From what I've heard (friends who work there), they tried, but the company that supplies the processor said they couldn't do it at the 11th hour, so they had to settle for the lesser specs.
I honestly believe that the 9810 is the right phone for me but RIM hasnt released a Verizon compatible slider like that yet. Hopefully they will stop providing the exclusively to AT&T at some point here.
From what I've heard (friends who work there), they tried, but the company that supplies the processor said they couldn't do it at the 11th hour, so they had to settle for the lesser specs.
Coming from the 9800 -> 9900 user, I can say that I miss the bigger screen on the 9800/9810. 9810 has some shortcuts that was very useful. For example, on the text message application (compose new message): On 9900, I have to press blackberry button, then select compose new text message. On 9810, you can just press the shortcut on the bottom of the screen. It is faster and more convenience.
Nevertheless, I still love my 9900. I love the keyboard, love the premium build quality of the phone. It just feels...industrial and expensive.
For example, on the text message application (compose new message): On 9900, I have to press blackberry button, then select compose new text message. On 9810, you can just press the shortcut on the bottom of the screen. It is faster and more convenience.
Hold the trackpad down, or just click on a date. A menu will pop up. Maybe not as fast, but close enough.