKS. They have much better phones compared to Verizon, I admit; but dropped calls in the middle of Charlotte is unacceptable….have many friends that have an iphone and a Verizon phone when they want to make a call.
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On Jan 16, 2008 @ 10:07 am, DWood Said:
My phone no longer goes into Standby Mode when I push the mute button.
Does anyone know how to make standby mode work again? It used to work, now it doesn’t and I’m not sure what I’ve changed.
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On Jan 25, 2008 @ 10:27 am, paul Said:
Please Help! Is there anyway to view Mircosoft Oulook Web Access on my Blackberry 8130 with Verizon??
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On Jan 25, 2008 @ 11:24 pm, TJ Said:
Any luck figuring out what happened to standby mode? Out of nowhere, no longer works on my phone either. Mute button by itself works, but not standby.
Did you guys find a solutions? Thanks!
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