Id like to get a new blackberry...preferrably a GSM blackberry. Is RIM going to come out w/ a blackberry that would support UMTS/HSDPA? Perhaps their would be a software upgrade available for a curren't blackberry to upgrade it to UMTS/HSDPA. I would think RIM would get to work on this as it sounds like Motorola has a GSM Q on the way that will be capable of these speeds...
That would be the 8707; currently available from Vodafone in the UK. Guess when there are UMTS networks in the US they'll be available here. It will not be a software upgrade to existing models.
Last edited by NJBlackBerry : 06-14-2006 at 08:53 PM.
Your guess is as good as anyone else's. We simply don't know. RIM and the carriers have not been forthcoming on this. I imagine we'll eventually see a device that supports those speeds. But how timely the delivery of that product to market by RIM and the carriers is anyone's guess.
You can get it today - it just will have to come from overseas... It has not been unusual for newer BBs to be available in the UK and Europe before the US. The 8707 is available today. Just not by Cingular or T-Mobile!
The 8707 won't work with Cingular's HSDPA, the rest of the world is using 2100mHz for 3g while the USA uses existing spectrum. The 8707 will work as a phone, being quadband GSM, but won't pick up the HSDPA since it is looking for UTMS only at 2100mHz. The FCC was going to auction that band off this summer but it got pushed back a few months.
The 8707 won't work with Cingular's HSDPA, the rest of the world is using 2100mHz for 3g while the USA uses existing spectrum. The 8707 will work as a phone, being quadband GSM, but won't pick up the HSDPA since it is looking for UTMS only at 2100mHz. The FCC was going to auction that band off this summer but it got pushed back a few months.
Will there be phones that have global UMTS support? Or would you need two different devices if you go between the US and rest of the world and want UMTS or HSPDA?
Given the target audience of BBs (our executives spend half of their time overseas) I would expect some sort of "dual-band" or universal HSDPA/UMTS device (also including GPRS and EDGE) at some point - maybe even right out of the gate for U.S. customers.
Blackberry capable of UMTS/HSDPA 
