[rjdangerous]

I wonder if RIM only made only blackberry for all carriers if I could get a non half complete OS for my tour? Point being they would be able to heavily support the phone. Apps would work across the board because there would only be one OS, the new BB's support gsm and cdma. We don't need new phones slightly different every few months, maybe come out with a new device every 3 years to keep up with technology.

This is coming from a long time BB user kinda fed up with everything passing us bye and devices with a lot of issues.

Opinions

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[amazinglygraceless]

Won't work.

1) People have different preferences i.e. touchscreen, physical keyboard,
combination of both.

2) Different carriers use different radios, i.e. GSM, CDMA. A 8330 will not work on
AT&T, T-Mobile etc... A Bold 9700 will not work on Sprint, VZW etc...

[Duvi]

Some may say yes and other may say no.

Those that say yes may point to the iPhone and Apple.

Those that say no may point to Android and Google.

Android actually has more phones being pumped out than BlackBerry and don't have the same OS issues.

[mechanic_joe]

? Not to flame your post, but come out with a new device every three years ? Technology moves forward in hours and days, not years! In 3 years we'll probably have little microchips in our skulls that transmit the BlackBerry OS directly into our retinas and ear drums... okay maybe not, but 3 years? not for any electronic device my friend.

[Laura Knotek]

It would never work at this point in time. Apple only released one style of iPhone, touchscreen. The original iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPhone 3GS all look exactly the same.

If there was only one BlackBerry, which would it be? Storm (or touchscreen), big device with QWERTY keyboard (Bold), small device with SureType (Pearl)?

Folks who like a particular style would not be thrilled to switch to something totally different.

[rhoads00]

I can't wait for a new blackberry every 3 years, then RIM would get really far behind.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Laura Knotek]

Won't work.

1) People have different preferences i.e. touchscreen, physical keyboard,
combination of both.

2) Different carriers use different radios, i.e. GSM, CDMA. A 8330 will not work on
AT&T, T-Mobile etc... A Bold 9700 will not work on Sprint, VZW etc...

I believe the radios will be compatible once all carriers move to LTE.

[Laura Knotek]

I can't wait for a new blackberry every 3 years, then RIM would get really far behind.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I cannot wait for any new smartphone for 3 years.

[rjdangerous]

? Not to flame your post, but come out with a new device every three years ? Technology moves forward in hours and days, not years! In 3 years we'll probably have little microchips in our skulls that transmit the BlackBerry OS directly into our retinas and ear drums... okay maybe not, but 3 years? not for any electronic device my friend.

Then please tell me how the browser on the iphone is years older than my BB and far superior? Also just because new tech comes out every hour do we see it in our BB? **** no only difference is a "tad" more mem and a trackpad in the past years.

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[rjdangerous]

I meant 2 years not 3

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[amazinglygraceless]

I believe the radios will be compatible once all carriers move to LTE.

The only caveat here is each carrier will have different roll-out schedules making
the OPs original premise impractical and moot.

[Duvi]

I believe the radios will be compatible once all carriers move to LTE.

Not all carriers are going to have LTE. Sprint went the WiMax route and after looking into it, seems like a lot of places in Europe will use WiMax as well.

The only caveat here is each carrier will have different roll-out schedules making
the OPs original premise impractical and moot.

[Laura Knotek]

Not all carriers are going to have LTE. Sprint went the WiMax route and after looking into it, seems like a lot of places in Europe will use WiMax as well.

I have a feeling that WiMax will become the Betamax of cellular technology.

[Duvi]

I have a feeling that WiMax will become the Betamax of cellular technology.

Haa... I had thought so too, but after looking into, I saw quite a lot of companies using it. One that I didn't know of was AT&T in Alaska.

List of deployed WiMAX networks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Laura Knotek]

Haa... I had thought so too, but after looking into, I saw quite a lot of companies using it. One that I didn't know of was AT&T in Alaska.

List of deployed WiMAX networks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We shall see. I am currently taking a networking course in college. I guess I'll find out if my prediction was right in a few years.

[cajunrph]

Android actually has more phones being pumped out than BlackBerry and don't have the same OS issues.

Not true at all. One of the major problems with Android is the fragmentation of the OS. Android has out 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1 and another in the works to be released. All look different and not all apps work on all of the versions. The HTC Hero's have another layer of programing on top of Android (HTC Sense) that future complicates upgrading the OS. Everyone wants the latest and greatest OS but you have to wait till the carrier and the manufacturer provides it. Unless you root the phone and add it in yourself.

[Masahiro]

Be careful what you wish for. If RIM were to contract their product line, the Tour may not exist at all. What if the CDMA world phone was the Storm? I wouldn't mind that, as I use one myself, but obviously you may not feel the same way about that. What about the GSM folks? Probably the Bold, but what about those that prefer the keypad on the Curves?

The point is, a manufacturer can choose to saturate the market with many different kinds of handsets like RIM does, or choose to focus on one core product like Apple, but neither way is necessarily "correct". They both have advantages an disadvantages.

[rjdangerous]

Be careful what you wish for. If RIM were to contract their product line, the Tour may not exist at all.

That's would be ok, I don't really like it now with 5.0 and its life is over very soon I can't remember the EOL date.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Terradactyl]

Sometime in june I think.....there is a thread somewhere. Personally, I am glad they have many different types of blackberrys. I had a storm, hated the touch screen. Upgraded to a curve 2 and thought the keyboard was too small and finally got a tour, which I love!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Duvi]

We shall see. I am currently taking a networking course in college. I guess I'll find out if my prediction was right in a few years.

Awesome. I'm in network communications and will finish in May. Very challenging, but it's fun.

I wouldn't be surprised if your prediction was correct, at least in the US anyways. Sprint may have a lot of trouble getting the latest and greatest with their frequencies.

[darkmanx2g]

If RIM only had one model they wont be selling as many smartphones as they are now. They sell in all tier classes. Things are gonna change once the iphone goes to verizon and android keeps developing. BB OS will still own the corporate market but will lose some of their consumers who are looking for an all an one device.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[rjdangerous]

If RIM only had one model they wont be selling as many smartphones as they are now. They sell in all tier classes. Things are gonna change once the iphone goes to verizon and android keeps developing. BB OS will still own the corporate market but will lose some of their consumers who are looking for an all an one device.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I think that's the problem, the "other" phones can do the business stuff PLUS while BB is kinda stuck in the past. I guess time will tell I just wish I could argue the BB more but as of now you can't.

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[F0nage]

Yeah but sometimes selling more units doesn't equal more profit. RIM should dump the Storm since it pisses a lot of people off and just offer a simplified lineup of physical keyboard, non-slider handsets either optioned-out (wifi, GPS, camera etc.) or basic business (no gps, no camera, not sure about wifi). Sometimes companies stretch themselves too thin and get into markets they shouldn't be in (touch screen for example) and then do more damage than good. RIM needs to make their mission more clear to themselves and to the marketplace. I agree if they want to be in the consumer market they have mucho problems to solve.Simple is usually good.

[Masahiro]

No thanks. I like my Storm.

[Xopher]

RIM pretty much offers four phones across the different carriers.

Pearl - Small, sleek, with SureType.

Curve - Simple, full-qwerty, entry-level BB.

Storm - Touch screen, but only available on a limited number of carriers.

Bold - High-end qwerty.

That's pretty much it. Sure, there are different variations, but you can't get a CDMA Pearl to work on GSM, and so on.

What about the Tour? In all aspects, the Tour is a Bold. My thinking is that AT&T had exclusivity on the Bold when the Tour came out. Switch the look a tiny bit, give it a different name, and you don't violate the AT&T agreement. Now that the exclusivity is gone, rename the 9650 a Bold and merge the fractured lineup back together.

You could argue there are a couple of models out above the main four. The Pearl Flip, and the 8900. The flip really hasn't caught on (although my daughter loves hers), and the 8900 series hasn't really seen an update.

With the Talledega coming to fit in between the Storm and Bold lineups, it would possibly add to the four main, although it may just come out to carriers who don't have the Storm.

I don't think four phones is too much, or even six. How many different Android phones are out there? How many different Nokia models are out there? or HTC?