I'm not concerned about all the minor flaws the 8700c has. I'm really only interested in getting on board with that faster data connection technology. I know barjohn and some others have spoken with Cingular. RIM, or Intel and have found out that our hardware can handle the speeds. Also I'm in the San Francisco / San Jose Bay Area so I know I'll get the service. If it's just a matter of a Firmware upgrade what is the time frame we're looking at to get it? Before Christmas? After? March next year? One year? Getting the small dose of speed that EDGE has given me, I find myself wanting more! MORE SPEED!!! I think about the EV-DO that Verizon has, but their new phone is not as nifty as the 8700c.

One other question: I used to own a Motorola MPx220 windows powered smart phone. It was only GPRS, and it had a 200MHz CPU Browsing, and email were as slow as... well.. it was slow! I think the performance of the CPU it had played a big role in it's browsing speed deficancy. Does the 8700c have a fast enough processor to cope with the increesed data speed? Or will, after they update it, we not notice any major speed difference in browsing because the little CPU in the device can only cope with so much data at one time?

I really hope that we do get the update, aswell as the 8700c being able to handle the extra speed! I work in the suplus computer equipment feild and the ability to research somthing on the go is VERY usefull! to be able to look up something at the same speed I could on a desktop would be incredible and would be a direction I would love to move in.

oh man... edge is brand new and you are wanting 3g already? your post is unreasonable. I think you need more than a PDA/Blackberry. You need a computer at a desk with broadband access.

It's going to be at least 2 years before anything faster than what is out now is available... get comfortable, cause things aren't going to change much. You should maybe peruse some of the other cell phone technology sites to keep abreast of the current technology that is in use right now.

I am just itching to yell and scream hear because you, who works in the IT field should know enough to realize that you have the newest latest and greatest and that it's going to be a while before something newer and better comes out.

Even if the handheld was cranked up to whatever possible technology is next... what would you connect to? None of the towers are pushing anything faster than EVDO or EDGE at the moment...

You could get a BB7270 I suppose and wander around your office at wifi speeds...

cd.

What Corey said. Any firmware update coming up will deal with minor issues, like lining up the Agenda view and maybe a more robust BT. If they had an firmware update to make this 19G it still would be years before the towers would be up....

According to Cingular: "BroadbandConnect service is available in the greater metropolitan areas of Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Tacoma and Washington, D.C."

http://www.cingular.com/midtolarge/umts

Thats strange, EDGE has been here for more than a year and a half! It's not new!

I've just purchased the new Seirra Wirless Aircard 860 which is fully compatible with the UMTS/HSDPA network. I picked it up for $217.48, and I got a $100 mail in rebate. It costs me 79.95 a month now to use. It's speeds are great! I use it on my tablet PC. If my Blackberry already has the hardware to utilize this speed I want the firmware now. The freggin tablet PC is too big to take around and if it gets stolen I'm out a lot more than the cost of my 8700c.

I'm sorry if whatever network your in does not have this service, but mine is already established. 3G is here for me and I want in! I've always taken pride, living here in silicon valley, I've made sure I'm on the bleeding edge of technology. And to have a peice of hardware with potential, worse crippled potential, is just unerveing! Maybe I'm just too much of a techy geek, but still...

Bah!!!! Do your homework! I'm living in one of the markets where the UMTS/HSDPA network has been established! I've already got hardware running on it! Thats not the issue! It's enabling my Blackberry to use the network that is the issue!

And I live in Newark, thats North of San Jose and south and to the east of San Francisco, right smack dab in the middle of the UMTS/HSDPA network!

... seriously guys...

While you guys fool around with whose is larger, may I remind you that Verizon just came out with their first EVDO BB, months after EVDO was available everywhere, and we are just seeing the first EDGE BlackBerrys now. I think it is almost unrealistic to expect a 3G BlackBerry in the next 9-12 months. Just my 2 cents.

Yes, I agree it has been too long having edge availible and yet no blackberry being enabled for it. But if the thing has the hardware already... why not just enable it...

But you don't know if it is a hardware thing. Blame the carriers.

Yes, but I've heard from people like barjohn that the 8700 series is compatible with the UMTS network.

So get barjohn and all his friends at RIM to upgrade it. He doesn't even have EDGE today.

You are also losing sight of the fact that RIM is not marketing to the gadget freaks who have to have 3G, 4G, UMTS and LSMFT. They want their BlackBerrys with e-mail. Most businesses do not care about EDGE. Not one of the internal customers we have (1,000 BBs and growing) has asked about 3G, UMTS, EDGE, ringtones or themes. RIM has to go for their core markets, right?

yes, I understand. I guess I am a bit too eager when it come to my technology. But how much effort is it to upgrade the protocols in the firmware to support the speed? It seems like a minor thing to me. At least more minor than fixing other flaws in the OS.

OK, know anyone who is willing to do it and have the carriers test it? C'mon - this is not a home radio. And if you know of any operating system (Microsoft) that is flawless at the first release (of 4.1), then please let me know.

I think you are being unrealistic. Dreaming is one thing, but being unrealistic and overly critical is another..

I'll give you my guess and it is purely a guess: January 06. Anyway, I had the RIM folks review my thread to provide corrections to anything I said from our telecon and I was informed that they felt it was an accurate rendition of our telecom.

Thank you barjohn! I appreciate your input. You seem to be the only one around here that knows what's going on.

For G3, John?!?!

Agreeing with you and knowing what's going on are two different things..

Hey - I hope you're right. It will certainly add a lot of traffic to the board...

Hey, I don't claim to know what is going on, it is just a guess on my part as I stated. Ok, it is an educated guess based on some comments but still a guess. Guys like Corey, NJ, Mark and BG know a lot more than I do.

I'm hoping for a firmware upgrade to fix the dust problem that I thankfully don't have

The next big thing is the tethering. We are testing the 7130e right now. People do want it. We have 11-12,000 BB's and people are using PC cards right now, but only heavy users. I have light needs but heavier wants. In otherwords, I can get buy with the occasional use of my 8700 as a modem, but would love it if I could get HSDPA speeds. Others in the firm would like to be able to have just one device.

The only drawback seen is that if you are tethered you can't use voice also. That is what may keep the PC card market from seeing a real threat from RIM.

One other thought - DON'T UNDERESTIMATE how much pressure Cingular is feeling from EV-D