BlackBerry 8700c gets a price: $299.99 from Cingular

There's a small possibility that this is fake, but Pinstack has posted up a JPEG of what looks like a print ad for the new BlackBerry 8700c, which should be available from Cingular for $299.99 (with two year service agreement, we're sure). The ad also lists the BlackBerry 8700c as having quad-band GSM/EDGE, Bluetooth, and hands-free speakerphone capability.  As far as we know, Tuesday is still launch day.

[brandon @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

So what happens when the blackberry service gets canceled in the US with all the existing devices?

[Jim L @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Seems odd to me that it's the same price as the current 7290 - I would have expected Cingular to raise the price a bit. Maybe they're going to start discounting the 7290 or dump it altogether.

[Ron @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

They still make crap phones, that's the central problem. I'd rather have a "real" mobile phone manufacturer incorporate the RIM technology into their phones. Like talking in a can...

[Amin Sabet @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Cingular charges way too much for their Blackberry data plans.

[Electronics Guy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

The "two-letters-on-one-button" thing never worked well for me. The predictive text input was more of an annoyance than anything. I like how RIM chose a full QWERTY layout for the 8700c rather than the style used on their other new BlackBerry devices.

[l @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Blackberry phones are just as good technically as Motorola and Nokia phones... I've used new models of lots of phone types, and they all perform very well these days.

[NS @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

6. Yep, I agree. But you you are going to have the usual haters to put stupid comments. They either are Microsoft lovers or their McDonalds job doesn't require them to have real secure email on a mobile device. Expensive? Who cares? Just expense it. Oh, sorry, or ask your parents to raise your allowance. LOL

[Thought @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Blackberry devices are indeed very excellent pieces of equipment.

That is one reason why so many businesses and business professionals use them. They wouldn't invest in and trust Blackberry technology if it didn't work very well.

In fact, one reason for any consumer to consider a Blackberry is this very fact: the Blackberry line is developed for heavy corporate use, and that means it is built to the highest standards.

Blackberry's do what they do very well, with amazing consistency and durability. They couldn't get away with some of the crap other manufacturers do with individual consumers, because corporations wouldn't stand for it.

[Marc @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

#1

They wont be shut down. At the most, they could be barred from selling new devices in the US. It will not force current servers from being taken down, or current devices being rendered inoperable.

[Mark @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

I work on at an advertising agency that has a large portion of the Cingular business (but not the print collateral) and I would guess this is a fake ad or for presentation by, perhaps, Blackberry. Or they are just slagging off their own graphic standards. The headline should be PMS300 blue, there is no legal at the bottom, the cingular logo w/tag is missing from the bottom right corner and the "t" in the headline should be capitalized. Damn, I need a life.

[Joey Geraci @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

I have to agree with the guy that ragged on blackberrys. I mean, I used the tmobile 7100 for a while, and everything about the phone was clunky and slow, the processor must be something out of the dark ages. I don't know if "real" blackberry phones have a better interface and are faster, but I would hope so. The 7100 was a joke.

[birdman @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

I have been using a PocketPC for years but switched to the BB towards the middle of this year. In the months that I have had the BB, it has been absolutely flawless. (I have the 7290) It has never froze, it has never needed to be re-set, it has fallen, been bumped and used heavily over the weekend without needing to be recharged. It is also a great phone (needs a speakerphone though) and a decent, but not great organizer.
While there are many of the functionalities of the PPC platform that I miss, the always there email is flawless and invaluable and until the PPC platform gets BB connect, or some other seamless push email system, I will not go back.

[buttbutt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Corporate only will buy rock solid hardware? Come on, every IT group is full of junk. Looking forward to this one but may wait a bit for the new windows ones to come out. While I like the form and general usage of the 7100g, I agree the keyboard is annoying, the predicitive text on the 7100 isn't very predictive. How many times am I going to use "st" in the middle of a sentance vs. "at". "see" and "are" are the same key presses. "he" typically comes out to "hr" which expands to "hour" before I can do anything.
They need better email editing. Make it so I can remove prior senders to protect their identities or at least copy and paste attachments between messages.

[Whisky @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Cingular's 39.99 Unlimited Internet plan sucks!