[Aetius]

i really don't understand the fascination with touchscreens. I agree that it could very easily make the phone clumsy. Anyways, I'm sure whatever RIM is doing will good, but i don't think a touchscreen is a necessary step and i'm sure RIM can do some innovate and interesting upgrades without it. If, however, they include a touchscreen then they must do it tastefully because many of us business/consumer users might lose that speed and efficiency we are used to. If they can maintain the speed of the bold with a touchscreen then I'm fine with that, but if its anything like the storm touchscreen then no thanks. I can navigate/type twice as fast on my bold compared to a storm.

I agree, I've never seen an advantage to a touchscreen. iPhones and Storms irritated me. The margin for error was too great

[Warrior40]

will this be a world phone that uses both CDMA and GSM networks?

[bloodbath18]

will this be a world phone that uses both CDMA and GSM networks?

If you have checked my post #48 then you would have an idea.

[keepmetal]

so which one is an upgrade for bold???

is it onyx???
is it Tour???
magnum???

is there any suggestion?

thx

[latino6-1-7]

ive heard the same about a debut with 5.2

[jesse.anger]

This is the only device that has sparked my interest since I bought the Bold. I wanna hear more info!

[JJNYS]

Just my 2 cents, and I am still a newbie. I see a lot of comments about RIM needing to think outside of the box and come up with something new and fresh. The reality is that the basic form factor of all rim devices (excluding the Storm and Pearl) works. It has been a successful design and quite functional.


I think people also forget that although the Blackberry has caught on with the average joe consumer, it was intended as a business device first and foremost. I doubt, nor do I think that it would be a wise business practice, if RIM changed the general form factor of their qwerty devices. There is an old saying "If it aint broke, don't fix it."

[Seabass88]

Do I even need to ask who wants one?

Ummm...I'd certainly love to try it out!

[Seabass88]

Just my 2 cents, and I am still a newbie. I see a lot of comments about RIM needing to think outside of the box and come up with something new and fresh. The reality is that the basic form factor of all rim devices (excluding the Storm and Pearl) works. It has been a successful design and quite functional.


I think people also forget that although the Blackberry has caught on with the average joe consumer, it was intended as a business device first and foremost. I doubt, nor do I think that it would be a wise business practice, if RIM changed the general form factor of their qwerty devices. There is an old saying "If it aint broke, don't fix it."

I completely agree with the don't fix it saying. I'm all up for slight improvements, but no need to get crazy. RIM's bread and butter is making quality enterprise devices. IMHO

[Dasher89]

512 MB device memory

that is not flagship quality ! sorry how about 2 gig
and compatible with 32 gig plus

camera should be 5-8 mega pixel

RIM has to stop being cheap and give consumers good quality
stuff ahead of the market.

1. 512mb of memory is not bad. Isn't that double the storm? If you are talking about the on board memory you use to store apps and such then you can probably expect about 1gb with up to 16 expandable sd.

2. Why do people want there phone to be this almighty camera? They will never be. A camera is the last thing i really care about as it should be for most people. There are very very few phones capable of greater than 3.2 mp pictures and those that do are still mediocre at best. There are so many factors to a great camera/picture that phones physically can not be capable of, especially a bb. You can get a camera with better quality and options than almost any phone out there (save for like 5) for under $150.

3. The touch screen/querty is the greatest idea RIM has had yet. I can't believe how naieve some of you people are. The best thing to do as a business is to market fewer products that fit a wider range of people. Now who did that so well? O yea apple.

Now I am not an iphone fanboy here at all. I hate the thing, it compromises too much to justify too little for me. But apple had the right idea. We can all agree that the curve/bold/storm/tour are the four main bb's right now. I like the bold/tour/curve design but I like to have a touch screen/accelerometer too for the more interesting apps and for me navigation is easier on the bigger screen, therefore I bought the storm.

Now many of you are saying that you like the bold design because you don't like the storm. Doesn't it seem like a good idea to combine these two ideas into one device to simplify decisions for the consumer. Do you know how many people probably don't get a bb because they assume it is too complicated for what they need? A lot.

Tons of people get the iphone because why? Touchscreen is in these days for one thing. Why do you think that the storm sold so well even though it was very problematic at launch? If a bold had those problems at launch you can be sure the numbers would not have been that great.

So by using a "Best of Both Worlds" marketing plan RIM can accommodate for a much wider user base. Not to mention simplify the release of apps for developers since you will have both a touch screen and physical keyboard. How many times have you wanted an app that looked so cool but it wasn't compatible yet or never will be? RIM's app store is a start, but in the future with over 8 devices at a time running multiple OS's it will never (seriously NEVER) be a success because the developers can't keep up. Every app a dev releases for an iphone is compatible with all iphones (plus the touch). With BB you have to account now for touch screen or not, accelerometer or not, what OS your running. It's all too much to take in and consistently release great apps. This is also why the number of apps available is pathetic.

RIM needs to streamline their phones in ability and in software. People saying "man I wish I had "instert iphone app here" will not see that app because as an independent developer who has limited resources it is not practical or easy to create an app that can work on such a broad amount of devices that are all so different.

[addictedtoblackberry]

THANK YOU! finally, someone who makes sense.

i agree with everything you say except for the camera statement. for those business users, i could see that a nice camera would be unnecessary. however, im a regular average joe and i would like having a nice camera on my phone. if you want to mainstream phones, then this is the right way to go. it would be nice for anyone to whip out their phone and snapping pics at a party, taking pictures for projects, and especially for travelling. i do not like lugging around my wallet and 2-3 devices (phone, camera, maybe mp3 player if you dont use your bb) when travelling. it would be great if they made a phone with an autofocus 5.0 megapixel camera with great software to match.


anyone agree?

[Dasher89]

Ok, I can see the camera thing I guess.

Personally most people these days have cameras so if a picture needs to be taken I rely on them. In the extreme circumstances where there is no real camera I break out the phone. I just have yet to see any phone camera really excel into the field of regular cameras. I know there are a few but even fewer of those are smart phones to begin with and even fewer have ever found their way state side. Just my opinion but then again I have never been one to care about taking pictures (thats what the internet is for right? haha).

[joesmith0175]

The second I bought my Bold I was thinking that it needed a touch screen and a higher res camera to go from a really good phone to a great phone.

I think it's a great idea and i would be ALL OVER one of those. Listening RIM???

When my phone was new and I would show people, they would try to tap the screen cause it looked so nice. They should definitely do this.

[TheMan99]

Will have a Pluto or Storm2 in my hands before next weekend.
Pictures of Backs to confirm when I recieve.

[JoeyP72]

I totally want a touchscreen slider. I was playing with a friends G1 and it made so much more sense than a touchscreen only. If they could keep the sure type in portrait mode it would be good to zip off the occasional quicky message, but the keyboard would be good for longer texts and emails. also a touch screen is good for web browsing cuz theyre usually bigger and you can see more of the web page at a time. I think if RIM made a advanced version of the G1 it would dominate all. Business users would still have theirkeyboard and casual users would have the "cool factor" or the touch screen.

[snowindec9]

i hope this is the device that packs it all. there should be no tweeks from rim on this one. no weakness is what i want to hear.

[defcon3]

Anyone have any *valid* information when the BOLD 2 will come out?

I am so impatient, I see myself buying an ONYX as soon as it is out. Would be pissed if the BOLD 2 is released 3 months later, if you know what I mean...

[jmbel13]

Defcon3
If you get an onyx, that is exactly what will happen. Common sense must tell you this is not destined to become the so called flagship device. I’m not saying the onyx isn’t an improvement from the bold but it does not carry the characteristics of a macdaddy/high end device/bold replacement device. It’s funny that someone used a car analogy on these forums when discussing if Bold to Onyx is an upgrade. I guess it depends on how you look at it. I recently finished a lease on an 2006 Aura RL and took out a new TSX with tech package. The TSX has better much technology eg: navigation, sound, Bluetooth synch, also gives me better millage, has higher crash ratings but I don’t kid myself thinking I upgraded. I went from the luxury line to a more modest one.
For this device I do not count on features like dual navigation touchscreen/trackball, 8 mega pixel cameras or 2 gig of ram or some of that other stuff mentioned in this forum. As a matter of fact I think is naïve to hope for that much as it deviates completely from the essence of blackberry. I’ll tell you what I do count on. I count on RIM, the cell phone carriers and the marketers to want my money and yours and I count on them to be smart enough to have this little dilemma of our worked out already. I count on them putting a phone out before the majority of bold users grow bored of their device but after they have had them long enough to justify replacing their phones and become eligible for upgrades with their carriers. I also count on that phone to be just enough of an upgrade wow me (not with the Onyx). Orange, Voda, AT&T and the others know that if we change device brands there is a greater chance that the consumer will change carriers and RIM like no other phone maker plans/decides what is going to give them to make you replace you blackberry with another.
The next big/bad**s BB will be big and Bad**s like the bold was in its time and it will look different that previous BBs like the bold did, if not in functionality at least aesthetically.
And I’m going to stop here cause I got a bit carried away

[jcp007]

A touchscreen with a full QWERTYkeyboard slider BB would be interesting enough of a "wow" factor to make me strongly consider switching BB.

[cokeberry005]

@jmbel. haha, macdaddy.

[defcon3]

@jmbel13: You couldn't capture the situation any better, I think.

Exactly how I feel - I love the Onyx but have this lingering feeling that once I have it, leaks of the macdaddy (lol) will appear and I will start thinking of ways to walk out of my contract and get a BOLD2...

Thing is, boys-in-the-know are silent on anything related to this device. There is no roadmap, there is no indication if this will be with us couple of months after Onyx (Christmas '09) or half a year later (March-April 2010)...

When I got my first BB and spent 600 bucks on it, my better half said "you'd better love it for the next year or two". Although I screamed "objection" right there and then, I also think it is unwise to spend this much money twice a year in order to have THE macdaddy (boy, this is going to stick as a name for the numero uno) of BlackBerries...

@ Crucial_Xtreme, radioguinea, phonegeek, Kevin: if you are reading this, can you shed some light on the issue, please?

[killerdanachick005]

hope this comes out soon.

[jeffreii]

To me the Onyx cannot be the Bold 2 because it is the size of a Curve/Tour.

Can anyone confirm this (Pluto) or any other phone possible in the BB roadmap is the same size as the Bold?

I have big hands and MUCH prefer typing on the Bold's keyboard...and will never happily upgrade from my Bold unless it's to a BB of the same (perfect) size.

[Creaky]

RIM needs to streamline their phones in ability and in software.

Amen to that.

[billybobjones]

if i got this correctly, the onyx isnt the Bold 2, this magnum thing is... and this magnum thing is half touchscreen and half keypad?

so really they expect me to use this small screen with my finger? or what excactly?

because if thats the case, its onyx for me.