[squeff]

For what it's worth, I spoke to a tech at Sprint yesterday and he told me (after going to "research" for 15 minutes) that they'll be releasing OS 4.5 in September. Seems consistent with what we've heard from other US carriers.

That said, on my way to getting this information, I was also told that Sprint doesn't know if they'll even be releasing it. And that no one in their Blackberry tech group has any information on 4.5.

Ah, Sprint.

[akosnitzky]

Wirelessly posted (Verizon 8830)

I have your model based on your profile. Worst case scenario is that you can take the VZW download when ready and pull the vendor.xml file.

[squeff]

Originally Posted by akosnitzky

Wirelessly posted (Verizon 8830)

I have your model based on your profile. Worst case scenario is that you can take the VZW download when ready and pull the vendor.xml file.

I have no reason to believe that Verizon will come before, though.

If we used company trackrecords, I'd say that...

Verizon will charge a fee to upgrade. And they'll do something to their devices that will prevent you from doing to upgrade via other means. Attempts to work-around this (like not downloading the service books) will render your phone useless.

Sprint will throw the upgrade on their web site, but it'll be the wrong files. When thousands of customers call for help, they'll act annoyed that you're calling, deny that such a thing exists, and end up "accidentally" changing you plan and billing you $500 for a new phone that you never ordered.

AT&T will provide it, but you need to wait in line at authorized outlets all night. They'll let one person into the store at a time. There will be a free charged, but only to the first thousand customers. After that, they'll provide it free. When the early adopters complain that they had to pay, AT&T will point at RIM, who will offer those customers a discount on their NEXT phone.

[akosnitzky]

Well...........
If you put it that way......


VZW charging an upgrade? Hmmmm.. I am skeptical that they woul dod that.

[squeff]

Originally Posted by akosnitzky

Well...........
If you put it that way......


VZW charging an upgrade? Hmmmm.. I am skeptical that they woul dod that.

I'm joking, of course.

However, keep in mind that Verizon is known for disabling features of the hardware and then, in some cases, charging a fee to have them enabled. GPS is the big one. They've also disabled certain BT profiles. You need to pay a fee to get the equivalent functionality, in some cases.

[juwaack68]

Sprint will have their own versions of 4.5, and has been actively testing them. They also read these boards and see what Sprint users are saying about the OS's they have installed (along with the issues).

I can't say much more than that with out breaking an NDA, but they will not be slapping a Sprint sticker on a Verizon OS and calling it 'good'.

[Mark_Venture]

Originally Posted by squeff

...They've also disabled certain BT profiles...

Bluetooth profiles have been disabled in their phones only... not their blackberries... And recently the've been including more BT profiles with their phones (OBEX FTP and OPP for Pix, sounds and/or Video are available on recent phones like the LG Voyager and Dare, Moto V9M and W755 for example)...

When it comes to blackberries, they've only disabled or "locked" the GPS feature to this point, where you have to use their VZNav subscription service.

No other blackberry features beyond GPS have been disabled or locked by Verizon... yet...

[ArgonNJ]

Originally Posted by Mark_Venture

No other blackberry features beyond GPS have been disabled or locked by Verizon... yet...

Yet is the key word. I guess if its a feature they can charge extra for, they will block it.
Good to see another Star Blazers/Yamato fan here.

[Dawg]

Originally Posted by ArgonNJ

Yet is the key word. I guess if its a feature they can charge extra for, they will block it.

you never quit do you? They have never once other than GPS charged for anything extra on the BB that other carriers have not why not give it a rest already.

[ArgonNJ]

Originally Posted by Dawg

you never quit do you? They have never once other than GPS charged for anything extra on the BB that other carriers have not why not give it a rest already.

Hey if their customers don't mind, then whatever. The market usually drives these decision anyway and if Verizon is making money then I guess its the right decision on their part. Still don't thinks it fair though. And that all I'm going to say about it.