[quaalude_timmy]

Is there a way to make a Blackberry device look like it would as if it came from RIM instead of going from RIM to the carrier to the consumer?

I want it to be as if I bought the hardware, downloaded the OS from RIM and installed it myself without any carrier customizations/hobbling.

[zerog46]

Nope...

[Superh3ro]

nooooooooooooooooooopppppppppppppppppppppeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Caspan]

there is no such thing. Even RIM employees have branded phones it has to have a carrier on it or else how would you get coverage?

Originally Posted by Caspan

there is no such thing. Even RIM employees have branded phones it has to have a carrier on it or else how would you get coverage?

Umm... no.
There are certainly unbranded BlackBerry devices out there.
You can even buy them from RIM directly.

Coverage and service is based on the provisioning of the SIM card (or CDMA programming).
It has nothing to do with the vendor branding on the actual hardware.

[Caspan]

Originally Posted by soupandsandwich

Umm... no.
There are certainly unbranded BlackBerry devices out there.
You can even buy them from RIM directly.

Coverage and service is based on the provisioning of the SIM card (or CDMA programming).
It has nothing to do with the vendor branding on the actual hardware.

Umm.. yes when I mention branding I'm not talking about a little picture on the device case I'm talking about branding internal to the phones internal ROM when you boot the device or use the browser it gives the flash of branding.

[mckinneycm]

Originally Posted by Caspan

Umm.. yes when I mention branding I'm not talking about a little picture on the device case I'm talking about branding internal to the phones internal ROM when you boot the device or use the browser it gives the flash of branding.

Again, no, it does not have to have "internal branding". You can have a device that has no branding in the ROM or browser and put a BB provisioned AT&T SIM card in it, and it will work just fine.

[Caspan]

Originally Posted by mckinneycm

Again, no, it does not have to have "internal branding". You can have a device that has no branding in the ROM or browser and put a BB provisioned AT&T SIM card in it, and it will work just fine.

Do you want to fight?????


I would love to see a phone without branding cause I work and hang with people from RIM and I have never seen any of them without branding.

[mckinneycm]

What about all of those unbranded Bolds that were handed out at the BlackBerry Bold Convention? They were all in a RIM/BlackBerry Box, and have no carrier branding what-so-ever.

Originally Posted by Caspan

I would love to see a phone without branding cause I work and hang with people from RIM and I have never seen any of them without branding.

Buy one from RIM. They're available.
Just because you've never seen one doesn't mean they don't exist.
There's more to the world than what you've been exposed to.

[lrdiaz]

I purchased a Bold from Expansys-USA and it does not have any carrier branding whatsoever.

[MrKyoo]

Originally Posted by Caspan

I would love to see a phone without branding cause I work and hang with people from RIM and I have never seen any of them without branding.

I've seen a few.

[MPS]

Owned !

[ndub33]

Carriers that offer handset recycling and donation programs send the impacted devices to third party companies that can in fact strip the external and software based branding off before they are redistributed to their intended users. But-this is done business-to-business, and in bulk quantities, it's not a service that is offered to indivduals who prefer an "unbranded" device.

[Cygnust]

Originally Posted by lrdiaz

I purchased a Bold from Expansys-USA and it does not have any carrier branding whatsoever.

Could you please post a picture of your loading screen and wap carrier icon ?
Thanks

[Caspan]

Originally Posted by Cygnust

Could you please post a picture of your loading screen and wap carrier icon ?
Thanks

Exactly ..... Just saying you have seen them dose not mean they exist either. Its hard for me to prove they don't exist but i have some peaty knowlegable contacts and friend from RIM that hey they could be wrong. but i have a tendency to believe them unless you can show me a boot up video that shows no branding.

It cant just be stripped its built into the hardwares firmware not the updatable one either.

And I can't see RIM undercutting the carries by selling their own phones with no carrier attached. carries would scream fair play and that, why would some one by a contract from us if you are going to sell them.

I dont know about you but when i go to their site and click to buy one it puts me to a carries page.

so not OWNED I can spit text on the screen too. Thing is mine is backed up with people that actually work for RIM

[estabulla]

Vendor ID of a Blackberry can be changed by using a program (it's been leaked on the net). You can also change the splash screen to another vendor's or if you are up to inserting a PNG image. All's you need is the new VSM, the program, a hex editor and you are good to go.

So the only hard coding is the face of the blackberry....rest everything is customizable.

[JV77]

Hello,

Just my 2c here but I can confirm that you can get unbranded (case and firmware) BlackBerries, at least here in the UK anyway.

If you buy them from Carphone Warehouse (as I did with the 8300) they go from RIM to CPW and then to the customer - you can put any SIM in them and when you boot it has no carrier splash screen it's just white with the BB logo.

Carphone Warehouse do this with a lot of phones - including Nokias, used to be annoying as you would buy a phone on Vodafone for example and it wouldnt have all of the pre-loaded stuff (you would have to call the carrier for them to send you set up SMS messages).

James

[Superh3ro]

Originally Posted by Caspan

Do you want to fight?????


I would love to see a phone without branding cause I work and hang with people from RIM and I have never seen any of them without branding.

ur kidding right?
u never seen an unbranded bold?
dude look in ebay

they only sell unbranded bolds here in kuwait and they get them from ebay

[Drakius.LiFE]

What he probably meant is that the phone does not have Vendor ID and is unlocked off the bat.

If you hold ALT+SHIFT+H, you will see Vendor ID: (Vendor Number)

Those that are unbranded and directly from RIM have Vendor ID: -1

As for Unbranded Casing, you can always just buy it from 3rd party stores.
I got mine off cnn! Just be careful when you assemble it. Some keys on the keyboard feels harder to press when assembled incorrectly!