To regain leadership - improve the best BB made

[espenfjogstad]

The Bold 9000.

When the 9000 was launched Blackberry was way ahead of all the other smartphonemakers.
- It had the by far best screen, the envy of all competition
- It was lightning fast
- Had an amazing keyboard
- Had a distinct and "exclusive" design
- Had great build quality (maybe except for battery door not being "tight" enough)

In 2008, even the iPhone in spite of a cool look was just a joke compared to what the Bold had to offer.

Instead of building on this leadership position and improving it, Blackberry has "lost their way" and focused on launching :
- Poor copycats iphone/android. The whole BB OS is optimized around a qwerty keyboard.
- A "downgraded" Bold "look and feel" so that the current Bold look like an evolution of the Curve instead of a modern Bold.

It has made me - at least temporarily - desert to iphone 4.

But I miss my BB and would be back in a second if they launched a true upgrade to the original Bold 9000, which to me is :
- Same physical design/look just a tiny bit smaller (somewhere between 9000 and 9700 in size). Smaller menu/phone buttons should enable keeping screen at 9000 size still.
- Improved overall build quality, ideally with option for real leather on back.
- A really improved camera.
- State of the art screen resolution (Amoled, iPhone4 quality)
- Touchscreen for easier OS6 top-level navigation between applications
- Trackpad for improved navigation within applications
- Audiojack, mute and lock button on top

How many of you agree ?

[Sweet_n_Fierce]

I agree with you on the new bolds looking like "evolved curves"; the whole point of the blackberry BOLD 9000 was...well...BOLD....from the size, to the screen, to the over all feel!
Blackberry 9000 > other blackberry phones

[elgolfman]

Sign me up... I have been whining about this for a long time now. I have heard no rumors of such a device though.

[Skeevecr]

Originally Posted by espenfjogstad

But I miss my BB and would be back in a second if they launched a true upgrade to the original Bold 9000, which to me is :
- Same physical design/look just a tiny bit smaller (somewhere between 9000 and 9700 in size). Smaller menu/phone buttons should enable keeping screen at 9000 size still.
- Improved overall build quality, ideally with option for real leather on back.
- A really improved camera.
- State of the art screen resolution (Amoled, iPhone4 quality)
- Touchscreen for easier OS6 top-level navigation between applications
- Trackpad for improved navigation within applications
- Audiojack, mute and lock button on top

How many of you agree ?

Assuming they do include a touchscreen then a new device being the size of a 9000 would make more sense than trying to make something between 9000 and 9700. One thing to bear in mind is that since this would be a smaller screen then even moving up to vga would result in a fairly high pixel density, albeit not up there with some of the snazziest screens, but clearly competitive which they aren't currently.

Hopefully they will have seen with the torch that the combination of trackpad and touchscreen does actually work really well.

I expect we won't see much if any change in the camera from the 5mp of current models, unless you are making a phone where the camera is the main focus then it isn't a big enough selling point to overspend.

One thing I very much doubt is that we will see Rim banking on any single model to bring them back to the lead, I expect we will see new models in all the main families bold, curve, storm and torch along with them trying other things since it has been a long time since they took the one size fit all approach.

[espenfjogstad]

There is a wise old saying that goes : "If you try to be something for everybody, you end up not being anything for anybody".

I am not advocating a "one size fits all" approach. I am advocating that RIM should focus on building phones that build on the strengths of their platform. RIMs strength is in messaging. It is by far the best technology platform/OS for people who do a lot of messaging and calling. It is also obvious - despite Steve Jobs' claims to the contrary - that a physical QWERTY keyboard is the best/fastest/most convenient HW platform to do such messaging. The STORM is in my opinion a "panicked response" product that RIM should never have made, and which should be discontinued. Why build a Blackberry specifically designed for people for whom messaging is NOT the key buying criteria of a phone - these people will not like the BB OS compared to Apple IOS anyway.

In my opinion RIM would be better off constantly improving 3QWERTY models :
One Low cost option - Targeted toward youth and very cost aware consumers - build qualitylevel, tech specificaitons and formfactor like current Curve
One Medium cost option - Targeted toward business segment - quality level and form factor and tech specifications as current Bold
One High cost options - Targeted toward upper business segment and affluent designaware consumers - quality level, form factor and tech specs state of the art at any time (real leather back, max resolution screen, supersnappy processor, ample RAM, ample built in storage etc, high quality camera).

Price range without subsidy in the 2-300, 4-500 and 8-900 USD range for the three devices, and my guess is that sales would be split roughly 25, 50 and 25 % respectively

That way RIM could get a huge marketshare in the large segment of the total market that prefers QWERTY, as opposed to a small market share in the overall market.

[corymcnutt]

Originally Posted by espenfjogstad

There is a wise old saying that goes : "If you try to be something for everybody, you end up not being anything for anybody".

I am not advocating a "one size fits all" approach. I am advocating that RIM should focus on building phones that build on the strengths of their platform. RIMs strength is in messaging. It is by far the best technology platform/OS for people who do a lot of messaging and calling. It is also obvious - despite Steve Jobs' claims to the contrary - that a physical QWERTY keyboard is the best/fastest/most convenient HW platform to do such messaging. The STORM is in my opinion a "panicked response" product that RIM should never have made, and which should be discontinued. Why build a Blackberry specifically designed for people for whom messaging is NOT the key buying criteria of a phone - these people will not like the BB OS compared to Apple IOS anyway...

Hence the problem...this is YOUR opinion, and not everybody, certainly myself, do not agree with you. It is not "obvious" to me that a physical keyboard is the best way to text. I can type faster on my Storm2 than I ever could on my physical kb BB...again, saying the Storm "should be discontinued" is, as you admit, YOUR opinion. Again, I certainly disagree, as I LOVE my S2...I want BOTH, great messaging AND a large screen for reading those messages. Hence RIM's dilemma - how do they satisfy the most people and increase sales? I agree they need to have a GREAT Bold; but what about a Flip Phone, and Touchscreen...three designs that fit most needs. I guess we have to have a Slider in there too??? Where does it all end? You can't be a one-trick pony these days and survive very long, so I think RIM will have to try and satisfy the most people they can.

[Skeevecr]

I don't think that a flip phone is going to be integral to their line-up, it is a form factor that is ignored outside north america and is a lot less important than it used to be in north america judging by the fact that only Sprint got the last one.

At the mid to high end a bold is obviously essential and to go with it you would also expect to see a new storm and torch with all 3 having a touchscreen since it would increase development time to not support one on a new bold.

At the mid to low end, a new curve is a no-brainer as those are a model that sells very well and also helps to draw people away from dumbphones too.

Beyond this essential four we might see another new form factor introduced (maybe a landscape slider or a storm hd with a bigger screen for example) or updates to existing lesser form factors like the pearl or style, but if carriers are already taking 3 or 4 of the main models they may not have any room for anything else.

[67Tucker]

The bulky @ssed 9000 is gone. Just let it go!

[TheEdge]

Originally Posted by espenfjogstad

There is a wise old saying that goes : "If you try to be something for everybody, you end up not being anything for anybody".

I am not advocating a "one size fits all" approach. I am advocating that RIM should focus on building phones that build on the strengths of their platform. RIMs strength is in messaging. It is by far the best technology platform/OS for people who do a lot of messaging and calling. It is also obvious - despite Steve Jobs' claims to the contrary - that a physical QWERTY keyboard is the best/fastest/most convenient HW platform to do such messaging. The STORM is in my opinion a "panicked response" product that RIM should never have made, and which should be discontinued. Why build a Blackberry specifically designed for people for whom messaging is NOT the key buying criteria of a phone - these people will not like the BB OS compared to Apple IOS anyway.

In my opinion RIM would be better off constantly improving 3QWERTY models :
One Low cost option - Targeted toward youth and very cost aware consumers - build qualitylevel, tech specificaitons and formfactor like current Curve
One Medium cost option - Targeted toward business segment - quality level and form factor and tech specifications as current Bold
One High cost options - Targeted toward upper business segment and affluent designaware consumers - quality level, form factor and tech specs state of the art at any time (real leather back, max resolution screen, supersnappy processor, ample RAM, ample built in storage etc, high quality camera).

Price range without subsidy in the 2-300, 4-500 and 8-900 USD range for the three devices, and my guess is that sales would be split roughly 25, 50 and 25 % respectively

That way RIM could get a huge marketshare in the large segment of the total market that prefers QWERTY, as opposed to a small market share in the overall market.

Spot on!! And may i add, RIM.. it's better to get 10% of market share that is worth billions than 90% of the market which is worth much less.. positioning... hello... focus... hello? Whatever happened to being a leader rather than a follower?

At least Nokia kicks some serious buttx when it comes to hardware specs.. but you RIM, your 600+Mhz processor (really????) coupled with a weak marketplace and a mediocre OS... penetrate well for crying out loud.

And finally, LISTEN TO THE COMMUNITY FOR ONCE RIM! We bash because we care and want you to improve, don't EVER forget that.

[mountainman]

Originally Posted by 67Tucker

The bulky @ssed 9000 is gone. Just let it go!

Go smoke some more crack... yeah, that's it.

The Bold 9000 form factor is the Holy Grail of Crack-heads. We need it, we want it, we must have it. C'mon RIM, build this phone please!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Skeevecr]

Originally Posted by mountainman

The Bold 9000 form factor is the Holy Grail of Crack-heads. We need it, we want it, we must have it. C'mon RIM, build this phone please!

I don't think a return to the size of the 9000 will have anything to do with it being the 'holy grail' so much as it simply being due to the fact that it would allow them to include as big a touchscreen as possible while the device still clearly remains a bold and on a similar note I wouldn't expect any of those mockups with a tall screen to be real either as anyone wanting that combination of screen size and physical keyboard are better off with a torch since you can still type one-handed with one of those.

[jaymojones]

I am waiting for this phone as well. This was definitely RIM's best phone ever. I still to this day can't figure out what has taken so long for an up to date device.

[axe50]

Even with the 9000 there was a lot of watsed space that could have been better used for a larger screen or a smaller casing (without changing the keyboard). Either would have satisfied most. Have to say that I honesly prefer the 9700 from a size and keyboard styling, but what I long for is the same size, same keyboard, but larger screen that is also touchscreen. Look at any 9700 and you can see there's almost an inch of available space by moving the keyboard down and above the current screen.

Its not so much RIM copying android and itoy, but more droid copying berry...ala "droid pro"

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[lssanjose]

Then why make the storm to begin with?

[Skeevecr]

Originally Posted by lssanjose

Then why make the storm to begin with?

Rim aren't so arrogant as to try to impose a one size fits all idea on potential customers so they offer a range of form factors and that's why you'll see new bolds, storms, torches, curves etc. in the future.