Blackberry Bold

In BlackBerry battle, Bold has WiFi access, Storm does not

Phil Goldstein — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:30:15 -0400

Fives days from the launch of Research In Motion's BlackBerry Bold, AT&T Mobility is firing the first salvo in its upcoming battle with the BlackBerry Storm, which Verizon Wireless is launching later in November, saying the Bold will have free access to all of AT&T's WiFi hotspots.

AT&T said that when the Bold launches Nov. 4 it will have full access to the 17,000 WiFi hotspots the carrier has in the many Starbucks stores, hotels, bookstores and airports across the country.

The Storm, which Verizon reportedly will launch Nov. 16, will not have WiFi capabilities. Verizon, however, is hoping that its virtual QWERTY keyboard, accelerometer, cut-and-paste features and general appeal will make the device popular with consumers.

For more:
- see this article
- see these Bold pictures
- see these Storm pictures

Related Articles:
RIM roundup: Bold out Nov. 4, Storm reportedly Nov. 16
RIM: AT&T still testing BlackBerry Bold
Verizon's launch of BlackBerry Storm delayed until November

BlackBerry Bold available for pre-order from Best Buy

Phil Goldstein — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:53:52 -0400

Research In Motion's BlackBerry Bold has had quite a torturous run-up to its launch. When AT&T announced its earnings last week, the company said that the phone would be available Nov. 4 for $299.99 with a two-year service contract and after rebates.

Now, if customers do not want to wait, they can pre-order the phone through Best Buy. The big box retailer is allowing pre-orders of the phone contract-free, and said it will ship within one to two weeks. The price: $659.99.

For more:
- see the Best Buy listing
- see these Bold pictures

Related Articles:
RIM roundup: Bold out Nov. 4, Storm reportedly Nov. 16
RIM: AT&T still testing BlackBerry Bold

RIM roundup: Bold out Nov. 4, Storm reportedly Nov. 16

Phil Goldstein — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:56:52 -0400

The BlackBerries are ripe and ready for release.

AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega confirmed on the AT&T third quarter earnings conference call this morning that the carrier would be releasing Research In Motion's BlackBerry Bold on Nov. 4. Speculation had swirled around a possible Oct. 27 launch date, but de le Vega said that would be pushed back by a week. The phone will be sold for $299.99 with a two-year contract and after a mail-in rebate.

The long awaited Bold has been the subject of numerous delays and false starts. The phone was supposed to launch in the summer, and then was pushed back to the fall and then was further delayed because RIM reportedly wanted to make sure the phone worked properly on AT&T's 3G HSPA network.

In other BlackBerry news, the blog Berry Reporter posted a Best Buy screenshot that has the Storm, which is being launched by Verizon Wireless, ready for a launch date of Nov. 16 with a list price of $699.99, before it is subsidized. Verizon has not confirmed when it will release the Storm.

For more:
- see this official release
- see this Berry Reporter post
- see these Bold pictures
- see these Storm pictures

Related Articles:
RIM: AT&T still testing BlackBerry Bold
Verizon's launch of Blackberry Storm delayed until November

Orange suspends shipments of BlackBerry Bold

Phil Goldstein — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:25:03 -0400

U.K. mobile operator Orange said it was suspending shipments of Research In Motion's BlackBerry Bold because of unspecified "software issues."

RIM has been under fire because of the Bold delays in the United States. The device was first reported to have a summer launch. That was delayed into the fall, and last week, RIM said that the launch will be delayed further. RIM said AT&T Mobility, which is launching the device in the U.S., was continuing to test the device to make sure it operated optimally on their 3G HSPA network.

The Bold delays also come as RIM is pushing the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm to get into the U.S. market in time for the holiday shopping season.

The news was first reported by the Mobile Tech Addicts website, per an internal Orange memo.

For more:
- see this Wired article
- see the Orange memo here

Related Articles:
RIM: AT&T still testing BlackBerry Bold
RIM downgraded because of Bold delays

RIM downgraded because of Bold delays

Phil Goldstein — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:15:27 -0400

Deutsche Bank has downgraded Research In Motion, shortly after RIM's co-CEO announced that AT&T Mobility was still testing the much-anticipated and long-delayed BlackBerry Bold, a move that puts more pressure on the handset maker to deliver the device soon.

Deutsche Bank lowered its price target on RIM from $70 to $50, primarily on worries that RIM would keep pushing back the launch of the Bold, and miss its quarterly targets. Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said this past week that AT&T was still testing the device on its 3G HSPA network to make sure it worked properly on the network.

The downgrade comes as RIM is trying to get both the Bold and the Blackberry Storm, which is being launched by Verizon Wireless, on the market before the holiday shopping season begins.

For more:
- see this article
- see this slideshow of the BlackBerry Bold

Related Articles:
RIM: AT&T still testing BlackBerry Bold
BlackBerry Bold delayed further

RIM: AT&T still testing BlackBerry Bold

Phil Goldstein — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:14:25 -0400

Research In Motion co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said that RIM's BlackBerry Bold was delayed because the company wanted to make sure it works properly on AT&T's 3G HSPA network. The handset maker wants to avoid connectivity problems that allegedly plagued Apple's iPhone 3G when it launched in July.

The device has been in RIM's pipeline for months, and a summer launch was pushed back into the fall. No specific launch date has been announced, and last week word leaked that the device was being held because of possible concerns about the its operating system.

Lazaridis told the AP that the Bold is still being tested and going through AT&T's certification process to make sure it works on AT&T's network. "There's great scrutiny, as you might know, on that network and a certain device," Lazaridis said. "So I guess everyone wants to be sure on every last test."

For more:
- see this article

Related Articles:
BlackBerry Bold delayed further
BlackBerry Bold launch delayed 'til August

BlackBerry Bold delayed further

Phil Goldstein — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:12:45 -0400

And the plot begins to thicken.

Research In Motion's long-awaited BlackBerry Bold has hit another snag in its launch, and will be delayed further and training sessions scheduled for AT&T employees are being pushed back, according to a report on the blog Boy Genius Report. AT&T Mobility will be launching the phone.

The 3G HSPA device has been in RIM's pipeline for months, and was previously scheduled to launch in August, and then for later in the fall. Now, it appears that the launch will be delayed further because of problems with the OS still being fixed at RIM. AT&T had also planned on having launch parties throughout October, which makes a November commercial launch date uncertain.

For more:
- see the report on Boy Genius Report and this followup report

Related Articles:
BlackBerry Bold launch delayed 'til August
AT&T customers will get BlackBerry Bold first

AT&T customers will get BlackBerry Bold first

Lynnette Luna — Mon, 19 May 2008 10:41:09 -0400

AT&T customers will be able to get their hands on the BlackBerry Bold, also known as the BlackBerry 9000, in July for $300. Other operators get to sell the device, which squarely looks to compete against the iPhone, months later. T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon customers won't be able to get one until September. Strangely, T-Mobile will offer the device for $50 more than the competition. Maybe there will be some hot contract options with it. And have you noticed that RIM seems to be changing its marketing strategy to compete with the iPhone? This weekend sported lots of BlackBerry television commercials, some in conjunction with Best Buy, while the company recently took a page from Apple to hold a BlackBerry developer conference.

For more:
- see this article

Check out pictures of the BlackBerry Bold here.

AT&T: HSPA will provide 20 Mbps data speeds

Sue Marek — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:42:15 -0400

During a presentation this morning at Morgan Stanley's 13th Annual Communications Conference in Washington, D.C, AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega said that he believes AT&T has a time-to-market advantage over WiMAX with its HSPA technology. De la Vega said that HSPA Release 7 will give the company 7 Mbps to 20 Mbps data speeds within the next two years and the company will only have to deploy a software upgrade. "When people talk about future technologies like WiMAX, they don't realize it doesn't do any good to just have it in the network. They have to have devices, coverage and the entire ecosystem," he said. "We have the best broadband network with the best throughput today. And it will get better in the short term." Of course, the company does plan to migrate to LTE technology in 2010, bringing data speeds of up to 100 Mbps.

De la Vega also touted the company's exclusive deal with RIM to distribute its new Blackberry Bold device, which he believes that along with the Apple iPhone and other advanced devices will help increase the number of postpaid subscribers using integrated devices on the AT&T network. Currently 16 percent of postpaid subscribers on AT&T have integrated devices but de la Vega said this figure will grow substantially in the year ahead. "We have seen that when you give integrated devices to customers, the ARPU is double what you get with an average phone," he said. "If you make the devices easier to use and more intuitive to the user, you will see the usage go up."

For more:
- see the replay of de la Vega's presentation here.

Related stories:
AT&T to launch 3G BlackBerry Bold. See this Blackberry Bold story
AT&T extends 3G deployments, backs LTE for 4G. See this AT&T LTE story