[Shane Pitman]

You'd think with the whole iPhone/AT&T ordeal and the amount of people wanting the iPhone unlocked for use on other carriers that they would shy away from exclusives. Then again when the cellular carrier is willing to subsidize a large percentage of the development and hardware costs, I suppose it's hard to resist. Still, it's bad for consumers in the end, and it's sad that the interests of the consumer aren't given more consideration.

[six attack]

Originally Posted by fractured

I believe the deal with VZW/Vodafone is dependent on them meeting a certain sales quota (whatever that is). I'm not sure, but from what I've heard if they don't meet the quota, then the exclusivity will dissolve.

From Crackberry.com:

...This is HUGE for the Verizon lovers. For once they’ll get an exclusive device, but Verizon will have a sales quota for the device and if they don’t meet those numbers, we’ve heard the exclusivity will then dissolve and it’s over.

Also of interest in that same article:

We’ve heard the unit will be a hybrid device with CDMA EV-DO Rev. C (for clarification, Rev C., known as UMB is practically dead. If the device will indeed launch with a 4G solution, our bet is on LTE), and GSM HSPA for traveling internationally.

[Tazzie01]

Originally Posted by Brad00111

Lifetime exclusive on Verizon.........thats the nail in the coffin for me, Verizon is terrible in my area and you couldn't pay me to switch to them, too bad looks like a great phone.

I don't get it though, why a lifetime exclusive deal, I understand 90 day etc, but a lifetime deal on the first ever touchscreen BB, makes 0 sense to me to launch on a carrier that has been in at least 3rd position+ on phone launches in the past.

Just my 2 cents though.

The thing is that the iphone is exclusive also that I know about, like sprint has with Sanyo phones. All companies have that or will have that, since the government is talking about making a law that you will be able to use any phone with any service. I do not know if the cell carriers have to add CDMA or GSM to their lineup or not yet, but I know sprint carries some GSM only phones in their international section, also they have world edition phones with both CDMA and GSM.

[tallydawg]

Can't wait

[BryanHarig]

Originally Posted by six attack

From Crackberry.com:

...This is HUGE for the Verizon lovers. For once they’ll get an exclusive device, but Verizon will have a sales quota for the device and if they don’t meet those numbers, we’ve heard the exclusivity will then dissolve and it’s over.

Also of interest in that same article:

We’ve heard the unit will be a hybrid device with CDMA EV-DO Rev. C (for clarification, Rev C., known as UMB is practically dead. If the device will indeed launch with a 4G solution, our bet is on LTE), and GSM HSPA for traveling internationally.

UMB is dead.

If it is launching in the next few years, LTE is a dream. There wont be a working LTE network until '10 or so at the soonest.

My wild guess says this thing will be Rev A 850/1900, GSM/EDGE 900/1800 and HSPA 2100.

[Froad'r]

-An awesome shot of the multimedia function

[JEGO82]

i think thats photoshop

[PKIronMan]

*nod* That's not a live shot. The lack of live shots is really starting to irk me. I can't imagine we'll really see a September release.

[jaxberry]

Originally Posted by Spankypoo

Not to threadjack, but I used my old 8700g the other day and I *really* miss the click wheel. The trackball really is a poor substitute -- why they didn't just put both on every phone, I'll never understand.

Miss the click wheel too, but if I recall correctly, the thumbwheel was abandoned because it would have cost RIM more to re-engineer it to fit into their newer and thinner lineup of phones, versus going with the trackball.

Recently played with my 7103e (which I use now as a second battery charger), and still liked it a lot. But definitely not pining for it over my 8330!

Let's see if the Thunder can make my 8330 become a third battery charger! I doubt the first version of their touchscreen device will be able to do this, but I'll leave my opinions out until I get to play with one in real life.

[BryanHarig]

? The trackball is a huge improvement. It is one of the absolute best interfaces of any phone. It is fast, precise and, since there is no touchscreen, very good at resisting accidental input.

By contrast the wheel was much more slow, it seemed to spin more slowly then the trackball. Not to mention the need to use two hands (one for the wheel, one for the button press) to move left or right in text or a map.

[dande]

^I agree totally.

[PKIronMan]

Originally Posted by BryanHarig

? The trackball is a huge improvement. It is one of the absolute best interfaces of any phone. It is fast, precise and, since there is no touchscreen, very good at resisting accidental input.

By contrast the wheel was much more slow, it seemed to spin more slowly then the trackball. Not to mention the need to use two hands (one for the wheel, one for the button press) to move left or right in text or a map.

I has used the wheel for so many years that the trackball was a painful transition. After almost two years of a trackball the only thing I miss is the tactile feedback and ability to 'count' icons using the wheel.

I'm interested to see how the Thunder plays in this space. The LG pseudo-haptics make me nervous so I'm hoping Thunder is much better.

[TiaMarie]

Just a curiosity question? Why don't you like Verizon? I had a bad experience with them.

[michael12005]

I love Verizon-it works everywhere I am and visit, almost flawlessly. When I fly to London, which is several times a year, I switch on my BB 8830 whilst we are taxiing to the gate at Heathrow and within no more than 30 seconds the 8830 has found Vodafone and all my emails download immediately from the overnight 8 hour flight-I even check the baseball scores before the leaving the 747!

[dslocumb]

Love the Thunder! Not too sure about the touchscreen keyboard though... I have to actually use it in the store before purchasing! First time for that. I usually buy the first day they drop (sight unseen).

[brad.v]

I am so sorry I got a Treo and when my contract is up at the end of Sept I will change. Verizon has the best service here in NY so I would like to stay with them or I would be very tempted by the Iphone. One thing I like about it is the "cloud" I had push on my treo until my organization moved me to the field and away from the server.

I like what I see about the thunder and would like to go that route. Is there any thing like the iphone cloud or ME for blackberry? I would like to keep using outlook and have it push calendar, contacts, todo, and email from several accounts to my phone.

[akosnitzky]

Any discussion on what the 4.7 OS will have?

[heather2046]

nice!!!!!

[still.savage]

i cant wait for this to drop