[Drillbit]

Its important for me to have Wifi. The reason for it is sometimes, the 3G signal has trouble reaching you inside a house. Particularly in my island we use a lot of concrete structures with steel rebars. Those things act like Faraday cages and they absorb quite a bit of RF. The 2G signals will go through, but 3G signals will go through somewhat deteriorated. If the cel tower is close enough, you get a strong signal. But there are times buildings and hills will obstruct the line of light.

That's why for me it pays to have Wifi. I shift to that for a faster data connection if available.

Which is faster? I have EV-DO Rev. A and Wifi, and if I run Youtube off my Win Mo device, the Wifi is clearly faster. It all depends on signal strength but if both are strong, the Wifi appears faster.

Of course the problem with my Win Mo phone is that it does not display bar strength of WiFi, in contrast to Apple.

I got Blackberries in my family, but none for myself---yet. So I hang around waiting for news for my perfect "berry" while maintaining and updating my relatives' berries.

The Bold has 3G, Wifi, but no touch screens and is too wide.
The Storm seems right, except no Wifi. Currently my daughter's texting and Facebook machine.
The 8900 looks nice, has Wifi but no 3G.

Its a contest between a Storm with Wifi, or a Curve Javelin with 3G.

[The_conductor]

Please god let sprint get something new from bb

[ChezDigital]

I've had my Storm for two months and never once have I not been able to connect to any desired destination via 3G.

[akosnitzky]

Originally Posted by ChezDigital

I've had my Storm for two months and never once have I not been able to connect to any desired destination via 3G.

Well. You may be stuck now if you are not happy. You should have dumped it immediately

[dc/dc]

Originally Posted by akosnitzky

Well. You may be stuck now if you are not happy. You should have dumped it immediately

He's fine. He used a double negative.

[compugeek_610]

Release statement 4/8/09

Originally Posted by compugeek_610

Alain Segond von Banchet, Channel Sales manger for RIM in the Netherlands, reportedly spoke freely about the BlackBerry Storm 2 during the TeleVisie 2009 Expo in the Netherlands yesterday. Segond von Banchet supposedly revealed that the Storm successor will launch in late 2009 or early 2010 with KPN, a move away from the exclusive Vodafone launch seen with the original Storm. He also confirmed that the Storm 2 will contain an improved touch input method, which we spoke of yesterday, so consider this a third source of confirmation. Now herexxx8217;s where things get sketchy. Segond von Banchet supposedly also claimed that RIM will be slowing down the release schedule for devices in 2009 with no new devices except for the Storm 2. Considering we all know the Niagra alone is well on its way to two US carriers, at least one confirmed in 2009, this report loses a bit of credibility lest he was speaking only about the local market in the Netherlands. Either way, RIM and its partners seem a bit loose lipped regarding the unannounced Storm 2 xxx8212; very, very uncharacteristic.

[BB4Life]

Currently, the Storm 2 is open to any carrier, so Verizon or any other carrier that offer the Storm 1 do not have the exclusive rights to the device. Look for this device to hit AT&T or T-Mobile some time soon.

[SteveO86]

Originally Posted by BB4Life

Currently, the Storm 2 is open to any carrier, so Verizon or any other carrier that offer the Storm 1 do not have the exclusive rights to the device. Look for this device to hit AT&T or T-Mobile some time soon.

That would not suprise me.

[BallHawk3]

Hmm just a thought, as someone mentioned.

if the Wifi Storm (9520) goes to Verizon...again

what will everyone else get for a storm?

I'm going to believe as well that this wifi storm is going to a GSM carrier.

[SteveO86]

CDMA/GSM BB's are more of the same make... GSM's only advantage over CDMA is the inclusion of wifi.. GSM doesn't always have to have a better BB then CDMA

It's about time that is broken.

[BallHawk3]

Originally Posted by SteveO86

CDMA/GSM BB's are more of the same make... GSM's only advantage over CDMA is the inclusion of wifi.. GSM doesn't always have to have a better BB then CDMA

It's about time that is broken.

that's wasn't what my comment was about.

If verizon gets the newer storm.

What kind of storm is everyone else going to get (mostly GSM carriers in mind)? I mean if the 9520 goes to Verizon, do you think the 9520 would then latter be available for ATT and T-Mobile? That would be weird.

Then again the 9500 might come to the U.S. That would be a bummer though.

Which goes back to why I think the 9520 might be for one of the GSM carriers and not Verizon.

[TheBigNewt]

My thoughts (in no particular order, I like speculation)
1. If Vzn releases their version of the 8900 (Niagra) this year they will not release a Storm2. That's too much stuff from BB for them to handle. The 8900 has been a way way better received device than the Storm so my money's on that, not the Storm. As I've posted before Vzn has to include WiFi from now on or their customers will start switching to ATT/Tmob as their contracts expire in order to get this feature. Verizon's period of ignoring WiFi has expired. Further ignoring it will start to cost them big money. Enough people in forums say that very thing: No WiFi no contract with you.
2. I think that IF there is an improved Storm (WiFi of course) that a GSM carrier could release if first in the US. Why not? Verizon got the Storm first in 2008 and didn't really do very well with their release but the thing is halfway decent so they really don't deserve the new one this soon. They can woof woof about new OS or something and keep the same BB. Just my .02

[unclefester]

Yeah, I'll be interesting to see how many people are actually impressed with the changes on the Storm 2, seeing as the only change we know about it will simply be Wi-Fi. Not much of a difference from the first, but its a start. I appreciate the addition of Wi-Fi, but i would much rather see development to make it not as laggy as the original Storm. I think an improved accelerometer and processer would be very nice.

[Drillbit]

1. Wifi
2. Get rid of the Sure Press and simply just go with a solid capacitative OLED screen with haptic feedback.
3. The Bold's processor
4. Create another version with a slide out landscape qwerty keyboard. The "Storm Pro".

[Jacobsaby]

For those of you who complain about the Storm's battery life..I don't think you would enjoy Wi-Fi very much...it will cut your battery life substantially.

[bbjp]

Yeah, WiFi doesn't matter so much but the key of a good Blackberry is still a real keyboard.

[Drillbit]

Originally Posted by Jacobsaby

For those of you who complain about the Storm's battery life..I don't think you would enjoy Wi-Fi very much...it will cut your battery life substantially.

Wifi can be turned off.

[Drillbit]

Originally Posted by bbjp

Yeah, WiFi doesn't matter so much but the key of a good Blackberry is still a real keyboard.

Maybe it does not matter to you, but Wifi certainly matters to me.

[skeevecr]

Originally Posted by Drillbit

1. Wifi
2. Get rid of the Sure Press and simply just go with a solid capacitative OLED screen with haptic feedback.
3. The Bold's processor
4. Create another version with a slide out landscape qwerty keyboard. The "Storm Pro".

1. seems a logical change
2. rim have a habit of holding off on technology until the price is right, you would expect them to improve or change their own touchscreen tech, but I wouldn't expect to see OLED this time round.
3. not likely, whether its an updated version of the one in the bold or the storm, you can't see them reusing the processor from a current device.
4. it sounds so simple when you say it like that, such a form factor would be a separately developed device and would either come out at another time or from a different carrier entirely.

[Drillbit]

The most likely reason why the Storm doesn't have Wifi, is most probably because they ran out of real estate in the motherboard after implementing additional GSM support circuitry. Though it does not explain the lack of such on the 9500.

For international business travellers, the need for GSM roaming outweighs the need for Wifi. The lack of GSM roaming does affect CDMA Blackberries.

2. rim have a habit of holding off on technology until the price is right, you would expect them to improve or change their own touchscreen tech, but I wouldn't expect to see OLED this time round.

I expect them to have OLED.

3. not likely, whether its an updated version of the one in the bold or the storm, you can't see them reusing the processor from a current device.

I don't see why not. HTC appears to reuse the same motherboard and processor between the Touch 3G, the Touch Diamond, the Touch Pros, and even with their Android phones.

The Storm currently appears to share the same processor with the Curve 8900, the 8350 and the Pearl Flip. Likely to be the same 528MHz Qualcomm chip the HTCs are using on the above. The Bold maybe using the same 624MHz Marvell processor used on the Samsung Omnia.

Practically every Nokia S60 since 2007, runs on the same 369MHz Freescale ARM 11 based processor and still do today, except for the upcoming Nokia N97, which is getting a 600MHz plus chip.

4. it sounds so simple when you say it like that, such a form factor would be a separately developed device and would either come out at another time or from a different carrier entirely.

HTC literally did that when they turned the Diamond into the Touch Pro.