BlackBerry 9000 first impressions
56 comments
Filed in BG's Corner, BlackBerry, Exclusives, Handsets
Waiting for that BlackBerry 9000, are you? The secret BGR phone line just rang, and it was one of RIM ninjas! Here’s what they had to say about the BlackBerry 9000 and the pros and cons of using the device in its current state:
- Everything we reported was true. 624MHz processor, 480×320 screen, GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G, etc.
- The web browser flies. "Loads web pages in 3-4 seconds."
- The BlackBerry 9000 in its current state runs OS 4.5
- Early launch date was slated for a consumer AT&T launch on June 18th. Remember that we predicted the device was delayed. See below.
- The battery lasts around 4 hours with straight phone calling. "Battery sucks, to be honest. With Wi-Fi on, I only got a little less than two hours browsing the web," and all testers are reporting huge battery issues which could be why we’re all hearing it is delayed.
- We’re not sure of the next part, but he said that the device either has 256MB of internal memory or 128MB. Don’t ask why we couldn’t tell the difference.
That’s all we got for now!
On Mar 31, 2008 @ 11:24 am, M. Ronson Said:
Prediction: AT&T will have exclusive for 6 mos. while T-Mobile works out the battery issues and delays their release. Anyone know what are the 3G band frequencies on this prototype?
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 11:24 am, Maurice Said:
i want it
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 11:27 am, GT Said:
I don’t want it, it is butt ugly, I love my 8320 it has everything I need and want.
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 11:31 am, AT Said:
Battery issues; that is probably the worst problem they could have. A business oriented phone needs LONG battery life.
I know people around here are not big Nokia fans but frankly at the moment the E90 is miles ahead of the competition. The battery life on the e90 is insane, it has gps, wifi, HDSPA, push email via exchange or Blackberry Direct Connect. Most likely the most underestimated phone out there. I don’t understand why BGR doesn’t use the E90 as a benchmark for all these phones.
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 11:36 am, mike Said:
Has everyone on BGR missed the fact that Verizon just made a press release on the Curve?
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 11:40 am, The Boy Genius Said:
Don’t worry, Mike. You’ll like what we got up our sleeves.
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 11:54 am, Jas Said:
Battery issues? If you’re using the thing on wi-fi for two hours then maybe you need to find a laptop or something.
Of course you’re going to have battery issues with Wi-Fi, 3G, and GPS!
Sure there will be battery issues! So what?
Just release the damned thing already! I’ll be happy to have a spare battery and charger in my bag / cargo pants pocket if the device lives up to the hype!
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 11:56 am, The Boy Genius Said:
I’m going to get shot for this one, but why can the iPhone browse the web for 6 hours straight over Wi-Fi, and people don’t expect the same from RIM? 2 hours? Are you kidding me? They also are making an option to turn 3G off. Yes. The battery and OS is that bad.
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 12:02 pm, mike k Said:
The 256mb is rom and the 128mb is ram. Confusion no more!
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 12:03 pm, The Boy Genius Said:
There we go! Thanks, mike k.
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 12:04 pm, Bob Said:
BGR, it’s not exactly fair that you’re pitting last year’s EDGE iPhone against a brand new 3G/Wi-Fi BB 9000, is it?
When there’s more information released about the 3G iPhone and its specs, then the battery life stuff with the BB9000 can be more accurately judged. Maybe by then RIM will have it more optimized. Here’s hoping.
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 12:08 pm, The Boy Genius Said:
I think it is perfectly fair. The fact is that the OS is one of the major issues with the device. It’s archaic. There are huge memory leaks, java errors, etc. I didn’t compare 3G to 3G, I compared Wi-Fi to Wi-Fi. Both of them run 624MHz processors (Apple’s might be tad slower), so I definitely think it’s fair. RIM had over a year to prepare for the iPhone invasion and as of now, they haven’t beat the iPhone in any single area except the one we knew — email. I know I’m being harsh, but I just don’t believe RIM is 2008-ready, if you know what I mean.
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 12:12 pm, Paul Roe Said:
The HVGA display is admirable, but the resolution may be overkill on the small screen size.
I forget the Toshiba model with like 800×350 pixels on a 4 inch screen: it DOES make a difference in viewing ease, eye fatigue, etc., but perhaps the processing power needed to power the display could have been put to use elsewhere with the display remaining QVGA.
The AT&T Tilt is turbocharged in every way except for its QVGA display, though I hear that it can output VGA to a monitor if it is enabled to do so, which may be the case with a future version or upgrade.
Otherwise, as much as I like Blackberries, HTC is heading toward the singularity with its latest Touch…the one with the sliding keypad.
I hope Apple tops it off next year with the iPhone sporting a full, microthin slideout keyboard on the otherwise same iPhone.
I am not sure if engineering advances have made it fully realizable as of yet, but we are close, as Toshiba, HTC, Motorola, etc. have evidenced.
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 12:13 pm, connie Said:
thanks for the info! im excited! i hope they fix the battery life… i love how long my curve lasts.
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 12:16 pm, eVader Said:
I wouldn’t sweat the battery issues at this stage because like the pre-release 8700 and 8800 I had the opportunity to evaluate, battery sucked then too. Battery was back in the RIM BB holy grail once I upgraded them to the final production firmware.
Granted 3G and WiFi will affect battery life much like the 8700 was as the nexgen model years ago compared to the 7290 and older models with slower comm, application and graphics chipsets.
At least I hope this is the case because the 9000 looks like a winner.
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 12:18 pm, The Man Genius Said:
AT&T… Wonderful (sarcasm)
The worst carrier out there and they get all the exclusives.
BGR, the report you did yesterday or saturday or whenever it was should have read… Apple and AT&T don’t care about their customers.
I waited forever for the 8820 to hit T-Mob and now that it is almost available through retail outlets the 9000 is making it’s way out of the shadows.
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 12:19 pm, Huskyfan Said:
Will the BB 9000 have Bluetooth? Seems like a no brainer since most phones have it, but I’ve read the upcoming 3G iphone will not have it.
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 12:29 pm, matt Said:
What ever happened to the rumored spec of 1gb ram on the 9000 my curve barely makes run with 10 mb free and all I run is jive talk.
Frustrating. Is the os going to support tabbed or multipage browsering. This summer could get interesting I am either getting a 9000 series or a 3g iphone. How is the keyboard on tye 9000? Is it recessed similiar to the 8800 , I am hoping its like the curve or 8700 I put off buying a bb because I dislike the 8800 slimy keyboard for so long. Since rim is cutting back on the ram anychance it will support running apps from sd card instead or at least being able to install them to the sd card and then push them to onboard when they are executed?
Pss really happy they are not going with the slider, I love the current 8300 keyboard, would switch to a slider but a bigger screen (not just higher resolution would be great - I don’t have the best of eyes.
Just my 2cents
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 12:44 pm, wifiguy Said:
It looks like Rimm wants to ship a device with a killer browsing experience. Why not just ship the 9000 with two batteries and be done with it!
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 1:06 pm, MadMike Said:
Seems to be a great device, yet my company cripples the blackberries so I will have no use of the WiFi or the GPS. I just want a curve-sized BB with a full keyboard with 3G and some better memory management. Oh and HTML e-mail! Of course my company will cripple that too!
What’s the point of having all this on a device when your company’s IT department is full of a bunch of retarded business majors?
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 1:50 pm, john Said:
Why is 3g so hard on battery life. Sprint Treo’s have had 3g for years now, with fine battery life. Is this a GSM thing or is it becase they are trying to add wifi?
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 1:51 pm, PoP! Said:
any camera on this thing?
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 1:59 pm, will Said:
Does anyone know if the picture above is the final design, or is this another premature guess to what it will be?
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 2:06 pm, sonny Said:
I agree with BGR. If other phones like iphone can get 6 hours of wifi, why not bb? It’s good to hear that you can turn 3g off.
BGR, do you have any idea how many different versions of 9xxx there will be?
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On Mar 31, 2008 @ 2:08 pm, veks Said:
Extended battery, spare battery here I come.
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