Look what Kevin @ CrackBerry.com got ahold of. Some live pics of the Thunder!!

Exclusive: First Live Pics of the BlackBerry Thunder! | CrackBerry.com

Wirelessly posted (Verizon 8830)

Thank you for the link. I hope it comes to VZW

Its a Verizon/Vodafone exclusive

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry 9000 4.6.0.67)

www.blackberrynews.com

While I am a Blackberry fanboy, I am no Apple hater/basher, but that thing looks like it is going to be WAY easier to type on than the iphone. However, I will be in landscape mode all time. Can't do SureType.

Looks good.

Looks nice, very clean. Time will tell how the actual OS runs though.

this is truly indeed....amazing

VERY, VERY SAD!!!! I am a true blackberry supporter from day one and have never ever wanted to change until now. I was going to wait for the touch blackberry to come out but not sure anymore. The Iphone is ten million years ahead in user interface. In the pics the Thunder looks bulky and confirms what a friend told me that works at RIM. The email looks like the same setup as other blackberries (blan and boring) compared to the iphone setup. The THUNDER should have a user interface which is much better then the Iphone or RIM will seriously be in trouble in the future if they keep the same old boring basic setup and user interface on this touchscreen.

RIM cannot just come out with a touch screen and expect it to be better then the Iphone because it say's BLACKBERRY on it. They have to seriously kick some but and renovate the looks and sexiness of the onscreen display with hopefully nicer ways of incoming phone calls and email, text, and web browsing, menu options, etc.

I thought I would never say this as I bashed the first Iphone but the Iphone may seriously be way better then the THUNDER. BLACKBERRY lovers seriously need to take 2 steps back and look at the overall user experience of the Iphone and they will realize RIM has some big things to accomplish to raise the bar for the IPHONE.

This comes down to a matter of priorities. I used the 3G iPhone extensively Friday and Saturday and while there was a lot of neato, a few unpleasantries, some pretty pictures, smooth transitions, music, etc. there was minimal speed in txt and email. Typing was painful. Getting into various menus was a comedy of errors with button presses. Etc. If I was quite deliberate, relative to how quickly I navigate the BB, then it was a-OK.

The question is will the Thunder be as forgiving as the current lineup? You can FLY through operations on current BBs without fear of odd buttons, rogue menus, etc.

Anyway, so my "user experience" on a BB is much more to my liking that the iPhone.

You used the Iphone for 2 days? How long have you used a blackberry, I have a friend that has the Iphone and he types emails in lightning speed with no errors. It just takes time to navigate through any phone. The overall user experience is key, like I said take 2 steps back and look at the overall picture with no prejudice and you will see that Blackberry has alot to do with the THUNDER as it has ONLY been made to compete with the Iphone.

So a boring and plain jane interface will just humiliate RIM in the end. They should have just not even bothered building a touchscreen. Iphone s on their 2nd which as everyone knows is a big deal as RIM is only on their first touchscreen. I bet even as we speak Iphone is constructing their 3rd Iphone, RIM HAS ALOT OF CATCHING UP TO DO IF THEY WANT TO COMPETE WITH IPHONE BY MAKING A TOUCHSCREEN.


The Bold and Curve are phones that are great and should remain for certain people but the Touchscreen has to head in a little bit of different direction and not the same old business boring interface.


***Just look at the keyboard it looks very, very sad. My ATARI had better graphics on their letters. I am disappointed so far, I really hope RIM proves me wrong when this comes out but as of now it does not look good. RIM has to keep in mind what type of people will buy the touchscreen, young hip business people and not old farts.

So wait, let me get this straight. What you're saying is the fact that Apple has released two touch-screen phones already is reason enough for RIM to NOT build one? If RIM wants to get into the touchscreen market they do have to start with the first model, right? Or can they go into the future and produce two of the same phone in the same generation? You, sir, have made an excellent point! RIM should not bother with a touchscreen phone because it would be their first one! This guy is a genius! Apple beat them to it so that OBVIOUSLY means game over!

This DMX guy is too smart for me...

I used the 3G iPhone for two days, I used the original for about three months before I concluded the BB was still more efficient for my messaging needs. I was hoping the revision did more than just add GPS and change network dressing. It didn't.

a couple of differant people stated this is a very early build of the OS. Lets not jump the gun until the final version is released im pretty sure the folks at RIM know what their doing remember they been in the game for over ten years.

Looks nice, but just not my speed.

Even if the iPhone or iPhone 2 were released as Blackberry's, I would still not have made the move. I do wish RIM all the luck in the world with this device, I just hope it doesn't slow R&D on phones I may enjoy (selfish, yes).

Funny your saying I'm too smart, buddy go back and read... I never said because Iphone built it first that RIM should not.... Clearly STATED that RIM has to step it up as apple is on a roll and perfecting their Iphone with their 2nd generation being released and much better then their first. Pardon me for you ignorance.


Anyway didn't mean to hurt your feelings, didn't know you were so attached to RIM... Like I said before I am a huge blackberry supporter but releasing these pictures do not help one bit (they were leaked on purpose obviously) and like I said before, I'll say it again, a friend at RIM says the device is thick which will totally suck!

The phone does look a little wide for my preference but I have to believe it will be a stable device. I haven't played with the 3g iphone but the original is very hard to type on because the letters are so close to each other maybe the wider thunder will make it easier? I can only imagine how much more of a pain it is to type on the new iphone than the old since they go down in size. It seems like the thunder is going to be like the sidekick possibly .... but I'm excited for it and hopefully its sweet so I can get it heh.

Why does one always have to "kill" the other? RIM is not having any problem selling devices. I doubt they ever will. Apple isn't having any trouble selling devices either. I think there's room for both. However, there's not room for both on my belt. There's only room for BB.

DIE DIE DIE! Oh, wait... err....

There are a few seats available over here. *shuffle shuffle*

It's our tribal instinct.

Wirelessly posted

I'm pretty sure you said it right in the paragraph that I quoted. Maybe I can't read but I THINK it says it...yea, pretty sure it does.

But, I do agree with you when you say that these pics are not too good looking. Apparently this is an old picture of it, so I'm hoping for the best.

rim is trying to copy the iphone

You guys honestly think with the way the Bold's UI is, that the Thunder is going to have the UI listed above?

I hope they modified this casing and make it look sleeker, I hope your right and it is an old picture and hopefully they have improved it. I'm just scared as a friend that works at RIM said the device was bulky compared to the Iphone and looking at the pictures he was dead on but maybe they are improving on it. I live in Waterloo and I have a ton of friends that work at RIM that I have known since highschool and I get scoops all the time and they are never wrong, I'll ask if these pictures were just the first build.

I am holding off getting the Iphone in the hopes RIM blows it away which they never ever have disappointed but when I see pictures like that leaked it makes me wonder as RIM has never ventured off into the "fashion type" cool interfacing phone!


Hopefully we will see more pictures leaked soon.

Its unlikely the housing will change much with a fall release timeline. The UI/software will almost certainly change though.

Your probably right, unless these are old pictures from the start which I doubt.

I have been reading and also posting messages on the AT & T web site this weekend on the Apple Forum (until I was banned late yesterday afternoon). I have never read so many complainst and so little praise for the new i phone. One guy using his new phone and the 3 g network tried to download The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia (New York Times) and it took 45 seconds. Someone else took over 3 minutes. I tried it using my BB 8830 with Verizon and it took exactly 10 seconds to download the NYT home page complete with photos. I posted this on their Forum and was then banned from accessing the web site! Lots of luck, Apple and AT & T!

Just want to throw in my 2 cents to say I think DMZ hit the nail right on the head.

I just checked out the iPhone this past weekend and was really impressed to the point that I call it the BB-killer. Not just because of its looks and fancy graphics but because RIM is so much more behind the times. Heck, BB's can't even implement bluetooth correctly and you expect to compete with Apple!

DMX is right. RIM needs to step back and look at everything from its hardware to its marketing strategies. Case in point: I wanted to give my 20-year-old a spare BB Pearl I had at work and she wouldn't even take it for FREE! Obviously BB's have an image problem that neither RIM nor some forum members here like to acknowledge.

I was willing to hang in there and wait for the Thunder before I make any final judgements on BB's and these pics don't bode very well for RIM.

Yuk!! Not for me...Heck, I'm hoping Rim will develop a unit that will bring back the side track wheel.

Wirelessly posted (BB 11020)

Give me a break! I think RIM's marketshare is doing just fine. Remember, BlackBerry was never designed to be a consumer device. Their popularity has made RIM change the demographics they aim to. So, its the BlackBerry that is selling BlackBerry.

Couldn't agree more! I just love how people compare the iPhone to BB. They are targeted at two completely different segments of buyers. BB has always been considered a corporate device. The first consumer model in my eyes was the Pearl, and it gained popularity fast. I can't count how many I see in a day. The Curve took it to the next nevel. Now the Bold. Please, people. BlackBerry's are messaging devices, not an iPod with a phone attached. I think RIM is working hard on making a BB more media friendly.
Don't get me wrong, the iPhone is way ahead of the curve in terms of technology. Apple has done a great job of releasing a revolutionary device, but calling it a BB Killer is a joke. No Copy/Paste, No MMS, "Complete" Push E-Mail support, & Laughingly short battery life (Could barely get 7 hours out of it, My Curve lasts 1.5-2 days.) to name a few "issues". I like a removable battery, but some people only own one.
The only BB that is an iPhone competitor is the Thunder. Not the Curve. Not the Bold.

touch screen isn't my thing and i'll pass on this device (simply as in its isn't for me).

But I really like the idea of full QWERTY and a suretype mode. Pretty neat!

And Jesus people, enough with the iphone stuff! This ISN'T an iPhone. If you want an iPhone, get an iPhone!

Thats like going out and buying a Honda Oddessey Mini van for your family, and then saying the honda oddessey sucks because its not like your 2 seater chevy corvette, and honda needs to step up the oddessey to compete with the corvette.

You haven't even seen the UI yet. All you have seen is the two keyboard layouts... You have no idea whether this phone will compete or not. As far as I'm concerned, this phone doesn't need to raise the bar for the iPhone. Simply meeting the iPhone eye to eye will be good enough for plenty of reasons.

I fail to see the appeal in all touch-screen device. I like how Palm makes their devices, but the how they look and the OS is god awful in my opinion. It should have a full keyboard and touch screen.

Your right the blackberry was never a consumer device but obviously now that they have put themselves out their with a touchscreen soley to compete with the Iphone it is only fair to judge the Thunder.


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I hate how people get so offended when anything negative is said about the blackberry. Like I said before I am a long and loyal fan of the blackberry but trust me when I say RIM is a little shaken and taken back to how Apple is trying to take the throne. People talk about push email and messaging device and nothing rivals the Blackberry which I always used to agree with but the Iphone does in fact have push email and actually can be set up with most office's that run microsoft on their systems. The Iphone is turning out to be a great messaging device.


People will say this is a blackberry forum or or go an Iphone but the fact is that I am compawring the THUNDER that Blackberry SPECIFICALLY made to compete and destroy the Iphone.

If people will take 10 minutes and read about the Iphone 3G and it's capabilities and how Apple has totally changed this device to a more corporate device and overall a phone that anyone can use from young to old you will realize Apple has indeed set the bar.

If anyone actually thinks about it and quit being stuburn and look at the whole picture RIM has to chagne with the times and bring new innovative functions and multi media to their device as these are more then just phones now. Judging from just the shape of this touchscreen it looks like a brick and a touchscreen a caveman would use (no offence) I really hope I'm wrong when it comes out.

When the THUNDER launches I bet you people will not be waiting in line from the day before to pick one up. I have never ever seen such a demand on a phone in my life as all over the world people were lining up from the day before for an Iphone, it is incredible and I do not think people would be doing this for a garbage phone.

Hmmm. the touch-screen interface has a LOT of potential for BBs to compete in the specialty hand-held market that was once doinated by PALM.

Any application that requires a specialized data interface is now fair game. In many ways, a fixed keyboard was holding BB back! With these terminals, once the information is digitzied, it all becomes emailable using the existing secure and reliable BB data network, from the guys who wrote the book on enterprise connectivity. The posters here are only thinking about this phone in terms of their own apps and preferences - where RIM and Apple are competing currently. You've GOT to look BEYOND that, to where RIM is NOT competing, to see where RIM is going to grow its business.

I see massive institutional sales potential here.

This thing could be the king hell bastard of all pocket devices - something that can link to land surveying equipment - or, docked to a laser scanner, and using a stylus - act as a secure, wireless, Point of Sale terminal! What about as hand-held medical charts for doctors… sync’d from the ambulance to the hospital to the pharmacy and nurses station?

Let’s see the iStone do that. Oh wait, the iTunes server crashed again.

With the iPhone 2, Apple finally released a device that competes with a current-generation BB. Now BB is getting ready to raise the bar once again!

Wirelessly posted (BB 11020)

I'm not offended. I would like to see the press release from RIM where they said they wanted to "destroy the iPhone" with the Thunder. Two different devices. Compete maybe. Destroy, I think not. I don't think Apple expects to "destroy the BB" either.

I think the side track wheel has gone the way of the dinosaur.

And another thing:

BB can now sell into any market that does not use western-style characters, wihout costly specialized keyboards, or clunky emulators. Russia, China, Japan, The Middle East - every civil servant, executive, entrepeneur, and regular consumer in these countries is now a potential RIM customer.

Even aging boomers, who routinely comlpain that the keys on their BBs are too small, wil now be able to use these devices, thanks to scaleable fonts!

RIM has such a lead in institutional and government networking in the Western nations, because this is where they've spent their money. Apple has NONE of these big, institutional markets because they chose to focus on individual consumers, and selling flashy toys to over-indebted hipsters.

Let me try to cool things down here..

Not an apple-basher, in fact I have a Macbook Pro and love it. But watch this video ( wwwDOTyoutubeDOTcom/watch?v=-rAUMGL5FfQ ) and tell me how intuitive the iPhone 3G is.

To add to that, supposedly its half the price, but they raised the data plan price so in the long run your spending more money.

Sorry for my ramble