T-Mobile launching BlackBerry Bold 9700 on November 16 for $199.99
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Nov 13th 2009 5:57PM
posted Nov 13th 2009 5:57PM
posted Nov 13th 2009 5:57PM
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One word... Finally! The 8320 is ready to step down and retire... Hello 3G!!!
Oops - I guess that in my excitement I lost count of the words...
THIS IS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED IT FOR BUSINESS.
NOT LOSERS WHO WANT TO FEEL IMPORTANT.
If your company does not buy it for you ,and pay the bill each month then YOU ARE A LOSER!
I agree with Name, shall I get low-ranked?
The trackpad UI is too old and too awkward for modern smartphone apps.
It is a matter of time before the trackpad will become obsolete, IMO.
Am I the only one surprised by the hockey-mask wearing murderer being reflected on the screen of said Blackberry?
Good show Engadget, I hope to see more theme days in the future :)
I was hoping to find someone else who noticed the hockey mask killer reflected in the phone. I was wondering at first about the reasoning behind it until I realized what day it was. Kudos to EnGadget for their subtlety!
Yes, I can't wait to get rid of my 8900 and get this! The 8900 Camera is phenomenal.... the whole phone is great.. but the lack of 3G with the 8900 really upsets me.
Beautiful looking phone, not a trendy device either.
I'm just contemplating staying with T-Mobile. They have good service, but I feel that it's not great in terms of coverage. I'm not expecting my phone to work in the mountains, but ATT phones work there, at least where I go, while I get nothing period.
Get the behold2
The Behold is not for me, as I'm one of those people who actually use a BlackBerry for more than just text messaging/regular phone stuff. Can't get Android to keep me connected with my jobs Exchange server, as it's just not secure enough - let alone supported...
"The Behold is not for me, as I'm one of those people who actually use a BlackBerry for more than just text messaging/regular phone stuff."
By that I'm sure you must mean emailing, since browsing the web, or managing a music/video library sure isn't awesome on a Blackberry.
I can't believe these things are $200 still. At the very least, it should come with a capacitive touchscreen. Not for me!
@ crawdad689
Um, yeah - pretty much. Although I use my BlackBerry for both business and personal use, so it's not only for churning out email. As far as a PMP goes, I have my iPod Touch for that and wouldn't use the one on the phone, no matter how good it is - And NO I don't want an iPhone! As far as web browsing - I have a computer for that. For me, the browser on a phone is really just to look things up when the internet is not available otherwise. I use Opera Mini anyhow, so my web experience is really not bad at all. =D
As per my experience I find the CLIQ to be a pretty capable Blackberry replacement, qwerty keypad, and corporate e-mail integration with remote wipe, and I have tested out their remote wipe feature and I will say it is exceptional, plus it adds one aditional feature that bberry (please correct me if I'm wrong, don't mean to get anyone upset here) does not have is GPS tracking of the device, so if it gets stolen you can track it's whereabouts and remote wipe it.
I was a hardcore Blackberry user for years and years, but they're just no longer relevant. They OS is so far behind the real smartphone market it's a joke.
Try telling that to corporate america.
No one I know in IT will even consider allowing Android or iPhone anywhere near their Exchange servers. In the real world it is WinMo and BES since they are the only ones managable or secure in any meaningful way. My company has summarily dismissed someone found to connect his iPhone. If he lost the phone the data is essentially public and their remote wipe is a joke.
Yup, the only people I know with BB are people whose companies won't support other phones.
I agree. They're sluggish and the OS is a menu filled dated disaster.
I loved my Curve but BB OS needs an update stat. The browser is actually better than it gets credit for, but it's slow to render...everything else though is very dated.
I think this will probably be the phone to replace my iPhone. Now to decide if I should upgrade early and stay on ATT or switch to Tmobile in a few months?
If you want actual 3G connections and the ability to use UMA/Wi-Fi calling I'd say T-Mobile.
Or, you could spend the extra $5000-$100.00 a month for the 100kbps connection speeds of AT&T's 3dge network.
3dge, yes it was intentional- ponder it: ( http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2009/11/13/editorial-hey-atandt-drop-lawsuits-not-calls/ )
That's gonna be my plan. Drop the iPhone for the 9700. But I'm probably going to stay on AT&T. T-Mo doeesn't get good coverage where I live, and doesn't have 3G coverage where I live.
I have 3 phones lines that are far away from getting the 199.99 discount but called T-mobile and talked to them and they agreed to give me all 3 full discounts on these new Blackberries. You should give it a try if you don't want to wait. Just tell them AT&T is going to have it and tell them you might switch oh yeah being super nice always helps too! Good Luck if you decide to try.
All I can say is *blah* dang it, I did order mines with a rep, then the next day they cxl my order.
tmo's version has UMA. and for me, it's $100 cheaper per month for unlimited everything. that's all i need to choose tmo over at&t
I am 100% sure, the price here in Greece will be much much higher...
Sweetie, this is an American tech blog.
We don't give a fuck about overpriced German BlackBerrys.
@joaqrobdel It's Greece he's talking about numbnuts, not Germany
how is this phone behind in the smart phone market? The primary purpose of a phone is to make calls and second text messages. Most phones cant even do those simple functions correctly much less they add all these stupid and useless features to disguise the crap firmware/software they have on their phones. BB are benchmark in corporate america and so far nothing even comes close to doing what this phone does best.
jason voorhees! Yes, its friday the 13th. Once you see it, you'll shit bricks.
Whoever the jackass is that said you are a loser if you are buying a blackberry but not using it for work... Who do you think you are? Did you just get your 1st sales job making a little cash and feel important. I do use my blackberry for work, but it is a great phone and i don't think there is any stipulation on how important you need to be to use one.... Seriously, get a life.
Wow, you really take the internet way too seriously, don't you?
Internet, serious business.
There are better phones for consumers than a Blackberry though. So there's a point there.
I agree with you fully. The Blackberry is a device that goes well beyond the scope of just being used for work. I've never really understood that position as well. The Blackberry is an excellent device for social networking, and although the browser doesn't work as well as other devices, I think the device as a whole is far more stable than most other smartphones on the market. I haven't messed with the Droid yet, but I'm a BB fan for life.
http://www.blackberrybold2.net
Throw a Touch screen with decent resolution on one of these bad boys & It would certainly be a best seller.
It's the best phone that does UMA, and some of us NEED UMA. I'm not certain it's that much better than my 2g UMA blackberry since I'm on WiFi most of the time anyway. Plusses are - Better screen and a camera, is it worth it?
It would depend on which 2G blackberry you have. While it is faster, it is hard to tell the difference between 2G and 3G speeds from the 8900 to the 9700.
rrrrr
this is AWESOME but i really want a keyboard/touchscreen that doesnt click and the same 480x360 but in zune hd quality oled. just saying it would make the droid weep!
oh and tegra for battery life
I can't wait until this device arrives at AT&T. I am on my 2nd iPhone, first 3G, now 3GS. I love the iPhone, no doubt about it. However, the point is, the iPhone is an EXCEPTIONAL handheld computer, however, it is a MEDIOCRE phone. I am switching to the Bold 9700 for several reasons. Namely, I want a REAL smartphone, with REAL smartphone features. My priorities for a mobile phone include, phone features, email capability, SMS capability, and LASTLY web surfing ability and the ability to play games, music and videos. The Bold 9700 will be a STELLAR smartphone, while the iPhone is a STELLAR handheld computer, PERIOD. So depending upon your priorities, one of these devices will be perfect for your needs, unmatched in fact. As for me, I cannot wait to part with my iPhone, it's been great, even spectacular as a mobile computer, but it fails miserably as a smartphone. There is nothing smart about the phone feature set of the iPhone. Good luck in making a wise decision.
word, even if he listed 100 features that he uses, the only one you use on a daily basis is the horrible keyboard and safari to troll engadget.
Anyone catch the crazy jason mask guy in the reflection of the screen?
Will someone release a portrait physical keyboard Android device already? Pretty please?
Or the blackberry magnum or whatever it ends up being called would be
nice. And a 1ghz processor can't hurt.
They should number phones like ATI drivers, year number dot month number, that way you can keep track.
Is it worth to upgrade to this from an 8900 from the point of view of function?
What is the 3G coverage compared to 2G? Is it the same towers ? IOW, if I get 1 bar now will I still get 1 bar, but at 3G speed?
While I am here... does OS5 fix the issue where email remembers anyone who has emailed you or people you email (like gmail and others...) ? That alone is reason to upgrade if it's there. Second: updating a contact that already exists, does it allow you to merge new phone into existing contact vs creating a duplicate one?
I've been testing the 9700 for a couple of weeks. It's a faster CPU - very crisp. The 3G is very fast, but keep in mind, it's a BlackBerry - it uses tons of compression, and there is a lot of slight of hand behind the scenes, so the only place you feel the speed is when you are streaming something - like a Slingbox, or a FLV file. It's definitely a big improvement and the keyboard is like the 9000 - comfortable to type.
Also meant to say that the network doesn't completely overlap yet, but T-Mobile is deploying fast.
I'm upgrading from a 2G BBery 8800 with UMA. At home we have 1 or 2 bars 2G/3G. My wife has a MyTouch3G and the phone is unusable at home because she has no UMA. It is a nice web toy on WiFi though. So I totally need UMA. I'll probably do it just for the camera and nicer screen. 3G is a nice bonus for when I'm in range.
Can somebody please explain how Telus is getting away with selling this phone for $550 on a 2 year contract?
Because people are willing to pay 550 for it. No morality of balls involved - just good ole capitalism