AT&T stores should have received a memo today that the Bold will be available for stores to order on 9/24. This falls in line with the release date I was told 1 weeks ago of Oct 2.

Most shipments take 2-3 days so we could see them available to buy in stores by 9/26-27, assuming the warehouse ships same day.

This should make some folks happy.

I am also hearing

2yr @ $299.99
Outright @ $549.99

This may be old news. Just got off a 13 hr flight so sorry if I am late to the party.

does AT&T have a timed exclusive on the Bold? I'm interested in picking one up for t-mobile, but would only get it if it had tmo's US 3g bands

It is not a permanent exclusive. I wouldn't expect TMO to pick it up before 2009, though... they still have the 8220 and 8900 they will be launching this year (or potentially on into early 2009), as well as a couple Android devices. If TMO is going to get the Bold, I would have to guess a March-May '09 timeframe. That would atleast give them some time to get their not-so-3G network up and running in more than a handful of markets.

could i get an unlocked Bold and use it for Tmobile? I understand that 3G will not work...but WIfi and everythin else will work rite?

Yes, Just not 3G

good news, lets hope this device is not plagued with problems like the Rogers devices...

why would the device be any different? The network and its functionality are different, but the device is the same...

I wonder what delayed it then.

I think they (AT&T) looked at all the complaints, especially with the original firmware, and decided to hold off until they or RIM had some fixes. Their network is already being overloaded with iPhones so throwing a hot new 3G device into service might exasperate a bad situation even further. So waiting for bug fixes only seems prudent. I've been jonesing for the Bold on AT&T but I'm starting to see the wisdom of waiting.

Subtle.

Question....

If AT&T stores can order the bold on the 9/24....can we order them online through their website directly???? ANY answers on that?

Tired of waiting on BOLD. iPhone just became available on Alabama State Contract....Will keep my Verizon EVDO REV A BB 8830 though.....Anyone heard of any new BB's for Verizon? Wifi?

I'm also going with Oct 2nd as the general release date! And I really don't think it will be pushed back, or anything like that. I truly believe that they have been ready to go for over a month now!There is no way they shipped all those things back for bug fixes and what not. If that was the case we wouldn't see it until Dec-Jan.

We'll never know for sure, but I do think the iphone played a role in the delay. at&t probably took some heat from Apple about throwing such a hot device out there so close to there launch. In any event it's coming, and that's all most of us can wish for.

It would be nice to have something to sell against the iPhone. Let's hope it's as soon as you say.

The Bold does not have the TMO 3G freqs. An unlocked ATT/Rogers device will work on the EDGE network however.

Wirelessly posted

I could have sworn that I read somewhere that RIM is making 2 variants of the Bold. And one of the variants is tmo 3g compatiable. I know I read this somewhere and I'm not pulling this out of thin air.

Did anyone else read anything like this too?

Are there any smartphones that support T-Mo's 3G today? Has T-Mo even rolled out enough 3G to warrant such devices? Just asking....don't flame me

No, they have very little 3g to offer so no good 3g phones. Originally they said their 3g network was for voice, not data, but they've changed their tune on that. The best new BB for Tmob will be the 8900 Javelin (there's a forum for that). Except for not being 3g it beats the Bold in every other category (camera, keyboard, screen resolution, memory, battery life) according to specs. It's an ungraded Curve, whereas the Bold is a 3g 8800 essentially. I like what I hear about it, but we'll have to wait. IMO 3g is "all the rage" but unless you mainly browse it's fluff, and it's not really as fast as highspeed internet either. Maybe 30-50% faster than EDGE in most locales.

Yes.. RIM talked about it at WES this year, but we won't see a T-Mobile U.S. variant until at least 1Q 2009.

No smart phones. Only about 5 regular phones too. The most promising of the lot is SonyEricsson's new flip job, the TM506.

On the smart phone front the SE Xperia X1 is likely to be the first AWS model released. Still no definite word on a date. Rumors abound, but hard info is tough to come by.