[winste]

Originally Posted by TheCricket

ZDNET has posted the specs and some new pics of the unit.

» More BlackBerry 8300 pics, specs here | The BlackBerry Beat | ZDNet.com

WIFI is included (802.11bg). They listed:

- Quadband EDGE + 802.11bg
- WiFi - Extends data and voice coverage at home, work & hotspots.

Can anyone translate what this means as far as functionality?

I would suspect the following...

First, EDGE is basically internet over cell phone towers. We have that already. 802.11b & 802.11g are two different "speeds" of wi-fi. Combimed with the next statement basically means that you can surf the net over the existing cell phone towers and in a wi-fi hotspot IF you have a subscription to the particular hotspot provider.

These statements themselves do not indicate if you can tether your phone to your laptop to utilize faster wi-fi. That is more of question for your individual provider.

I have a Pearl that I can tether over EDGE with T-mobile for no additional charge. I believe Cingular does charge for tethering. I would assume that I could use a wi-fi enabled 8300 to tether my laptop to the wi-fi network if I had access to the wi-fi network. T-mobile pushes wi-fi service through their Starbucks and FedEx/Kinkos contract so I would suspect that IF the 8300 has wi-fi and T-mobile has it, if you subscribe to the T-mobile wi-fi hotspot service, you could either use your 8300 standalone or tether it to your non wi-fi laptop.