Don't know if this is a repost or not....but this is an article posted today 6/28/06.

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1983066,00.asp

Would not mind the extra expansion card. I have no need for camera or MP3.

GREAT FIND! I hadn't read bout that. Quite interesting how on one side he says they are branching out to meet the needs of everyday consumers via mp3 and such whlie on the other hand he is discussing the whole thing about security and stuff. Personally the mp3 is meh but the wifi and camera....yeah i could go for those. Plus if my 7130e was just a tad thinner....not asking for a q but it is a little thick. Other then that they are dead on the money.

I guess I'll wait until the end of the year to get a new berry. I have a 7105, but my contract with Cingular ends in September. I'm hating Cingular right now because of this stupid "AT&T Legacy" bullshit. I can't take advantage of the new Bberry data plan unless I change over to Cingular, but they don't offer any good phone plans comparable to the gem of a plan I have. I will be shopping around soon.

I feel your pain. I no longer have Cingular and left for the reasons you cited. As to the upcoming BlackBerries, I am all for expansion, because I realize that these companies are not charities, but I find it interesting that the CEO cites security as RIM's number one priority, yet they are adding cameras to their devices. I know the CEO means security for data, but there are other security concerns, and unless certain companies/institutions/organizations change their policies on cameras in the workplace, then adding a camera does little to ensure security for certain companies/institutions/organizations. RIM needs to make sure that they offer a camera and a camera-less version of these devices. One of the reason I am a "Crackberry" addict is because BB devices have no cameras. I could certainly use expandable memory and/or a touch screen, among other features, but I currently have zero need for a camera.

I whole-heartedly agree. What's the big deal with camera phones anyways? you can go out and buy a camera for alot cheaper than you would pay for most camera phones. Plus the quality is crap....

But yeah, I definately need expandable memory, the touch screen I could live without. No stylus to lose and replace. as for the mp3 player....eh, I'll stick with my ipod.

just my two cents

how often do you carry your camera around with you? i'm not yet at the "man bag" stage of my life.. sorry

when cell phones came out... alot of people said.. "why do you have to have a phone with you at all times?"

My major problem with cell phone cameras is the resolution stinks!
So why bother?

Agree...But the two out of the three moments in my life when I NEEDED a camera, I did not have my SLR, so I had to use my Cell phone.

One time I caught the plate of a guy that ran over a kid on a bike and then did the old hit and run, I caught a shot of his plate. The other time I caught my buddies GF with another guy and the cell phone camera acted as proof..

The third time I had my Canon SLR and that was when I met Bruce Springsteen.

If they do that, it will dramatically compromise security AND your ability to bring your BlackBerry onsite at SOME organizations, even if yours doesn't have a camera. Right now, some organizations prohibit all cell phones & PDAs, but allow BlackBerry devices. Why is that? Largely because they don't want to take the time to check each and every phone and PDA to see IF it has a camera or removable memory or not. They KNOW that your BlackBerry doesn't, by definition - so IT is allowed. As soon as SOME BlackBerry devices have cameras, than for security purposes, it becomes just another phone/PDA as far as security and being allowed on premise.

DallasFlier speaks the truth. I do business at a few gummit places where a well armed uniformed officer inspects my stuff when I enter the site. These people wave a BB right through. If they had to inspect it for a camera or removable memory, they be unhappy at the waste of time (at a minimum) and might ban them altogether.

RIM will probably do this, but it won't make my life any easier.

Oh, I agree. I was just saying that since they plan to add a camera anyway, that a camera-less version should also be an option. I prefer they not add a camera at all, but that's just wishful thinking.

Even rudimentary image capture, while on the go, can have more useful purposes, then negative ones. I don't actually "miss" my pocket PC camera phone, but, there are times, where capturing an image can be quite useful, and I wish I had it -- especially for proof of urgent or important moments for later use, or to recall something unusual, etc...

this is actually bad practice, and a security breach is sure to occur if they do not even check the blackberry. what if you took a camera-phone of similar dimensions and slapped it in your blackberry holster with a blackberry sticker across the back? it's also very easy to gut a blackberry and put a thumb drive in it and you're now a walking 64MB-16+GB hard drive that can run code or take data from any machine you have access to.

what they could do is make the camera versions a distinctly different shape and color, but again it is up to the organization to check these devices, as one could simply color it or whatever.

I'm all for 2 versions, if there was a nextel bberry with sd (or better xd) card, smart card reader, possibly fingerprint reader, 1MP or better camera, and decent built in memory (512MB+) i would drop my current cell phone and blackberry duo for it.

Wow! that took some upperlevel thinking right there!

lol

i'm not saying this is a work-around, or to try it, or anything like that. just commenting on a security policy of waving blackberries through. Now *that* is upper level stuff for sure

Interesting points from opposite views.

BB has to offer a camera to compete for new markets, yet without alienating/compromising value for current market share. After reading this post, doesn't it seem that RIM's top reason for no pics (security issue) isn't as strong? The 'security issue' I believed in and used for so long shouldn't hold water since the user can manipulate the BB for any motive. I understand there are different levels of security and that companies, health clubs, etc may not allow cameras for a variety of non-espionage reasons but high-level security areas sadly shouldn't allow any of these devices.

I guess RIM could come out with a line that is all silver (like a treo, etc) to differentiate, which would solve the problem fro RIM but also validate the 'points' of their competitors' arguments. At any rate, it's interesting to watch a company try to carve out a niche in a young industry.

I honestly could care less about adding other features to a BB - all I really want right now for it is real ringtones (I carry a 7100i). For everything else I carry an i930.

wholeheartedly agree with the camera security issue.

I work in a health care facility camera phones are the major reason (even beyond freq. concerns) that we do not allow those devices in patient care areas.

Adding to the Blackberry Blueprints recenly posted, it could possibly be a technology that allows the Blackberry to recieve photos from a bluetooth camera. It could be such a way that you can take a pictutre with a regular camera and use your blackberry to email the photo. Thus, no security issues, no problems

You know what? Every time someone says they don't want a camera for blah, blah, blah reasons....I'm gonna make a post saying I can't wait for a camera and all the other MM functionality! Bring it on RIM!

I agree - but tell that to market demand.. there IS demand..

I suspect there will be camera-free options for us corporate-folks.. don't worry..

and if you have a SLR -- you should have it on you at all possible times. Obviously you won't sneak it into a concert.. but i can't stand the resolution on any camera phones. Period =)

Expansion card and WiFi support and a camera would perfect the 7130c...

ok, couple different things here....

First, if someone was going to hack a BlackBerry to add in a thumbdrive, don't you think it would be easier for them to put a compartment into their boot and have the thumbdrive in there? Not only that, if someone is THAT determined to get some sort of electronics in so that they can get information out, then it doesn't matter what is banned at the door, that person is still going to find a way.

For ntjones:
You go ahead and post that reply to every post where someone says they don't want a camera....that's your opinion to their opinion. There's going to be just as many that support your opinion as theirs, so why make it seem like you're going to be a jerk about it?

And lastly....InPocket's comment about a bluetooth camera. IF you could somehow get the image onto a BlackBerry, you couldn't send it as an attachment from the BlackBerry....just not a feature.

Waving in a BlackBerry because you know that it doesn't have a camera isn't that bad. Just about every cell phone has a camera, and just about everyone has one of said cell phones. By eliminating those and not a BlackBerry might not be a 100% security guarantee, but at least you can be sure that about 90%-95% of the camera threat has been taken care of.

I want to design a device that will completely disrupt any sort of cmos or ccd based camera (i think that's what cell phones use)...that would rock..i'd be absolutely rich. People could still bring their phones into gyms (for example) but if they tried to take a picture, all they got was a blank image....oh man, i'm patenting that idea now

Zro

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry7100i/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/103)

Since security has always been a primary concern for RIM, they could always make the camera function dependant on a card key that could be surrendered in secure areas rather than the whole device.
I'm sure RIM will be careful not to aleinate the clientel that they've built their business on.

Word on the street is that rim is workiong a camera. If it were to come out, it would prob be in a year. This is suprising because RIM's number one customer is still the US government.

No one said that every device from now on will have a camera in it...

I agree that camera phones are garbage -- it's purely for novelty. mp3 wouldn't be if it had some decent storage. God knows I only have so many pockets, and ipod/cell phone/blackberry/wallet/keys are already too much to carry. Plus, I refuse to wear a hip holster.

Hi, I would love to have a blackberry with a camera the BB is my only internet connection. I would be able to send pics to my kids

Hi, I need some help using the Bberry. Can I print stuff, can I send pictures that are on my Bberry. Hope someone can answer those questions for me. Hope it doesn't sound. Stupid

I completely agree. They have to do it to keep growing, but they can't compromise their core customer base. With regards to product differentiation, as I've said before I think the best idea would be for RIM to spawn a completely separate line of consumer devices, since they seem to want to break into the mainstream consumer market so bad (just look at their web site redesign). A distinctly separate but still obviously related line of consumer devices could be crammed full of cameras, removable memory, and whatever else the market demands, while still keeping the BlackBerry line itself as secure as ever.

Who's being a jerk? Maybe you didnt notice the at the end of my post.

RIM is smart enough to know that they'll have to have a consumer and a proffesional line....

think about other areas of markets where there are consumer, and proffesional lines of products.....

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me there already are distinct consumer and professional lines.... suretype models and full qwerty models. It's pretty obvious that the suretype phones will get things like camera's, MP3 players and other "consumer" apps, while the full keyboard phones will not. Wasn't it T-mobile that had the 7100 first... They are easily the least business oriented service provider in the US so it makes sense they would pick up the 7100 first.

edit: this also solves all the "security crises" theories for moving into technology like cameras. If it has a full keyboard, government will allow it, if it doesn't then they won't.

Although I have to concede that makes sense, I hope that's not the direction they take. Because I would like a full-keyboard device (can't stand SureType) with a camera and maybe removeable memory. Basically, if I could have a camera in my 8700c, I'd have the perfect device for me.

JUST MY OPINION:

I believe this is why BB has developed blackberry connect for other devices such as the new Samsung flip phone with blackberry connect. It is a Samsung phone with 1.3 megapixel camera, micro SD (t-flash) memory card, speech recognition, QWERTY keyboard, mp3 player, etc, etc.

check out http://www.mobiledia.com/phones/samsung/sgh-t719.html to see pics of the new samsung.

I apoligize about the error in my last statement. It is a SureType and not QWERTY, which still beats a standard keypad anyday of the week.

I understand what most are saying about the camera resolution. But honestly, I dont feel like carrying a camera and a phone around all the time. It is nice to have the feature built in, even if I have to sacrifice a little resolutinonm. To be honest. I was given a PPC and I have taken pictures with its camera that people were shocked about. They couldnt believe it was from a phone.

As for the MP3, my PPC also has window mobile media player. It is nice because I can transfer my songs to my device and listen to my music while i was at work. At this very moment I am listening to "Live like you were dying".

The main idea is convenience. Yea I could carry an Ipod and a camera, and a phone (blackberry or PPC), but I dont want to keep up with all of that stuff. If they can make a stable device that doesnt experience resets and keeps reliable email that has all of those features, then I want that. Less for me to carry. more for me to enjoy

to see some of the pics I have taken check here, keep in mind that the really good ones were not included because they were nudies: Overall the camera isnt that bad. Some of the pics I have on there though are kind of dark .

www.coreyslifeinpictures.blogspot.com

I agree. I carry enough stuff around every day already. Switching to a camera/mp3 phone isn't an option. I depend too much on my Blackberry to keep myself organized and efficient. I would love an mp3 player on my BB. I could do without the camera, but I would take one if it was offered. Sometimes even a crappy picture is worth a thousand words.

And...coreyg510...you're right. I can't believe those pics came from a phone. My wife's i870 takes terrible pictures, but she takes a ton of our 2 year old.

you're not kidding. Those pics are pretty good. I cant wait for a decent camera BB to come out.

But obviously there is a large enough number of people wanting these features otherwise why would RIM even bother. I personally would love to have a camera on my 7100i

Before the flames start, I will say that this post is not meant to be sarcastic/mean/harsh/flame inducing/whatever.

For those of you that carry BB, ipod, DigiCam, Portable DVD player, etc, and want a camera and/or MP3 playback on the BB so that you don't have to carry as much, why not keep the BB (for phone and/or email) and pick up a Treo or other Smartphone to reduce the number of devices? BB and Treo cuts the count down from 3 or 4 to 2....depending on what all the Treo is used to replace.

I can understand that this isn't exactly merging them all into one device, but wouldn't an option like that partially satisfy both sides of the equation? RIM doesn't have to make a 'converged' device, you get to carry around less items, and you still get the amazing email of the BB.

Again, this is just an idea, not meant to be a "stop whining" type post. I myself don't carry more than my BB, so I'm not sure if a BB and Treo would be a good solution instead of a BB, iPod, Camera, whatever.

Zro