[mymitsu3kgt]

I realize the Blackberry is mostly a coporate type phone, hence no camera for spy photos, no memory expansion slot to steal company information, no bluetooth to wirelessly steal company information, but how about the regular consumer version. The 7100 series could have been a good jump off into the consumer market, it has a nice shape and size to temp the normal consumer. I wouldn't mind seeing a camera, memory expansion slot, and greater bluetooth capability besides just using a bluetooth headset.
PIN: 2036CDDF

[disp350]

Well cuz, I suggest you go out and get a true PDA then. Your first sentence sums it up. The Blackberry is an email and phone device with good enough Internet browsing in most cases. It is not and was not ever designed to take photos, play music or video's or to play games. Since your a newbie, you also dont know that you can also do a complete synchronization of your address book and calendar with your computer via Bluetooth, if your not on a BES (in which case it automatically syncs with your corporate email). Oops, also forgot that the Blackberry is a "push" email device and I dont have to do anything to receive my email messages, they just appear after someone sends me something.

BTW, welcome to the Blackberry Forums.

[d_fisher]

RIM has recently announced that many of the things your wanting are in the works. No word yet on a time frame.

[mymitsu3kgt]

I'm definately not knocking the 7100t, this is the best phone I've ever had with the data service. The absolute best part of the Blackberry is the push email and pop3 fowarding. I'm not in the market for a phone to play video games, there are better options for that like a PSP. Would it really be a bad thing if the 7100 (or 7105) had a camera, SD card slot, or Bluetooth file transfer?

[disp350]

Yes, it probably would. The Blackberry is focused on a particular market: Those that want a cell phone and email without all of the fancy bells and whistles and without a Microsoft OS on it. And I am a huge Microsoft fan. I just dont want a Start button and program menu to have to go through to get what I need. And for me and hundreds of thousands of other users, its just email and cell phone. Maybe my vision is narrowly focused because I am a corporate user that is hooked up to a BES. But I dont want to spend time troubleshooting a camera or memory card slot problems. It seems to me that once a company starts loosing its focus on what it does best and trys to foray into areas that are already heavily covered, it can start it on a downward trend. The demise of the Blackberry is being greatly exagerated. It seems you cant pick up a computer magazine without reading about the next "Blackberry Killer". Well I have not seen it yet and now that we all know that RIM is not going anywhere, they continue to sell the best pocket email devices currently available. Call me conservative, but why mess with success?

[mymitsu3kgt]

I don't think there's a single company inside the cell phone field that has such a good idea that they no longer have to innovate on new devices. During the trials with NTP (don't get me started on that, I think it sucks RIM had to pay NTP with all of their patents getting knocked down one at a time), companies like Microsoft, Motorola, and Nokia are chomping at the bit to take a piece of the market away from RIM. It's true that Blackberry has a huge head start ahead of all the other companies put together, but that doesn't mean they don't have innovate with new options on new models. Without adding options like camera, memory card, and bluetooth file transfer (which other companies have the lead on RIM), what can Blackberry do to stay new and current in the future?

[digital/blasphemy]

Originally Posted by mymitsu3kgt

I don't think there's a single company inside the cell phone field that has such a good idea that they no longer have to innovate on new devices. During the trials with NTP (don't get me started on that, I think it sucks RIM had to pay NTP with all of their patents getting knocked down one at a time), companies like Microsoft, Motorola, and Nokia are chomping at the bit to take a piece of the market away from RIM. It's true that Blackberry has a huge head start ahead of all the other companies put together, but that doesn't mean they don't have innovate with new options on new models. Without adding options like camera, memory card, and bluetooth file transfer (which other companies have the lead on RIM), what can Blackberry do to stay new and current in the future?

I agree with you about the bluetooth file transfer, but not about the memory card and camera.

The BB fills a particular niche, if you will, in the cell phone world. Providing companies with a secure, easy-to-use device that allows their employees to be more productive without worrying to much about comprimising security.

BB fills this niche very well. Blackberry implementation has grown exponentially in the past years, not only in corporations, but in government workers and personal BIS users...

If it ain't broke....

having said that, i'm not on BES. I'm a personal BIS user. I am 100% satisfied with this device over my last (sidekick 2).

[lifestar53]

I actually got a BB because my Treo 650 has a camera and entering some buildings in NYC I have to either leave the Treo at the front desk or at home. The BB was the only alternative to another phone that would have all my notes and contacts without a camera.

I still feel that blue tooth transfers should have been enabled. I am thinking if you have a note or contact with lots of info in it You should be able to send it to me via BT. I guess that is what PIN messaging is for. I miss out on PIN messaging because I do not subscribe to BB service. Great OS does NOT crash much.

[mymitsu3kgt]

I have to agree with Digital/Blasphemy, I'd prefer my 7100t anyday to the Sidekick 2, camera or no camera. I work at Electric Boat, so I'm in the same situation as Lifestar, no phones with cameras are allowed in the gates but my job isn't dependant on having a cell phone so it's just for personal use. I guess the general desire is for greater bluetooth functionality. I could live with that.

[apple85]

nope I don't want a SD card or Camera, BT file transfer well that'd be nice BUT i don't think so either. I worked for Apple, and I do part time work for a police department and camera phones are sorta OK in the station but anywhere ya go people frown on them, the jail especially...

[ajg]

One of the major problems with this argument is everyone is saying that these desirable or undesirable features would cause problems. Problems are only an issue when one can not adapt to the situation. Simple solution: Consumer Blackberry and Professional Blackberry. One with certain features and one without. To say someone is wrong for wanting these features of a camera for example is a very short sighted and someone imperialistic mindset. Now, I can only speak for myself, but the fact is, Blackberry has a great system set up. I loved my blackberry. It began to not give me the functionality that I needed. So I switched to Nokia's S60 OS. It's just a easy to use but it is also very powerful. One issue I ran into with my Blackberry was memory. I ran out of memory. I had applications, email attachments etc and the 32MB of RAM wasn't enough. Now we have the 8700 but I'm affraid one day that may not be enough either. A memory card would have kept me with Blackberry. As for the security of this card, I have a password on it... not even my Mac can read it. The camera is really just used for fun. But my friend, a realtor, uses the camera all the time and her clients love her for it. Bluetooth file transfer would be great too. The real question is, if RIM can be a true innovator, then couldn't they find a way to secure all of this? Sure! Some models with have cameras, some won't. Just like the Treo. Memory cards, put security into it. Passwords, encryption. Heck, have the memory card associate with the PIN of the Blackberry so it can't be used in anything else. Bluetooth file transfer is a mater of turning off the feature in the OS if it poses a security problem. Give the consumer and the corperations the flexibility to customize the hardware to their needs. You'll get SO many more customers. I use S60; I can customize it exactly to me needs. My Mac is so easy to work with, such powerful OS, stable and easy to customize, I'm not sure how I survived with Windows. Same is now being said, from my standpoint, with my Blackberry. I could switch back tomorrow and be okay, but I know I'd miss more about my S60 phone than I've missed about my BB. I know that's heresy but it is my situation. With companies like Nokia, MS, Moto, Sony Ericsson etc looking to take the market, RIM I think would be wise to look closely. But let us not discount these features as being bad, let's look at these being an opprotunity to find a way for this to work for everyone.

[CanuckBB]

ajg,

part of the issues with a 'corporate' and a 'condumer' BB is that if you start putting cameras et al on BB, they become like all other devices as far as security is concerned. When entering a secure location, especially at peak hours, do you really want the security drone to start looking at every device to try to find a camera lens? Right now it's easy to issue a blanket order that ONLY BB devices are allowed.

[apple85]

thank you Canuck!

[ajg]

Originally Posted by CanuckBB

ajg,

part of the issues with a 'corporate' and a 'condumer' BB is that if you start putting cameras et al on BB, they become like all other devices as far as security is concerned. When entering a secure location, especially at peak hours, do you really want the security drone to start looking at every device to try to find a camera lens? Right now it's easy to issue a blanket order that ONLY BB devices are allowed.

I completely agree that it is certainly easier. My point is that corperations shouldn't be afraid of the camera. My job, to put it simply, is a problem solver. People come to me and say, I have X problem, how do I fix it. Generally the traditional ways aren't working for them. Mainly because many, if not most, people in the Western hemisphere think very black and white, either or, hot or cold (a binary opposite) and this generally causes problems when problem solving. My solution would be for RIM to design the OS to be highly customizable and secure by allowing corperations to activate and deactivate functions at will. Certificates would probably do the trick. When BB X is activated to be used with Y company, the camera function is permanantly disabled. Although, I'm sure I still haven't convinced anyone, my point is, the security issue isn't far smaller than most think. In my line of work, very rarely can we NOT solve a problem. If a problem isn't solved, it is due to not having a vision or understanding of the solution and such the company just digs in its heals and say,"No way." As Apple says,"Think Different." As I say,"Yes, we can."

[ntjones]

Originally Posted by CanuckBB

ajg,

part of the issues with a 'corporate' and a 'condumer' BB is that if you start putting cameras et al on BB, they become like all other devices as far as security is concerned. When entering a secure location, especially at peak hours, do you really want the security drone to start looking at every device to try to find a camera lens? Right now it's easy to issue a blanket order that ONLY BB devices are allowed.

I hate to sound like a broken record since I already commented on this in another thread, but honestly, aren't we talking an extra 2 seconds? Seriously! Come on. The camera is always top center on every non-folding cell phone I have ever seen.

Besides that, it seems like an awful breach of security to allow only BB devices. Can I just slap a BB sticker on my Nokia (if I had one) that has a camera, and that will be allowed in? Or is it that security guards are smart enough to recognize a legitimate BB, but can't identify a camera lense?