So the flip phone is confirmed.

I've talked with some people about it and once mentioned they stayed tight lipped.

The only info I could get was it's rumour around the office that the reason a flip phone was made was because family members of CEO's (daughters and extended family) always wanted flip style phones, and therefore would refuse blackberry devices... so it was decided to make a flip phone because a market that they did not compete in would be open to them.

I still can't believe people would risk their careers leaking this stuff.

Now when somebody screws up by releasing information, they are demoted a pay rank for 6 months and after that they have to hope for a promotion back to their previous pay scale.

So no more losing your job immediatley, just living with the shame of knowing you got caught, and being on very thin ice.

And the reason for this post is???

I didnt need a leak to tell me that RIMM should make a consumer-friendly, cool looking flip phone. The market is there for RIMM to make this kind of device and has been there for 3-4 years. My only question is what took them so long?

I second JCs post. But also question the bolded line above. I *know* that is not accurate in all cases. Might be for some carriers/some leaks but not all.

RIM only has one "M"

the stock name is RIMM

^In some countries..in others its RIM

I vote we rename this thread to "RIMM or RIM in NASDAQ Rather than KICKSTART" lol.

I like cake.

I for believe that the Kickstart will definitely increase RIM's footprint in the mobile market. My wife has been holding on to her 7105t for so long it is about to fall apart(cant convince her to buy a Pearl...still trying) but once I told her that BB was coming out with a flip phone....she instantly started searching for it online...and she doesnt even use her BB now to its full potential...so this is just one example out numerous ones that....who am I kidding....I LIKE CAKE TOO!!!!

Ahh

kickstart? ... what is going on ?... i hate these "names" ... I refuse to call them anything but their model numbers

Information is leaked on purpose. It creates a buzz and allows the company to see what changes the market would like before they release a product. This is across all industries.

I'd rather have a chicken salad sammich!

I think it should be code named

Flipper

I secound CODE name Flipper hope fully they all flip into water and yeah we all know what happens to blackberries + water = mostly dead bb. i have fixed a few water damaged blackberries my self but yeah.

I think it's smart for RIM to branch out. While we're biased to the candy bar phones that comprise the current Blackberry lineup for sale, flip phones are still extremely popular within the consumer market. On my college campus, it seems that 8 out of 10 people I see have a flip phone of some kind. While I probably won't buy a Kickstart, I'm interested to see the pictures of it that slowly come out.

maybe its just me... but this phone loks pretty dumb. why would they even do clamshell??

i think it takes away from the ease and small size of its closest running mate; the pearl

I would think this device would replace the pearl eventually, as flip phones have *mostly* replaced candy bar style phones. Hopefully they bring it in very cheap ~$50-$99 and market it solely to consumers.

I hope it's that cheap as well, since I'm looking forward to getting one when they come out if possible..