Niagara is the BlackBerry Bold 9630 World Edition?

[Kevin Michaluk]

OK, so this is pure speculation at the time I'm posting this, but during our CrackBerry Podcast Episode 033 while chatting with Craig I had an epiphany in regards to what the go-to-market name of the Niagara will be.

I'm thinking when it officially gets announced by RIM/goes on sale it'll be named the BlackBerry Bold 9630 World Edition... or just BlackBerry Bold WE. Oh..and I didn't search for this on the forums, so if it's already here...my bad!!!

Reasoning:
- The Bold is very much the replacement to the 8800 series
- The current CDMA version of the 8800 is the 8830 World Edition

Long-Winded Justifications:
The Niagara form factor is different than the Bold.. smaller... no leather back, so just calling it a "Bold" seems a bit off, as the GSM Bold compared to CDMA Bold will look a bit different. Yet the front keyboard styling is very much Bold-like (more than Curve-like), so the device kind of has to have the Bold name. Plus the Niagara shares the same guts as the Storm (processor, world capabilities). So by tacking on the World Edition at the end of BlackBerry Bold, RIM can get away with the fact that this doesn't quite look like the GSM Bold everybody already knows. Add the words World Edition to the end of the name and you have freedom to change up the look/form factor while still retaining the Bold brand since the general appearance is similar.

Also, there's been talk that there will be both a CDMA version of the Bold and CDMA version of the new Curve at some point. So while the Niagara becomes the Bold World Edition, then the new CDMA Curve could probably fit into the 8930 label, and will feature the Curve 8900's keyboard and will NOT be a World Phone (straight replacement to 8330).

It's too pricey and too confusing to continually push out new "brand names"... so calling the Niagara the Bold World Edition just kinda makes sense.

Anyways... let's see what happens...but since I talked about it on the podcast I just had to toss it out here in text form too.

Thoughts? What do you think the Niagara will be called??

[Garz]

I was thinking the Bold all along. If we look back, the 8330 CDMA Curve has some slight housing differences from the GSM Curves. A GSM & CDMA Bold would obviously be different as well. It just makes sense to have it as the WE Bold and for RIM to keep that name going.

Looking forward to the Podcast and have it downloaded. Saving it for my drive to work tomorrow.

[Zombiepug]

i like your thinking and does make sense although i don't know why it wouldn't have just been the 9030? lol but who knows yea i mean the bold and niagra do use the 8800 keyboard style the niagra does look very close to the bold. so i can see this being the case. interesting thought although i would have rathered just seen a 9030 bold then this full redesign because i love the bold! but o well. i think worst case it will just be the 9630 world edition maybe not the bold but well see.

my one reason and perhaps sole reason RIM would not keep the name bold is the model number. they have never broken the first 2 digits.

[gbeebe]

Even though the bold says 'world phone' is it not considered a "world edition"?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[joepocky]

i think that makes perfect sense. I just don't think the "Niagara" is unique enough to start a completely different series. It's more of a mash-up than a new device.

Now I know there's supposedly an 8930 in the works, but it just doesn't make sense to me anymore. Aside from pricing, I can't see Verizon justify releasing it. While there is a clear differentiation between the Bold and 8900 on GSM networks (2.5G vs 3G and form factor), the difference wouldn't be as drastic on Verizon - aside from maybe price.

I know I'll probably get flamed for saying this, but I wouldn't be surprised if Verizon forgoes releasing an updated Curve.

[Kevin Michaluk]

Yeah, the 9030 vs. 9630 is interesting. For the longest time I sort of just assumed it would be the 9030. Though there could be reasons for jumping the Niagara up to 9630... perhaps RIM will release an updated GSM Bold under the 9600 name, so they wanted to push it up to a whole new level (the 9000 seems a bit behind now - miniUSB port vs. microUSB and and only 2 megapixel camera vs. 3.2. So Maybe they redo the Bold a bit to get the improved specs). Or maybe RIM justifies the fact that the 9000 and Niagara use different processors as enough of a reason to change models.

The 9630 does kind of make the need for a 8930 seem reduced... considering the 9630 form factor seems basically ideal for a full qwerty. But I think part of RIM's philosophy is to always have two keyboards... one that's small with spaces in between the keys (Curve) and one that has bigger buttons with no spaces (8800 now turned Bold).

But I think the 9630 will definitely have to have a "brand" tied to it... I don't think RIM will ever release just a device by just the model number again.

Fun fun fun.

[cretz42]

definitely makes sense. they should name it the bold, with some sort of variant name after, unless theyre planning on coming out with an EXACT CDMA bold replica, which would make absolutely no sense with this and the 8930. pretty much the only thing confusing everyone is 9630, not the expected 9030.

[Bajanbastard]

I was told the 9630 was made to shut the CDMA carriers up about whining they didn't have a Bold or Bold like device. So Bold should be in the name for sure.

[Blackberry Guy]

Originally Posted by gbeebe

Even though the bold says 'world phone' is it not considered a "world edition"?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Well in GSM land "world phones" are your quad band phones that cover both the North American and rest of the world GSM bands.

In CDMA speak, "World Edition" is a phone that has in addition to it's dual CDMA frequencies for North America, also has either a dual band or quad band GSM radio in it that'll cover you overseas. Without getting into a CDMA vs GSM debate, it's suppose to offer the best of both worlds as far as service coverage is concerned.

[aerophage]

I'm going to have to agree that calling it the Bold would seem to break precedent as far as RIM's naming convention. The 81XX series is the Pearl, the 83XX series is the Curve, the 95XX series is the Storm, regardless of being GSM or CDMA. The 88XX series is the same; there is no brand attached to it, per se, but the CDMA version is still the 8830, just with the "WE" tagged at the end. Following this convention, if they were planning on calling it the Bold, it would seem that it would, 1) keep the same form factor, and 2) keep the 90XX series numbering, as the 9030WE. I'm guessing, based on this, that it would have a different brand than "Bold."

That being said, it brings up a different point. If RIM truly plans on offering a 9600 at some point, this would be the first time in their history that they released the CDMA version of a phone before the GSM version.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[cereal killer]

Never thought of it that way but it actually makes total sense. Why roll out a whole new brand name when its basically the same.

I think you are going to end up being right on both devices (9630 and 8930)

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[forte831]

I think what happened is they dropped the bold and the afterward started to like the new form factor storm and 8900 and had to bring everything in line. Who knows maybe

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[vdiesel]

Maybe I'm missing something but why would they name the 9630 the bold? It seems to have more differences than similarities. It doesn't even look like the bold except for the keyboard.

Wouldn't it just cause confusion if they named it the bold?

[Stang68]

Hmm...I am leaning towards agreement with you here, Kevin. I mean, we have all been calling it the CDMA Bold for a while now and why would RIM want to bring ANOTHER device into their lineup? They have expanded greatly over 2008 and it would be foolish to introduce the new "Niagara" Lineup especially when they can just call it the Bold which is known for being a pretty darn good phone.

Also, I bet VZW wants it to be called Bold because then customers from At&t will hear that VZW now has the ever popular Bold and the Storm isnt their only option.

[Xopher]

I don't think they will call it the Bold 9630WE for a few of reasons.

1) It is a different form factor. It does not look like the current Bold. This is also why they probably changed the model number to 9630 as well. If you kept with the 9030 model number, you would expect it to look like the 9000. The 9630 clearly isn't the same model line as the 9000. The difference between the 9000 and 9630 isn't minor, like the changes between 8320 and 8330.

2) How long does AT&T have exclusivity on the 9000 Bold? One year? Two years? Indefinitely? If AT&T has exclusive rights to distribute the "Bold", then that could keep RIM from offering the "Bold" name to other carriers. It's better to change the styling to a more modern (a la Storm/8900) look and change the name. That would keep them from having any legal issues with AT&T.

3) Since the Niagara is styled more like the 8900 and Storm, I wold say the look of the Bold may be something that won't appear on new phones in the future. Giving the Niagara a new "retail" name means they can make the 9600/9620 and offer it to GSM carriers. T-Mobile could get the 9600 without having to worry about AT&T and the Bold.