[wtmk81]

I too was contemplating the switch to iPhone 5 when it's released. In fact at one point I was certain I would, for various reasons. Bigger screen, better browser and more apps. That all changed when I actually got to use the 9900, it is a very nice device. The browser is very fast the touch screen is responsive, the resolution is superb, it looks and feels amazing. The owner (telecom employee) said the battery life isn't up to par yet, but it's still beta. To be honest if I get through a day I don't care. I charge every night. I would encourage those who are thinking of switching to try both out first. I think you'll be very pleasantly surprised with the 9900. You still may choose the iPhone but your decision will not be as easy as you thought.

[nyc_rock]

i had the iphone4 and the blackberry as well.. simple minded as most people iphones just don't want to have that learning curve of using a more complex phone with encryption, settings, different sounds for each profile etc etc.

sorry if u took it offensively, but it's true.. i'm not a business user, yes i have a blackberry for my work, but i also have one for my personal device and it does both well..

the reason why iphones are labelled for "children" is because a lot of children have iphones and grandmas and gramdpas... and it's mostly for games..

but u are right.. iphones are suited for the ones who need it for it is!

But its not true. Its not even close to being true. Its simply your opinion. I have used blackberry's constantly from 2006-2010. They arent complicated. Not even close to being complicated. Blackberry die hards have been jumping ship for the last year and half. Why? What, all of the sudden blackberry users were fed up with the "complexity' of the BB OS? I dont think so. The Blackberry OS can be considered dead straightforward. No, the issue is that the Blackberry OS is totally antiquated and the hardware is completely underpowered. Hence, 1.2 ghz models finally coming to market ( a year too late I might add).

Im glad it makes you feel better to rationalize the demise of a once great brand, but outside of your little world (and crackberry to a certain degree) you are just kidding yourself.

PS-Looking forward to trying out the 9900. Although no FFC is a bit of dealbreaker as I travel alot for work and Video Chatting has become one of my favorite things to do while im on the road.

[kbz1960]

Why not just video chat on the tab or laptop that you take with you? Guess you don't take one?

[nyc_rock]

Why not just video chat on the tab or laptop that you take with you? Guess you don't take one?

My lap top doesnt have a built in video chat camera. Could I bring a web cam? Sure, but that would be another thing to lug around and more importantly, I can video chat now wherever I happen to be, at a moments notice. With a 5 year old at home, the windows where a video chat can take place are few and far between. Lets just say I am on his schedule. LOL.

I can be at dinner, step away from the table for a second and intiate a skype video call within 10 seconds of recieving a text from my wife saying, "its now or never for a video chat, it this kid doesnt go to bed Im going to have a breakdown".

[mssca]

My lap top doesnt have a built in video chat camera. Could I bring a web cam? Sure, but that would be another thing to lug around and more importantly, I can video chat now wherever I happen to be, at a moments notice. With a 5 year old at home, the windows where a video chat can take place are few and far between. Lets just say I am on his schedule. LOL.

I can be at dinner, step away from the table for a second and intiate a skype video call within 10 seconds of recieving a text from my wife saying, "its now or never for a video chat, it this kid doesnt go to bed Im going to have a breakdown".

I agree with you. I LOVE the BalckBerry keyboard and I can't seems to type fast on iPhones. That is the ONLY and one and ONLY reason why I am still with BB. I think having lots of features on a "smartphone" is important because what is the point of having a small computer type phone on your hand and yet you can't use it as one?

I think RIMM is going down. As a Canadian I am very disappointed in RIM, but the truth is BlackBerry keyboards are the best in the world for me. I will look in to buying a after market physical add-on keyboard for iPhone because I can't use a phone as a smartphone without good apps and features.

I hope RIM open up the App World and encourage developers to create apps of them. Yes, we need a front facing camera because that's one of the points of having a "smartphone".

[jefo13]

I agree with you. I LOVE the BalckBerry keyboard and I can't seems to type fast on iPhones. That is the ONLY and one and ONLY reason why I am still with BB. I think having lots of features on a "smartphone" is important because what is the point of having a small computer type phone on your hand and yet you can't use it as one?

I think RIMM is going down. As a Canadian I am very disappointed in RIM, but the truth is BlackBerry keyboards are the best in the world for me. I will look in to buying a after market physical add-on keyboard for iPhone because I can't use a phone as a smartphone without good apps and features.

I hope RIM open up the App World and encourage developers to create apps of them. Yes, we need a front facing camera because that's one of the points of having a "smartphone".

Not to mention 8 megapixel camera...

[kbz1960]

My lap top doesnt have a built in video chat camera. Could I bring a web cam? Sure, but that would be another thing to lug around and more importantly, I can video chat now wherever I happen to be, at a moments notice. With a 5 year old at home, the windows where a video chat can take place are few and far between. Lets just say I am on his schedule. LOL.

I can be at dinner, step away from the table for a second and intiate a skype video call within 10 seconds of recieving a text from my wife saying, "its now or never for a video chat, it this kid doesnt go to bed Im going to have a breakdown".

LOL can understand that, I was thinking more if you're in a meeting you can't video chat, if you're driving down the road - nope again unless you pull over. Was just thinking you would be at your hotel when time to do so.

[nikesu]

For me, until iPhones have REAL push email that is delivered in a non-battery draining way like RIM does (i.e. pushing a notification over the phone network to indicate new message available) then the iPhone will ALWAYS be inferior. Oh and for heavens sake, you can't even swap the battery out. For someone who's moving around all day, doesn't have a chance to recharge and who needs 12+hrs of heavy use, the iPhone is a very expensive brick. And don't get me started on the superiority of BB's for messaging and calendar syncing etc. Those who are saying "RIM is always 1yr behind Apple" are simply not thinking rationally, in that there are many areas in which Apple is way behind RIM and that there is a whole lot more to phones than screen size, processor speed and app availability.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

There are tons of email clients like Mobileme, web2mail, Seven, Emoze, Logicmail, mobipush etc that can do almost same or if not better. A good email client will cost you about $8-15/month�still way cheaper than BIS. One more thing, they are not tied up to carriers�.that means you can just pop in any sim and start getting push emails as long as you pay monthly subscription charge & you have generic data plan. I hate this BIS when you are on roaming.

Battery life: I agree that BB has better battery life in comparison to other platforms. But the reason is simple��BB uses antique 600 mhz cpu (these days GHZ is the norm) and tiny 2.4" screen compared to GHZ & 4"+ screen of android & iphones. Who's gonna surf & play games on BB anyway?? So it's no brainer that BBs have edge over other platforms when it comes to battery life. That�s one of the main reason why RIM is still using outdated cpu in the yr 2011. If iphone were non-touch with tiny screen��battery would last a couple of weeks�.not kidding.
Regarding removable battery compartment, lets think other way. Can RIM make their phone like unibody iphone4?? Wat u gonna do when your BB hangs??Lol. It'd be disaster if you are not able to do battery pull in your BB. And It does require battery pull at least once a day to keep the device run smoothly�..let alone the time to reboot.

Build Quality: Ppl often says BB is built like a tank. To be honest, this is the worst phone I've ever used in terms of hardware quality. BB is made up all cheap plastic. But here's the thing: I dropped my BB numerous times�.. still works. The reason is simple again��Iphone & android phones are more vulnerable coz of their huge screen size. Moreover plastic absorbs shock better than metal or aluminium body.

My current phone: BB9780 and previous phone was iphone 3gs. I just agree with OP that the more delay on release of 9900, the more RIM lose its market share. I'm also torn between 9900 & iphone5. It all boils down to release date coz iphone4s/5 will do well as usual no matter what.

[kbz1960]

Blackberries need a daily battery pull? Coulda fooled me, even with my tour I only pull the battery after installing or uninstalling an app or when it's been on for close to a month.

[papped]

I just agree with OP that the more delay on release of 9900, the more RIM lose its market share.

Obviously... No released phones = lost market share. Doesn't even really need to be argued.

[kelton]

It is getting to the point that blackberry isn't even competing against iPhone or android.
Their audiences are getting to be entirely different markets.

The blackberry is a phone that is very fast in usage.... and one handed usage at that. It is an incredibly practical work phone that happens to have a number of entertainment options as well.

The last thing of concern is front facing camera, angry birds, etc. I'm not all business, but those things mean absolutely nothing to me.

There are surely those that can operate an android or iPhone very quickly, but I have never witnessed one of those folks in real life. Instead I see people carefully tapping on their glass..... often saying, "oops, wait... hold it... no... oh, here... I got it going.... there!". It is downright painful to watch them doing any writing/texting/note taking.

The Droid 3 was on my radar (physical keyboard), but the Droid 3 forum is jam packed with OS crashes, reboots, horrifying battery life, etc. If someone could tell me that I am being misled on that, I would pick up that phone today and give it a trial run.

[nyc_rock]

It is getting to the point that blackberry isn't even competing against iPhone or android.
Their audiences are getting to be entirely different markets.

The blackberry is a phone that is very fast in usage.... and one handed usage at that. It is an incredibly practical work phone that happens to have a number of entertainment options as well.

The last thing of concern is front facing camera, angry birds, etc. I'm not all business, but those things mean absolutely nothing to me.

There are surely those that can operate an android or iPhone very quickly, but I have never witnessed one of those folks in real life. Instead I see people carefully tapping on their glass..... often saying, "oops, wait... hold it... no... oh, here... I got it going.... there!". It is downright painful to watch them doing any writing/texting/note taking.

The Droid 3 was on my radar (physical keyboard), but the Droid 3 forum is jam packed with OS crashes, reboots, horrifying battery life, etc. If someone could tell me that I am being misled on that, I would pick up that phone today and give it a trial run.

Good to know that a FFC means nothing to you. That means you have no issues with the bold 9900. But let me ask you this; would you NOT buy the 9900 if it had a FFC? Im sure you would still buy it. I, on the other hand probably will not. That my friend is why BB is where it is (over-simplification warning in effect).

[lax42]

Kelton the idevices are one of the easiest devices to get use to lol they only have one button.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[kelton]

I suppose I am interested in seeing RIM succeed because greater numbers of users leads to good things.

If it takes a front facing camera and some Pokeman games, I suppose it couldn't hurt. It would not be a selling point *for me*, but if it moves phones, I get it.

Still, I get the feeling that the iPhone ship has sailed. They are now very different beasts that appeal to very different people.

If RIM can reinvent itself one day, they might just become the next big tech thing.

Regardless, I'm happy to switch to something else, but I do not want the phone to get in its own way when I'm actually trying to get something done.

[yivek]

I suppose I am interested in seeing RIM succeed because greater numbers of users leads to good things.

If it takes a front facing camera and some Pokeman games, I suppose it couldn't hurt. It would not be a selling point *for me*, but if it moves phones, I get it.

Still, I get the feeling that the iPhone ship has sailed. They are now very different beasts that appeal to very different people.

If RIM can reinvent itself one day, they might just become the next big tech thing.

Regardless, I'm happy to switch to something else, but I do not want the phone to get in its own way when I'm actually trying to get something done.

I am with you, I do not see many people who truly love BB going to iPhone and Android. I tired Android, it wasn't for me, I went back to my BB.

I think we are talking about 3 distinctly different people, BlackBerry Owners, Android Owners, iPhone Owners. As for all this talk about RIM is dead iPhone/Android rules I don't care; I skip those posts. I do not think RIM will be the number one hand held seller with the iPhone around. I don't care, I just want RIM around so I can keep getting new BlackBerry's. If I wanted to be cool and in the in-crowed of my friends I would have bought an iPhone. I don't think my BB is better than an iPhone, I regularly state that it is not (nor do I think the 99xx will be better either). I don't even put my BB in that same segment. I will say for business, I think the BB is better than Android though.

[trojanscott]

I really don't care about being cool, (insert joke here) or being with the in-crowd. I'd like a phone that can make calls, get email, AND have a few cool apps, surf the net, and not freeze, reboot, etc. Iphones do all of that, at least that seems to be the message I'm getting from people.
Most of my friends are on android now, and in the past year, I've lost about 5 BB friends, all defected. We're all in our late 30's, early 40's... not kids. Between us, there are some working for major corporations, some small business owners, some a little of both. My big concern with iphone was call quality, battery life, and email capabilities. Nobody I know with an iphone is complaining about any of these issues.
I had always told people, "won't go to the iPhone because ATT is so bad."(ATT IS bad in my area) well, now that it's on Verizon, I think I'm going to give it a shot, see what I think.

I'm going to try to hold out for the IP5, who know, maybe by some miracle Verizon will actually get a BB worth a darn in the time frame, and I can check it out and change my mind. But right at this moment, I've had it with my phone. 2 years with this thing is enough!

[yivek]

Most of my friends a are mid 20s to early 30s so a tad younger and pick on me for my BB (I guess you could call us Kids). Mostly teasing anyway showing off all the fun toys they have on it. I think the iPhone will work with my email at work, but android would not. Or at least after two weeks of playing with it, I wasn't sure it was 100%. I as far as call quality, I think the iPhone is fine I never heard an issue with it when speaking to my friends or using it to make calls.

Fully agree, at the end of 2 years, you would expect a new device to be out for us to purchase.

[lax42]

I really don't care about being cool, (insert joke here) or being with the in-crowd. I'd like a phone that can make calls, get email, AND have a few cool apps, surf the net, and not freeze, reboot, etc. Iphones do all of that, at least that seems to be the message I'm getting from people.
Most of my friends are on android now, and in the past year, I've lost about 5 BB friends, all defected. We're all in our late 30's, early 40's... not kids. Between us, there are some working for major corporations, some small business owners, some a little of both. My big concern with iphone was call quality, battery life, and email capabilities. Nobody I know with an iphone is complaining about any of these issues.
I had always told people, "won't go to the iPhone because ATT is so bad."(ATT IS bad in my area) well, now that it's on Verizon, I think I'm going to give it a shot, see what I think.

I'm going to try to hold out for the IP5, who know, maybe by some miracle Verizon will actually get a BB worth a darn in the time frame, and I can check it out and change my mind. But right at this moment, I've had it with my phone. 2 years with this thing is enough!

I hope your with verizon now, because there new data plans suck if your use to unlimited data

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[trojanscott]

I hope your with verizon now, because there new data plans suck if your use to unlimited data

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I am, and confirmed both on the phone and at a store that I would be grandfathered in. If for any reason they kicked back, I'd tell them to kiss their 4 phones goodbye. (my family.)

I was told I could jump from any platform to another, including from BES (44.99) a month, down to 29.99 a month, and back again, etc. I've always had an unlimited plan, so if they ever pulled it, I'd leave.

[papped]

As long as you don't switch to a non-smartphone and keep unlimited data you are fine. If you do, you are screwed (like if you switch to a feature phone).

[lax42]

I am, and confirmed both on the phone and at a store that I would be grandfathered in. If for any reason they kicked back, I'd tell them to kiss their 4 phones goodbye. (my family.)

I was told I could jump from any platform to another, including from BES (44.99) a month, down to 29.99 a month, and back again, etc. I've always had an unlimited plan, so if they ever pulled it, I'd leave.

Yea I was just checking to see if you were already on verizon, because its really point less to be on verizon or at&t and have a smartphone and not be able to use unlimited data

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[ADGrant]

Yea I was just checking to see if you were already on verizon, because its really point less to be on verizon or at&t and have a smartphone and not be able to use unlimited data

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

You probably won't need unlimited data for a BB. They don't use that much data.

[Bla1ze]

any phone that can be exposed via going to a website (jailbreakme.com) is a major SCREW up!

FTP access to anyone's jailbroken iphone via open wifi network..
username: dottie
password: alpine
(might have changed, i haven't researched it in a while)

that's the username and password for ROOT!! ROOT for goodness sake! when a hacker can hash out the root password to anything it's bad, especially in 15 seconds! you can wipe out an iphone in less then 20 seconds! access anything on the iphone.. text messages, emails, passwords etc etc etc...

Except all of this stuff can be closed and locked down using same said Jailbreak. Epic FUD though..

[lax42]

^^^yup, jail breaking actually makes it more secure

[BoldtotheMax]

Amazing how we don't need to jailbreak our phones to make it more secure.

Sheeple, I love them!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com