[RIMarkable]

RIM likes to make major announcements during their earnings calls. Could the 8700 be announced tomorrow?

[blkberryboy]

Im sure it "could" be announced tomorrow, the questions is "should" it be announced. I say yes, in the wake of the Treo/Micosoft announcement they need to remain in the forefront of everyones mind.

I guess we will see tomorrow. Well I won't, beacuse I tripped and poked my eye out with the useless stylus that comes with Treo's.

"And on the 7th day he gave us a scroll wheel, and it was good..."

[thriller]

Well Microsoft is teaming up with Palm to take on the Giant RIM. I think if they wait and see how well these new products act in the market and then RIM should come out with it new and revamped device giving them a bigger run at it.

[mriff]

Originally Posted by RIMarkable

RIM likes to make major announcements during their earnings calls. Could the 8700 be announced tomorrow?

All I have to say is hurry. I'm hanging on to my old 7280 until it arrives. I've had to kind of hide it on the plane with all those folks having the 7290 looking down their noses at me. I'll be the first in line when Cingular starts selling.

[NJBlackBerry]

Announced is wayyy different than released by the carriers.

[SUFan]

Not sure what all the excitement is about with the Treo running Windows. Take a buggy hardware device and put a buggy OS on it. Hmm, I don't see the value.

I had a meeting last week and was told the 8700 would be available in six weeks (end of October) by Cingular but ya never know.

[NJBlackBerry]

C'mon - Palm/Treo have an excellent track record of building poor quality devices, with unstable operating systems. Microsoft is working on version 5 of their mobile operating system. Sooner or later they are going to HAVE to get it right.

Well, maybe not.

[test]

What version OS is RIM up to?

[rjharary]

I think Version 4.0, The Treo is so bad. I can't tell you the amount of problems that my coworkers have had with that dang thing! it's amazing that they are still in business. The 8700 however, worries me a bit too, will i get a nice holster like my 7290 or will i have to be embarrassed with that weird 7100 looking case? We won't know till the end of october.

[Mark Rejhon]

Originally Posted by SUFan

Not sure what all the excitement is about with the Treo running Windows. Take a buggy hardware device and put a buggy OS on it. Hmm, I don't see the value.

The funny thing is that in my experience, newer versions of Windows Mobile are much more stable than PalmOS. (It used to be vice-versa).

[barjohn]

Anyone wonder about the speculation that the 8700 will have a new OS based on Linux? What will that mean to stability (if it is true)?

[joginder]

I work with a guy who is next to me and he has a Treo and I can hear him every now and then singing that x-rated language about the Treo that he has.. So I always call me "learn from the next cube" ofcourse in the next cubie it is me with a BB7730
It will take me yrs before I will beleive Microsoft OS for using phone/Data. They just want to have a peice of pie everywhere but never care about the quality. I came to BB only for Email and internet and the screen/keyboard otherwise I never had problems with my Nokia phone.
I will not recommend anyone this MS OS that does not have a track record.

[barjohn]

I'm not sure what problems with the Palm OS has to do with Windows OS and using both a Nokia phone and a BB7730. Most of us do not want to carry two devices. Otherwise, a cell phone and a BB850 is all you need. I own devices using the WIndows OS 2003SE, I have owned the Treo600 Palm OS and phones using a variety of other OS's. I would say that the Windows OS is on par with my experience with the BB OS just different problems. Most of the problems are due to third party software and since Windows OS has much more there is more opportunity for problems. Palm has just never gotten around to really modernizing a system that was designed well for a single application running on a simple device and never integrated well with a phone function that requires multi-tasking.

[joginder]

The major problem with Microsfot OS is theit unability to multi-task and because of that HP6315 had to be pulled of the selves and same thing was with the first Pocket PC that T-Mobile offered (Can't remember the model"
I understand both sides have their own +'s and -'s but overall Microsoft OS is still not ready to handle a phone call peoperly.

[barjohn]

I'm not sure where you get your information but nothing could be further from the truth. First, the problem with the MS OS is that IT IS multi-tasking and the x that closes an application on a PC only minimizes it on the PPC. After a while it runs out of memory because you have so many applications open and multi-tasking that you run out of memory and processor power so things slow down. There are third party applications like SPB that casue the x to close an application unless you specifically want to minimize it but one shouldn't have to purchase a third party solution to fix an error in execution. Make the x close the application and add an underscore for minimize just like a PC.

Phone calls work far better with far greater clarity on the PPC than on any BB I have owned (7230, 7100t and 7250). So please unless you have knowledge and personal experience don't spout propaganda that serves no useful purpose. I don't claim the PPC is perfect and it has its problems but they are not what you are describing. The BB OS has its strengths and weaknesses too. It's biggest failing is on the phone side and many posts on this forum confirm that fact.

[bbmike]

Some interesting points....I don't agree about the phone function...PPCs are inferior to BB....as far as I'm concerned....this may vary with wireless provider and region....

[codyman]

ok, my two cents worth.
I own a smartphone - samsung SPH i600 - it is my personal phone. I also own a 7100t - my work phone/BB.

The i600 is a great phone using msoft smartphone 2003 software. Works great, sometimes locks up and is very position sensitive on the earphone and microphone - you have to have it in the exact correct position to hear clearly and be heard clearly.

I switch it off/on regularly to close down running applications so as to not overload it. I do notice that is slows down after a while - when you dial a number it might have to take a couple of seconds before the first number displays on the screen.

Never had it crash, have had it hang fairly often - have to remove/re-insert the battery.

Most of the functions are ok. I don't use the e-mail inbox anymore as I had to keep syncing it with my compnay outlook/exchange server and I had it set up to only get the first 1000 bytes of a message. Clearly, the bb is far superior in its e-mail capabilities.

For the browser - fair, not great - the browser on the bb beats it in my opinion.

As for speed. My i600 is on verizon. 1xRTT mode. With the dlsreports mobile speed test I have had speeds of up to 92kbps downloads (I can see the verizon tower from my property). Average speed on the speed test is anywhere from 60kbps to 90kbps. So, much faster than GPRS speeds, but I still think browsing on the 7100t is better becasue of the screen size.

My 7100t does not work at my house - I don't get service here. If I did I'd use the bb all the time.

In a straight comparison as much as I like my i600 (had it two years now) I do think the 7100t is a much better device. I think the bb os is much more stable and capable that the smartphone s/w. BB os is more advanced than the 2003 smartphone s/w.

I do like the way the bb can receive service books and config information ota.

[codyman]

oh, and one other thing. I'll probably 'upgrade' my i600 to the 8700 CDMA version when it becomes available of VZW.

[barjohn]

Two quick points.
1. I have owned the i600 and now the HP HW6510, no comparison. The 6510 displays none of the problems you have with the smartphone software.
2. I was not talking about provider differences in my earlier post but rather broader experience that is handset specific, OS specific but is not related to provider since I have two providers (Cingular & Verizon) and I used BBs on each with the same result and others on the forum have experienced the same.

[RIMarkable]

Originally Posted by NJBlackBerry

C'mon - Palm/Treo have an excellent track record of building poor quality devices, with unstable operating systems. Microsoft is working on version 5 of their mobile operating system. Sooner or later they are going to HAVE to get it right.

Well, maybe not.

Even though I have never liked the Palm OS, it has always been pretty stable. The hardware in the Treo, howerver, has historically been crap. On the converse, PocketPC / Windows Mobile hardware has been pretty good but the OS has been buggy.

If Palm and MS really wanted to do something worth while, they should have put the Palm OS on an Ipaq or a Dell Axim.