07/29/2008, 12:00pm, EDT
Tuesday, July 29thBlackBerry Thunder due Oct 8 with Rhapsody?
The BlackBerry Thunder now has a specific release date and over-the-air music downloads, if a leak is found to be accurate. Research in Motion's first-ever touch BlackBerry is now purportedly due to launch with Verizon on October 8th and will have access to Verizon's version of RealNetworks' Rhapsody service. The feature may supply a technical advantage over the iPhone, which is both prevented from downloading whole songs outside of Wi-Fi and must pay per track rather than getting a flat rate for songs.
The rumor would also have the Thunder sport a 3.2-megapixel camera at the back. In their respective existing designs, the Thunder would have a further edge over the 2-megapixel iPhone camera with support for video recording.
While yet to be directly corroborated, the apparent detail leak corroborates reports of a major launch with Verizon in October for the phone, which would receive a similarly large marketing effort the month before. Along with the touch interface, the Thunder is commonly understood to have 3G access both on Verizon's CDMA-based network (using EVDO) and on GSM (using HSPA), which allows the company's European stakeholder Vodafone to offer the device at the same time while also giving American owners a chance to roam on foreign networks.
The launch is considered essential for RIM, which continues to lead the US smartphone market but will face pressure from iPhones with Exchange data support and third-party apps.
Filed under: gadgets, mobile phones
Other story tags: BlackBerry, Thunder
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On the current BB and VZW
When I'm listening to one of my usual talk radio stations, I hear a VZW that offers the current BB as a business solution tool. Fair enough, except that they go into a specific situation where ppl need schematics or plans and don't want drive back to the shop to get the right ones, so they just get them sent to them on their BB.
I for one cannot think of a worse use for the device. The screen on the current BB is small, and even makes text look cr@*py. Trying to see text and large documents on that tiny thing is ridiculous, much less having to navigate them.
Without something like Apple's pinch-zoom technology, the whole idea of viewing large documents on a small scale such as this is utterly ridiculous.
If VZW wants to offer their handsets as a stand-in for a set of plans, I very much doubt they'll be able to pull it off, even with the specs for this upcoming model. Maps would be hard enough, but Apple has shown it's possible. This is an even more difficult purpose for a little screen to be used for.
I'll be interested if ANYONE comes out with a piece of software or overall handset interface that could handle architectural or engineering plans for any sized job.
I hope
They come out with a version of this phone without a camera. Can't be used in jobs with government clearances.
ok
I'm pretty sure the majority of reviews claim that the screen on the Bold is superior to the screen of the iphone. Resolution goes a long way.
Furthermore, I have no problem reading PDF or Word documents on my bold.
But engineering plans might be a different story.... perhaps they should get a ULPC.
ok
Sorry, I meant my Curve... obviously not the Bold. Apparently, that would be too much to ask of Rogers or RIM right now.