the device is the exact same either way. its nothing hardware wise that needs to be changed, its strictly provisioning.

Wirelessly posted

Go sim free. You'll be provisioned for bis and bes then.

Who are you guys getting these dates from? Customer service reps from the network? I was with RIM in slough today which is next door to the 02 office. When I asked the question regarding release date I was told the end of July to early August.

It was depressing to sit in the staff canteen and see ALL the staff with their evaluation units when I had to give mine back last night! :(

I have contacted both Vodafone & Orange:

Vodafone 30th July

Orange - August time.

Hope this helps.

Gingerboy, pay attention: 2 types of BlackBerries from Vodafone. BIS version, as you state. BES Version, July 9th.

If you are lucky enough to have one of the 3 mail servers and BlackBerry Enterprise Server like many have, you can have yours 3 weeks earlier.

Three weeks to go from today

Spoke to T-Mobile (UK)

Blackberry Bold release Q3 2008, So basically from July to September.

News today from Vodafone: BIS & BES versions postponed to the 3rd of August.

The words ...... B*llocks come to mind.

Any latest announcement from O2?

Surely, B*llocks is only one word... ;)

My contract has finished, so I'll probably change carriers. Pricing for BB data is similar, just wait and see how subsidised the phones are (more than iphone with a bit of luck!) on the different networks.

I've got the 8320 Curve at the mo, on Dolphin 40 with £5 online discount, with blackberry add-on and 50% off that.

so for 750mins, unlimited sms and unlimited (fair-useable 250mb) of data it costs me £38.50/month.

I was talking to 156 last night, as i've put 4.5 software on my handset, he told me the 9000 is coming no 1st aug, as "he wants one" too.

Just called Orange. They say mid July as its on their internal coming soon phones but I dont think they will have the 9000 Bold till August.

I called Orange again yesterday evening and the person I spoke himself wants to upgrade to the Bold. He says its now completed testing and is with the focus group (I think they give the phone to some consumers for feedback). He says its on the system for release from around 17th July.

I know that T-Mobile uk are the launch partner for the berry 9000 they are just going though testing and are going to be looking at releasing at the end of july if all goes to plan

its the 13th, and its still not available.

I've been told by Orange UK, its still down as "mid July" - but isnt that round about.. now ?

I'll forgive you for not reading my post of 06-23-2008, 10:56 PM

I expect the Bold to be available at the end of July/first week in August.

cheers :D lol

called them this morning, same story "mid-july".

I suspect it will be august. I remember when I waited months for the n80 - every time I spoke to them they said "next few days".

I phoned carphone warehouse and they were in a state of shock that i wasn't calling up for a stinky iphone 2!!

So what about 02 - I hope they have it

Hi Guys.

I am an O2 customer and it seems the iPhone 3G frenzy has led to them not being interested in anything else. They have no word at all on any of the pending BB handsets.

Interestingly I was in the Orange store in Amersham, Bucks and took this photo for your pleasure. It is only a dummy and the comment was it will be released very very soon.

Enjoy

Sunny

Thats a cool pic sunnychad

An o2 worker made a post on Crackberry stating that o2 was releasing the Bold in August and that it was 'official'. Information was taken from a stocksheet apparently. He also said that o2 was releasing the Javelin in September which seems a bit early to me.

Wirelessly posted

Thought I would share

Note that it says the date may change.

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/com...LACKBERRY.BOLD

We have them in our warehouse on the 12th August.

I asked T-Mobile not that long ago and they told end of this quarter about Aug/Sept time realistically (as the guy gave me the usual spiel of testing and finalizing etc) so when it comes upgrade time for me in November i'll be getting one...

Buggar all other alternatives - roll on Bold release!!

T-Mobile always go on about testing, but its funny, they are usually MONTHS behind everyone else regarding firmware updates.

I've got an idea, if T-Mobile want to do testing they should hire more than 1 person to do it !!!!

i have ordered mine from play.com in the uk sim free
its release is 15 august

Nice. And nearly UKP100 less than Expansys UK.

3, the mobile operator, has said that it is launching the BlackBerry Bold in the UK as its first Blackberry device.

The Bold, which is RIM's latest handset, will sport a HSDPA and Wi-Fi connection and promise greater consumer focus to business users.

However, 3 has told Pocket-lint that it will not be the first operator to offer the new handset in the UK. That pleasure, according to a 3 spokesman, will go to Vodafone.

According to the spokesman, "Vodafone will be launching the handset it the next two weeks."

Vodafone however would never confirm or deny the rumour, however suggested to Pocket-lint that: "We are hoping to launch the Bold before 1st November."

3 has also confirmed to Pocket-lint that the 3 version of the handset will feature the Skype client built in for their VoIP offerings.
Source

Well from today puts us on the 4th August. So sounds about right.

I'm in two minds at the moment. The Bold or the Thunder. I'm still not sold on the touchscreen keyboard, after a bad experience with a Sammy F700.

As for the Javalin, need that 3g ;)

Well, I have 3 contracts with Voda, one was up for renewal a couple of months ago so I got a HTC Diamond Touch as a stop gap before the Bold is released.

What a load of drivel. Battery lasted only 3.5 hours! The touch screen was dreadful and don't get me started on the O/S. Had to do several hard resets on the first 2 days. The new Active Sync and Vista is the most bugged software I've ever seen (and I've seen a lot). On that experience, I'll not be getting another touch screen device for a long time, and that includes the overpriced-only-available-on-one-network iPhone.

Still looking forward to the Bold, which by the way, according to Vodafone today will be available in late August/early September

Had a 7100, an 8100, 8300 and currently have an 8310. Will NOT be looking at getting a Thunder/Storm. Will definitely get a Bold on the day it's launched.

Wirelessly posted

3 uk is getting the Bold!

Article below copied from BlackBerry Cool (Viigo)


3 Mobile and Vodafone in the UK are getting geared up for the BlackBerry Bold launch in the very near future, starting with Vodafone "in the next two weeks". 3 Mobile will be preloading their BlackBerry Bolds with a Skype client to make use of the integrated WiFi for cheap VoIP calling. We're still clinging to the hope that Canada will be the first to get the Blackberry 9000 this Friday, but everyone else will be getting it shortly thereafter. On an international scope, it's looking like the Bold is going to have a very well-coordinated launch.



(via pocket-lint)

Wirelessly posted

Lol I posted this without reading the above posts! I was well and truly beaten!!

Sorry

Interesting about 3 Mobile. I didn't think they supported Blackberry. Will they offer BIS and BES?

They do now

I was reading an article recently about 3 and they have set out plans to increase their customer base massively and also to move into the business market.

They are also a 3g network so it makes sense for them to get the Bold.

No pricing details have yet been announced but I would assume they will cover both BIS and BES. Obviously as they are new to Blackberries in the UK they will have to spend a bit of time setting up and getting to know all the ins and outs of BB plus staff training etc so there could be teething problems at first. I do however believe that 3 Hong Kong and 3 Sweden do Blackberries.

I would seriously hope that 3 start locating their Call Centres in the UK for this - if they don't then 3 are in BIG TROUBLE... Long story short, their after sales service and quality are piss poor for normal phones so god only knows what the complications of Blackberry will bring...

According to the Vodafone lady to whom I spoke today, all the Bold deliveries were recalled so RIM could run the software upgrade and address a problem that some of them had with batteries. Only one person's word but it would go some lengths to explain the delay in the launch.

This is correct.

Launch event for UK partners is this week (I'm going...woo hoo) and I'd expect to start seeing things hitting the market from the end of the first week in August. Obviously we know Vodafone are in there (and will probably get it to market first), then O2 (if they can pull the 3G iPhone out of their arses for long enough). I'm interested to see what 3 can do, but we all know it will be disasterous (like everything they try).

Why oh why oh why would you do that! I never thought I'd see the day where you could buy a BlackBerry on Play.com, but I did just look. 450 notes...what a joke. I don't mind sharing with you that the cost price of a Bold in the distribution channel (and this is regardless of how many you buy) is £295, so they're making £155 profit per unit. You see, I loved Play when they were a small site shipping movies from Holland (tax dodge), but since they got big, started advertising on TV and began selling everything under the sun I just lost interest!

a mate who works at cpw has said 1st aug.

[sarchasm]Must be true then, what with all the training they have[/sarchasm]