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.
Sounds like a typical Verizon user to me.
@ Adrian,
You sir, are an idiot. Thanks for the English 101 Grammar Class! You chose not to respond to any of my factual points that discredit the famous BG. STFU. Everything that I said was true. And if anyone’s being negative, look at every article from BG this year involving Verizon. And, let’s try to stick to the facts. Let me apologize that there is no edit button on here to edit my posts before my English teach, Mrs. Adrian, decides to point out the grammatical errors instead of the actual points of my argument.
@ Adrian
you said:
“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.”
SLOW DOWN gurl…
while BGR may break a story here and there, the majority of the site’s content comes from other people or sites. it’s not like the staff is burning the midnight oil on the phone with every tech company in the world. they surf the web, and post what they find.
also…
i find your comments to be more negative than “the one” who posted earlier. does that mean you don’t want you on these boards either?
@ The One, the Niagara has Wifi and its a CDMA BlackBerry
@ Stop-N-Go,
Tell me which CDMA carrier is currently selling the Niagra. If you are talking about a yet to be released blackberry, that’s not valid, next.
no wifi = not an option for me.
all the whiners are amazing, its a tech bog meaning they comment on the stories. BG can say whatever he wants and in this situation I agree with him, VZW sux because they cripple their phones.
Anyone know if the Bell/Telus (Canuck) version will have Wi-Fi?
Well, BG, you may think peeps like me are “dumb, ignorant, and stupid. Plain and simple”, but that doesn’t convince me of why I need WiFi.
The only reasons I can see for a need for WiFi would be if:
1) You have crazy-ass priced data plans, like the poor Canadians
2) You live outside a 3G area
3) You live in a weak voice reception area where you need UMA.
If 1) applies to you, well, emigrate. If 2) or 3) apply, well, switch carriers, especially as Verizon doesn’t offer UMA.
I have a Rev A card in my laptop and travel extensively. The only place away from my house or office in the past 18 months where I have not had Rev A and have had to connect to a WiFi network has been rural Mississippi. Everywhere else Rev A more than satisfies my needs, at a far lower battery drain than WiFi.
I’m undecided on the Storm, but my indecision results from whether or not I’d give up the physical keyboard of my Curve or my Bold, not from WiFi or not.
What do you people do that you need wi-fi and it becomes an absolute deal breaker in a phone? If you are at home, use your computer….Pretty sure it’s faster and the screen is a bit bigger. I know that with the ability to watch YouTube videos that it would make a big difference but would you really just use it when you are in a hot spot? Ok, Verizon doesn’t choose to put wi-fi in their devices. Move on! That’s not anyone’s fault on this site.
At the end of 2008 start of 09, Wifi should be a standard feature in any smartphone. Period. I can understand the no tri-band HSDPA because they don’t want these all being unlocked. But the lack of wifi is unacceptable. Boo verizon, best service and good customer service at the expensive of basic features.
ah well, all companies right now are trying to find any little way to stream in more revenue. VZW has that big merger to eat with Altel still so don’t expect them to stop neutering phones any time soon. every carrier has their pros and cons, though for me vzw had too many annoying little cons so I switched carriers (like handset selection and that annoying verizon UI).if I was about purely about voice/data quality I doubt I’d be hanging on this site, know what I mean?
now out of the way, BG! I got a rolled up newspaper and Verizon needs to have their nose hit. bad! bad! *thwap* we don’t do that to phones! NO!
@ Stop-N-Go,
I’m referring to past and present CDMA Blackberries, my point is valid. You are referring to the Niagra, a phone that has yet to hit the market, and hasn’t even been officially announced….next.
At least Verizon realizes that not everyone lives in a metropolitan area. Those of us in the intermountain west (especially Montana, Idaho, Wyoming) that need national coverage have really only one choice… Verizon. They do a heck of a job with voice and high speed data coverage out here.
AT&T???
The fact is, the iphone really NEEDS wifi because it’s on the crappy AT&T network. I switched from AT&T to Verizon 4 years ago because I couldn’t make it through a single call in Northern NJ without getting dropped. My friends love their iphones but have the same issues and it’s not acceptable for me. I have a BB curve and my wife has a voyager and the internet access is great, no need for wifi anywhere around here. Maybe there are remote areas that you would need the wifi, but not where I live and work so the wifi is usless to me. I’m gonna wait to see what this device really is before I say it’s awesome or it sucks. I can’t beleive the units at the launch were the final build version if they had the bugs described by Marc.
@ the one
You are a moron. Not once in your pathetic rant did you come close to forming a cohesive argument. We’re all a lot more stupid for reading your drivel. Go the fuck on to another site.
grab some knee pads dude.
@TOM
It doesn’t say on Telus’s Storm site anything about WIFI.
@BG
Is there any guesstimate on when this Phone will be available through a Northamerican GSM Carrier?
This is the reason, that while I have had no other problems with their service, I will be switching carriers when my contract ends. I’m sick of having crippled phones.
I was at the BB Dev Conf and used a Storm that belonged to a staff member – it was on the AT&T network. The Storm is tri-band, just crippled for VZW. If you can unlock it, you can probably unlock the tri-band too.
I have been a Verizon customer since 1998. Their prices have always been the highest in the industry.
For example, they charge $15 to tether your phone as a modem on top of a $45 unlimited (as long as you don’t go over 2GB) data plan.
They cripple their phones GPS and WIFI services in many handsets.
They are one of the slowest carriers to release new phones and firmware upgrades.
I work in a downtown office building. On my side of the building I am lucky to get 1 bar of 1X (No EV Love). Wifi would be great as ther is an access point 20 feet from me.
As far as GPS, they cripple it on many devices to force you to pay for VZNavigator.
VZW was the first to deply EVDO wide scale and that was one reason I stuck around and paid their outrageous prices. I needed the high speed connectivity for work.
However they have not even made mention of the HTC Touch Pro (or Touch Diamond) being released any time soon. where Sprint has the Diamond and will release the Pro next week (CDMA versions).
Not to mention the Simply Everything plan for $99 is way better than anything VZW offers.
Would Wifi be a deal breaker for me, in a word, No. However if all other factors were equal and I could get Wifi on another carrier’s same handset, I would switch.
When my plan expires in January, I do not expect to renew on this carrier.
BOYGENIUSREPORT.COM is the FOX NEWS of tech blogs. Unabashedly biased; yet, inexplicably exhibits a lack of self-awareness.
Tom: No offense, but no one uses “northern NJ” as a litmus test for a carrier’s signal quality. I’m not certain why, but it probably has something to do with the state smell you have there and the mob influence.
As far as wi-fi goes, if people like the phone, they’ll buy it, be they’ll be VZW customers because there is literally no other option. Besides, this phone is going to suck anyway, since it’s missing the physical keyboard that RIM itself has previously claimed is essential. Copycat devices are almost never a good idea, especially when you’re a small company tar is trying to maneuver through a sagging economy.
I have heard that AT&T will be getting the Storm next year, and guess what it will have Wi-Fi.
No Wi-Fi is one of the reasons I don’t want the phone. I figure I can get the Bold now and then sell that and get the Storm when it comes to AT&T.
BTW the Vodafone version of the Storm should work on AT&T, but only on the Edge network and not 3G.
@ The One
Your argument is a good one, but it’s flawed.
There are no other Blackberry CDMA devices with Wifi because no other CDMA has the ability to tell a company like RIM what they want with a phone. Verizon has more subscribers than any CDMA network, therefore they get to call the shots on what gets included on CDMA devices.
They’re the big boy on the block. As such, they get to call the CDMA shots. For the most part, the rest of the CDMA carriers just have to live with Verizon’s decisions.
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.
Amen brother. Apparently no one has ever been thru a service outage where Verizon went down in a locale for 3 days. I’m not saying I would use it everyday, but I would use it circumstances where it was my only choice, can you say wi-fi planes, trains and automobiles. I think I may even sit this one out until a wi-fi unit is available.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/100607dnbusverizonoutage.13ff8928b.html
I was there that weekend and my phone/bb was pretty much useless the whole three days. With wi-fi I would have had an alternative.