[AndrewMcHorney]

The picture says August and it sounded like someone had seen a specific date in August. It won't matter until the 10th anyway as I am on vacation.

[mas3222]

I used to work for AT&T and yes they want to capitalize but they also want to draw customers from other services as the cellphone saturation point, in the US almost everyone who wants a cell phone has a cell phone, keeps drawing closer and closer. They already know the iPhone is going to do well and your not really going to draw too many customers away from it if its what they really want. Releasing the 9800 around the same time will have hopeful customers at the mall saying "yeah Verizon's cool, but look over there, AT&T has all the best phones right now!" And ultimately that's the point. More customers and even with the iPhone the 9800 will do well just on looks alone. Of course maybe not as well as the iPhone as I figure both will probably be the same price with a 2 year signing contract. Don't count out ATT on releasing them close together as there are pros and cons of whatever release date they choose.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Dim-Ize]

Frankly, the whole thing is just crazy, IMO. In my opinion, carriers should be forced to compete on: price, customer service, call quality, area coverage, data speed, contract flexibility, and features offered in thier packages. Then the manufacturers of handhelds then competed on: price, features, OS, form factor, etc.

That way consumers could choose what product they want and what carrier they want and even carry multiple devices by simply changing SIM's around.

Having exclusivity in this market ultimately hurts the consumer and kills the little guys like Palm.

Oh well - that's only an opinion and I can see it the other way too - where handsets could cost lots more to buy, etc. Does the European market have an open market like I described above - or do they have subsidized handsets too?

I'm guessing the 9800 will not be out until September / October. I will likely purchase one at retail and swap my SIM since my company issues BB's to us. Even though I won't be switching carriers - I think that an open market (where any service provider could get an iPhone, Pre, 9800, etc.) would be better for the consumers overall.

[jstarett]

The only way that could be possible is if all carriers ran on the same frequencies right?

[greggebhardt]

I am betting that August is right as Rogers will get it before us and a friend at Rogers is using one now and say they expect to see them in the next 4-5 weeks.

[bbdub]

I am betting that August is right as Rogers will get it before us and a friend at Rogers is using one now and say they expect to see them in the next 4-5 weeks.

What does your friend think of OS6? It seems like in the past (9700, Storms 1 and 2) we have had plenty of info. from testers, etc. about the phones. Usually PG and Crucial are able to give a lot of info. but have disappeared the last few weeks. Obviously that is completely understandable and I would never want someone to have their job in jeopardy to give us info. It just seems like things are so much quieter in terms of people's experience with this phone and that has me hoping that this is going to be an awesome upgrade. We have seen plenty of pictures but know little about what the new OS6 will do. Maybe it's just wishful thinking but I'm pretty excited that the 9800 could have some surprises in store for us.

[CSO]

I am betting that August is right as Rogers will get it before us and a friend at Rogers is using one now and say they expect to see them in the next 4-5 weeks.

From a Canadian newspaper today (June 26th): Analysts: RIM needs to add a little ‘wow’

"But, RIM co-chief executive Jim Balsillie only teased analysts on the conference call Thursday.

"I’m just not going to talk anything more about our products or our launches until our time," he said.

"I just wish I could wind the clock forward a few weeks . . . I can’t say much more, but I couldn’t feel better.""

Analysts: RIM needs to add a little ‘wow’ - Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca

[greggebhardt]

My friend likes the new OS6 as it goes hand and hand with the touch screen. He will not give out more info than that.

Those expecting RIM to blow you out of the water with new feature are likely to be disspaointed. I would be will to say that OS6 will be a step forward but not a leap. The 9800 hardware with OS6 will be a nice upgrade but RIM is not know for giant leaps.

[andyahs]

My friend likes the new OS6 as it goes hand and hand with the touch screen. He will not give out more info than that.

Those expecting RIM to blow you out of the water with new feature are likely to be disspaointed. I would be will to say that OS6 will be a step forward but not a leap. The 9800 hardware with OS6 will be a nice upgrade but RIM is not know for giant leaps.

Do not want to be blown out of the water as I know what RIM can do. My 9000 still serves me well and the 9800 will be the perfect upgrade for me.

[vinmontRD]

Those expecting RIM to blow you out of the water with new feature are likely to be disspaointed. I would be will to say that OS6 will be a step forward but not a leap. The 9800 hardware with OS6 will be a nice upgrade but RIM is not know for giant leaps.

I'm having a hard time as I consider *maybe* jumping ship for an Android device...and from what I'm reading a lot of others are in the same boat. We're seeing many new "super phones" enter the market, and they're clearly appealing. Trying to temper "new phone lust" by considering what I depend on my BB to do and wondering if I'll be as happy with non-BB solution. From a superficial perspective, it feels like the super phones (e.g., all the new Android devices) are catching up, and with with services like GMail, BB push email is feeling like less of a differentiator these days.

I've been trying various new apps on my 8900, some are great and some are garbage -- that's no different from any other device. But on my 8900, when the software fails, it can be pretty annoying. A couple of apps I've tried running simply freeze -- and then can't be removed from memory without rebooting the phone. I can use task switcher to move away from the stuck app, but it remains in place, using memory (and possibly cpu cycles) -- and there's no way to kill it without a reboot, and like many BB owners I avoid reboots unless necessary since they take about 5 minutes. I was curious and just did a search -- and it appears that iPhones take about a minute (or less) to boot, and the latest Android devices (Evo, Incredible, etc) take something like 30 seconds. Also -- whereas the Android community has tools like Task Killers that would let you avoid rebooting when an app is stuck, that's not an option on BB's. Maybe it seems petty -- but this is in irritating part of the current BB experience over all.

Along similar lines -- I don't know how Android handles memory leaks, but my impression is that unless I stick to plain vanilla BB OS with a minimum of apps installed, my free memory can be counted on to drop over a few days to the point where the device becomes less responsive and warrants a reboot for best experience. I'm curious to see if Android can clean up dead memory better...

Latest rumors about an "unnamed team of T-Mobile employees" leaking info Scott Brown (Android blogger) at an HTC conference would lead us to believe that the HTC Vision will be a dual-core 800mhz device that will top current offerings like the Evo and Incredible, and will include a 4.3" screen (rumored to be spectacular) and a slide out keyboard as well; also speculated that Android 3.x will make its appearance on this device. All of this rumored to happen "before the holidays". Yeah - lots of "rumored", but none of it seems outlandish.

So - I compare the feverish evolution of HTC, Samsung and Moto Android devices to the current and speculated upcoming Blackberry releases. I try to keep the differentiators in mind. If I were running an enterprise, I'd still lean toward Blackberry, although you'll find corporations as large as ones like McGraw-Hill (and all their subsidiaries) also supporting other devices such as iPhones alongside Blackberry's...so that differentiator is disappearing. Full time messaging (e.g., BBM) is less of a differentiator as messenger apps continue to improve (Trillian, Beehive, etc). BB push email great -- GMail and others catching up.

No question that BB has a huge market share that's not likely to disappear any time soon. But, as much as I'm a dyed in the wool BB user, I'm finding the case for staying that way to be feel weaker as the market evolves. Very curious to see how the next few months play out, what the next gen of BB's and OS6 look like, and whether the next gen of Android (3.x) and super phones that use it (e.g, HTC Vision) really wow as they're speculated to.

[bergeronjc]

i bet its more AT&T then RIM deciding the drop date - why drop two devices that will have a big demand at the same time? From a marketing standpoint it makes sense...

Actually from a marketing standpoint that doesn't make sense. What makes sense is att letting the iPhone sales run the bell curve; when it gets to the everyday person buying one cause they want a new phone, that is the time to release it. It means they won't have to wait a full year till next iPhone release for another high demand product.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[cidewayz]

This Tuesday Aug. 3 they are supposed to debut it. Im not sure when they are going to hit the stores tho.

[sookster54]

Thing is the iPhone 4 has been advertised into the ground for weeks/months, but why are so many telcos so hush-hush about these other releases like the 9800, HTC Desire, Samsung Galaxy, etc. 3 months ago I asked a rep at Telus about the iPhone 4 and right away he knew when it was expected to release, last week I asked a different rep about the HTC Desire and BB 9800 and he said "the what? I don't know anything about those".

Then again I've had problems with Telus reps.

[carlosmahnz]

Hi, I had read many new about it and i�m completely sure that it be come on Tuesday.....

[crackberryhead]

I say announced at that at&t event on the 3rd I believe...released on the 15th or sooner...just my opinion

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Dragondima]

This Tuesday Aug. 3 they are supposed to debut it. Im not sure when they are going to hit the stores tho.

Where did you hear they'll debut it? As far as we all know it's just speculation.

[Zach7]

Some more marketing and speculation. But check out the photos and information people have posted. Kind of interesting!

Mysterious monoliths appear in AT&T stores but what's inside?!? | CrackBerry.com