7250 Ev-do
 

I've heard rumors (here & elsewhere) that the Blackberry 7250 is EV-DO capable & we are just waiting on a Verizon software upgrade to make it functional.

Does anyone in the know have any word on when/if EV-DO will become available on the 7250 on Verizon's network??

Thanx :smile:

I don't see how since EVDo is a Qualcom CDMA product. Do the BB products through Verizon or Sprint run on CDMA? I know that my T-Mo won't be able to access EVDo - it's the wrong system.

All phones that are on the Verizon and Sprint networks are CDMA and use a Qualcomm chip. Yes, it has EV-DO built-in. No, the software for the handheld does not support it yet. Yes, it will be a firmware/OS update to access the EV-DO functionality. Yes, it will be available in the next 2-3 months.

Wow.. Not sure what else to say. The 7250 is a CDMA product. BlackBerry is not limited to GSM (T-Mobile). They even make products that run on the Nextel iDen network.

Here is a very good web site from RIM that shows all of their products....

http://www.blackberry.com/products/h...ds/index.shtml

I have a 7250 thru Verizon and called up their Tech Support and they told me that EVDO would not work on the 7250, which bummed me out. Where did this information come from about it be available on the 7250.

By the way, the following link will show you the EVDO coverage for Verizon:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/CoverageLocatorController?requesttype=NEWREQUEST[/URL]
Click on Broadband Access and VCast, then put in your zip, city, state, etc.

It has been said time and again, from RIM reps and from Verizon reps, that the handheld has EV-DO capabilities built-in but not supported by firmware/OS yet. This will come within a few months. If they told you that it would not work, they are correct in stating that... Currently, it will not work. In a few more months after their next OS release that does support EV-DO, I'm sure you can call back and they will say that it does support it.

A more appropriate question would be to RIM asking if the EV-DO chip was built-in to the 7250.

I work for Verizon and just purchased the 7250/ EV-DO will be available in June early July as stated before, with a firmware update. This comes from our exucitive director of programing in EV-DO.

What benefit will EVDO bring to email delivery - seems pretty fast already. Is the main benefit of EVDO going to be for speed of accessing websites?

email won't benefit, other then maybe opening up attachments faster, but yes, it will be beneficial to browsing the web, and as well as possibly making the 7250 officially functional as a modem (so i heard from a little bird), which would be great, especially with the ev-do speed. the little bird wasn't sure if any specific apps were being designed for ev-do, which keeps me curious, what will come? hopefully some sort of video app..

Out2L8, please do your research before making assumptions on what device has what future capabilities and network settings.. shouldn't bash anything before you know what's inside it..

Sweet!

That's good news for us folks up in Canada where TELUS Mobility has been working on EVDO for the 7250! :)

Verizon EVDO will be a tethered solution to the BB.

And if BT can be unlocked for modem connections, that would be just great! :smile:

If you take an application like Wallace Wireless with their WIC application, it will be veeery interresting to have the EvDo speed on the Blackberry!

If EV-DO is enabled on the 7250,
Question #1: will it be V CAST or BroadbandAccess
Question #2: how will speed compare to EV-DO PC cards

Keep tuned.

This is a bigger tease then not saying anything at all hehehe...

If EV-DO is enabled on the 7250,
Question #3: if EV-DO with Broadband Access at $79 or rumored $60, will that include BlackBerry push-email service?

Sprint 'charging $649' for evdo upgrade...
 

from PCSintel.com...I hope this doesn't influence Verizon to charge for a software upgrade for their firmware-abled evdo device (BB 7250) to realize its full potential...

Update: Many are pointing to DSL Reports mobile speed test results which was the first indication of the PPC-6700. A Sprint branded version of the device has been reporting results in testing there for almost a month, and it does indicate based on Pocket Internet Explorer versions that it is running 4.01, and not the Windows Mobile 5 version of PIE. This does appear to indicate that regardless of hardware that the PPC-6700 will run WM2003SE, and since all post-JAM products run WM5, that the hardware form-factor is existing, and not new.

Sprint customer service representatives today have officially begun to inform consumers of an upcoming product, the PPC-6700. Readers will recall, that we speculated this exact name months ago for the device (Sprint aparrently listens, in the worst of ways).

The PPC-6700 is expected to be a $649 software update to the existing PPC-6600. Currently confirmed is that it will add EV-DO to the device, as well as Windows Media Player 10 (which was previously released in an unofficial update). It is not known if Windows Mobile 5.0 will be included or not. Microsoft has said in the past that no PDA/Phone device will be allowed to updated to WM5, so it is possible that Sprint is circumventing this by releasing a new product.

Sprint has declined to comment multiple times as to if the PPC-6600 will be updated to support EV-DO, an update which our own SPI Labs has confirmed they have had in their possession since before the device launched.

Sprint customer service was told that the device is expected to launch in August, which would mark the release of EV-DO enabled handsets for Sprint and indicates the expected date of a consumer soft launch of EV-DO services.

When available, will this firmware update be installed by the user or by a tech at the VZW store?

So is this firmware update out yet from Verizon? If so where can one find it? If not any thoughts as to when it is expected?

I was told months ago, this will simply be an OS upgrade that Verizon will provide to BB users and there will be no additonal charge for EVDO on the BB. Your existing unlimited data plan should cover it. We'll see if all that is still true. This is what Verizon told me when they were trying sell me the 7250s for my company.

Oh, and it isn't available yet.

Any update?
 

Does anyone have any updates on the evdo upgrade yet. I presume not since it probably would have been posted, but just wondering.

Well, I heard from my Verizon rep maybe September. They also said it is going be designed so you can connect it to your laptop and use it as a wirless network card so they will be charging more for it.

That'll be nice. Where I work buys a lot of VZW aircards (for laptops) for folks that also have BlackBerry's. Sounds like we can save some money if we can just have the 7250 use their BlackBerry as a modem... (vs. having to pay for two separate data plans).

Yea, but...
 

VZW originally let it spill, albeit unofficially, that eventually all EVDO-capable VZW Blackberries would need a simple OS upgrade in order to utilize EVDO, which would be included in the current unlimited data plans.

I hope they don't use the modem capability has an excuse to boost the pricing, unless it will be an optional add-on feature (at an extra cost) to the current pricing.

I certainly don't want to be charged for an add-on modem capability that I don't intend to use.

The EV-DO portion for the 7250 is in final stages of testing at RIM. It will be included in the 4.0.2 release that all carriers will be getting over the next several months.

Any link for the "unofficial information"?

Any idea on what the cost to use the EVDO if not on an unlimited plan?

Is this firmware update out yet.. If how does one go about getting it..

Not yet. The carriers have started testing and certifying the code though. Another couple of months most likely.

Bunker

As will the Sprint 7250 in about 3 months.

In april it was a few months...now 5 months later it's a few months..I love the rumors here :)

I just spoke to a verizon representative and the gentleman said that verizon wireless has chosen NOT to enable ev-do on the blackberry handset. As he said... this was the final decision.

After that, I blew up at him and became so frustrated at the fact that this guy just wasnt giving us any hope of having ev-do on our blackberries

as of 2 weeks ago, they were planning on enabling EVDO within a month or two, and now they aren't? you may want to talk to someone else, to be honest. the 7250 will support EVDO and tethered EVDO with the next OS release - whether that be 4.0.2+ or 4.1. the 7130e will also support EVDO with OS 4.1.

JIBI:
I invested in a Verizon EV-DO account and hardware (I'm on TMO) and I have a hard time believing that Verizon would not create some extra cost or penalty for tethering. After all why give away the revenue stream they seem to be enjoying from selling seperate EV-DO accounts and hardware. I must say I was really annoyed with Verizon as they really pushed me to buy the Audiovox 5740, which quite frankly is a piece of crap in my mind. It had poor reception and no external antenna port, I gladly paid the difference to get the Kyocera KPC650. I know the post is part venting, but what I read in another forum was that the reps were heavily SPIFFED on the 5740 and Verizon enjoyed greater margin. I mention this only because I can imagine when tethering is available they will provide you a 100 horror stories on why it is a poor choice for service. Caveat Emptor as always

wow thats awesome that evdo is built in to the 7250! i didnt know that. i was just thinking about how great an evdo blackberry would be the other day! i really hope verizon gets their act together and ads evdo compatibility soon!

Breaking news - Oct 25th is the target date for market release of EVDO for the 7250 for Verizon. Adding EVDO will probably use the same prices plans that are used when buying an EVDO data card.

I was told that the code has been approved by Verizon and it is ready to go.

Bunker

Kick ass. Bunker do you think the 7130e will launch about the same time?

That would be $59.99/month if they use the same pricing plans as today.

Hmmm. Not so kick ass. EVDO on 7250....good...paying more...bad. Surely they would not increase the BB plan just because it has EVDO. Only benefit would be tether and browsing, but I normally have a Wifi connection and would not need the tethering option.

I would be extremely surprised if they did not raise the price - for web browsing - when EVDO is released. If they did not, then people could ditch their EVDO PC Cards and just use their BlackBerrys as their PC Modems, resulting in reduced revenue. And there is no chance Verizon will do that.

Unless they do one of their patented "well, if you try to tether on your current plan, it will work, but if we happen to audit your account and see that you were tethering without the $59.99/month tethering plan, we'll back-charge you" moves.

They will offer a different price plan for tethering. They are hoping to release the software upgrade by the end of this month. Currently the price plan for EVDO data on my Samsung SCH-i730 ($49.95) which is about $10 cheaper then an aircard. Which used to be $30 cheaper then an aircard before the price reduction. I got same rates from an aircard and the i730 so I expect it should be the same with 7250. The 7130 is hoped to be released by the end of Novemeber and it will release with EVDO. It is slightly larger then my 7100t and a little heavier making if feel more solid and less toy like. I did not check to see if what was running the 4.1 OS though. Since getting the i730 I have not been as interested in the Blackberry side of things. I hope to have a user release (last stage of beta testing) of the 7130 soon and if I do I will give more details. This information was gleaned during a meeting with a Manager of Data/PDA group large accounts division from Verizon. Also the reason for the delay on the 7250 software release was because of RIM (at leat in their words) and the stringent testing that Verizon does ith their devices (Think 4 software releases of the 7100t [TMO] versus 1 on the 7250 [Verizon])

Thanks for the info on the 7130. Sure hope is has OS 4.1 w/Bluetooth syncing.

Thanks again for sharing the information. Larger....how much bigger compared to the 7100t? Wider/longer?

Just a couple mm thicker and wider. The biggest difference is in the weight kind of a kin to the 7250 versus a 7230. It just feels more solid.

Humor Me...
 

Does the $49.95 mentioned as the price for using the EV-DO BBerry as a tethered device include the current features the data plan offers? (i.e. would that charge replace the $45 unlimited data plan charge or is it $45 + $49.95 for both features?)

If the $49.95 covers both EV-DO & data for the 7250 then I just found a solution for internet in my apartment, otherwise Time Warner Cable here I come... :smile:

Be sure to read the Terms of Service that Verizon is pitching with their EV-DO service. Time Warner might not be so bad... ;)

I would agree with those words whole heartedly, Verizon will surely find a way to increase their revenue not decrease it. Why do you think there is no EV-DO USB adapter to be found? Because you could then plug that into a desktop machine as well as your laptop and then you might cancel your Verizon DSL. I am sure they will not have benevolence in their hearts when figuring out the pricing for tethering. One other caveat, and I DO have a Verizon EV-Do account, make sure that you review the contract the rep cobbles together. None of the sales reps seem to understand Blackberries and it is a real mess to untangle when they input everything into the computer. I have already had one instance of this and it was a monumental headache to correct.

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.01; Windows CE; PPC; 240x320))

Currently the $49.95 plan is unlimited data only and then you add the voice package. There are evdo routers available that work with the aircards and usb devices by kyocera. I am not sure what you can tether to the usb port but it is out their for someone to try. Also using ICS on XP I connected my i730 and shared it out using the wifi in ad hoc mode so you could do that too.

I spoke with our corporate Verizon rep today, he stated that the EVDO will be rolled out shortly, and that there will be no adjustment of pricing or increases.

Massimo: Not to threadjack, but did your rep give any indication when Verizon intends to roll out the 7130?

I only asked about 7250 as that what he and i both have. so no idea about 7130. sorry.

7130e is in testing and is expected to be released mid-November. It too will have EVDO

do you have a price idea for the 7130e ?

Wonder if the "no price increase" includes using it as a modem?

I highly doubt if VZW will incorporate EVDO teathering in its unlimited data plan. Maybe they will provide a reduced broadband plan ($39.95 ??) along with the unlimited data plan. We should know something soon as they are looking to release the EVDO upgrade on the 7250 and the 7130e in mid-November. I would also guess the price for the 7130e will be $299.99 w/2-yr contract.

the 7130e will feature OS 4.1, btw.

Yep, that's what I hear as well.

I dont see what's so great about the 7130e... the only reason why i appreciate my blackberry so much is because of the fact that i dont need predictive text to type out my e-mails. I didnt really like the idea of... two letters being shared on each key... heck, i didnt like it when phones shared three to four letters on each key... i feel that its almost like they've gone backwards. The design is great... but why not keep the 'single letter per key' form factor? Just like the samsung i730 or the Palm Treo 700w?

I love the blackberry 7250 and would only push it aside... for another BLACKBERRY device that has the same type of qwerty keyboard... but with more features... of course.

I hope that RIM doesnt chose to get rid of this feature of the original blackberries.

Hm... as i've heard however, RIM is passing the OS over to palm... resulting in palm... probably keeping the treo 600-650-700w keyboard. Meh... not as great as the 72xx keyboard... but i'll live.

http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives...n_evdo_bl.html

Ha... just realized that they got this info from us over here at BBForums

The great thing about the 7130e is that it's an alternative to the full-sized models. Just as you love having a single letter per key, others love having a "regular cell phone sized" BlackBerry, and they're willing to trade-off the qwerty keyboard vs carrying (what seems like to them to be) a brick.

FWIW, although far from 100% perfect, the SureType software that BlackBerry uses makes "two letters on one key" almost a non-issue. Press the key that you want (once), and it guesses what letter you meant based on the next few keys you press. Definately a huge step up from T9, where if you want to type the 3rd letter on a key, you have to press that key 3x.

duplicate message oops

Tomorrow is the 25th. Think it will happen??

Slipped to Mid-November.

Lame.... lets get this show on the road already

Confirmed 7250 has EVDO from a Corp. Account Rep. My thought is they are waiting to see what Cingular does with their Edge/8700. VZ won't give up revenue stream until they have to. Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks.

Possibly because the aircard price is being subsidized in the contract price which is data only. But the phone price is subsidized in the voice plan and not data.

Bell announced their EV-DO network would be turned on today, looks like it will be in TO and Montreal first.. and the rest of Canada by end of Q1.. has anyone tried the Telus software and got hooked up to the "1X EV"???

I have! I live in Montreal!

And I'm sad to say that I didn't get the magical "1X EV"!!!!

I have used the Telus software in Chicago. My blackberry connects to the evdo network, and then i get an instant data connection refused error. The only fix for me was to downgrade.

But it is most certainly there!

-j

does anyone know if the 8700 with EVDO will be available anytime soon. Also, when will the EVDO software upgrade be available for the 7250 on verizon. Please say the month and year. The board is a bit confusing.

whats the confusion? mid-november for 7250 roll-out

Is this expected to work for both Verizon and Sprint 7250s? Does anyone know if Sprint's BB data plan will allow use of EVDO at no additional cost?

I can only answer vzw specific questions. Perhaps someone lurking works for Sprint?

massimo,

Do you have a hard date for 7130 availability from vzw?

Best info at this time is 11/14 for the 7130e release.

As its been stated here many times, the 8700 is a RIM-Cingular 90-day exclusive release (11/21). That means a CDMA version is not expected for quite awhile, if ever (although VZW and Sprint will see a 7250 replacement in 2nd-half 2006).

Would RIM really make a CDMA 7250 replacement for VZW/Sprint that's a completely different model than the 8700? Sounds like reinventing the wheel.

I think there will be an OS 4.1 for the 7250 available by the end of this year... with EVDO support... but this is just what I think...

cd.

That would make the most sense, IMO. If I were Verizon, I wouldn't necessarily want to go thru the hassle of releasing an EVDO update (and dealing with the inevitable problems that people will have updating their units) only to have to go thru the whole routine 2-3 months later with a 4.1 update...

7250 w/edvo or the new Cing. 8700
 

My contract is up with Tmo at the end of the month and desperately need a new provider. I am on my 7100t constantly and can't stand Tmo horrible service any longer. Everone tells me to go with Verizon but they probably won't have the 8700 till my kids are in college and there current BB are so old compared to everyone elses. I probably would get the older BB with Verizon if it at least had EDVO. Please help with any thoughts, anyone have Cingular BB service here in Chicago? How is the service?? :oops:

Rumors are that Verizon will activate their EVDO shortly, I have read that in other threads here. I have a 7250 from Verizon and personally I think it is plenty fast as it is, no doubt that when EVDO is activated things will move a heck of a lot faster. If youd want to you could try to pick up a used 7250 until the 8700 is available from Verizon. Again the rumors here are that we are looking at the middle of next year for that to happen. I do not work for Verizon so please do not hold me to that, just putting my 2 cents worth.

BTW the service so far for me has been great, always fast, ontime, and relevant. When they were stuck with a small issue I had they connected me directly to a Rim Tech who in turn solved my issue in a matter of minutes.

FWIW - we just got a BB VZW 7250 here at my office. We have about a dozen BB's in various flavors floating around, but this one came in with 4.0.0.271 on it from VZW. User was complaining they were getting random "Data connection Refused" errors on the way into work this morning (first night of ownership).

Called VZW to ask WTF and they said, "Oops - sorry, we had it marked as an EV-DO capable device, but it's not"

<---- confused

I asked her to check again, I said, "Are you sure, becaue I've heard a lot of rumors that the 7250 will be EV-DO capable after a firmware upgrade which is supposed to be rolled out shortly."

Her response, "No - as far as I know, the 7250 is not EV-DO capable" - so I imagine this is her way of saying, "stop asking, it's not going to work in its current state."

Talked to my Verizon corp. rep and he said mid-November for the EV-DO on the 7250.

The thing is, is most people on their end associate EV-DO directly with V-Cast. The 7250 is not powerful enough to stream live content like the other EV-DO devices.

The 7250 is EVDO capable. You will need BlackBerry OS 4.1 to enable it.

At least that is my understanding.

While 4.1 will include EVDO, there are earlier versions which will be compatiable as well. 4.0.2 was on the device I saw demo'd to me with EVDO capability.

Now Bell Mobility has made some noise on BB and EVDO, I expect we will see announcementds from Verizon in the next couple of weeks.

Bunker

Well from the looks of this Verizon brochure posted in the other thread, I highly doubt they will turn evdo on for the 7250. http://www.blackberryforums.com/atta...tachmentid=566

I am just curious, if the 7250 is indeed EV-DO ready just a matter of software upgrade, for what reason would verizon refuse to turn it on. I am sure that they will indeed charge more for the service, and after all it is a matter of economics. I do not see Verizon wasting away an opportunity to make additional money. Yes granted that enough people would switch over to the 7130e for the EV-DO, and granted that they could simply release that one with EV-DO turned on first. But I imagine that once the hoopla of the new one dies down and they realize that there still are a lot of customers that did not want to switch their full keyboard Berries for the Mickey Mouse keyboard on the 7130, that realizing the loss of revenue, will drive them to turn it on. Not to say that just a matter of staying competetive would dictate for them to do so. Just my .025 cents worth.

Still Blackberries are not bandwith intensive. It's not like you are streaming vido at 350K per second.

About the CDMA chip in the 7130e

http://www.qualcomm.com/press/releas...press1227.html

Makes me think the drone I spoke to at VZW was right :(

disappointing to say the least, if it turns out to be true. (n)

I just picked up a 7250 last weekend, and while I never asked, the sales rep herself told me that these were going to get "broadband access". Apparently, a recent change came down from Verizon hq that they were to provision these as having ev-do, which had the sales reps confused until she was told it would just take a software upgrade for the ev-do to work. Or that's what she told me... after I had already agreed to buy the device, by the way.

It is definelty not true. I have seen the 7250 with EVDO active. I am waiting for launch and pricing plans.

Bunker

EVDO does not support voice and data at the same time. The next revision will. The reason that the voice call came through is the way the blackberry handles the data.
EDGE doesn't support voice and data either although UMTS does not that there is a blackberry that uses UMTS.

I just want everyone to know that the 7250 DOES have EVDO. If I get a chance, I'll take a pic.

It is not available to the public YET, but it works. As far as I can tell, it doesn't make too much of a difference. At this time, emails don't come in while a phone call is in progress... Browsing is much faster. you still can't tether right now.

Any questions? please ask.

When browsing do phone calls still go to voicemail?

Pardon my ignorance, whats faster? evdo or edge?

It seems like calls come through now!

I was using verichat, and I had someone send me constant one line messages, and I called myself... it went through! Very cool.