[conker]

Well, as a NA AT&T customer who has held out patiently, I for one hope this is true. From my standpoint, any improvements on the hardware would be greatly appreciated.

I don't think this is a ridiculous claim. As part of their long term road map, video game console manufacturers always change the hardware to reduce costs. Granted, this would be a move made a 1+ year(s) into the cycle when technology catches up to collapse hardware functionality onto a smaller amount of chips, but what if they did find something wrong with the "1st Gen" hardware. It wasn't too long ago that Microsoft took a $1.3 billion dollar charge for the Xbox360 hardware debacle...

There seems to be a lot of finger pointing between Apple, Infineon and AT&T, but the truth regarding the 3G problems still has not come out. In the meantime, Apple continues to release software updates claiming improvements in 3G. What if it turns out it is the hardware?

Honestly, I DO hope RIM has discovered an issue with the hardware and is taking corrective measures. It would make me feel much better about my purchase in October.

I am sure some of the reaction in this thread stems from current Bold owners. I too would be pissed if I owned a Bold and the OP's post turns out to be true.