BlackBerry Thunder, the touchscreen BlackBerry we’ve all been waiting for
Since we were the first ones to break the news about a touchscreen BlackBerry device, it’s only fitting that we follow up and give y’all the real lowdown on it! This is going to excite a lot of people, but anger many. Are you ready? The BlackBerry Thunder, as it is codenamed now, (all you "reporting" on it as the Storm are incorrect) will launch in Q3 of this year. It is a full touchscreen BlackBerry — no slide out keyboard — with only 4 physical keys. Those are the send / end phone keys, the BlackBerry menu key, and the back key. Here is the most interesting part, though: it will launch as a worldwide lifetime exclusive on Verizon and Vodafone! We’ve heard the unit will be a hybrid device with CDMA EV-DO Rev. C (for clarification, Rev C., known as UMB is practically dead. If the device will indeed launch with a 4G solution, our bet is on LTE), and GSM HSPA for traveling internationally. Verizon and Vodafone will have the same unit. Currently, the model number is the BlackBerry 9500, though it’s very early and that’s likely to change. This is HUGE for the Verizon lovers. For once they’ll get an exclusive device, but Verizon will have a sales quota for the device and if they don’t meet those numbers, we’ve heard the exclusivity will then dissolve and it’s over. This will be extremely interesting to see play out.
P.S. No, you morons, the image above is not real. Didn’t we go through this once before?
P.P.S. For futher clarification about the whole LTE thing, the chip might support it, but that does not mean the network will be ready by any means…OK?
im willing to bet, it will come out from ATT first.
no way will ATT let this slip by, their corporate business line dwarfs verizon’s
plus ive never seen Verizon get an exclusive on blackberries first
that looks an awful lot like an iphone with some photoshopped icons to me.
verizon is for poor people
Which one is little out of those two?
I think the reason for the delay of some of these devices on Verizon etc. is that RIM first release variants for the GSM system and then for the CDMA system that these operators use.
To Blackberries and Iphones on the bar:
BlackBerries are primarily a business device, not a fashion statement. Like most business tools they get shut off or left in the car when going into a bar.
How many briefcases, day timers, ties, and business suits did you see at the bar ? I think your sample audience is little flawed.
I’ll also bet you don’t spend any time in corporate business meetings, because I could count on one hand the number iphones I’ve there.
The iPhone is a great device but as a loyal Blackberry follower and user, the 1 constant on Blackberrys is BB Messenger. That little application is what keeps me and most of my friends with Blackberry.
Rev, Exchange support is just that: It’s Exchange support. It’s the ability to sync up with corporate email. It’s not push technology. Unless Apple is willing to invest in building something along the lines of a BIS server, no one will ever compete with BlackBerry in this regard. Apple’s upcoming Exchange is a pathetic attempt to garner business appeal, but it’s using nothing more than Active Sync. Anyone who’s familiar with Active Sync knows that it’s a piece of crap and is full of security issues. Plus, in terms of speed, no one comes close. Apple will never penetrate the business market with an iPhone.
In reality, the two devices are targeted at completely different markets. The iPhone is form over function (as proven by the many lacking basis phone features) and at the end of the day, is not functional. BlackBerry devices are the reverse, although I think the Curve and Bold add more to the form styling. However, unlike an iPhone, the BlackBerry can be used in multiple aspects (from personal TO business) whereas the iPhone is just more for personal.
I can’t figure you dudes out. Why are you complaining about BB going touch screen? How can you say “not for me” until you try it.
If in a side-by-side comparison you can type faster on the 9000, and the big screen isn’t a draw, keep the old key pad.
However, if you can type at the same or faster on the touch pad, then why not go touch?
And to MRP, what are you smoking because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a BlackBerry user leave his/her BlackBerry in the car… ever. They don’t call them CrackBerry’s for nothing. You my friend, have obviously never used a BlackBerry and to think that they are only business devices proves it. Everyone I know, including myself, have our movies, music, games and a plethora of other forms of regular entertainment on our devices and we use them both as personal and business devices.
Glad to see RIM is battling it out with the iPhone on every front. This makes sense since Verizon needed a tit-for-tat alternative to the iPhone. The cheesy, hefty Windows Mobile and LG devices didn’t cut it. RIM also needs a strong answer since it risks a lot of market share if the rumors of a $200 iPhone with 3G are true. Hopefully this one will come in around $200 as well and save us from an all-Apple, all the time future.
“Actually, I have a BB pearl on VZW and can say there is little difference between my phone and versions on ATT/Sprint/TMO. Verizon may screw with other phones, but doesn’t cripple blackberries.”
How’s that GPS working for you?
Yes, but an apple is NOT a “little piece of fruit”.
Hey Little Bunny:
I’ve had many models of blackberries over many years. It’s a valuable business tool, it’s also a ball and chain to the office. When I’m done work for the day, it gets turned off. In fact the timer is set to power it off.
Occasionally I turn mine on to make a call on an evening or weekend, but not often. I have other devices for entertainment, Ipod…etc
My blackberry gets left in the car, plugged into the charger at the end of day.
This looks really cool. I am an at&t customer but I’m getting tempted to move to Big Red for a while and if this thing comes out soon then I might just have to make the switch.
At long last, Verizon get’s a 1st with Blackberry. When will we see some specs on this?
WickedRabbit,
I was under the impression that Exchange Server 2003 had push e-mail capability, not just local ActiveSync, and would be extended to the iPhone 2.0. Perhaps I am missing something?
Will Jackson Browne’s, “You’ll Feel The Thunder”, be the marketing song for this device?
@JoeH, where are you located. My wife is on VZW, I’m on AT&T and she’s switching to AT&T when her contract is up because my service is better.
@WickedRabbit, ActiveSync + Exchange 2003/2007 + competent IT department = secured push email. I’m using WM6.1 and I get corp html email pushed to me before it even hits my Outlook. I don’t know why you would think that that’s not push email.
On topic: RIM would be wise to not give VZW exclusivity in the states. There are a plethora of BB users on AT&T who don’t want to go WM6 + BB Connect and can’t afford to go iPhone but want touchscreen.
Verizon exclusive…Yea right. Why isn’t anyone speaking on the curve THEY just released? That has to say something. There customers aren’t satisfied with their products due to blocked functionality. I don’t this happening at all.
i love how everyone just bashes on verizon.
their motto used to be ‘it’s the network’
they never said anything about phones =D
i’ve been with verizon since they were bell atlantic. yes they crippl their phones and yes their phone selection is horrible.
but i have to say, as the more recent times go by, their selection is getting slightly better every quarter. they seem to be slowly phasing out the ugly red ui on a few phones which i hate. and they have vz navigator for people needing gps.
of course i would prefer my own access to gps but that’s business for you.
i haven’t really looked into new devices lately, but hearing the new ones coming out. if this hits verizon, that would be lovely.
Hey lets all pretend like we understand RIMs corp. strategy! You guys must be right, clearly a company dedicated to making phones did not do their research and therefore they should listen to you guys and screw VZW and put this on ATT! Morons.
Verizon is working on the LTE. This could explain why VZW has been getting the past few BB’s later than other carriers who use the GSM technology. From my understanding LTE will be based on the GSM technology. RIM, looking to the future, would like to develop a phone that uses LTE, because that is the next phase of technology for VZW, and GSM as a whole. This phone might be able to support the LTE, but doesn’t mean that 4G will be up and running at the time this phone is released. The Thunder might also be another reason why VZW declined on the iphone, aside from Apple’s greedy profit sharing.
Everyone is pumped up on the iphone2 coming out with 3G. Do we really know if 3G is even going to be available in all areas that all iphone2 users live in? VZW is already on 3G and devloping 4G. Sure, VZW “cripples” phones. But they aren’t rendered useless. If you want GPS, go buy an inexpensive GPS unit, or shut up and pay the extra a month for the VZ Navigator. If I am on a trip, I don’t want to compromise my BB’s battery life with GPS usage anyway. I would use a separate GPS unit. Plus the screen is bigger on a GPS unit, it makes it easier to see the maps.
What makes me mad, is that I just upgraded early to the Curve on VZW, and this gets let out of the bag as coming as soon as Q3 this year. I would have waited just a few months to check this out.
The Thunder could be the real iphone killer, not the Voyager.
YAY… finally a good verizon phone… like i have a samsung a930… but i want to upgrade.. but the voayger is a lil iffy for me…
BS. BB is a business phone for business people. Do you really think they would take out the Full keybord which has practically been RIM’s calling card, just to sleek up the device? No, that kinda crap worked for apple because they were targeting the adolescent trendy market. You know the kind that will beg mommy and daddy for a piece of shit device just because they want to keep up with the Jones’s. Honestly, this is a good piece of misinformation. But if for some god-forsaken reason this is true, it will be the beginning of the end for RIM (NYSE:RIMM).