AT&T to be first US carrier with BlackBerry Bold
By Darren Murph 
posted May 12th 2008 1:20PM
posted May 12th 2008 1:20PM
Please note: If you're a current Engadget commenter, you do not need to re-register. Simply login and you will be prompted to select a username.
EV-DO was part of the specs. What happened to VZW getting it?
I want it on Verizon too, but if history is any indication, Verizon will get it about 6 months after Sprint gets it...
Just in case you didnt know, Verizon sucks. All carriers suck, but Verizon more-so. Im not hating, this is a justified comment.
I would say VZW gets phones latter than Sprint and that is true for the most part. The only exception is BB phones, which they either get around the same time or earlier. The Curve got release on both carriers around the same time. the 8800 world phone got release on VZW first, and so did the CDMA Perl.
VW needs to get with the program and switch to GSM...otherwise their phones will continue to suck
The phone comes in two versions: HSDPA and EV-DO.
AT&T got the HSDPA version and Verizon will get the EV-DO version.
lol AT&T. Crappy service in most places, authoritarian exclusive contacts (ala iPhone). Eff that.
Yeah. Having cool phones sucks.
Because my business pays entirely for my service - on my Cingular SIM card -
buying an iphone on EBAY for $318 and jailbreaking it for FREE made all the sense in the world.
Mind you, unlike some phones with no access to EDGE, I am getting FULL Internet, Itunes, Maps, Chat and Mail functionality on mine.
@Flashpoint
hows Flash working out for you? Dont forget to buy an extra battery too incase yours dies on a busines...oh wait
@ Brad, do people seriously carry spare cell phone batteries? Maybe I just don't use my phone as much as other people, but I've never run the batteries of any of my phones down in the course of a single day, nor have I had to replace a battery before I replaced the phone itself, and I tend to keep my phones a while (2.5-3+ years) before getting a new one.
And assuming you were going to say business trip... what kind of business trip would you be on where you're not going to be near either an electrical outlet or a computer/laptop for really long periods of time where you're going to use your phone? The cord by itself is USB, and it comes with a 110V wall adapter, and you can buy a 12V/USB adapter too, so where's the charging problem? I had all of those for my RAZR, and it had a replaceable battery...
Hate to see what you think of laptops considering their relatively miniscule battery time... do you carry spare laptop batteries too??
I used to carry a spare cell phone battery back when all I had was analhog and I couldn't talk more than a couple of hours or standby for more than a day.
@Jason
actually many business travelers do carry a spare laptop battery, and in your question about long periods of time, try sitting in the airport for a 6 hr flight delay and every 16 year old with a laptop is already plugged into the 2-3 outlets near your gate.
@ happy_penguin
"analhog"
wat.
You might want to carry a second phone for your appointments, unless you want to be a day early every time......look at the date on the screen. Or is that a day late......
@ Jason:
If you're doing anything mission critical for a business, you'd be insane not to carry a spare battery. I always have a spare laptop and blackberry battery handy on conference visits.
Hmmm, something tells me that ATT is going to be needing that exclusivity pretty soon...
Great RIM, you've helped me make the decision between the Bold and the 3G IPhone. When will they learn??? AT&T sucks and will NOT get my business. on second, thought, maybe a hacked Bold will do. also, what a stupid name for a handset. Long live open handsets!
How did RIM going exclusively at&t with the bold help your decision when Apple did the exact same thing with the iphone?
what a waste of possible screen space with all of those useless tactile keys...
:D
I was thinking the same thing.... how retro....
"though we have all ideas the other major US carriers will be following suit shortly"
what the hell is up with engadget these past few days?? is the proofreader on vacation or something because it seems like almost every post has a typo / error in it lately..
Where's this error?
Enough with this calculator phone. Where's the Blackberry iPhone killer that they've been talking about?
There isn't any such animal as an iPhone killer from BlackBerry or anyone else (and they have the best shot). They're considered iPhone pretenders or substitutes. That's not meant to be a degrading comment. All those smartphones will do is steal market share from each other. That alone will not stop the iPhone onslaught toward world domination.
Here it is.....
http://discovermotorsports.com/images/Blackberry-iPhone.jpg
Im waiting for android.
I look forward to buying this. I just wish I wouldnt have to have a big carrier logo on the phone, especially when I pay full price for phones.
wow, seems people never stop having bad things to say. are people really still under the impression that at&t has bad service/coverage? i have a phone for work which is at&t and mt personal phone is with verizon. i really cant say one works better or worse than the other. (NY metro area coverage) and after reading the specs on this phone....and its a phone, remember that....i'm impressed. as long as this device doesn't suffer from lock ups or drain a fully charged battery in a day, it looks like RIM has done a great job.
Try driving around Los Angeles on AT&T....you won't last 5-10 mins before the call fails.
Unfortunately, they don't seem to be building out coverage in the second biggest market in the USA with whatever profits they are reaping from the iPhone and soon the Bold. I don't blame them though, people stick with them as long as they have these exclusives.
I'm in the Silicon Valley, CA area (santa clara specifically), and i switched from verizon of 8 years to ATT in november because i was sick of the poor phone selection. I get dropped calls all the time, in densely populated areas with no hills or tall buildings in the way, even on the freeway. They used to say they were the network with the fewest dropped calls, but i NEVER had them with Verizon! I also noticed that 3G coverage sucks compared to VZW. I pretty much ALWAYS had EVDO coverage if i had any coverage at all (only times it was spotty was sometimes camping way out in the middle of nowhere, where my ATT friends had similar spotty coverage). With ATT, i mostly have EDGE, with HSPA connections in plenty of areas, but certainly not all. And over in neighboring Santa Cruz by the beach, VZW always had EVDO but my ATT tilt had never seen HSPA there.
Networks are better in some places than others, but where i live, VZW's network is better by a lot. If only their phones didn't suck...
-Taylor
The question is, how much better is the web browser...and how long until we actually see it on Verizon? Good answers to both of these could have a major impact on my next cell phone purchase..right now I am looking to jump ship to AT&T for an iPhone once my contract is up.
DO WANT!
As much as I hate at&t at times, I am happy with the exclusives they're bringing down, but choosing between this and the 3G iPhone may be a touch choice...
well if youre going for a touch choice. then obviously its the iphone. Get it? touch iphone? hahaha......
*Goes to corner and thinks about what hes done*
MUST......HAVE........NOW!!!
That design looks awesome! Glossy black with cool rounded edges trimmed with chrome. Nice little oval speaker. I hope it has a brushed aluminum back!
Jeez...why don't they just call it the iBold.
I don't live in the states so I can't really judge, but are some carriers in the States really that bad? I just think it all has to do with where you reside. For example, AT&T might work well in one region but might suck in another reason where as Verizon might provide good coverage where AT&T has poor coverage etc. Also, does it matter who gets exclusive rights to a phone? Whoever wants one is just going to get one and unlock it anyway, so I find it pointless to argue and cry about so and so getting the rights even if their coverage sucks.
The unlocking method only applies to AT&T and T-Mobile. Other carriers are CDMA and therefore do not require ([or] are lacking, depending on your viewpoint) SIM cards. Also, in America we like to bitch a lot. Nothing really gets done, but it's just the way things work. We bitch, nothing gets done, go back to work. It's a vicious cycle but it's the American way.
T-Mobile>*...(soon)
At the risk of sounding like an AT&T employee, I am starting to really like them. I bought an iphone about 6 months ago. I had no service in my house. Had to go outside and up the hill to get service. Then one day two months ago, while sitting inside the house, my phone rang. I noticed that I had full bars. I walked around the house and had coverage. My sons phone, which had the same issue, also started working. Either AT&T put up a new tower for my area or they struck a deal with someone to use theirs. Either way, I am quite happy now with their service.
man, I love that new OS...
When did Engadget become a Digg hangout? The comments keep getting more and more juvenile. This phone is a huge leap for RIM and looks to be a great device. I've been using my 8800 since they were released last year and it just works. The main headache is with html and the 9000 addresses that and adds many other things that are on my wish list. I got an ipod touch to get an idea what the iphone was like and I admit I was more impressed than I expected to be but after a few weeks using it I found the 8800 did almost all of the things the iphone did without having to jailbreak it. Now I just have to figure out how to get my boss to pony up for one.
Starting to look like a quality competitor to the 3G iPhone for us business types, at least. Release date is more important to me than price! When can we get our hands on this bad boy?!
I am so going to unlock this for t-mobile. I don't care if it has 3g or not.
The specs for this phone include hsdpa flavours for both AT&T and T-Mob's networks. I expect 3g support on both networks without any hackage. Tmo's coverage is going to be ass for at least another year though unless you happen to live in their existing small footprint in NY.
Andrew, Verizon has significantly better coverage in the US than AT&T, especially if you live or travel outside of a major city. Even within midtown Atlanta, my VZW phone gets a signal deep inside my building whereas AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint phones require you to basically stand next to a window to get a signal.
As far as unlocking phones go, that is only useful if you use AT&T or T-Mobile (both sucky options). VZW uses CDMA technology which doesn't use a SIM chip so there is no benefit to unlocking a phone. You couldn't use it on VZW's network anyway.
Sorry didn't make it clear, I mean yeah, for CDMA users like myself, we can't do anything because we NEED to get it from our carrier, but people who are already part of a GSM network you can just go to wherever and purchase one to unlock so why complain? I would understand if it was like an iPhone where you would have to through a much tougher process to unlock, but it's a BlackBerry and people have been unlocking/buying from an outside source for quite a while now
I think it's going a little too far to generalize and say that Verizon has "significantly better coverage" in the country than AT&T. I've been on AT&T for many years and have yet to experience the poor network coverage that people on here rag about constantly, though clearly regional differences affect all carriers.
I also live in Atlanta, but I spend a great deal of time in the Research Triangle area in North Carolina. While I haven't seen any substantial difference with friends and colleagues who use Verizon in Atlanta, I have experienced many instances up in RTP where AT&T signal is the strongest and people around me (on Verizon and Sprint) have had calls disconnected.
I use AT&T because of their wide network coverage and openness of GSM phones, but I am no ardent supporter of one carrier versus another. It seems to me that some people simply like to trash talk AT&T (for reasons still unknown to me), though I have been in many places across the country and have not had them fail me yet; I've also seen a significant improvement in their network through my travels over the years. I don't know what people have against AT&T (or Verizon and any other carrier, for that matter), but some of these comments are just completely irrational and scream of fanboyism. Just choose the carrier that works for you!
Bold rhymes with old, but not tired. But BlackBerry's are both.
No touch screen no buy.
Yeah. And, such postage-stamp-sized screen no buy.
The touch screen is a major omission, but it's the first Blackberry I've seen that's even begun to tempt me.
Looks like the Bold is going to be between 300 to 400 dollars and will be coming out in July or August. Just saw the CEO on CNBC.
(Another) AT&T Exclusive? When will these hos learn? I don't care how sexy or useful a phone may be, I'm not going to pay for a phone and/or plan more than what it's worth.
I'm not saying every other carrier is perfect, because they aren't, but AT&T's data plans-- you may as well drop to your knees and proceed to suck the nearest phallus.
when are they going to release the blackberry bold, especially in the uk???
Does the screen look smaller than before to anyone else?
Simply move your eyes closer to the page and the screen will appear larger. Maybe you're talking about all that menu crap that's in the way, but that junk all disappears when you start the apps and stuff.
Yeah. It is. 480x320 is wider (therefore less tall) than 320x240.
Based on previous pricing for new units, what do you all think the pricing will be for this one with an AT&T 2 year contract? My 2 year on the 8700 is ending this month, I got that for $300.
So tired of theses companies reinventing the wheel... Looks like every other bustberry out there. I am constantly amazed that RIM even got off the ground with these dummied up devices.
Most of them may not look all that great, but they got the job done, and for the most part, better than the competition. They presented a variety of options to companies and an easy complete solution to wireless email. This made them very appealing to big business. Also, it was one of the only secure devices on the market for a long time.
That's how they got off the ground with these "dummied up" devices.
I am at a crossroads. I really enjoy my Curve. I despise EDGE and want 3G. My hand-me-down 20GB ipod from 2003 died this year. I own a macbook. I would like an mp3 player above 30 gigs to use in the car, on the train, on the plane. I do not want to carry two devices - ever. I tried converting my Curve into an mp3 player by inserting a 4 gb microsdhc. Not only am I unsatisfied with the amount of music the card can hold, but more importantly, the software to play the music is TERRIBLE. I mean Jaga* damn awful. Songs that are in the mp3 format with complete tags and non-DRM freqently i) cannot be read and ii) lack artist, album, and cover info.
I can only consider the BOLD if RIM improved the media playing software. Otherwise, to save money, I must get the 3G iPhone.
(*Rather than say god, I say Jaga sometimes. He was the father like figure that spoke to Lion-O on occassion.)
Get a Diamond.
Actually, the Bold seems quite impressive after reading the following spec review: http://www.crn.com/networking/207602575.
Seems like they dealt with the issues I was concerned about. It'll be interesting to hear what users have to say (in four months.)
I'll check the Diamond.
Well seems like you need a Music player and a Phone. The diamond simply has more features than both the iPhone and the Bold. The Bold is an excellent choice if you want to text/email a lot though.
The HTC Audio software is pretty good and playing music with it is not awkward at all.
I meant to say;
"The device, called the BlackBerry Bold, has a brighter screen and better Web browser than previous models, co-Chief Executive Officer James Balsillie said in an interview. The phone, which also has satellite navigation and a video camera, will start selling at AT&T Inc. for $300 to $400 this summer in the U.S., he said."
I'd rather get the new iphone black over this, but we use Blackberry Enterprise Server and I need the keyboard. Great improvements on the blackberry though. Waiting for them to release the 16 gb microSD cards.
Yes the media player sucked on the previous iphones, hopefully they improved this one. Hope to ditch my 1st generation nano and just use one device althought I know the interface will never be like the apple ipods.
Put makeup on a pig, it's still just a pig.
Have a Z9 on AT&T and a Treo 755p on VZW. With AT&T looking like it's getting new 3G-capable devices in the Bold, 3G iPhone, nuviphone, and the E71 in the coming months I may move some of my business over to AT&T's service. I live and work in a AT&T 3G service area area, really liking the new possible choices with the big blue death star!
Come on verizon, come one.
I can use that extra money RIMM made today in stocks to pay for it ;)
When will the ev-do version come out? Do you think will it come out around the same time? Or like 3 months after kinda thing?
I'm in Canada and i know rogers will get it, but i'm with bell.. and i want!
This phone looks to be a big winner for RIMM. Look at what the stock did today. I wrote about this on my site:
http://www.growyourfunds.com/2008/05/new_blackberry_bold_9000_is_un_1.html
VZW has the second worse reception in the Seattle/Western Washington area, in front only of T-Mobile. at&t and Sprint have the best coverage in this area. And when will people stop crying about exclusivity of phones? The iPhone was not the first phone to be exclusive to a carrier? The only reason people cry about at&t's exclusive phones is because they pick up the good phones. VZW has exclusivity on the Voyager, and nobody complains because it sucks. stop crying!
"Tuesday, May 21"? Apparently it's not coming out until 2013
I'm still very surprised at how people put up with the horrible user interface on Blackberries. I really tried to use and like the Blackberry. But after four weeks of using it, I couldn't take it anymore. You spend most of your time clicking the menu key or trackball and scrolling through long menus to do anything. It is so tedious. Not to mention, my thumb was so sore from using the thing. All you do on that phone is scroll, scroll, scroll... Get rid of the menu key and trackball and move to a touchscreen like the Treo or iPhone.
I waited quite sometime for the BB Curve 8330 that Verizon delayed selling for over a year (after AT&T). Then, discovered that my friends told me that I sounded like I was taking from a box and the sound was hollow and tinnish. So, returned the thing. Contract expires with Verizon mid-June, and I'll be damned if I wait around on them any longer for ANY new offerings that they keep hidden in their magic box for another undisclosed period of time. AT&T can't be all that bad....after all they serve a lot of people. The first new good product, then I'm headed to AT&T.
any word on the push to talk feature ?
I hate to be a rumor monger, and this only happened in a small town outside of NYC but I went to the att store to buy a jawbone 2 and asked the lady when they would get this she in semi quotes " We can't comment because we don't know ad even if we did they may change the date and people would get pissed. To be perfectly honesty, I am not sure if we will get it." I also heard rumors of this being a tmobile phone for this summer(before August 1) anyone explanation?