[Ghostnyc]

am I the only kinda ticked off that the 9700 doesn't have WiFi N chip installed?

New Pearl & 9650 have it, what gives?

[Nuggstein]

Um, the 9650 does NOT have 802.11n.

[original00]

New Bold 512 ram no wireless N
New Pearl Wireless N and 624mhz but 256 ram

I thought the pearl was low end and the Bold was top of the line???? I guess RIM and the carriers are still playing the game of leaving out features in certain phones that don't make sense??

[anon(516601)]

am I the only kinda ticked off that the 9700 doesn't have WiFi N chip installed?

New Pearl & 9650 have it, what gives?

There will always be new devices and new features. You could wait your entire lifetime to buy a phone/Personal Computer/gadget and the moment you bought it a better one would come out. Guaranteed.

I agree that the Bold 9700 being a flagship should have launched with wireless N and at least 512Mb of memory last November, though. Now it just looks stupid that lesser models have better specifications.

I wonder if someone could enlighten me as to what CDMA is, though?

[DustBow]

makes no sense - new Bold also is 3D capable and has open GL but the Pearl doesn't.
God forbid consistentcy...

[sfjon918]

maybe because 9650 is on big red???? just a thought, cuz there berries don't have wifi

[Roscopcoletrain]

maybe because 9650 is on big red???? just a thought, cuz there berries don't have wifi

It has wifi, just not n. The S2 has wifi too.

[Artemis68]

I've heard that Wireless N may be a drain on the battery.

Would it really make that big of a difference on Wi-Fi speed?

[EnergyPlus]

Seems to be some confusion here. First, VZW (Big Red) DOES have WiFi enabled devices...I'm on VZW, with a Storm 2 and have WiFi. I think the OP's point is that the NEW, 9650, advertised with WiFi, only has WiFi G and B, not the newer, N standard. Oddly though, the lower ranked Pearl, does. That does seem kinda weird.

As to the question about CDMA, I see you're on Vodaphone, which uses GSM. CDMA is a different network technology and is used here in the US by both Verizon and Sprint, while T-Mobile and AT&T use GSM (as does much of Europe).

maybe because 9650 is on big red???? just a thought, cuz there berries don't have wifi

[anon(516601)]

I've heard that Wireless N may be a drain on the battery.

Would it really make that big of a difference on Wi-Fi speed?

I don't think that there would be much difference in speed per se, but range would definitely be improved, and that (having a stronger signal) could arguably improve battery life. Depending on how much extra juice is used by the "N" connection, anyway.

[rdyoung]

am I the only kinda ticked off that the 9700 doesn't have WiFi N chip installed?

New Pearl & 9650 have it, what gives?

The amount of ram/rom and the wireless chip in a device usually has to do with what is available at what price when its designed.
When the 9700 was first being designed, N chips were likely more expensive even in bulk for rim to be able to keep the price point they were aiming for, it may also have to do with market saturation of technology.

In a scan of my neighborhood, I am the only one using an n router ATM. Everyone else is still using g, so even if you had an n chip in your phone, if your not connecting to an N router, you wont get the most out of the chip, same as buying a BB without BIS or BES.

[anon(516601)]

Seems to be some confusion here. First, VZW (Big Red) DOES have WiFi enabled devices...I'm on VZW, with a Storm 2 and have WiFi. I think the OP's point is that the NEW, 9650, advertised with WiFi, only has WiFi G and B, not the newer, N standard. Oddly though, the lower ranked Pearl, does. That does seem kinda weird.

As to the question about CDMA, I see you're on Vodaphone, which uses GSM. CDMA is a different network technology and is used here in the US by both Verizon and Sprint, while T-Mobile and AT&T use GSM (as does much of Europe).

Thanks. - So it's a competitor to GSM and 3G, then? Are they the same speed?

[PDM]

There will always be new devices and new features. You could wait your entire lifetime to buy a phone/Personal Computer/gadget and the moment you bought it a better one would come out. Guaranteed.
[...]

+1

makes no sense - new Bold also is 3D capable and has open GL but the Pearl doesn't.
God forbid consistentcy...

"New" BOLD is CDMA and New Perl is GSM. Hence, New Perl has no openGL capability i.e chipset differences (i.e. Qualcomm supports openGL).

[rdyoung]

Thanks. - So it's a competitor to GSM and 3G, then? Are they the same speed?

Yes, its a competing technology, CDMA and GSM Have nothing to do with speed, they have to do with how a phone is connected to and communicates with the network. CDMA uses the phones ESN, while GSM uses a SIM card.
3g is short for Third Generation, and applies to any/all cellular technologies that are faster than previous ones.

[anon(516601)]

Yes, its a competing technology, CDMA and GSM Have nothing to do with speed, they have to do with how a phone is connected to and communicates with the network. CDMA uses the phones ESN, while GSM uses a SIM card.
3g is short for Third Generation, and applies to any/all cellular technologies that are faster than previous ones.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. . Living in Europe (UK) I'd never heard of it.

Edit: Just Googled it, and it's suprising how many networks use this worldwide. I thought it might have been a bit like Betamax, or HD-DVD, as in Verizon backed the losing team and was stuck with it, but although not quite as prevalent as GSM it seems to be quite popular.

[StAiChiLLiN]

I've heard that Wireless N may be a drain on the battery.

Would it really make that big of a difference on Wi-Fi speed?

Wireless N is really good for media. Everything else B & G is just fine.

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[Ghostnyc]

There will always be new devices and new features. You could wait your entire lifetime to buy a phone/Personal Computer/gadget and the moment you bought it a better one would come out. Guaranteed.

I agree that the Bold 9700 being a flagship should have launched with wireless N and at least 512Mb of memory last November, though. Now it just looks stupid that lesser models have better specifications.

I wonder if someone could enlighten me as to what CDMA is, though?

I guess that my problem. One would think that if you have a manufacturers flagship model device that device would have the absolute latest and greatest hardware & software. I know wifi N chips were available before launch of 9700, just annoyed that it wasn't included.

[EnergyPlus]

Actually, there are some speed differences, with CDMA being "advertised" as being faster. That being said though, they do bounce back and forth and the difference in the real world, is relatively slight. I do believe, however, that CDMA devices do better with picking up signals in buildings. There is a thread going on at the moment, that is fairly technical, discussing various frequencies, technologies and performance.

Currently, there is the LTE movement afoot, with VZW stating that they'll direct voice over the CDMA portion and data over the LTE (to try and reduce congestion over the network).

[mi_canuck]

OP the new Pearl probably gets 7.2Mbps HSPA or even 21 Mbps HSPA+ (the 9700 is 3.6 Mbps *only*)...

Would you cry about that too? Get over it!! It's called progress... The 9700 successor is going to raise the bar again... That's technology... Accept it

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[rdyoung]

I guess that my problem. One would think that if you have a manufacturers flagship model device that device would have the absolute latest and greatest hardware & software. I know wifi N chips were available before launch of 9700, just annoyed that it wasn't included.

How long do you think the 9700 was in the pipeline? Being designed, prototyped, etc. The truth with tech is this, its obsolete even as its being released. There is always something better right behind it, thats just the way it works. Once you understand that, all is better understood.

[rdyoung]

Actually, there are some speed differences, with CDMA being "advertised" as being faster. That being said though, they do bounce back and forth and the difference in the real world, is relatively slight. I do believe, however, that CDMA devices do better with picking up signals in buildings. There is a thread going on at the moment, that is fairly technical, discussing various frequencies, technologies and performance.

Currently, there is the LTE movement afoot, with VZW stating that they'll direct voice over the CDMA portion and data over the LTE (to try and reduce congestion over the network).

This is definitely an interesting discussion/debate to have.
A roommate I had a few years ago had cricket, it worked perfectly where we lived/worked, until she stepped in the frontdoor of the house, once inside she couldnt get a signal while I had a full 5 bars with att at the time. Now we did live near the outskirts of crickets coverage, but the walls/roof of our house was enough to kill the signal.

[rdyoung]

Wireless N is really good for media. Everything else B & G is just fine.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

802.11n is great for everything if you have supported hardware on both ends. The range of N is outrageous when compared to b/g, not to mention the speed. My internet connection ATM is faster than 802.11b can handle, by almost 200%

[EnergyPlus]

Absolutely true, but the frustrating part of the consumer is "Planned Obsolescence" vs. "Obsolescence via newer technology." Case in point. My best friend, a Mac fan, ordered the iPad 3G the first day it was made available for ordering (delivery should be any day now). He asked me to look over the specs on it and, not being a Mac person myself, there was much to admire/like. But the first thing that jumped out at me is "where are the USB ports? SURELY there is a USB port on this thing SOMEWHERE?" Of course, we did not have an answer but within a week of his ordering it, he read an article that stated the next gen of the iPad will have two, count 'em, TWO USP ports. Go figure...as if they were not able to put that on the FIRST generation? It's not like a USB port is "new technology" or anything.

I recall back when I was in the military (Air Force) in the early 70's. One day, we were scrambled for a pending emergency landing. An undescribed, USAF aircraft was beginning it's decent over 2000 miles away, and would be landing at our base. Nobody knew what kind of plane it was. Of course, it was kind of hard to hide the thing as it landed, so the cat was out of the bag. It turned out to be an SR71, brand spanking new at the time and still highly classified. The press got wind of it and next thing we knew, some AF generals were there to make some press announcements. I was present at the time and one of the media types asked "What new stuff are you working on now, and when will we see it?" The general replied "Obviously, I cannot answer that question, but to give you some insighte, we actually started development on the SR71 over 20 years ago." So, there's technology for you, and simple stuff like smart phones does not require 20 years to develop.

How long do you think the 9700 was in the pipeline? Being designed, prototyped, etc. The truth with tech is this, its obsolete even as its being released. There is always something better right behind it, thats just the way it works. Once you understand that, all is better understood.

[rdyoung]

Absolutely true, but the frustrating part of the consumer is "Planned Obsolescence" vs. "Obsolescence via newer technology."

This is something I have a big issue with. Example being the coffeepot i have in my kitchen, I paid 20$ for it @ target about 2 years ago, I take care of it, but it will eventually have a problem that is more resource intensive to fix than just buy another one, while I know that if I had the old percolator pot my father used when I was growing up, it would still be working just fine.

With computers its not that big of a deal for me, because its easy for me to migrate to a new phone/laptop without much hassle.

[Saleen4971]

OP the new Pearl probably gets 7.2Mbps HSPA or even 21 Mbps HSPA+ (the 9700 is 3.6 Mbps *only*)...

Would you cry about that too? Get over it!! It's called progress... The 9700 successor is going to raise the bar again... That's technology... Accept it

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

wait, do you mean to tell me that a device that is announced 6 months later has the same/better technology for less money?!

THIS IS MADNESS YOU SPEAK OF, SIR!! AND I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT!!