I heard a rumor a few days ago that Sprint was coming out with a Blackberry. This would be great news for me if its true. Anyone heard anything about this? Currently, Sprint is the only major US carrier that doesn't offer a Blackberry.
Sprint has been really quiet on the BlackBerry front. They were the only national carrier that did not attend the Wireless Enterprise Symposium. I am meeting with RIM on Thursday and will poke them about Sprint.
Sprint and Verizon are both on CDMA. RIM makes a CDMA BlackBerry for Verizon, I don't know why it won't work with Sprint. It must be a marketing thing.
Well, there is more to it than the device itself. To do Blackberry, the carrier has to implement a lot of backend servers and infrastructure to properly support it. Sprint has been on a BC strategy and to me that is not really a comparable solution to Blackberry. I hope they do elect to to do it.
One article I have read. Sprint wants RIM to support BlackBerry client on Treo 600 for Sprint to implement the back end to support BlackBerry device. Many users do not like the phone side of BlackBerry and solely use BlackBerry as data whereas Sprint wants both voice and data service customers. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1555533,00.asp
That's interesting... but I completely disagree with the notion that the current Blackberries are not suitable phones. I think the Blackberry is lacking in its ability to add on a lot of the software you can with a PDA, but its basic PDA and phone capabilities are fine. I would, love to see the Blackberry client software rolled out to other devices though. I played with it on a Pocket PC at CTIA and thought it was pretty cool.
I think the phone part of BlackBerry is a matter of opinion. The important thing is Sprint believes the Treo 600 is a better well-rounded phone/pda device. Thus Sprint makes the BB client on Treo 600 a contingency for supporting BB. Given the article was published in March, I don't know if it is still the case.
Personally, I think Sprint must be kicking itself for not getting in on the BlackBerry earlier. What makes them so smart - after all, every other major domestic US carrier markets it. Only Sprint stayed away. The Sprint sales force that visited me some months ago was even defensive about it (hey - it wasn't our decision).
The BlackBerry phone is fine - the people that are freaked out by holding a PDA to their ear are not going to be any happier with the Treo as a phone.
Originally posted by njblackberry Personally, I think Sprint must be kicking itself for not getting in on the BlackBerry earlier. What makes them so smart - after all, every other major domestic US carrier markets it. Only Sprint stayed away. The Sprint sales force that visited me some months ago was even defensive about it (hey - it wasn't our decision).
The BlackBerry phone is fine - the people that are freaked out by holding a PDA to their ear are not going to be any happier with the Treo as a phone.
Just my .02
I think you are probably right. Its a tough decision though. On the one hand, if they can develop their own proprietary solution that works well, then they get everyone flocking to them for it. But, if they go with the Blackberry solution, its the same thing everyone else has.... so no competitive advantage. The problem is that the Blackberry solution works so well, and has such significant enterprise market penetration, that there are a lot of potential customers they are missing out on.
Sprint also has a fall back option and that's Good Technology. www.good.com It supports the old 957 black and white RIM devices, Treo 600, now PPC2k3 devices and its own G100.
Yes, but with Good, the enterprise has to install different services than BES. I would venture to guess that this will rule it out for most people that currently use Blackberries. I can't imagine too many companyies opting to implement both.
Originally posted by Convergent I can't imagine too many companyies opting to implement both.
Hard to say. They are starting to get popular. Good did not have a variety of devices before. Now Treo 600 is available with most carriers and I am sure there are a lot of old 957s sitting around. PPC2k3 support is also attractive.
I have put a Treo 600 with Good Service and Color BlackBerry side by side. There are many areas that the Good Server excels BES.
BTW, my opinion is Treo 600 feels a lot more like phone than BlackBerry does, proportionally speaking.
We looked at Good. As have many companies. One major issue is that switching costs would be way too high, for limited benefits. With BES, I can use a BlackBerry from any number of wireless carriers - from the 850 to the 7780. With Good I have far fewer options. I still think Sprint blew it.
I have both a Treo and a BB. My Treo, as many others have noted on TreoCentral, has a nasty echo... And I don't think it would survive a drop - even on a carpeted floor... But I do have tons of games for the Treo. And I've had to hard reset it several times...
You are right. Switching out to Good will cause a lot. Good is just a highly competitive option to BlackBerry now. It is for starters to choose and bigger company who can afford to install both systems to fit different users' needs.
As far as drop test, I have not tried the Treo 600. My Samsung i330 has gone through numerous drop test though. Mostly onto concrete floor from top of the car, missing my pocket, things like that, and is still chiming along.
I think the nasty echo problem has been resolved by a ROM upgrade but I don't believe everyone has that problem. I don't know why.
Speakerphone. Why don't BlackBerrys have speakerphone? Remember when you have to manipulate the voice mail system and have to keep switching the phone from your ear to your face?
Funny you mention the 7510. What good is a speakerphone when you don't get signal. over and out, oh sorry, forgot you don't have walkie talkie. I switched away from Nextel over year and half ago and never looked back.
over and out, oh sorry, forgot you don't have walkie talkie. 
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