BlackBerry Thunder gets 9530 model designation on Verizon, October 13th release date?
We just got a screen cap of the product inventory screen from a Verizon tipster. It shows that the BlackBerry Thunder, which we’ve all been reporting as a 9500-series device is correct. The specfic model — you guessed it — is the BlackBerry 9530 for Verizon. Would it be any other way? We were also told the launch date on Verizon is October 13th, and that coincides with our previously leaked info just marvelously. Now, is it the Thunder or Storm?
@ From My Cube Wow, really? First Boy Genius stole my post and did not give credit,then you claim that you are me and link to my image on photoshack? Wow, just wow! Guess I will have to start watermarking my images before I post them. Thanks for being an ass-clown!
I don’t understand why so many people adopt the notion that no RIM loyalist would want the Thunder (or Storm, or whatever). I am a devoted BB user as well as a long-time Verizon subscriber and I must say that I am extremely excited about the Thunder. Here’s why…
Push email. Can’t beat it. With Verizon I’ve had a Pearl, an 8830 and currently am using the 8330 Curve. Additionally, I’ve also had the iPhone and AT&T’s Curve. I attempted on more than one occasion to jump ship because I wanted those specific devices — I am a Mac user through and through, and I was going crazy waiting for the Curve prior to the CDMA release this year — but AT&T’s customer service as well as sound quality killed me. I ended up returning these devices after about 2 days of use. I ended up going back to my VZW 8130 until the Curve came out.
The iPhone was cool, and I had no issue at all about not having a keyboard. In fact, it’s quite nice because I text/email/chat a LOT on my phone, and I often get raw thumbs. With a touch screen you can just lightly tap-tap, which saves your thumbs. I was also faster typing on the iPhone, which says a lot because I’m blazingly fast on my BB.
There is no denying the cool factor in any touch device. We never got our flying cars, jet packs or talking robots that we were promised, and I feel like touch screen devices are a small consolation. The iPhone was ultra cool, but it lacked a lot. Simple stuff like cutting and pasting, or MMS were absent. Not so with BlackBerries.
BlackBerries are the best phones for my usage. I’m even happy with the BlackBerry browser (hate Opera mini). I love the idea of the track ball but they get dirty and stuck sometimes, no matter how anal you are with your phone (me). Until BB creates a static dome that tracks your movement like a notebook computer’s mouse pad, I’d be happy to get rid of it altogether for a giant touch screen.
The Thunder brings together the best of both worlds. The coolness of touch (there is no issue with not having a keyboard) along with the uber-functionality of BlackBerries. On top of that, you get Verizon’s network coverage and award-winning customer service, which adds up to a serious winner in my book. If BlackBerry can come up with a purer browsing experience, which Verizon’s data speed will fully exploit, then I don’t see how this device can possibly fail as long as it isn’t buggy.
If you don’t like it, then don’t buy it. Why are so many so quick to step on the idea of this device? Buy the Javelin, or the Bold, or the KickStart, or the Pearl. Think about these phones for a second. RIM has something for everyone. I think with this all-star line-up of devices, RIM is the best in the business as far as smart phones are concerned. It’s never been a better time to be a BlackBerry user because you have so many incredible choices that give you everything you could ever want from a cell phone.
Sorry about the length but I had a lot to get off my chest.
Well said Douglas! I too think VZW and RIM will hit a grand slam with this one. The Thunder will be the phone to have. I fRIM is going to make a touch scrreen you know they will do it right. Its very clear now why Verizon passed on the iPhone, they already knew the Thunder was coming…
not happening…. friends who work on the cdma products at rim say the line hasn’t even began production… rim reps last week said he played with the prototype and its not ready…. i smell bs
To Douglas and all Verizon customers.
Verizon has improved thier customer service a lot in the last few years and for the first time ever there was a tie and both Verizon and T-mobile won JD power awards for being the best in customer service. Verizon should be very proud of these improvements but the true test is retaining it.
Tmobile is the only wireless carrier to win back to back JD power awards in this catagory and for the last 7 years they havnt been challanged until now. Not to take anything away from Verzion winning but as long as Tmobiles winning strick continues they will still be known as the best until someone does better.
@ Jdslim
Good effort at trying to build up Tmobile, but lets look at some specifics. No US carrier had added more customers over the past 7 years than verizon wireless. No US carrier has lost fewer customers. So obviously Verizon is doing something right. Since Tmobile has a 2.8% churn rate and Verizon has a 1.1% churn rate it’s obvious Verizon has much more customer loyalty. You can try to make tmobile sound great by taking “customer service”, but why can’t they keep the customers they add each quarter?
Everyone likes to complain. If Blackberry didn’t have a Thunder/Storm on the horizon people would be bitching about how RIM is missing the boat by not stepping up to the plate against other touchscreen devices. Since RIM has the Thunder/Storm people look to find ways it can fail even before any real information has been released. The only Epic Fail in these comments is this Jesse guy with his lack of information or understanding.
The Verizon exclusivity based on performance is a very smart move. To mention a few reasons:
- Verizon will be the largest carrier by the time this releases
- Verizon is the largest BB carrier
- The device is global so it can still take advantage of the overseas sales while still taking advantage of the large VZW customer base (no need for a GSM carrier in the US just to meet worldwide demand)
- Verizon customers are wanting a good touchscreen that rivals the iPhone. Even non blackberry users will sign up for the device
- Some of the customers that left Verizon for the iPhone will return
- RIM doesn’t have to worry about customers having a decent competitor on the Verizon network. With AT&T any new customer will be comparing iPhone to Thunder and some may choose iPhone. With Verizon anyone wanting a good touch device will choose Thunder. This means more sales due to less same network competition.
- VZW and RIM will make more money per unit since it exclusive. No cross carrier jockeying for customers.
- If this has the latest 3G Rev this could be the fastest touchscreen phone
- RIM isn’t tied into VZW permanently unless they meet performance milestones. This guarantees RIM can make the numbers they want or expand elsewhere to do so. In the meantime RIM gets the benefit of the above points.
There are many more reasons the Verizon move is a smart one for RIM but I have a life and can’t keep typing forever.
OK, I need some help. Any idea on the price?
My Moto Q is starting to fail. I want the thunder, but I dont think I can wait until Mid October. I might get the curve now (for free with 2 yr contract), then just buy the thunder when it comes out. I am thinking I can sell the curve on Ebay for $200-$300.
But I am worried the Thunder will have a retail price around $599.
Anyone hear anything about the price, and what are your thoughts for a price with a 2yr contract.
The closest thing the VZ has now is the vx6900. retail no contract price $449 and the 2yr contract price is still $279
man, it’s awesome to see how passionate these arguments are about VZW versus at&t… this is what doing business in the US is all about. great to see so much passion.
one thing you have to consider… Verizon maybe big, etc after the Alltel acquisition, but the FACT is, CDMA is predominantly used in the US and few minor countries. There’s a reason why GSM is called Global Systems for mobile Communications. it’s the world standard and constantly evolving. CDMA, however, is an outdated protocol anyway. it was a smart choice for Bell South, SBC, Cingular and the old AT&T Wireless (now they’re all simply at&t) to adopt the GSM protocol. despite the extra costs of roaming, at least at&t thought outside of the box and made it more simple and flexible for their customers to travel outside of the US and STILL be able to use their phones; whereas, Verizon Wireless, (IF you do not have a “World Edition” branded phone) will lease out phones from their overseas partners Vodaphone for GSM-compatible phones. this is the advantage that at&t will always have over Verizon.
oh, and don’t forget… Apple came to Verizon first and Verizon rejected Apple’s offer for the iPhone. now check out the “epic fail” of Verizon’s compensation and bitter grapes of making up for their faux pas on passing on the iPhone… LG Dare, LG Voyager. Verizon is a decent company, but their CEO and board of directors need to think outside the box instead of being arrogant bastards in denial.
you are an idiot… its going to Vodaphone, therefore there will be GSM models.
one thing you have to consider… Verizon maybe big, etc after the Alltel acquisition, but the FACT is, CDMA is predominantly used in the US and few minor countries. There’s a reason why GSM is called Global Systems for mobile Communications. it’s the world standard and constantly evolving. CDMA, however, is an outdated protocol anyway. it was a smart choice for Bell South, SBC, Cingular and the old AT&T Wireless (now they’re all simply at&t) to adopt the GSM protocol. despite the extra costs of roaming, at least at&t thought outside of the box and made it more simple and flexible for their customers to travel outside of the US and STILL be able to use their phones; whereas, Verizon Wireless, (IF you do not have a “World Edition” branded phone) will lease out phones from their overseas partners Vodaphone for GSM-compatible phones. this is the advantage that at&t will always have over Verizon.
I love when people have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to cellular technology. CDMA is not a outdated protocol at all in fact it was designed in 1995 while GSM has been around since 1991. GSM must be so good that it has to use a CDMA for its air interface for 3G and OFDMA for 4G. Only a few small countries use CDMA? You know I wonder if you could say Japan, South Korea, India and China are small. Most of your future networks will not even be based on GSM or CDMA but on OFDMA and that can be used in LTE as well as UMB and WiMAX.
Bottom line… RIM is just as arrogant as the next guy. They think they have a decent product, but in reality, nothing that RIM has ever produced has been as revolutionary as products like the Apple iPhone or even HTC devices.
The one word that RIM hates to hear is “niche”, and unfortunatly thats all they’ll ever be. Granted, it’s a large niche (business), but to be a real player they’ll need to lsien to the “rest of us”, and finally build a universal UI that doesn’t take an army of IT guys to implement.
E-Mail is there forte, but what they have as a strength is quickly being whittled down by MS-Direct Push, and to a smaller extent web based e-mail services such as Google and yahoo.
Where they need to devote some attention is in their browser (probably the worst experience of all smart devices). Both iPhone and WM have great browsers in comparison.
Adding a touchscreen isn’t the answer, adding great apps is.
RIM needs to partner with the developer community to port world class applications to their platform. They need an AppStore similar to Apple’s that can make it easy for developers to get their apps onto the RIM devices. Today it’s nearly impossible to find decent apps for BlackBerry devices since there are few reliable sources. Also, RIM makes it difficult for developers to even code their apps since the SDK is so weak.
Bottom line, it’s nice that RIM will be trying out new hardware designs, but unless they invest in the software under-the-hood, they’ll continue to be a niche player.
Hmm… RIM called a “Niche Player”? They are the #1 smartphone maker in the world…
Boy Genius,
WTF………..Why didn’t you credit Kevin Byrne with the pic and info?
@jimbo
there’s no way you’ll get $200 for your used curve in october. The used prices for them have been tumbling for weeks. I’ve seen as low as $100 (which would still be a lot more than you paid, free or $50)
@Motivated:
“mm… RIM called a “Niche Player”? They are the #1 smartphone maker in the world”
Unfortunately you are very mistaken. Nokia is the #1 smartphone maker in world, by far, in both volume and revenues. RIM is #1 in the US.
I was tricked into the iphone craze but quickly switched back to VZW… rant and rave all you want, but to me ATT is a dumping ground of useless apps.. Comparing their 3g capabilities is a joke.. Then weve got BGR all over the iphones nuts everytime somebody at apple farts.. Can you really be that impressed? I wasnt.
blah calls the iphone revolutionary as if the LG Prada never happened.
Thank you Kevin Byrne for supplying this information to BG. It was great insider information and a lot of people are greatfull that you posted it. I know you didn’t get the credit you wanted when the post was added but we all know supplied this leaked data now, so I really hope for your sack that “kevin byrne” is just a made up name or you might find yourself in a ton of troubles.
Thanks
Radom poster
Aka Jdslim
True, I forgot about Nokia (not my flavor) but still worldwide RIM is ranked #2.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/06/06/apple_now_the_worlds_no_3_smartphone_vendor.html
I still disagree with the “Niche” statement, which makes no sense.
i played with the thunder and all i can say it is awesome. i work at a shop where we produce wedding movies and our neighbor works at RIM in Waterloo,Canada. and he brang it over today and all i can say it is way better than iphone. it is so smooth. the keyboard is wicked, better than the iphone.
The internet speeds are way faster than the iPhone. This makes the iPhone look like shit. come october you iPhone buyers are going to regret it.
The email is blazing fast. This phone is for you fast typers. and when you type u get a feeling after you touch each button
@Motivated I didn’t mean to upset you with the niche designation… but as I said, it’s a big niche(business).