Niagara 9630
 

Here are some pictures of the 9630

Aside from the Niagra being a world phone... what are the real differences between it and the 89xx series Curve?

The photos make them look pretty similar.

Hanwei

The curve 8900 has wifi/gps but no 3G/HSPA, where the Niagara has CDMA rev A, HSPA/UMTS/edge, gps but apparently no wifi. otherwise, specs on processor speed and memory should be close if not similar. The keyboard also follows the same format as the bold (as you can see in the pictures, with those strip of metals between each row).

But all in all, to one there own, I personally think that if they're gonna release this thing, they should include wifi, since this is a BOLD competitor for CDMA carriers.

yes they should have wifi, but if the carrier doesnt want wifi in to them thats there choice.... and rim pretty much as no choice but to develope a device without it as if they want to sell device and get subscriptions then they need to listen to what the carriers want... and if the CDMA carriers dont want wifi then RIM will make it without it... the carriers have alot of say about what goes into a device... because if it doesnt meet there specs and wants then they wont sell it and then the manufacturer is out alot of money and alot of sales

Yea Wifi is hugely overlooked piece..

I just hope we at least get a bump of internal memory like the 8330.

Added pixs to thread

Cool, it compares pretty nicely with 8900 size form factor...

Can't wait for the official release, thanks for the comparision shots.

It looks a bit larger than curve and a bit smaller than a Bold. Hmmmm

I listened to all the "we don't need no stinking WiFi-we're 3G" spiel when Vzn came out with the Storm. I'll go on record now (having tried a Storm and using an 8900 now) as saying that if you believe 3G on Verizon is anywhere near as fast as WiFi on Tmobile you are nuts. I predict Vzn will flop with this phone if they leave WiFi out. People are now using the browser more and more and WiFi speeds that up a ton. For email it's no biggie, but browsing on the Storm is no picnic compared to WiFi.

All comes down to the needs of the user really.. For me wifi would be nice but I have done without it forever, so I can continue without it.

(Plus it would cost too much to cut my VZW contract early lol.)

My 8320 has Wi-Fi, but it causes a lot of problems with my bluetooth headsets. I literally can't place or receive calls if Wi-Fi is on while using my Jawbone 2 or Plantronics 925. Apparently, the phone's Wi-Fi operates on the same 2.4GHz frequency as the headsets which causes a lot of interference. That's what Jawbone's tech support told me, at least. I'm on a headset several hours every day, so I have to keep my 8320's Wi-Fi off.

I found the Storm's performance on Verizon's 3G network to be very fast and responsive.

It seems that with today's technology going forward, it would be advantageous for VZW to include WiFi on this phone. I have heard pros and cons regarding the Storm and have seen the BB Bold.

I wouldn't mind getting the 9630 if it has WiFi.

(Oh, btw, my first post & official intro.)

802.11a will work at the 5 GHz range while 802.11b/g works at the 2.4 GHz range.... hard to beleive the would let something like that slide.

But interference can even come from a cord less phone operating at 2.4 GHz..


Wifi would be great plus for VZW.. but these wifi-less BB's hurt all CDMA carriers not VZW..

I am beginning to wonder if thier is an issue with CDMA and Wifi, I just don't know that much of CDMA so I can only speculate.

802.11N IEEE Wiki
 

802.11N would be the best IMO.

Here is the some of the stuff I found on Wikipedia...

When 802.11g was released to share the band with existing 802.11b devices, it provided ways of ensuring coexistence between the legacy and the new devices. 802.11n extends the coexistence management to protect its transmissions from legacy devices, which include 802.11g, 802.11b and 802.11a.

To achieve maximum throughput a pure 802.11n 5 GHz network is recommended. The 5 GHz band has substantial capacity due to many non-overlapping radio channels and less radio interference as compared to the 2.4 GHz band.[2] An 802.11n-only network may be impractical for many users because the existing computer stock is predominantly 802.11b/g only. Replacement of incompatible WiFi cards or of entire laptop stock is necessary for older computers to operate on the network. Consequently, it may be more practical in the short term to operate a mixed 802.11b/g/n network until 802.11n hardware becomes more prevalent. In a mixed-mode system, it’s generally best to use a dual-radio access point and place the 802.11b/g traffic on the 2.4 GHz radio and the 802.11n traffic on the 5 GHz radio.

802.11n in my opinion is too new.. Maybe in a year or 2 we will start seeing it being implemented in BB's but N just requires all new hardware so N will slowing be seeping it's way into our lives over time, just not right now.

A simple fix for that would be a dual band N 2.4/5 GHz BB. Then in Wi-Fi settings on the BB you could chose between 2.4GHz or 5 GHz in a manual config or auto config and the BB device could chose.

The BB Bluetooth would be v2.1+EDR Class 2 .

This would make for a cleaner wireless contection when using both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth at the sametime.

Rumor has it that the Gemini 8325 will use 802.11N

That would be a rumor with a capital "R"..

As long as it's G i'm happy...

Of course I'll be happy with any CDMA berry with Wifi lol.

I agree SteveO86. Plus the 8325 is a low end device.

I also am suspect of RIM's ability to integrate WIFI and CDMA radios, to date I don't think there have been any CDMA BB's with WIFI. People keep blaming the carriers but that doesn't wash, the carriers are in competition and by now one of them would have asked for it. There must be some technical hurdle that RIM is having trouble with.