so the word is that the 8703e is now in Bell's backend system as a sku.. so just a matter of time..

Will it be any different from the EDGE 8700's?

No FCC approval as of yet. It would not shock me if they beat Verizon to the punch, verizon is always the last man to the party..

I've looked in Bell's dealer level ordering system and it's not there yet. Do you have any further information about this new BlackBerry? (the SKU or where it can be found?)

of course you won't be able to order it yet.. so it won't show in their back office system. a sku has populated in their front office system. no point in having the sku as you won't be able to do much with it, other then drool until the day it lets you order it!

is it the same as the EDGE 8700? probably very close, maybe a few cosmetic differences.. i have seen a plastic casing for a cdma 87xx, and it looked almost no different from the 8700r, but who knows what will happen in a year..

You mean like they were with the Q, Treo 700p, and 700w, among others? Recently, VZW has beaten many companies to the punch.

No, like they are last with BLACKBERRYS. Last time I checked, the Q, Treo 700p and w are not BlackBerrys. In fact, the Q sitting in front of me isn;t much of anything...

I think they were first with one BB. I don't remember the model, but in general, you are correct. I was just saying that they are not late on everything. Moreover, I wasn't referring to whether the product (i.e., the Q) is good or not, just the fact that they can be first.

Verizon was first with the 7130.

That's what I thought too.

I knew it was the 7100 series. I just couldn't recall the model number last night (it was late).

T-Mobile had the 7100 long before Verizon had the 7130. Essentially the same phone.

But the 7130e is CMDA, which i think was the first 71xx that was out with a CDMA radio from Qualcomm...

To me, sprint always seems to lag in terms of phone selection. Decent plans, good network, limited device selection. I want an 8700 series for Ev-DO!

I am not sure what's Sprint's problem, but between Samsung and Sanyo devices, they don't offer much else.

What will the 8703e have that the 8700g doesn't?

The ability to use the Sprint & Verizon CDMA (Ev-DO) networks.

I'm anxiously awaiting the day when Telus up here in Canada will offer an 87XX series BB and take advantage of the EVDO Network. At the moment, only Roger's offers an 8700r but they are GSM/GPRS networked based. I tried an 8700r but for some reason, I was getting too many dropped calls compared to a Telus 7130e, so I am staying with Telus for the moment.

Hopefully they will come out with an 870X by years end.

Nick

Since EV-DO is more advanced than 1x and/or GPRS/EDGE the version for Sprint/Verizon is a 8707 version wich is 3G...

Are there no specs associated with the SKU?

This is potentially huge news for Rogers users. Since Bell offers true unlimited data, a Bell 8703 could finally put some pressure on Rogers to offer a decent data plan.

Not to be too hard on Mr.Ted. He did open the purse-strings for my beloved Blue Jays, and while the jury is still out on Burnett (and Molina is a liability on the base paths), Ryan, Glaus and Overbay are all looking rather good.

Preemptive reply: what do you mean that's off-topic? I subsidise those contracts with my Blackberry.

It does suck that the CDMA devices from RIM take awhile to come out, but it is awfully nice of you GSM folks to beta test them for us first.

The 7130e had most of the nagging 7100t/g issues fixed. ;)

(retreats to under desk)

The 8703 is definitely coming to Sprint PCS. On the PCS dealer site, there is a survey we were supposed to take and this is one of the questions:

now i'm wondering if any of the CDMA carriers will offer a 29.99 unlimited rate like the GSM carriers

Hmmm sprint get the exclusive before Verizon? wow!

Actually, Verizon and Sprint are expected to release the 8703 about the same time.

any dates as to when these will be released?

Sprint's 8703e is supposed to come out in September. I don't know about Verizon.

Do we have a time frame for arrival?

Is it going to be liek the PPC devices - Sprint first, then Verizon, then Bell, etc?

sorry... I take back my question - I was beat to the punch

Early-Mid September for Verizon.

A baseball commentator (Peter Gammons) for ESPN once said that the real money for teams is made in the off-season... because a simple rumor of a star player coming to a team is what makes the fan buy those $eason ticket$ (very lucrative)... on the same page a rumor of a device coming to a carrier is what maybe keeps a customer w/ that company. In my case just discussing the rumor of a BB 8703 for Sprint keeps me from going to T-mo or Cingular... Sometimes the "Devices" are what makes a carrier.

Although I love PG, an alternative view would be that always being late to the party with new devices will allow a customer an opportunity to leave. Being late with the Treo 650, then the Blackberry 7250, allowed me to let my contract with Sprint lapse. I considered a corporate offer we had from Cingular (we have them from all the carriers) because they had the 8700c. Unfortunately for Sprint, my switch to Cingular was not pleasing from a voice quality standpoint -- but now I'm there for the term of my 2 year deal. Unless, that is, they come up with a way to buy me out of my contract...

All you listed were PDA's, and not good PDA at that. I give Verizon the two thumbs for sound vs. others, but phones are limited.

late september, early october is what Bell is looking at

just a peek!

That looks amazing. Change the VZW logo for Sprint's and add GSM/GPRS international roaming capabilities, and I would have found my perfect Blackberry.

WOW!! That's hot! Is that a photoshop job or is that the real deal?

I dont want to be a kill joy for CDMA (which I am on) but if you cant see that the verizon logo was cut and pasted you have to be blind.

GRRRR! I can see that too....So upsetting...