[ChumsFuture]

i love my 8900 and the new 9700 but after seeing the Zune HD and the new beast of a cpu that is Tegra, i think i'll hold off and see what the new Project Pink phone from Microsoft is gonna look like.

the industry is moving incredibly fast and i fear that RIM isn't keeping up. like others have mentioned, these new phones are just evolutions of what we already have. i want RIM to introduce phones that will keep up with the Palm Pre and anything else new that's released.

[Afterfire]

Im definitely switching. I have an 8320 and I just bought a 8900 to satisfy the itch for the Driftwood till it releases. Hate that it wont have UMA but Ill live and enjoy the 3G where I can.

[dwkfoldes]

The only way I'll be able to switch is if the phone has UMA. Tmobile has to get on the ball with UMA and 3G because it is possible to have both. I'll upgrade to a motorola morrison which is supposed to have both 3G and UMA on the android platform. I like my 8900 but its all about 3G and UMA.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[berryite]

Im definitely switching. I have an 8320 and I just bought a 8900 to satisfy the itch for the Driftwood till it releases. Hate that it wont have UMA but Ill live and enjoy the 3G where I can.

Opps, I didn't realize that the Driftwood will not have UMA. NO UMA is a total deal killer for me. I wouldn't consider 3G and a trackpad to be an acceptable tradeoff for the loss of UMA.

I'll stick with my 8900. No way I'm living without UMA.

[ctt0002]

Why won't the driftwood have uma? Does it mean that it doesn't have wifi? Sorry if it has been answered before, I'm new at this and there's a lot of info to go through.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[aristile]

Why won't the driftwood have uma? Does it mean that it doesn't have wifi? Sorry if it has been answered before, I'm new at this and there's a lot of info to go through.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

UMA is a separate feature from WiFi. A phone can have WiFi but not UMA but WiFi is a pre-requisite for UMA.

[ctt0002]

UMA is a separate feature from WiFi. A phone can have WiFi but not UMA but WiFi is a pre-requisite for UMA.

Thanks for clarifying that up. Another question, does the driftwood have wifi? Or has it not yet been confirmed yet?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[aristile]

Thanks for clarifying that up. Another question, does the driftwood have wifi? Or has it not yet been confirmed yet?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I believe it will have 3G and WiFi but it will not have UMA.

[godzilla07]

No, the Driftwood should have UMA. To be honest, I don't care about UMA. Give me 3G. But I'm the exact opposite of the average 8900 user on these forums. I need 3G. I tether. I have needed simultaneous voice and data in the past. I use Pandora on a daily basis. I have perfect 3G reception, so I could care less about UMA. But 3G is a "you don't know what you don't have" sort of thing. 3G is for when I'm on the go. Wi-Fi and UMA is great but I don't have a Wi-Fi hotspot with me everywhere I go. I'm on EDGE 90% of the time even at home because my UMA connection has never been solid.

RIM has an interesting strategy going. It seems that they have a strategy of releasing LOTS of new models in close succession. The differences between the models are "evolutionary" not "revolutionary." The differences between the device released today as opposed to the one released just a few months ago becomes not that significant. What after all are the differences between the Driftwood and the 8900? 3G and a trackpad seems to be pretty much it.

I've really never loved a cell phone more than my 8900. I've *liked* other ones I've had but the 8900 seems to me to be kinda special. I'm not sure that just 3G and a trackpad are all that special particularly in light of the fact that T-Mobile's 3G network still needs a lot of work.

What are we really talking about here? A minor improvement in data speeds if you are occasionally lucky enough to be in a 3G area and a trackpad? That's it? Well that to me is ... well, a very minor evolution, nothing revolutionary.

Not sure what my real impulse will be when the Driftwood is released. I can sure tell you that I'm not going to be standing in any lines or paying through the nose to get one. I could live with my 8900 for a long time and be happy.

I'm the exact opposite from you. I like my 8900 but I will chuck it out of the window for the Driftwood. I begrudgingly got the 8900 because my 8320 was running out of memory constantly. I have berated T-Mobile constantly and I still do for not picking up the Bold at all. 3G is a big deal for me.

Here are my observations.

EDGE = 250 kbps
3.5G (HSDPA) = ~1+ Mbps

That makes a huge difference in tethering. EDGE can take 20-30 seconds to load a webpage such as CrackBerry. 3G can do the same task a lot faster. It also makes a difference in some tasks on the device, such as streaming radio. I'll be able to use the HQ setting in Pandora now with 3G and the Driftwood. I can't use HQ on my 8900 unless I'm over Wi-Fi. I've also needed simultaneous voice and data many times. 3G is now, EDGE is 2006.

[aristile]

No, the Driftwood should have UMA. To be honest, I don't care about UMA. Give me 3G. But I'm the exact opposite of the average 8900 user on these forums. I need 3G. I tether. I have needed simultaneous voice and data in the past. I use Pandora on a daily basis. I have perfect 3G reception, so I could care less about UMA. But 3G is a "you don't know what you don't have" sort of thing. 3G is for when I'm on the go. Wi-Fi and UMA is great but I don't have a Wi-Fi hotspot with me everywhere I go. I'm on EDGE 90% of the time even at home because my UMA connection has never been solid.



I'm the exact opposite from you. I like my 8900 but I will chuck it out of the window for the Driftwood. I begrudgingly got the 8900 because my 8320 was running out of memory constantly. I have berated T-Mobile constantly and I still do for not picking up the Bold at all. 3G is a big deal for me.

Here are my observations.

EDGE = 250 kbps
3.5G (HSDPA) = ~1+ Mbps

That makes a huge difference in tethering. EDGE can take 20-30 seconds to load a webpage such as CrackBerry. 3G can do the same task a lot faster. It also makes a difference in some tasks on the device, such as streaming radio. I'll be able to use the HQ setting in Pandora now with 3G and the Driftwood. I can't use HQ on my 8900 unless I'm over Wi-Fi. I've also needed simultaneous voice and data many times. 3G is now, EDGE is 2006.

I definitely agree with you that 3G is better than EDGE and that is most noticeable when Tethering. At the same time, please don't bash EDGE like it is chopped liver. 3G does have its advantages but it also has its disadvantages also, so does EDGE. Neither technology is perfect. The truth is that, on the devices, there are more situations than not where the difference between EDGE and 3G are not big a all. For normal users, they really won't notice a difference. I do understand when 3G is needed and there are users that do need it but there more users do not need 3G. EDGE is still a good technology and it is very acceptable for most users.

[godzilla07]

I definitely agree with you that 3G is better than EDGE and that is most noticeable when Tethering. At the same time, please don't bash EDGE like it is chopped liver. 3G does have its advantages but it also has its disadvantages also, so does EDGE. Neither technology is perfect. The truth is that, on the devices, there are more situations than not where the difference between EDGE and 3G are not big a all. For normal users, they really won't notice a difference. I do understand when 3G is needed and there are users that do need it but there more users do not need 3G. EDGE is still a good technology and it is very acceptable for most users.

I can get a day out of a Bold like I can with the 8900 with hard usage. Here's the long rant scathing T-Mobile USA and RIM.

Think about this for a second. The 8900 is on many carriers worldwide, and especially on European and Asian ones, there is no EDGE. There is only GPRS. That's right, GPRS. For you youngin's to the BB world that don't know what GPRS is, GPRS is as fast as your average dial-up connection. GPRS is painfully slow. RIM decided to castrate the 8900's appeal worldwide by not giving it 3G. They didn't give the 8900 3G because they didn't want it to take sales away from the flagship, the Bold. The 8900 has more app memory, a decent camera, a smaller size and a slightly higher resolution screen. I'm sure that everybody would take the 8900 over the Bold if both devices had 3G and I know I would. RIM decided to roll out a high-end device in the year 2009 without 3G. The 8900 is going up against the Nokia E71, and other various WM devices. All of those devices have 3G. That is simply unacceptable. Then there's also the relatively high cost of BIS services in other countries or lack of it at all. But RIM decided to take out a major feature from a high-end device just so its baby, the flagship Bold didn't have its sales taken away from it. I know this is a good strategy but the mind boggles to why RIM released a device without 3G in the year 2009.

Now onto T-Mobile USA. I know that they don't have much of a 3G footprint. But what about the customers that do have 3G? T-Mobile has no 3G device selection really and it's only being built up now. The Bold should have been on T-Mobile. It would have been a big addition to T-Mobile's handset portfolio. But they didn't want it. T-Mobile could have ran the 8900 and Bold side by side like AT&T. The Bold is the device for the power user but T-Mobile didn't want those sales. The 8900 is great but it's not great for a power user because of the lack of one acronym. 3G. I can type more but I'm tired.

[1Fish2FishRedFishBlueFish]

Not a fan of the trackpad. I just got my 8900 a few months ago, and I absolutely LOVE it. It hasn't given me any issues yet, and I got the phone for *free*.

[aristile]

I can get a day out of a Bold like I can with the 8900 with hard usage. Here's the long rant scathing T-Mobile USA and RIM.

Think about this for a second. The 8900 is on many carriers worldwide, and especially on European and Asian ones, there is no EDGE. There is only GPRS. That's right, GPRS. For you youngin's to the BB world that don't know what GPRS is, GPRS is as fast as your average dial-up connection. GPRS is painfully slow. RIM decided to castrate the 8900's appeal worldwide by not giving it 3G. They didn't give the 8900 3G because they didn't want it to take sales away from the flagship, the Bold. The 8900 has more app memory, a decent camera, a smaller size and a slightly higher resolution screen. I'm sure that everybody would take the 8900 over the Bold if both devices had 3G and I know I would. RIM decided to roll out a high-end device in the year 2009 without 3G. The 8900 is going up against the Nokia E71, and other various WM devices. All of those devices have 3G. That is simply unacceptable. Then there's also the relatively high cost of BIS services in other countries or lack of it at all. But RIM decided to take out a major feature from a high-end device just so its baby, the flagship Bold didn't have its sales taken away from it. I know this is a good strategy but the mind boggles to why RIM released a device without 3G in the year 2009.

Now onto T-Mobile USA. I know that they don't have much of a 3G footprint. But what about the customers that do have 3G? T-Mobile has no 3G device selection really and it's only being built up now. The Bold should have been on T-Mobile. It would have been a big addition to T-Mobile's handset portfolio. But they didn't want it. T-Mobile could have ran the 8900 and Bold side by side like AT&T. The Bold is the device for the power user but T-Mobile didn't want those sales. The 8900 is great but it's not great for a power user because of the lack of one acronym. 3G. I can type more but I'm tired.

I really can't understand why T-mobile does not have a 3G Blackberry but the fact remains that they passed on the Bold. So I can sympathize with you there. Regardless of the size of their 3G network, I think they would be well served to give their customers the option of purchasing a 3G Blackberry if they like. Having more options is always a good thing and will, in turn, benefit a larger range of customers. Since T-mobile did not have a large 3G network but they still needed a newer Blackberry to sell, the 8900 was created to fill this gap. Also, remember that this device was first released for T-mobile Germany, so it clearly had a need there as well. Meanwhile, AT&T supposedly was only going to carry 3G devices but when the 8900 was developed that all changed. They quickly realized that it provides another option to their customers that they could not pass up. Not all users have a need for 3G and many are also loyal to the Curve line. The 8900 satisfies the customers in that market.

In the end, I really don't understand the argument here. There are more options available between the models and the technology, so we all win. It seems to me that your beef is with your carrier and not with RIM. In that case, if you really need 3G then you may really want to consider changing carriers. I know AT&T's costs are higher but if you really do need 3G then the costs are justifiable in your case and it shouldn't be an issue.

[clitrenta]

Well there's a pic of the mythical BlackBerry Driftwood, well not it's not so mythical. So who is selling their 8900 or getting rid of it for the Driftwood? I know I am. I've been waiting for this ever since I got my 8320.

T-Mobile BlackBerry 9700 Glimpsed in the Wild! | CrackBerry.com

That would be nice but I'm not due for an upgrade for a long time so I'd have to pay full price. I'm thinking this baby will be a tad on the pricey side but she sure looks pretty.

[YMarkY]

i'll hold off and see what the new Project Pink phone from Microsoft is gonna look like.

i want RIM to introduce phones that will keep up with the Palm Pre and anything else new that's released.

Thanks for the humor.