[theatreguy]

i love the 7100 series and how BlackBerry is trying to take their products to the greater consumer market. in this light, do you think BB is planning a model with a camera? curious.

[udontknowjack]

According RIM, No, Never. Mike L, the CEO of RIM has said on many occasions they have no plans to put a camera on a Blackberry. The lion share of their business is still corp customers and corporations don't want that.

[aristobrat]

Wonder if competition from other devices that have both camera and cameraless models will ever change his mind?

[goaliemn]

Originally Posted by aristobrat

Wonder if competition from other devices that have both camera and cameraless models will ever change his mind?

nope. If they ever put a camera on any model blackberry, I know alot of places that will ban ALL blackberries, just to be safe.

Companies don't like cameras in their tech areas. I know of 2 companies here locally that ban all phones, except blackberries because they know they are camera/memory card free.

[jsmmd]

I posted a link in another thread in this section to a Bluetooth camera Sony Ericsson recent announced.

I'm not BB or Bluetooth developer, but I'm sure someone could develop a method to communicate to it.

For those corp. companies that are super sensitive, it's not attached and a body check would reveal it.

For consumers it gives them the option, though not attached.

Camera phone came in handy when some crashed into my car.

[aristobrat]

Ugh.

The large retail company I work for would have probably 2x-3x more BlackBerrys than we currently do if they had camera models.

Guess RIM's only option for getting money from that marketshare is to release BlackBerry Connect for devices that do have cameras?!

[goaliemn]

Originally Posted by aristobrat

Guess RIM's only option for getting money from that marketshare is to release BlackBerry Connect for devices that do have cameras?!

A company will have to decide which is more important, more than likely. Camera or blackberry functionality.

If you really need to take pictures, you can pick up small cameras with higher resolutions than most cell phones for under $100.

[aristobrat]

Originally Posted by goaliemn

A company will have to decide which is more important, more than likely. Camera or blackberry functionality.

All I'm saying is that I can't be the only person that works in a company where having a camera is as important to some of the mobile users as BlackBerry-like email functionality. (Or can I?!?!)

We literally have hundreds of field users (store operations, field asset protection, real estate, HR, logistics) who have a business need to take and quickly email pictures. Most of them are currently carrying around a small digital camera which is great for taking pictures, but neither easy or quick when it comes to emailing the pictures. (and absolutely inconvenient to carry vs. a combo device).

I never ever ever ever thought I'd say this, but now that Good has announced future Lotus Notes support, our company is looking at them to see if they'll deliver before RIM does BlackBerry connect ... all over the reason that our users want cameras and BlackBerry-like email.

[Dawg]

Id say you wont ever see a camera on them as long as they have contracts with the US Government and Military and other major company's. I am in construction and would love to see a camera also but i just dont see it happening

[robhawley]

I see a point where RIM will make a device with a camera. I don't think it will be in 2005 or 2006. However at some point when their growth is levelling off, I think they will take the plunge. They are growing, they will not want to stop. An easy area for them to grow will be non-business, or (more probable) non-security critical business.

I do think that they will make a clear distinction between a business-blackberry and the general-blackberry. I disagree with the above statement that then companies would ban all blackberry devices. Most companies have a policy of not allowing camera phones, but allow non-camera cell phones.

[cchatagnier]

Ironically, I believe one of the reasons their sales have surged lately is the fact that they do not have cameras. In today's market, you have to buy the cheapest bottom of the line phone to avoid getting a camera. People who work for the US government or several large corporations cannot even go into their office with a camera phone. So their options are either a "cheap" bottom of the line entry-level phone or a blackberry.

The carriers are putting cameras on practially every model these days, but they are leaving their higher end users with very few options. Sure, teenagers love them, but how much revenue are the carriers making off of teenagers taking pictures and sending perhaps a few per month? Not very much. It's actually blowing up in their faces right now. My company will not purchase camera phones and our options are very limited right now. Our BB user base has grown by over 50% in the last few months since this policy came out.

I doubt very seriously that RIM will ever put a camera on anything they make. If they loose a few customers as a result of it, it's probably worth it, as they are several more customers that are left w/o any other option.

Just my $.02 worth.

Chad

[NJBlackBerry]

Cameras in cell phones have traditional had very low resolution - under 1 megapixel. If I want a picture, I will use a digital camera. I have not had one request at work (close to 1000 BBs) for a camera in a BlackBerry.

[T-Roy]

Technically RIM could put a Camera in a BlackBerry and apply and IT Policy to disable it for companies that do not want it...

Once people understand they can turn it off it won't be a problem, but until then they will just leave it out.

[Dawg]

doesnt matter whether they can turn it off or not they still wouldnt be allowed to carry it into some buildings

[T-Roy]

That is a good point. How would you know my BlackBerry Camera is disabled?

[Mark Rejhon]

Another method is RIM spinning off a consumer division for consumer Blackberry devices.

See this article:
Mark Rejhon's Top 7 Most Important BlackBerry Requests for RIM's Growth Success

[dulcamara]

No camera is a feature for me. There are places I go for work where cameras can get you in real trouble (jail, anyone?).

[dataquest]

Wirelessly posted (Sanyo MM-7400: Mozilla/4.0 (MobilePhone MM-7400/US/1.0) NetFront/3.1 MMP/2.0)

I don't own a blackberry. I have never owned a blackberry. Why? Because none of them have a camera. So, until RIM realizes that they could make a lot more profit by making a more consumer friendly BB with a camera and other handy tools, I will spend my money elsewhere. Possibly the upcoming Motorola 'Q'.

[Dawg]

No BB why surf this fourm then?

[dataquest]

Wirelessly posted (Sanyo MM-7400: Mozilla/4.0 (MobilePhone MM-7400/US/1.0) NetFront/3.1 MMP/2.0)

Because I like to research many diffent aspects of wireless devises. Hence the name, "dataquest".