The BlackBerry 8700?
By Peter Rojas 
posted Sep 12th 2005 9:31AM
posted Sep 12th 2005 9:31AM
It's been a year since we first spied the "Charm", that new cellphone-style BlackBerry from RIM that eventually
turned out to be the 7100t, now the
rumor mill is humming once again, but this time about a new EV-DO BlackBerry called the 8700. Nothing's confirmed, but
the BlackBerry 8700 supposedly will come in two flavors, an EV-DO version for Verizon and Sprint and an EDGE version
for Cingular, and will have built-in GPS, 64MB of RAM, and the ability to natively view email attachments (rather than
require third-party plug-ins). No digital camera or WiFi, but the prospect of an EV-DO BlackBerry almost makes up for
it.
[Thanks, Franklin M.]
Blackberrys still remain the ugliest device on the market.
Looks like Soviet-era industrial design. All it needs is a solid concrete charging base.
And the most popular it seems.
Pardon the ignorance - can someone explain what EV-DO is?
From "phone scoop"
"Part of a family of CDMA2000 1x digital wireless standards. 1xEV-DO is a "3G" CDMA standard. EV-DO stands for "EVolution, Data-Only".
EV-DO provides data rates over 10 times faster than 1xRTT, the previous data technology for CDMA networks.
Unlike other "1x" standards, EV-DO only addresses data - not voice. It requires a dedicated slice of spectrum, separate from voice networks using standards such as 1xRTT."
From "phone scoop"
"Part of a family of CDMA2000 1x digital wireless standards. 1xEV-DO is a "3G" CDMA standard. EV-DO stands for "EVolution, Data-Only".
EV-DO provides data rates over 10 times faster than 1xRTT, the previous data technology for CDMA networks.
Unlike other "1x" standards, EV-DO only addresses data - not voice. It requires a dedicated slice of spectrum, separate from voice networks using standards such as 1xRTT."
blackberry has not required a 3rd party plug-in to view an attachment for about 6 months.
what? no bluetooth? no dice!
Hopefully it uses a different GUI than the one that comes with the Blackberry 7520. I seem to be one of the few naysayers that actually don't like the blackberry design. I think those that seem to be happiest are people who have either never used a PDA (and experienced ease of use), or are just so damn happy to have email access from anywhere they forgive everything else.
I don't like carrying around this brick form factor either. The T-mobile slim design blackberry seemed to be a better concept.
[sarcasm]
Suprise! No T-mobile support!
[/sarcasm]
To #9: I have been using a Blackberry 7520 for a couple of weeks now (I find the GUI acceptable - it works well with one hand when no typing is required). I have used a PDA for much longer but I added Blackberry and shelved my phone because I was tired of flip phones, I wanted something with Bluetooth and I like having access to the internet everywhere even when I cannot get WiFi. The applications for the PDA are much better. And Internet via WiFi is better than the Blackberry but just limited. The Blackberry does give me GPS with TelNav which is very nice. And although the screen is smaller, it is better in daylight than my PDA (which is VGA screen). When I want to go out and not carry the extra brick, I'll trade out my SIM card and put it in the old i830.
Aren't the current BlackBerry 7250's on Verizon, Bell and Telus already future compatible with EVDO?
Does anyone have an idea when Verizon will start selling the 8700. I wonder how it compares to the Samsung I730?
Hey guys, I work for earthlink wireless, our main product is the 7250, and yes they are set up for EVDO. We (the wireless carriers) just need to flip a switch so to say to turn on the EVDO ability on. The 8700 will be coming out for sale shortly however we do not have a set date! I will keep everyone informed as I find things out! If you have questions please feel free to ask me,
Also you havnt needed a 3rd party program to open attatchments since the 7750! So I dont know what the heck that was saying you wont with the 8700 like its the first time ever....
I understand why there still is no camera on the blackberrys (fear of corporate espionage) but why not MP3. Treo still beats the Blackberry.
i just had this my hand today. My friend works in RIM and was using it. Its actually quite cool, it has the full qwerty keyboard yet its alot slimmer and smaller than the previous qwerty blackberrys .It also has new features like better MMS support, more control over the background and gui, the interface seems alot better too.
noticed the button on the other side of the wheel is that nextel direct connect
I am a photographer on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and will praise the RIM Gods the day they update the BB 7250 so it has EV-DO and can be used as a modem for my Mac Laptop. Oh and but so far my prayers have fallen on deaf ears... Specially for Apple Support. I guest RIM doesn't really want to make money?
They're here! 8700s to be unveiled in New York on November 1, Chicago on November 2 and San Fran on November 3. Access to tickets via eBay at: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6008877238&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1