BlackBerry Kickstart flip gets more details, T-Mobile branding included

If it weren't for RIM's "help, we're stuck in 2006 and can't get out!" approach of topping this thing out with EDGE data, we'd be all over its warm embrace of an all-new form factor -- but yeah, seriously RIM, what's up with that? Boy Genius Report has outed a few more alleged specs of Waterloo's first foray into the clamshell market, the Kickstart -- and it looks like we can expect a 2 megapixel cam, SureType (as though we couldn't have figured that out ourselves), internal QVGA and external 160 x 128 displays, WiFi, and a true 3.5mm headphone jack. We're also seeing some new shots with T-Mobile branding, which makes sense considering the carrier's longstanding efforts to be on RIM's bleeding edge. Oh, and just for the humor factor, RIM appears to be drawing parallels between the Kickstart and a few... uh, "objects," such as the "anodized color" similar to that found on an "urban nomad tool." So this is how product development goes down -- explains a lot!

[Via phoneArena]

[JBless @ May 2nd 2008 12:13PM]

Well Tmobile always has good looking phones

[theidoctor.org @ May 2nd 2008 12:16PM]

yea... maybe they will get up there with verizon and att

[Scott @ May 2nd 2008 1:02PM]

I just laugh at what people think they know about this phone lol.

[Luke @ May 2nd 2008 12:25PM]

Absolute LOL :)

I like the capitalisation of 'Mysterious Black Face Colour', and the way they are making it seem urban chic. Superbly tenuous.

[initialxy @ May 2nd 2008 12:26PM]

that's actually pretty good looking. at least much better than the blackberry 8700 i have in my hand right now.

[Rex @ May 2nd 2008 12:51PM]

"If it weren't for RIM's "help, we're stuck in 2006 and can't get out!" approach of topping this thing out with EDGE data, we'd be all over its warm embrace of an all-new form factor -- but yeah, seriously RIM, what's up with that?"

Well, the answer to that is pretty straight forward. T-Mo don't have a 3G network, and by the sounds of your reporting, they're not going to have 3G anytime in the near future. So, why should RIM spend the bucks putting 3G radios in these?

I'm not sold on the form factor and will stick with my 8310 till the 9000, but I'm sure this will appeal to a small segment of the market. Good for RIM

[threeG @ May 2nd 2008 1:06PM]

Hey Rex....3G launched in NYC for T-Mo yesterday...where have you been?

[D @ May 2nd 2008 1:15PM]

@threeG

I don't think a carrier can really be said to "have a 3G network" until it exists in at least half their major metro markets -- or even a quarter of them.

/One/ city just doesn't cut it.

[Rex @ May 2nd 2008 2:07PM]

ThreeG

You missed the big news of the week - T-Mobile is launching a "voice-only 3G network pilot in NYC. So, sorry, there is no 3G data on T-Mo. In NYC, or anywhere else in the US.

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/04/30/t-mobile-to-debut-3g-as-voice-only-no-data-were-over-it/

[bachviet @ May 2nd 2008 2:21PM]

@ Rex,

Are you sure you know what you are talking about? It's impossible to connect to two radio (UMTS for voice and GSM/EDGE for data) at the same time. You are either on UMTS/3G or GSM/EDGE for both voice and data. BTW T-Mobile users in NY reported that they are using UMTS for data.

[Matt @ May 2nd 2008 12:51PM]

What the hell is an "Urban Nomad Tool"? Are they talking about that carabiner thing?

[Vic20 @ May 2nd 2008 1:28PM]

Urban Nomad Tool = who you are if you buy one of these

[Kyle @ May 2nd 2008 1:01PM]

Are you sure this is the kickstart? This phone looks more like a slider than anything. Would it even be possible for the pictured phone to be flip phone...? If you look at the profile view, where the hinge would be it makes it impossible to open.

[D @ May 2nd 2008 1:11PM]

Looks just like the blurry pictures from the previous mention of it. The hinge is kind of embedded in the middle, so it works...

[Grammar freak @ May 2nd 2008 1:18PM]

BB would be really great in the "ENV" hotdog-style hinge with full keyboard.

[tom @ May 2nd 2008 1:22PM]

matter of time =D

I am looking forward to it too

[phanbouy @ May 2nd 2008 1:16PM]

Urban nomad tool, alright

[D @ May 2nd 2008 1:22PM]

I'm a fan of the clamshell form factor -- and it's hard to find a good smartphone in that style.

I love my Cingular 3125 (HTC Star Trek), it's thin, light, has the best screen I've seen on a flip phone, has outstanding battery life, the works. But it's sooo dated at this point, and nothing good has come out since that remotely resembles it.

However, T-Mobile is a huge turn off. A phone would have to do my laundry for me to sign up for that network.

Give me a Verizon/EVDO version, and I'm sold.

[Johan S @ May 2nd 2008 1:33PM]

QVGA display? Unless it costs $40 or less, how lame.

I guess Apple is the only one who enters a market with a bang and actual functionality contributions. RIM should have released something to dazzle folks .. at least with a WVGA screen .. come on. What new functionality are they bringing to the table?

I still say the best form factor for phones is the DS lite form factor except with THREE WVGA displays: one on the outside .. and two inside. The WVGA display on the inside bottom should be down in a slight pit so you can swap out and lock in thin custom game controllers or put in a tactile keyboard etc.right on top of the display and the phone can close properly.

Seriously I think I'm going to sacrifice a few iPhones or Sony mylo's (for the displays) and construct one myself if someone doesn't do it.

[MBN @ May 2nd 2008 4:10PM]

Complaining about QVGA in a clamshell? Are you kidding? QVGA is better than what the Pearl has, and this seems to be a similar sized screen. Blackberry screens are amongst the best looking, partially because they don't have a touch sensitive layer.

Don't get me wrong. I love large high res screens. QVGA is about as good as can be expected for a screen of this size or for a phone of this factor. You can only shrink those pixels down so small before it ceases to do you any good for added resolution.

[ManoloDF @ May 2nd 2008 4:30PM]

If only Apple had UMA capabilities like these phones do, then they would be complete.

[Johan S @ May 2nd 2008 4:53PM]

MBN,

Go to Best Buy and look at a Sony mylo 2 (it's got a 3.5 inch WVGA display), and go to a web page like nytimes.com with it. Make sure it's zoomed out to fit the screened. Notice that you can easily read the text from 12 to 24 inches away without much squinting? Now try that that on a Half VGA display on an iPhone. The text is harder/impossible to read. Granted this test was with 3.5 inch display and the above Blackberry needs a smaller display than that, you can expect that they could have at least made the display HVGA like the iPhone.

Toshiba and Hitachi make phones that have 3 inch WVGA displays, and you can really tell the difference between that and HVGA or QVGA. So if even if a display is 2 inches .. we can expect that HVGA and VGA resolution would have a perceivable difference over QVGA when held from 12 to 24 inches away (if you need to go to a web page for something it's not unreasonable to be OK with holding the phone a bit closer to the eye while u look it up).

[socritic @ May 2nd 2008 2:06PM]

Big Big RIM blunder. who cares about flips anymore? what, they ran out of innovation ideas? next up: Blackberry Beepers, all new colors and shapes and guess what.... it vibrates! way to go RIM - Lame.

[D @ May 2nd 2008 3:01PM]

I care about flips.

I like how they protect my screen when closed.
I like how they put the microphone closer to my mouth.
I like how they cover the buttons so I don't have to lock the keypad.
I like how they feel more like a phone than a PDA when I'm talking on them.
I also just like how they look. :-)

Most significantly, I use the PDA functions of my phone in read-only style 90% of the time. For the other 10%...T9 gets me by, though a qwerty keyboard would be nice. I'll take the trade-off though. SureType would be a much-appreciated upgrade for me, actually.

The only thing that really draws me to the brick style is some of the ones with /much/ more screen real estate -- but there aren't even very many of those...

[damnrobert @ May 2nd 2008 2:57PM]

I work in product design and this is pretty typical design firm concept stage stuff.

The comparisons to exisiting products are there so that people don't have to read too much into the rendering... The language is "fluffy" as you are dealing with creatives and marketing and everyone is into "storytelling" and "experiences" -designs latest buzzwords.

This would likely only be one of a dozen or more concepts though.

It also looks like more of a slider than a flip to me.

[Job Versloot @ May 2nd 2008 3:35PM]

http://www.gsmarena.com/kickstart_for_a_new_blackberry_flip-news-495.php

MOre pics

[HEWHOISNOTNAMED @ May 2nd 2008 11:17PM]

I know this has nothing to do with the post, but should I get a SanDisk Sansa Clip or Sansa Fuze 2GB?

[Nathan @ May 3rd 2008 12:28PM]

That wallpaper under the "4" was my desktop background for a very long time about a year and a half ago. It was from someone on deviantART.