[hunoosh]

Just wondering....is it possible to buy a BB with no carrier brand? I mean it doesn't look like you can just go to RIM and purchases a BB. Why is that? I hate that ATT and others insist on people purchasing their GPS whatever it might be and that you can't use BBMaps!

[alahai]

You can buy unbranded n unlocked bb for premium price, got my 8900 few months back

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[amazinglygraceless]

Rather than go through that why not just use one of the many
free turn by turn GPS apps that are readily available.

www.amazegps.com

Nav4All - Free gps navigation for your mobile phone!

There is one more that is supposed to be real good but the
name escapes me at the moment.

As far as BBMaps goes, definitely look at Google Maps instead.
m.google.com/maps (from your phone browser)

[dictoresno]

Fyi amaze gps works pretty well.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[a_silent_song]

I'd recommend Amaze GPS out of all of those that amazinglygraceless linked. It got me out of downtown Atlanta during rush hour when I was hopelessly lost lol.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[hunoosh]

back to my original concern....is it possible to buy one from RIM?

[GYGZACH]

back to my original concern....is it possible to buy one from RIM?

idk if you can buy them directly from RIM, but both my Pearl and my Curve are unbranded.

[afropoika]

back to my original concern....is it possible to buy one from RIM?

Research in Motion do not sell any BlackBerrys themselves so if you happen not to be a RIM employee, you won't be able to get your hands on a "RIM branded" BlackBerry. Although it's a small market, check out some retail stores and you might be lucky to find your favorite BlackBerry there. I bought my Curve 8900 unbranded too. The only difference to a carrier branded BlackBerry is the network lock, OS and splash screen. By unlocking and flashing your BlackBerry with another carrier OS you can workaround the first two "issues", but will still have the splash screen of the carrier. There is supposedly a way to get a BlackBerry into Service Mode and flash some type of file on the BlackBerry to make it load the default BlackBerry logo as the splash screen and supposedly it is possible to change the VendorID too, but I've never done that. It seems very possible though to completely turn a carrier branded BlackBerry into an unbranded one.

Now to your question... the simple fact that BlackBerry smartphones just aren't true BlackBerrys without a dedicated BlackBerry data plan plays a big role here. RIM themselves don't provide any carrier like service and therefore they deliver BlackBerrys to the carriers so the carriers are kind of OEMs. The carrier will provide the BlackBerry with the software and in most cases with a contract for a data plan. It's all about money. Unfortunately some carriers like Verizon/AT&T (you name it, I don't know) seem to cripple the software by locking certain features and forcing you to use their own GPS software for example.

Anyone correct me if I'm wrong.

[barbwyr]

Horizon Wireless Online sells unbranded/unlocked devices.
Devices : HorizonWirelessOnline.com - Horizon Wireless, The World’s Cellular Repair Center �

[dictoresno]

unbranding requires either a RIM unbranded vendor VSM or the RIM Engineering unit VSM (in my sig). how to load it to you phone, i wont talk about. but it only works on Bold 9000 and previous models. cant be done on anything newer.