[hadji]

Hy guys,
I love this forum, I love my BB 7290, I love the future BB 8700 BUT is this new Nokia N61 the BIG concurrent of Blackberry??
Look at his specifications, amazing : http://www.europe.nokia.com/nokia/0,6771,81719,00.html#
What do you say?

[takeshi]

Specs are great but they aren't always an accurate portayal of real world performance. RIM already has its infrastructure in place while MS is basically going with a different and new approach. I'd say in this situation, RIM has the upper hand with it's existing base of users, infrastructure, and experience. However, there are no guarantees in the real world...

[AlbertoM]

Looks great. In Europ. Q1 2006. Who knows when it will get here? If it gets here.

[Mr Pink57]

The big difference between the 2 would be that the E61 runs on UMTS, with that you can talk on the phone and send an email at the same time. However our UMTS in the US here is much different then that so you could truely utilize it. But as far as screen rez the E61 wins hands down.

pink

[Blackberry fiend]

Also one is the true Blackberry experience, and the other is Blackberry Connect.

[ceebz]

I will certainly be picking up the E61 when it releases. It will run on UMTS 1900 which will be launching in the States early next year.

I've been waiting so long for a Symbian device with Blackberry Connect.

[Aroc]

The whole point of the BB is the total end-to-end solution. The competitors are getting closer each year. What I see from my users the biggest gripe of the BB solution, is the handhelds themselves. It's never the services. Contrast that with other handhelds. yeah people gripe about those handhelds too, but I'll often get complaints of trouble getting access or emails arriving late, or trouble converting mail with international characters or attachments failing. Or the devices lock up or server services need to be restarted. So you can't have it all.

Out of 25 wireless PDA users, I only have two holdouts. One with a Treo and one with a Jornada palmtop. The Treo user just wants a toy. But get this, he is forced by corporate to carry a BB since email on the Treo is less that 100% reliable, especially internationally. Both devices are on Cingular. The Jornada user wants a notebook computer replacement. Which no BB can be. So in both cases the complaint is the device itself, and not the RIM or BES services.

I am eager to see what develops in this space, but so far nothing has appeared to be a BB-killer yet! I would love to see something with a native Lotus Notes client with Citrix and VPN access.

[Mr Pink57]

Wirelessly posted (your electric?: BlackBerry7100i/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/103 UP.Browser/5.0.3.3 UP.Link/5.1.2.16)

ceebz, the E61's UMTS will NOT work in the US, it is a different network all together, don't you think K-Jam and Universal users would be in heaven right now? So you will have NO UMTS abilities here. Only way that will happen is when they release a US version. And that is a BIG maybe since they talked about the other 2 having a US beesion but no mention of the E61. pink

[DCGirlWiredIn]

Yes, while the UMTS is a different network (it actually works in conjunction with another network that we do support here in the states which is CDMA). CDMA is the primary network used by Sprint PCS (Not Nextel Iden) and Verizon Wireless (Although their CDMA are on different freqs). Sprint uses somewhere around 1900 mhz band and Verizon 800 mhz band. Having said that, there actually IS a UMTS 'version' here in the U.S. It works over SBC's (Southwestern Bell Companies) old 'patchwork' network. Cingular purchased this network in the late 90's hence their name (the consolidation of the Bell's that were not purchased under Verizon). UMTS is currently available in US only on the Cingular Wireless network and it is currently deployed in Seattle, Dallas, Phoenix, San Diego and San Francisco. It gives average download speeds of around 250-300 Kpbs and when the sun, moon, stars and everything is in alignment you can get bursts up to 384Kbps. When you travel out of the current UMTS areas you will have "EDGE" backup. Cingular Wireless plans to use UMTS as a bridge from their EDGE Network to their HSDPA (High Speed Dowload Packet Access) Network, which is branded "TRUE 3G". You should see UMTS advertised more prominently in their ads probably around Q12006.

[ceebz]

Originally Posted by Mr Pink57

Wirelessly posted (your electric?: BlackBerry7100i/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/103 UP.Browser/5.0.3.3 UP.Link/5.1.2.16)

ceebz, the E61's UMTS will NOT work in the US, it is a different network all together, don't you think K-Jam and Universal users would be in heaven right now? So you will have NO UMTS abilities here. Only way that will happen is when they release a US version. And that is a BIG maybe since they talked about the other 2 having a US beesion but no mention of the E61. pink

Ah, I just realized the E61 is UMTS 2100-only.

UMTS really isn't that big a deal for me though. The WLAN capabilities plus, all the software available for the Symbian platform, and the inclusion of BB Connect, all make this device a clear winner, IMO.

[ajg]

Having both a Blackberry and a Series 60 phone (the Nokia N70) I have to say they both have their advantages and disadvantages. The E61 will be based on Series 60 so not too entirely different from my N70. What I'll say is that the Blackberry's PIM apps are much more flexible in most cases. The interfaces are different but both need no touchscreen; that's nice IMO. The email application on the BB is outstanding. The Email app on S60 is a little less sophisticated (but is can send attachments). One thing that I really enjoy in the S60 is the multimedia capabilities. Some BB users find this to be "not in the BB's interests" but I certainly do like having them. The web browser on the BB is very nice. I use Opera on my N70 and it is very nice too. I'm not sure if the 8700 or the E61 will be better or just different sides of the same coin, but for the time being, the over capabilities of the E61 does seem to give it a few advantages. But that's just my opinion.