[Mamaluka]

As a police officer who lives by nextel, which has better service than my verizon where I work, this is great news. No one can touch nextel's PTT network(because they have tried and failed!) there have been numerous occasions where my radio wouldn't transmit but my nextel was there when i needed back up.....

Hey Butler, Being 5-0
Do you know the IDEN trick to pinch off the Emergency cell towers for Nextel? #>*> Menu> right arrow? Emergency Frequency - On you will then see an animated icon appear over your nextel bars reading err frqcy or something with bars on it. This area of Nextel also shows you how many pings your phone gets and somehow logs into a big brother type log of where your phone triangulation was for the last 30 or 40 pings. spooky

[fyrfyter]

I sat in with our RIM rep yesterday and got these specs from them as well. The only question I asked about this phone and what most people are asking is why they are releasing it on iden instead of cdma?

As Sprint, we are working to move everyone from iden to cdma for better service. Why release this phone iden? Of course I did not get a straight answer!!!

But anything is better than the 7100i!!!!!!!

Even though no one will admit to this, I suspect that this is to appease major corporations who are still using Nextel. (yes, there are still a few, including some larger banking firms for their IT guys). I think this will probably come out, only to be followed by a q chat model next year. If they can prove that QChat is just as reliable as iden, they should have an easy time switching everyone over to CDMA.

[kvaughan]

I would absolutely love to go back to Nextel with a Curve. Unfortunately (and I REALLY stress that word unfortunately), the network has gone to complete sh*t since Sprint took over and coupled with the capacity issues from Boost users it would be a stupid idea. God I miss the days of $750 + deposits to keep the uncreditworthy users from tieing up our network (translation: before Boost existed) and a just plain working voice network.

[Candls4you]

I first heard of the 8350 when I walked into my Sprint store this past week. The rep I always deal with who got me "hooked" on the BB's, we were talking about the Bold and the Storm. This is when he let me know about the 8350. According to him, this phone will look just like the curve, yes it will have push talk, wifi, camera, and 4G network! Stated the release is set for November!

[fyrfyter]

I first heard of the 8350 when I walked into my Sprint store this past week. The rep I always deal with who got me "hooked" on the BB's, we were talking about the Bold and the Storm. This is when he let me know about the 8350. According to him, this phone will look just like the curve, yes it will have push talk, wifi, camera, and 4G network! Stated the release is set for November!

I heard that about a month ago. I am still not sure I would classify WiMax as 4G. I have a friend who owns several Sprint stores, and said they were throwing around adding WiMax into the 8350 but nothing was definite. The other problem is, the Xohm city listing is really short, so unless you live in D.C. or one of the other few cities you aren't going to get that fast speed.

[mab4285]

I first heard of the 8350 when I walked into my Sprint store this past week. The rep I always deal with who got me "hooked" on the BB's, we were talking about the Bold and the Storm. This is when he let me know about the 8350. According to him, this phone will look just like the curve, yes it will have push talk, wifi, camera, and 4G network! Stated the release is set for November!

See here's the way I see things...WiMax is going to be for Sprint's network, not Nextel's (Sprint=CDMA, Nextel=iDen). These are two totally different technologies, and I'm not sure whether or not the iDen network will be 4G capable. This seems to be an unsubstantiated rumor, and I wouldn't put much weight on it. Seems like the 4G WiMax rumor for the 8350 would just be a house of cards ready to fall...

Plus, can you imagine the thickness of that thing if you add WiMax? Already it's going to be thicker than the regular curve (as far as I can tell), and it has WiFi already built in according to some specs...the WiFi and 4G seem to be overkill, especially since Sprint doesn't have anything like T-Mobile at home.

[Mamaluka]

When Nextel and Sprint merged, didn't Sprint users get to buy a hybdrid phone that ran the cellular phone off the Sprint network and the Direct Connect off iden? If this is the case, which I think it is, the 8350 should be a great phone, no?
Also, I remember using my Direct Connect anywhere close to a PC would cause the PC screen to flicker wildly and the speakers make a VERY loud ticking noise. How in the F will Sprint/Nextel stop this from affecting the phone's inherent PC qualities in the same way when DC is used?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[CTLAdvance]

OK Everyone needs to understand that they are not killing the IDen network. It is the best PTT network around.... However, the 8350 will be a "Hybrid" so to say in which voice calls can be made over the CDMA network which is better for normal calls.....

And I dont care who says nextel is dead but I see to many people still beeping around its un real....

No the real deal is a hybrid that works on both networks..... Sprint is not dumb and they do have a strong iDen market but now they have the right mgmt to grow it, more so perfect what they have while offering the benefits of CDMA / EVDO. I think what you are seeing is a pilot device to see if they can stir up new Nextel users while giving current subscribers a new Berry. Remember the last sprint CEO wanted to kill Nextel....

[cody]

i have been waiting to see the words hybird and 8350 together. this is a first. can you confirm this? i was thinking on leaving my 8330 and getting something with wifi because i really need it. if the 8350 had cdma radio with ptt (iden) i would wait forsure.

Thanks, Cody

[impy5]

From the roadmap that was given a few weeks ago, it seemed like the 8350 was going to be iDEN only and not a hybrid. IF the 8350 is indeed a hybrid, I would be willing to shelve my 8330 in a heartbeat.

[Mamaluka]

I'll be honest, here in the NJ/NY area, many people use DC (ptt is verizons failed version). I gave up my Nextel 3 months ago after carrying 2 phones for a decade. If sprint/nextel came out with a curve or bold device with cdma cellular and the DC feature..... It would be VERY tempting for me to dump verizon and go back to nextel so I can use one device for everything. *remember, I said tempted. For me to dump Verizon, that nextel better be able to "BLANK" me while I'm driving to work.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[DonnieDarko2k6]

From the roadmap that was given a few weeks ago, it seemed like the 8350 was going to be iDEN only and not a hybrid. IF the 8350 is indeed a hybrid, I would be willing to shelve my 8330 in a heartbeat.

I really hope it's iden only because Sprint service is horrible in my area.

[CTLAdvance]

i have been waiting to see the words hybird and 8350 together. this is a first. can you confirm this? i was thinking on leaving my 8330 and getting something with wifi because i really need it. if the 8350 had cdma radio with ptt (iden) i would wait forsure.

Thanks, Cody

No I cant so unfortunately well have to wait. However judging by how sprint is in this You should be able to do everything with your phone and the fact that they really arent releasing pure iden phones any more I would say this would have to be a hybrid. I think that we can expect to see AN IDEN/CDMA/EVDO device. It wouldnt make much sense otherwise.

Note I am still trying to confirm this so I will update you if I find out more.

[fyrfyter]

Why does everyone think this item has to be a Hybrid? Is everyone unaware of QChat, and the fact that you can use a CDMA handset to DirectConnect an iDen handset? The Hybrid thing was a bad idea years ago when they tried it. Sometimes the phone only worked on one or the other network, rarely did it work on both. Battery life was horrible. They can easily make this a CDMA only item, with QChat for PTT and EVDO access. I think the WiMax idea is too far fetched and too new for this device. Use the tried and true that you know works for data.

[CTLAdvance]

Problem is that we know it id deffinately an iDen device based on information we have seen. QChat is not as good as Iden PTT, especially when you compare it to Verizon PTT and ATT PTT. Its deffinately not the same. Of course this is when you have good iDen availability but there arent as many dead zones with iDen as there used to be.

We will see though.... As I said I cant confirm my device info yet so I cant say 100% otherwise at this time.

[CTLAdvance]

I agree at this point it wont be wimax.

[cody]

qchat vs hybird? i dont know. all i care about is the cdma radio and being able to beep my nextel co workers. many of my companys phone are ptt only. they are too cheep to activate the voice part. i will not carry two phones and hated not being able to leave town with my normal nextel (no service outside of town). i moved to cdma when the merger happened and only miss the ptt.

what ever the case.... sprint/nextel needs a good pda/cdma/evdo/ptt device. i hope this one could be it.

thanks and keep us uptodate, cody

[tritan]

Even though no one will admit to this, I suspect that this is to appease major corporations who are still using Nextel. (yes, there are still a few, including some larger banking firms for their IT guys). I think this will probably come out, only to be followed by a q chat model next year. If they can prove that QChat is just as reliable as iden, they should have an easy time switching everyone over to CDMA.

or other firefighters that haven't switched over yet. I was going for the cdma curve till I heard about this one coming in Nov. Can't wait its about time. i am thinking of getting my wife a pearl on sprint so if we compare and the networks are that different I will switch to a cdma curve.