Yup,
Usually handed out to corporate customers or people with business deals with RIM and Rogers. Resellers and integrators, etc.

im going.

give us a full report when you get out of there please.

I've been trying to get myself invited for a while now... almost there...

So...how did the event go? Did anyone here attend?

bump

Lazaridis jumped up on tables with a lampshade on. Hilarity ensued.

(I'm intrigued to know how it went, as well)

Steve! No invite?

I guess whoever went to the event in Toronto is too busy playing with their 8800's... :(

So we I deal with people from a company called Marketstar who has agents who go around and sell stores on RIM products, very rarely do we see actual RIM employees instore except for sometimes in special meetings or training.

This is the latest info they gave for Rogers. We will not be picking up the camera version of 8800 series which will be released in the states in a few months. As well Rogers made a concious effort not to have the Wifi in their product so we will not be picking up that device either. What will be coming down the pipe is that in Q4 they will be coming out with a HSPDA camera, full QWERTY device.

There is a chance it will come out sooner if HTC cannot release their products on time (Rogers is going to be rolling out HSPDA with HTC units).

Even the CEO of Vancity didnt get an invite. Rogers is taking their top 5 outbound reps and 150 company guests in the Vancouver breakfast.

did they do the 8800 give away in TO like in NYC?

I broke down...couldn't wait any longer. The pain of knowing people had one and I didn't was too much to bare!!

As I travel to the US weekly from Toronto, I picked up a Cingy 8800 in Minneapolis and had it unlocked by Adam.

8800 is great!

I agree the 8800 is great! I'm loving mine.

does anyone know when we can expect the 8800 here north of the border ?

Getting ridiculous now.

I emailed my rep yesterday and his answer was......"they have no idea when and how much". Great company!!

I'm actually surprised that nobody from this forum attended the "Snowday" event in Toronto.

Well Vancouver's snowday hasnt happened yet. Though I havent missed a blackberry launch party yet. They most likely will be handing out units to all non rogers and rim employees who attend. They do this all the time when its a launch party that only IT and CEOs get invited.

As far as the launch date look for it 1st week of march around the 7th or 8th. No offical public release date published just what Rogers and Rim have said to me.

So.....if they're going for a release early March, shouldn't Rogers start to promote/advertise it??

Promote it ? You kidding ? They should start first with telling their stores when they're getting them. My rep still has no idea ... and last month he had no idea what an 8800 was.

Off to Hong Kong till the 5th ... maybe by then.

Has Rogers ever promoted a device thats coming out? no. They usually will allow stores to put up POP a week or so before launch. Its a pretty standard thing not to see anything but the phone go up on their website on the day its available for the dealerships to order the device. Take example the white pearl, im looking around and even though it has already been released there isnt any signage up for it.

Had the pleasure of going to the Snow Day event yesterday in Toronto. Not sure how I ever got on their list as I also went to the one in early Dec. where they gave everyone a 8100. (made for a nice Christmas present for my wife)

They are sending a 8800 to everyone who atteneded - "you will be the Canadian 8800 test market for RIM / Rogers..."

The event was quite short, good hot breakfast after the dog and pony show, and a couple of partners there that you could talk to - Telenav and mForms. Was out of there by 9:30. Just waiting patiently for the 8800 to arrive and calling reception - "did it arrive yet". : )

I haven't heard an exact date but all I keep hearing is mid to late March is the ETA.

Synncere

read my post above, this is the speculated date from what Rogers and Rim are pushing for.

March 7-8 timeframe

I originally heard the same but now all I have heard this week is mid to late march, having said that the mid to late march could be the ETA that all channels will have the device in well stocked in stores, I'm not sure though. It could be that the time frame may have changed I'm gonna have to ask my contacts at Rogers for clarification when I speak to them next.

I heard that they are not going ship these launch units until mid March.
Kind of disappointing when they mentioned that "we" were going to be the first group in Canada to get a chance to test them as per Mike L's speech.

Spoke to my DSM today from rogers, and a rim employee yesterday and both said early march is what they are shooting for. I belive they have a better insight to when the launch date than anyone i have heard from. Unless it comes from higher ups dont listen to it, at the outbound and inbound level they are just guessing at the release date.

Who I spoke to is not at the outbound or inbound level. The people I spoke to are the "higher ups" but as I posted earlier I will be speaking to them soon and I will ask them for more clarification in regards to the 8800 situation.

March 7 - official release date.

price?


will they offer it to vips for less like the 8700?

Thanks for all the information guys

spanks steve for the re re confirmation. I had to go through 3 sources to confirm it on my end. So its always good when other people have the same info.

My best suggestion to anyone who hears of a launch date, check it with other sources. As well take everything with a grain of salt, not everyone within RIM or Rogers will know or have acess to the people who know release dates. The only real advantage they give us is that we attend dealer meetings who Rogers HAS TO explain new products and release dates before other channels. They do this inorder to prepair us to order properly, discontinue ordering older models, train staff, ect.

More importantly, I am looking forward to the 8800 but alittle sad Canada is going to skip on some of the devices that the US is getting and waiting for a HSDPA unit in Q4.

Our company is receiving 8800's this Wednesday for anyone who wants to switch handhelds. Both of our corp Rogers reps and the rep from RIM were here to talk to our IT department and demo the 8800 for everyone. They told me when I had asked about the March 7th date that it was only an ETA and not to expect it everywhere on that date and many channels won't have it for a week or 2 later. My company always gets BlackBerries before the release date but I couldn't wait this long I had to buy one last week off of the web. I am loving the 8800 thus far.

I am with bell currently and their service sucks (including their customer service). Thanks to CRTC for the new regulation to port the cell phone number. Can't wait until March 14th to go with Rogers and hopefully get a BB 8800. Here is the question, I want this for personal use and what is the best rate plan I couldget? I know they give the date/voice plan to dirt cheap for corporate customers. Any suggestion, how i could get a better rate that the posted rate plan? WOuld hey give BB service to Month by month rather than signing a 1,2 or 3 year contract?

Getting BB data service on an "a la carte" basis is possible with Rogers (and any other carrier for that matter)

here's the kicker tho...... when it comes to data devices, to get the price you see (which is usually on a 3 yr term), you must have a MIN $80 monthly service fee. Whether that be Voice only (ALOT of Minutes.. :P), Data Only, or a voice and Data combo.

basically what I'm getting at here, is that you can pick up the 8800, put a nice voice package on there, then turn around and add your data option on AFTER you've signed the contract. but you'll look at paying ALMOST retail for the device. Now since that unit isn't officially launched yet, I'm in no position to relay any pricing. but i hope that solves your issue.

Freed

just too add to that, if you do decide to get the BB 8800 on voice only and pay almost full retail, your almost better off to buy the device outright then go on a Blackberry Voice and Data plan on a Month to Month basis, because with Voice and Data bundled together it will save you a bit of money (depending on your data usage), and it will give you an 8pm evenings and weekends start time, rather than the 9pm time that comes with the tradtional "Mega Time" plans. (now of course that can be dropped to 6pm, or even 5pm for an extra monthly fee.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8800/4.2.1 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/107)

As an individual I would highly doubt you would get a better data rate. They may promote switching on March 14th and give you a 3 month deal, but nothing more. Rogers is not that generous. I run a small business and was paying full price until they changed their plans, now I'm only getting a deal because I have an older plan.
As for the 8800 without a contract? I would take a swag at $499.
March 7th start checking it out.

Good news for the 7th.

I'm in Hong Kong till the 5th and from all the stores I've been to here ... no signs of the 8800.

$499 ?

no i would guess $549 no contract

the 8700 is now $549 no contract so the 8800 must be higher or equal and then they might drop the price on 8700.

or they launch 8800 at $499 and drop 8700 to $399

rogers isnt generous

nsimpson:

Well, I came late to the Vancouver Snow Day on Tuesday, Feb. 27th, but I was still able to register. My boss, who was there from the start said that Rogers would be sending 8800's to everyone who registered. I hope I get mine.

Our company as usual was fortunate enough to receive the newest BlackBerry early. People who wanted to upgrade their BlackBerry received the 8800 today. I couldn't wait so I bought mine earlier but now I won't have people coming up to me asking hey can I see that 8800? lol. One of our Rogers reps who came by today told me that the outright buy price should be $549.99 or $599.99 through their dealership according to the store owner and General Manager.