The real reason the BlackBerry Storm doesn’t have Wi-Fi or tri-band HSDPA
You might have guessed it, but the reason is Verizon! We confirmed this a little while back with one of our really top-level sources (you know who you are!) and they did, in fact, confirm our suspicions — Verizon said hell to the no, we don’t play that up in here! Now, before the flamewars start, I will publicly say that although it might not be crystal clear, I love Verizon. Personally, Verizon has the best voice and data network in the US. Did you hear that? I lovez me some VZW.
With that out of the way, it’s pretty clear Verizon’s stance with Wi-Fi, but no tri-band HSDPA? We can only assume Verizon thought that with tri-band HSDPA, people would be unlocking these things left and right to use the devices on AT&T and Rogers. That would take out a decent chunk of their data revenue, but at the end of the day, are that many people who now can’t get a 3G Storm but rather a 2G one going to port to Verizon because of it? That remains to be seen, but all Storm first-hand impressions aside, this thing not having Wi-Fi at the very minimum is a major pain in the ass. Does anyone remember the “leaked” Expansys photo that had the Wi-Fi indicator in it? Funny, right? And to the commenters who will start saying, “It’s the best data network, you don’t need Wi-Fi!” You’re dumb, ignorant, and stupid. Plain and simple.
Tags: AT&T, BlackBerry, CDMA, exclusive, Rogers, storm, Verizon
fuck wifi
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Well…just a way to get the last word in. Look…I am not a fanboy of any platform…but I do have a VZW XV6800 that incidentally has Wi-Fi and before that I had an VZW XV6700 rockin’ the Wi-Fi…as far as I know so did the Samsung I760…Interesting…personally…I think I have used the Wi-Fi twice because I have no need as long as I always have a good signal. I am not a big fan of any of VZW’s philosophies or pricing but this one seems really petty on your part. I think if RIM could have fit Wifi in the 9500 they would have…by the way…9500 has nothing to do with VZW’s 9530.
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Another reason I dread becoming a verizon. It’s bad enough that my Circle, tethering as minutes (which are included in the nights and weekends), and customer service (I went to a verizon store to help a friend pick out a phone, and we had to sign in just to talk to someone, and wait to have his name called… wtf is that), and now the only phone I was interested in, is cheapened by that same company. EV-DO is a joke at my house no matter what carrier someone has. God I hope the fcc won’t make alltel customers suffer.
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It’s the best data network, you don’t need wifi….
happy?
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Ok, I’m lost. Can you explain Verizon’s stance on Wi-Fi? I was thinking about jumping on the VZ ship but not if the have a no Wi-Fi policy on all of their devices!
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Ok, I’m lost. Can you explain Verizon’s stance on Wi-Fi? I was thinking about jumping on the VZ ship but not if the have a no Wi-Fi policy on all of their devices!
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is the vodafone version tri band?
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Well… I guess we’ll see how good the VZW network really is. If it is less than advertised, I won’t mind taking the Storm back. Seems like a gamble VZW is willing to take. We are fast approaching a time when all the carriers have close to “perfect” handsets and functioning hi-speed networks, rendering these little games more stupid than they are now.
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Why is it that Verizon cripples all of their phones. I don’t have Verizon, and don’t want it either, but I just don’t get why the #2 carrier in the entire U.S. does that…??
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@ Jeep14
Yes, the 9500 has everything to do with the 9530 because physically they are the same thing. The only difference is in their firmware and physical branding.
@ Gino
The Vodafone Storm has quadband EDGE and monoband HSDPA/UMTS at 2100 MHz.
Anyway, if a smartphone doesn’t have WiFi it’s dead to me. WiFi is very useful as it allows for free data while abroad, VOIP calls, and faster downloads than HSDPA.
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Of course Verizon would take WiFi out of this and the Omnia. I hate their crippling practices. Glad I jumped ship to AT&T and got an iPhone.
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I had to laugh it this article. First of, you really should stop lying, Boy Genius. You obviously love or even like Verizon Wireless. You have more negative things to say about Verizon Wireless than any other carrier. You, also have more negative things to say about them than any other blogger/website.
Now, you say that it’s “pretty clear verizon’s stance on wifi”, and you say you “confirmed this a little while back with one of our really top-level sources”, that Verizon said “hell no” to wifi. If this is true, why did you not even bother to let us know what Verizon’s reason was for not wanting wifi?
This is especially interesting, with the fact that there is NOT ONE CDMA BLACKBERRY with wifi. Not One! Did Verizon tell Sprint, Alltel, and US Cellular, that they can’t have wifi? LMAO. What about the XV6800 and XV6700 with wifi? How do you say that this is because Verizon didn’t want it, when the other CDMA carriers don’t have it either?
Next, let’s look at motive for wanting or not wanting wifi. Verizon requires the blackberry plan anyway, with any of their blackberries. So, they wouldn’t lose money, by having wifi, because you’d be paying for the data service regardless. So, what’s their motive?
All in all, job well done. You make another bold, negative claim against Verizon, don’t even bother trying to say what the reason is, and don’t even bother mentioning the fact, that, none of the other cdma carriers in the U.S offer wifi anyway. That doesn’t sound like it’s that Verizon didn’t want it. Also, you didn’t mention the fact that Verizon has other non-blackberry devices with wifi.
You “love Verizon”? LMAO, with garbage articles that you constantly spew out like this, it’s clear that there is love…you love to hate Verizon, is more accurate.
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I should’ve spell checked, “First, off, you obviously DON’T Love, or LIKE”
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for those asking why, it’s either due to reduced performance and/or battery life or costs & ARPU.
Pretty simple to grasp, it’s not mysterious like the death of Bruce Lee or anything…
Stop freaking out on the article ppl
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Dear lord. I’ve only been coming to this website for a little over two weeks now and I can already feel the hate for Verizon.
I got my whole family to join me on Verizon from ATT, and they have never been happier with their cell phone experience.
If I had a nickel for every time I had coverage when my friends on ATT or TMobile didn’t I could have retired before finishing college…
Maybe it’s simply the fact that you people don’t ever leave metropolitan areas, but try getting out in about with that horrible ATT coverage and you’ll learn a thing or two.
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Well said “The One.”
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VZW is the Hitler of the US cell phone carriers.
They micro manage and charge for EVERYTHING in their plans.
I know someone who works at VZW in Atlanta on the marketing dept, and she tells me at many meetings they have the issue of how high they are compared to the competition, but they don’t budge.
I’ll wait until another carrier gets the Storm before I switch to VZW.
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As a “business user” I really don’t think the lack of Wi-Fi is a problem. I can honestly say that I go through 99% of my work week and am never in a hotspot, or at least not one that’s open to me. So Wi-Fi doesn’t do me a lot of good and I think this is probably the case for most people outside of the IT industry.
Having said that, it really does suck that Verizon always has to cripple thier phones - it just annoys me out of principle. I’m now on AT&T and I definitely miss Verizon’s coverage, it is appreciably better; but their phones…its like they literally go out of thier way to make them crappy. I’ll happily retract my statement if the Storm comes out fully functional bluetooth profiles.
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#2 carrier in the US…quite kidding yourself. they are #1 and everyone knows it
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I bet this phone doesn’t need GPS either!! oh wait, thats just Verizon’s way of nickel and diming their dedicated customers to pay more for it.
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@ The One
1) You’re a d-bag. If you really think BG spews out garbage articles, don’t read them. Your negativity isn’t wanted here. Also, show some appreciation. BG always provides the latest news on technology. Don’t take it for granted because he says he likes VZW and you don’t think he does.
2) You have awful grammar skills. Learn to use commas. There are several instances where you use them incorrectly. Don’t come around here thinking like you’re all high and almighty because you think you can write like a journalist.
i.e.
“First, off, you obviously DON’T Love, or LIKE”
-”First off, …”
“You, also have more negative things to say
about them than any other blogger/website.”
-”You also …”
“…and don’t even bother mentioning the fact, that, none of the other cdma carriers…”
-”…the fact that none…”
And also, this blatantly obvious one,
“I had to laugh it this article.”
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I’d like to give a big EF YOU to VZW and their BS ways.
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@ The One
Nicely Said!
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i’m a fan of BGR but completely agree with “The One”. for all the news BGR may be breaking with his ninjas inside VZW, the tone of the piece is never positive, or even fair. contrast that with anything ever written about the iphone (with the exception of mobile me write ups).
that being said more often than not, vzw and blackberry deserve a smack in the teeth every now and then.
it just seems like BGR has been down particularly on the storm from leaked day one.
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@ adrian
Pathetic
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