BlackBerry Kickstart about to hit Rogers, no one cares about ROKR E8 or Sony W350a
If you didn’t think the “Kickstart” would hit Rogers, send us over what you’re smokin’! Canada’s largest GSM provider will most certainly be grabbing the Kickstart. We haven’t confirmed the release date of the device on Rogers just yet, but we’d guess it would be around a couple weeks of T-Mobile getting it. Rogers is going to be changing the name of their “Home Calling Zone” UMA service to “Rogers Talkspot,” something the Kickstart will be able to make use of just fine. In addition to the Q3 Kickstart launch, Rogers has also got the Motorola ROKR E8 for $99.99, the Samsung T336 for $49.99, the Sony Ericsson Walkman W760a for $79.99, and finally the Sony Ericsson W350a for $29.99. All the aforementioned handset prices were on 3-year agreements — duh! But seriously, if RIM prices the Kickstart right (we’re hoping $49.99), Motorola and Palm employees might as well just hand in their resignation letters directly to RIM — it’s over! Couple more shots after the jump…
Thanks, Rogers ninja!
I will admit this device didn’t catch my eye at first, but upon watching a review over at crackberry.com I am blown away. Really slick/nice looking device.
Hey, BG, Whats with the bold?? Can you we get an ATT release date?
Hey, BG, How much for this phone with no contract. I’m done signing contracts, and would mind this as a second phone.
Yeah BG,
If you can’t give us the release date of the Bold, can you do it in code? This way you aren’t really telling us directly!!
What about the BB touch phone that Verizon is supposed to offer….how about giving us a hint on the release date in code as well?
No one knows a price for certain yet, but the rumors point at a $50 USD on-contract price. Going by what’s on the market now, I’d guess $250-300 for a no-contract model.
I already did, and this is still pretty accurate…
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/07/16/blackberry-bold-blackberry-thunder-release-information/
Shit hit Rogers too. They have stuff posted on their website forever but don’t come with any updates (e.g. BB-BOLD), The reat of the world gets products before they come to RCI.They are somewhat 3 years behind.
Rogers behind? Compared to who? Rogers gets Blackberries before almost anyone.
when is going to be on at&t, boy genius?
@Daniel Perz
In compare to most bigger Cellphone Carrier.
Any “good” Nokia Phone shows up in Europe and in USA long time before RCI gets a shot at it.
The N95 is almost obsolete when it comes to RCI for example. Some other Biz devices such as the E90 never show up. Don’t hold you breth for the BB-Bold for August 19 or whatever number are taking the turn as of yesterday.
Has anyone actually used this rogers service? I’ve got some friends that I would like to recommend it to, but there are no online reveiws of the service, quality, reliability, etc.
I use rogers. They are GSM and basically reliable. Rates are very expensive and forget customer service, better off getting help from dear abby. But if everything is working then it is good.
First off – BGR isn’t obligated to have a crystal ball – their objective is to have high-integrity information, written eloquently (and they are). I LOVE that you guys exist!
Second, my only disappointment with the 8220 is that there isn’t 3g support for this phone. If there were a better model to choose from that was flip from RIM, I could understand forcing a choice at a premium. But making me decide between flip and 3g isn’t very nice. I also think it’s a disappointment that they didn’t include the 650mhz proc used in the bold for this phone. Searching text messages can be lengthy, as is deleting groups of them. No doubt I will buy this phone, I MUST experience it. But it’s doubtful it will have hopes of becoming my primary handset.
Things the kickstart is missing:
– 3g
– Threaded SMS, or at least “SORT by” option [sender]
– MusicID – for free via gracenote.
– Profile for Bluetooth with auto-reply [sms + bbim] (car mode – please call)
– Extendable boom for Bold so mic is right next to your mouth eliminating bg noise
– Search my address book by name OR phone number, so when I’m in vegas, dialing 702 would bring up all my vegas friends.
manage SMS messages via Desktop Manager
Overall, RIM, BGR, you’re wonderful. Keep up the good work! My life is more efficient because of you!