First pic of the Blackberry Thunder aka Blackberry 9500

[bigrash]

link

update: new live pics: link

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

Now that is hot! I'll be pissed if it comes out real soon since I just bought my Curve.

 

[slugg]

you mean the iBerry?

 

[DivideBYZero]

Hmm...shame it's been leaked this early.

 

[S Freud]

Release date?

 

[bigrash]

Originally posted by: slugg
you mean the iBerry?

lol. so true!

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: S Freud
Release date?

I also am curious about that

 

[Pliablemoose]

Originally posted by: slugg
you mean the iBerry?

LOL, I had the same thought...

And yet another iTunes competitor, and how successful have they been?

 

[uli2000]

Wow, sweet new phones with awesome specs sure bring out the iphone owners having to reassure themselves by saying everything is just copying the iphone.

 

[slugg]

^^ while it's true that the iBerry (tm) has better hardware specs, one must not deny iPhone's success in the market. If it wasn't such a significant phone, companies wouldn't be trying to copy it.

For the record, I'm a future iPhone owner and I'm admitting that the iBerry (tm) has better specs. Still, I'll take the iPhone over the iBerry (tm).

But! Out of the Thunder/iBerry (tm) and the Samsung Instinct, I'm willing to bet hundreds that the Thunder will absolutely kill the Instinct. That's just a gut feeling, though.

 

[pm]

According to the Wall Street Journal, the release date on the Blackberry 9500 (Thunder) is Q3 (ie. September) this year and it's going to be exclusive to Verizon.

The BlackBerry Thunder 9500 will be available on Verizon Wireless and Vodafone networks in Q3 2008, and will most likely cost around $400 with a two-year contract.

http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/9356.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121087480469495889.html (reqs subscription to read full article... hence the link to infosyncworld which summarizes the article)

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

Originally posted by: slugg


But! Out of the Thunder/iBerry (tm) and the Samsung Instinct, I'm willing to bet hundreds that the Thunder will absolutely kill the Instinct. That's just a gut feeling, though.

Agree 100 percent. With the multimedia of the Iphone and the business productivity of the BB, I don't think there's a phone that could touch it.

 

[lupi]

Hopefully they will be offering camera'less versions of these.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: lupi
Hopefully they will be offering camera'less versions of these.

Don't count on it anytime soon if ever.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: lupi
Hopefully they will be offering camera'less versions of these.

Not likely, but any BES admin can set a policy to disable it if you need to use it on a secure site.

If you're not on a corporate BES then, yeah, don't expect a camless version...

 

[lupi]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: lupi
Hopefully they will be offering camera'less versions of these.

Not likely, but any BES admin can set a policy to disable it if you need to use it on a secure site.

If you're not on a corporate BES then, yeah, don't expect a camless version...

That doesn't work so well under government security regulations.

 

[aphex]

Not a terribly positive review over at Gizmodo

http://gizmodo.com/5023250/bla...e-not-ready-says-rumor

Hope they get the bugs worked out, would be very interested to check one out in person.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: aphex
Not a terribly positive review over at Gizmodo

http://gizmodo.com/5023250/bla...e-not-ready-says-rumor

Hope they get the bugs worked out, would be very interested to check one out in person.

Are you kidding me? "Review"? It's nothing of the sort. Do not post it as such. :roll:

 

[QueBert]

I can't wait for this phone to come out and hear BB fans who shatted so hard on the iPhone for not having a physical keyboard nutthugging this BB like it's the greatest phone ever lol.

 

[UNCjigga]

I don't think those are real live shots running on a device. If anything, they are UI mockups for marketing.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: UNCjigga
I don't think those are real live shots running on a device. If anything, they are UI mockups for marketing.

The finished UI will either suck ass, or be ho-hum at best. I have tried every one of these so called "iPhone killers" and I laugh at them, The Instinct is the best and it's not that good, the LG Dare is crap. BB fanboys want a real keyboard, and I'm sure the multimedia of this won't be anything special, all there iPhone knock offs won't work because.

1. they don't have the UI the iPhone has and can't match it &
2. they're not apple.

RIMis going to have an online music store to work with this phone, do we need ANOTHER store? There are music stores that have been around for ages that aren't doing well, how do they expect a totally new one to survive? And factor in most BB users aren't big on multiledia and just want the email sh!t. Who is this phone targeted toward I'm confused?

They have a phone that will try to compete with iPhones, that's a fail right there. On top of that they want to compete with iTunes too? This is going to end badly, the only hope for RIM is the BB fanboys who might swarm to this and praise it as so much better than the iPhone when it reality it's going to be a pretty cheap clone.

 

[pm]

I have an iPhone, Quebert, and I generally like it, but I have to disagree with you. There's a long list of things that I don't like about my iPhone that RIM could improve on. It's not "a fail" for RIM to attempt to improve on the iPhone because iPhone is not a perfect device. Like I said, if you want a list of real shortcomings (no mini-SD slot, no removeable battery - so you can't carry spares on long flights, no stereo bluetooth, no voice dialing, and the list goes on).

I personally am interested in anything any other company offers that is competition for the iPhone because I think the iPhone is expensive and could use some competition. Android, Blackberry Thunder, Garmin Nuviphone, whatever Nokia is working on, etc... from my perspective, bring them on. When I find something that I like better than my iPhone for a price less than ~$400, I'll switch.

I do agree that they don't need to pair it with a music store though... and I do wonder about how many Blackberry users who use their Curves for business will be interested in a keyboardless Blackberry. You have a point. But, one target marget is those business users who do want multimedia... and anyone on Verizon who doesn't want to switch to AT&T but wants the browsing speed of a 3G platform...

We'll see.... I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: pm
I have an iPhone, Quebert, and I generally like it, but I have to disagree with you. There's a long list of things that I don't like about my iPhone that RIM could improve on. It's not "a fail" for RIM to attempt to improve on the iPhone because iPhone is not a perfect device. Like I said, if you want a list of real shortcomings (no mini-SD slot, no removeable battery - so you can't carry spares on long flights, no stereo bluetooth, no voice dialing, and the list goes on).

I personally am interested in anything any other company offers that is competition for the iPhone because I think the iPhone is expensive and could use some competition. Android, Blackberry Thunder, Garmin Nuviphone, whatever Nokia is working on, etc... from my perspective, bring them on. When I find something that I like better than my iPhone for a price less than ~$400, I'll switch.

I do agree that they don't need to pair it with a music store though... and I do wonder about how many Blackberry users who use their Curves for business will be interested in a keyboardless Blackberry. You have a point. But, one target marget is those business users who do want multimedia... and anyone on Verizon who doesn't want to switch to AT&T but wants the browsing speed of a 3G platform...

We'll see.... I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do.

I still believe it will be a loose/loose for RIM. the iPhone isn't perfect but it does have one of the highest customer satisfaction rates of any cell phone. People have been lined up in NY since the 8th to get a new iPhone when they drop. I am sure the iPhone 2.0 will outsell almost all other cell phones combined in 08. For whatever reason iPhones have become the phone to get, I don't have one but am interested and might once I see apps starting to pop up in the iTunes stors.

I don't see a cell phone released as an iPhone competitor doing well, the only thing this RIM one has going for it is CDMA so the Verizon people can have something similar. But LG has the Dare and it's not exactly flying off the shelfs, the Instinct is a bit better but both lack in the UI department. That is where the iPhone is king and will stay king. Nobody else can seem to implement a good IU.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: aphex
Not a terribly positive review over at Gizmodo

http://gizmodo.com/5023250/bla...e-not-ready-says-rumor

Hope they get the bugs worked out, would be very interested to check one out in person.

Are you kidding me? "Review"? It's nothing of the sort. Do not post it as such. :roll:

It seems like someone close to RIMM broke the silence, not a review at all, but also not good.

I think competition is a good thing, the iPhone will just get better, and the similar phones will too, and we all benefit, just imagine what phones will be like in another 5 years, I'm psyched over the prospect. :thumbsup:

 

[UNCjigga]

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: UNCjigga
I don't think those are real live shots running on a device. If anything, they are UI mockups for marketing.

The finished UI will either suck ass, or be ho-hum at best. I have tried every one of these so called "iPhone killers" and I laugh at them, The Instinct is the best and it's not that good, the LG Dare is crap. BB fanboys want a real keyboard, and I'm sure the multimedia of this won't be anything special, all there iPhone knock offs won't work because.

1. they don't have the UI the iPhone has and can't match it &
2. they're not apple.

RIMis going to have an online music store to work with this phone, do we need ANOTHER store? There are music stores that have been around for ages that aren't doing well, how do they expect a totally new one to survive? And factor in most BB users aren't big on multiledia and just want the email sh!t. Who is this phone targeted toward I'm confused?

They have a phone that will try to compete with iPhones, that's a fail right there. On top of that they want to compete with iTunes too? This is going to end badly, the only hope for RIM is the BB fanboys who might swarm to this and praise it as so much better than the iPhone when it reality it's going to be a pretty cheap clone.

1. RIM's Thunder UI probably won't even try to mimic the iPhone's slick touchy-feely-slide UI. It will be more like a BlackBerry than anything else, with a few tweaks to take advantage of a larger, higher-res clickscreen. Folks looking for an iPhone clone are setting themselves up for disappointment. But folks looking for a BlackBerry with a large, high-res screen suitable for media and excellent 3rd-party app support will be rewarded.

2. As for the branded music store, it will probably be a carrier-branded content marketplace, or a RIM co-branded music service based on something that exists today (i.e. Napster or Rhapsody or Amazon.com). I highly doubt it will be an entirely new service.