How would you change RIM's BlackBerry Curve 8330?

Yeah, those GSM carriers have been offering up RIM's BlackBerry Curve for eons (we're measuring in cellular years, kids), but not until recently have the major CDMA operators in the US been able to scoop up their own. Now that Alltel, Sprint and Verizon all have the Curve 8330 available to customers, we're interested in seeing an absolute torrent of responses from folks who just aren't entirely satisfied with their new handset. Was it really worth the wait? Is it missing any features that you're just dying to have (like, say, WiFi)? And, be honest, are you jealous of those AT&T / T-Mobile users who've already worn the letters from their keypads? Speak your mind, won't you?

[timbuckto @ May 9th 2008 6:39PM]

Are you kidding me... I'm the first comment?! W00T!

Any-who... changes...
um.

- Larger screen
- Faster OS
- Video Camcorder (I know it's coming, but I want it now)
- Voice Recorder (see above)
- Better WIFI and Bluetooth Range... all while keeping the battery draw down
- An Accelerometer would be nice
- Oh, last but not least... the ability to turn down the ringer to a volume similar to the pearl... that is when ever I want to cause I might need it really loud some times, but not all the time like it is now.

[Oscar @ May 9th 2008 7:18PM]

The 8330 has a video recorder.

[p3t3b2 @ May 9th 2008 7:34PM]

Again... WIFI IS NOT (UNDERSCORE IS NOT) NEEDED ON AN EVDO DEVICE ESPECIALLY A DEVICE RUNNING ON REV-A!!

[Cycomachead @ May 9th 2008 8:09PM]

What do you mean WiFi isn't needed on even a Rev a device????

Let's see why wifi would still be useful:
no evdo signal
or wifi would be faster than evdo if the signal isn't the best or depending upon the AP that you're connected to
3. connecting the the local network
4. so we don't have to be raped for wireless internet
5. interface with more devices
6. it's NOT rev A AND CANT BE UPGRADED according to verizon's specs.
7. Wifi is more secure depending upon how you set it up. Put it this way: you can have better security w/ wifi.

[y0lorenzo @ May 9th 2008 10:48PM]

im a college student on my family's grandfathered-family plan with sprint currently. i am waiting for the contract to run out in october.

ive been closely watching the smartphone market, seeing whats out there and for how much. i decided a while ago i definitely want to switch to tmobile because their prices seem to be the best, and i absolutely want the hotspot@home add-on. hopefully i can use it on our campus-wifi. this limits me pretty much to blackberries which arent 3g... thats fine.

i can't wait to see the feature set on the new tmobile shadow ii thats supposed to come out soon. blackberry kickstart/pearl are also on my shortlist, but no 3g there. bb 9000 is on my radar.

what i REALLY want, would be an iphone 2, that would be ideal. but no way could i afford it or would it be on tmobile.

the feature-set i want, for a hotspot@home phone (first priority) would be
-hotspot @home is a must
-3g would be very nice for when i get a laptop to tether, but thats not an immediate priority
-gps (i might have to just get a bluetooth garmin/subscription seperately)
-touchscreen (would be great but might be cost prohibitive)
-slinbox slingplayer mobile ability
-3mpx camera/video would be awesome

im really looking into the new shadow or one of the blackberries and adding some gps and slingbox.

[p3t3b2 @ May 10th 2008 12:08AM]

@Cycomachead

First off I'm a sprint customer, I use the U720 usb modem which is Rev-A, every airport I have been to has had a sluggish wifi connection, too many people utilizing it. The Rev-A connection had an average speed of 1100Kbps down and 500Kbps up. I have never NOT had an "evdo signal", your are more likely to not have a wifi signal as opposed to a evdo signal. No wifi on trains, can't have seamless wifi connection from city to city because of wifi's very limited range.

To my understanding Sprints BB curve IS able to upgrade to Rev-A. Explain how one can be "raped by wireless or how wifi is more secure than evdo?...

[Kurian @ May 10th 2008 8:00AM]

I would make this POS not exist in the first place. Locked carriers FTL.

[Cycomachead @ May 14th 2008 1:33AM]

Having both would be ideal. I didn't say just wifi.

raped by wireless companies: $30 - 45 per month for internet is a lot (even $20 for the iPhone is a lot, but more acceptable)
security: you can control the wifi settings (to an extent) and you have the ability to know the type of network. over wifi (WEP, open, wpa2 (preferred), etc.) Now the open T-Mo hotspot won't be secure but a WPA2 network will in many cases will be.

There's not doubt you'll have a nice evdo connection in big airports - that's where most (80% or something like that) or the signal is around metropolitan cities. Come to my city and the surrounding ones and it's hit or miss on EVDO.
I'm not saying that WiFi is going to keep me connected 24/7 on a cross country trip. Neither will EVDO (rev a or not).
What's important is being able to be connected and being able to afford connectivity.

Also like I said before: it's not rev a s those numbers don't apply.

[initialxy @ May 9th 2008 6:40PM]

wow i was almost expecting to see a "how would you change blackberry 9000" thread. but anyways...

1. better internete browser
2. a little less curvy? i think the 8800 looked better.

eh... can't think of anythinig else right now

[El Taco @ May 9th 2008 9:25PM]

the curve...less curvey?

that would be ironic

[Cam @ May 9th 2008 6:44PM]

How about booting up in less than a minute instead of 2+ minutes, WiFi, full browser, and 3G (on AT&T's network)

[birdman`` @ May 9th 2008 9:38PM]

you doo realize the 8330 doesnt work on at&t right?

[Gamer90 @ May 9th 2008 6:47PM]

Its how would we change the CDMA Curve not the GSM ones so leave the GSM comments out.

Also I believe the CDMA version has video recording last I checked.

Also why an accelerometer? That seems really useless...

[Bootleg Zani @ May 9th 2008 6:53PM]

Yes the CDMA version has video recording and it also can now stream videos from You Tube since it is using the BB OS 4.3. Also CDMA Curve has 3g so GSM can blow me.

[orpheus @ May 9th 2008 7:05PM]

Its actually quite nice. When I take my blackberry out of my pocket, it lights up so I can check if I have any texts, calendar events, etc without pushing a button. (Assuming I missed a vibrate, which I almost always due).

[Jhonson @ May 9th 2008 6:49PM]

- An all black curve, or something similar to the 8800 colour scheme.
- Better camera with Xenon flash
- Better speakers
- Faster CPU
- Bigger screen
- Coloured LEDs underneath trackball
- Dual simcard support
- More internal memory

I dunno..am i asking for too much?

[Gamer90 @ May 9th 2008 6:55PM]

Well everything sounded good but I don't think Dual Simcard Support for a CDMA device would be neither useful nor cost efficient

[Cycomachead @ May 9th 2008 8:10PM]

but sim support/gsm would be useful.

[heppmonsta @ May 10th 2008 2:16AM]

sounds like the perfect phone, too bad that would rape the costs even more than it already did just to buy it

[Double A @ May 9th 2008 6:57PM]

Its nice to have a full keyboard blackberry at least with a camera.
Verizon always gets these phones one year later than the rest of the world.
Not sure wifi would help anything the user experience isnt really web driven. I am unsure why you can not download mp3 attachments and save and play them on the curve. From a website it works fine but through a gmail account it does not work.
GPS for verizon is pretty lame there vznavigator isnt great and for 10bucks a month its not worth it.
But overall I spent like 80 bucks after rebates so its a step up!!! Im in.

aa

[iDave @ May 13th 2008 3:07AM]

Through which carrier did you purchase the phone, and if Verizon, how did you get it down to $80?!

[David Bladow @ May 9th 2008 6:57PM]

I am upset that because I have Verizon I am supposed to be thrilled about the new release of "old technology" (if judged by AT&T standards) i.e. Blackberry Pearl, Curve, Razr, etc. Still no real iPhone equivalent. If I wasn't on a corporate plan (that fortunately I don't have to pay for) it would lead me to switch carriers without a doubt.

[Adam @ May 11th 2008 11:24AM]

You realize it's not "old technology" when I has faster speeds and the most up to date technology right?

[nate @ May 12th 2008 4:47PM]

You know what would be awesome? If the screen was a little bigger, saaaayyy a 3.5 inch widescreen display? Ohhh and you know what would be reeaally cool?? If the display was a touchscreen! Like, no buttons, all touch.

Wait a sec.... I think I already have a phone like that.... Oh my goodness, my bad, my iPhone already has those features!

[D @ May 9th 2008 7:08PM]

Down, trolling apple fanboy, down!

Good boy.

[Oscar @ May 9th 2008 7:23PM]

@Nate - Your iphone doesn't do some stuff that my 4 year old Treo does. MMS and video recording for two. Does it have pre-recorded and threaded txts? I know the Treo is a brick, but for it's age the capabilities are extraordinary. Too bad they stopped innovating.

[Steffen Jobbs @ May 9th 2008 7:32PM]

Dagnabit, you beat me to it. Besides, RIM already has what you're saying in development as we speak. It's going to look like an exact copy of the iPhone and will be named the iBlackBerry 9100. The only thing they can't do it stick an apple logo on it, since that's already copyrighted. I do believe they might stick a logo of a partially eaten blackberry on the front.

RIM's only major problem in development of the iBB 9100 is that they can't figure out how to clone OSX, so they'll just decided to stick iSwish on top of whatever OS they're using on the 9000. RIM figured nobody would notice the difference. A touch screen is a touch screen. As long as you use a finger or two to pop up a menu or navigate a page, for all intents and purposes that's close enough to duplicating an iPhone.

[Witty @ May 10th 2008 3:31PM]

Dont you love receiving pictures on that I phone. ooohhhh nevermind, you cant

[HB @ May 9th 2008 7:09PM]

i will add an apple logo to it

[Kevin @ May 9th 2008 7:12PM]

Maybe release it when it actually comes out on the GSM networks?... Especially since apparently RIM is going to announce the 9000 series BBs at WES...CDMA seems to be inferior...

[Cycomachead @ May 9th 2008 8:11PM]

Unfortunately it seems so. But It really could be worse. CDMA pocketpc's an official generation behind the gsm ones for the most part.

[George M. @ May 9th 2008 7:23PM]

I bought it for the Verizon Coverage and getting my e-mail on the go. For GPS I have my car. For pictures and video I have my Canon Powershot.

[Ric Kaysen @ May 10th 2008 3:43PM]

While I have GPS in my car also, it's convenient to have it in someone else's car or a rental or when on foot via my Nokia N82. I'd love to have a Blackberry for the e-mail and keyboard, but I just can't give up the option of leaving my camera home when it's inconvenient and using the 5 megapixel shooter with a xenon flash in my phone. Too bad it doesn't do 3G. If I was into conspiracy theories, I'd suspect the manufacturers intentionally won't make a phone that has everything in one package.

[Wayne Schulz @ May 9th 2008 7:27PM]

1. HTML Email
Yeah, it might be tricky to get HTML email on the BB -- but somehow the competition manages.


2. Better browser
I sure hope the BB9000 videos that mention the browser not being improved are wrong. I'm not sure how long people will put up with the lousy Blackberry browser which takes forever to render and then when it does so often leaves you scrolling like crazy.

I think Blackberry has their work cut out for them in the coming year. The iPhone is going to chip away at their "sweet spot" of hard core corporate users. They need to work hard to at least equal what is being offered in the marketplace.

[Golferal @ May 9th 2008 8:27PM]

Most "hard core corporate users" are not going to switch to a device without a physical keyboard. The iPhone is a great consumer device, but its functionality is not focused towards business users.

[Wayne Schulz @ May 9th 2008 8:50PM]

I've been using the Blackberry since they came out

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mas90guru/2269051950/

I started using an iPhone in mid-January. The keyboard is the hurdle. But thinks like push mail, synchronization of contacts and calendars all seem to be coming very soon.

I'm on my way to a conference in DC tomorrow and for the first time ever I'm traveling with a Blackberry on my belt.

This is the trend that I believe RIM needs to be addressing (missing features like browser and html email).

[miami fever @ May 9th 2008 7:32PM]

1) take care of the massive memory leak that requires me to take the battery out each and every day in order to prevent the phone from deleting my text messages and call log and/or crashing.

2) give users the ability to delete preloaded media such as themes and ringtones.

3) media player: smaller steps when seeking while playing back large files. currently the tracks are divided in 17 steps, IIRC. when you play a large file, say an hour long mp3, the steps are several minutes long.

4) ability to read media cards larger than 4gb.

[MBN @ May 10th 2008 5:21PM]

My Curve didn't have a memory leak until I installed a bunch of 3rd party programs.


What programs have you installed? That may be the source of your leak.

[Dahk @ May 9th 2008 7:32PM]

Haha I'm not sure a lot of these are relevant, since OS v4.6 seems to remedy many of these. If they are able to dump that into the Curve, it might just be that much sweeter of a BlackBerry.

I personally don't like the 9000 so much except for its leather backing. I love the look of the Curve though. So dump OS 4.6 and we have a darned winner that is more winning than the last!

[H4MM3R @ May 9th 2008 7:40PM]

EVDO Rev. A

[steve @ May 9th 2008 8:09PM]

Definitely Rev. A.
why does it not have it? I heard it is a software upgrade not hardware? so why not available?

[Cycomachead @ May 9th 2008 8:14PM]

Apparently, it's not rev. A upgradable according to the specs.
But verizon's xv6800 is rev a upgradable and the software has been out on sprint and many others for a while now but nothing for vz users. So even if it was upgradable I wouldn't count on it.

[Eric Henningson @ May 9th 2008 7:41PM]

i have 8g in mine :). the curve NEEDS a fast forward button for music/videos. the skipping thing in set lengths BLOWS.

thats about it. oh and wife duh (Verizon u mofos u)

i currently listen to music in my car wirelessly through my blackberry's bluetooth a2dp streaming. pure awesome

[Jonyah @ May 11th 2008 1:46AM]

the video scanning is great with bbos. you can change the skip length by holding the ctrl key when scanning.

[hwoarang27 @ May 9th 2008 7:57PM]

Hmm..

replace keypad with Treo 700 replica.
also replace the trackball with the Treo 700 d-pad.
Put WM6.1 in it.

er can Palm please just come up with a thinner, less buggy 700W?
pleaaassseeeee?

[NutMac @ May 9th 2008 8:06PM]

1. Hybrid touchscreen (e.g., browsing, navigating) + physical QWERTY keyboard (for entering text)

2. OS 4.6

3. 24-bit (16 million color) display

4. Larger built-in memory

[Tony @ May 9th 2008 8:10PM]

-The number keys are impossible to see
- the number keys don't work w/out Func first in the dumbest fields. Better integration for number fields where only numbers work and vice versa.
-software that will strip meta data off emails like all the graphics place holders...auto strip all graphics in emails so that only the message is showing...even if only junk mail...
-email and SMS should be all part of e-package - charging for SMS text on top of $50/mo internet/email service is BS!!!!
-synchro is a pain - too many dbl entries constantly - my address book has to be cleaned out every couple of weeks for double entries from every time I synch the unit to the PC or to my laptop

[ScaryFast @ May 9th 2008 8:11PM]

Most Canadian providers are still charging an arm and a leg for Data access. Most Canadian providers are CDMA. CDMA phones do not have Wifi. GIVE CDMA PHONES WIFI, RIM, GOD DAMNIT!

[DarcyV @ May 9th 2008 10:34PM]

I'm with Telus, and my "older" $15 unlimited data on pda/bb is quite affordable. Heck even the current unlimted one for $30 is quite reasonable.

Btw, I love my curve.

things I would add...

-> Evdo rev A .. why is this not on it already?
-> make the scree touch sensitive for gps/web browsing awesomness
-> faster cpu is always nice
-> make a completely black version
-> wifi is nice, but not needed
-> make an external SD slot that doesn't require you to take the battery out!

[Nick @ May 9th 2008 8:14PM]

Speech to text would be pretty cool. I know theres some software out there that do it but not text messaging or unlimited length emails. Reading out an email would be faster that typing it up.