Conflicting Reports on the Thunder
 

BlackBerry Thunder not quite ready for primetime? : Boy Genius Report

BlackBerry Thunder's keyboard rumored to be totally awesome - Engadget Mobile

Looks like somebody has some bad information. Funny how both seem to appear days before the iPhone release.

The post on Boy Genius reads as much like fanboy iPhone as the one on Crackberry reads BB fanboy. Take both with a grain of salt and we'll see before year-end. (I'm betting not September though.)

Considering the delays with the Bold, I wouldn't be surprised if the BG story was the true one. You have to remember this is a major design and UI change for RIM and there are bound to be problems galore. And just like the first iphone had problems/issues/deficiencies, don't expect Rim's first touch screen BB to be anywhere near perfect in its first model release.

I still think it will be out before the end of the year. Of course, that may just be wishful thinking on my part. I was originally going to switch to AT&T to get the Bold, and put that off because of the Thunder. Hope RIM doesn't make me wait too long.

That's a good bet. Verizon isn't going to let the iPhone Holiday season go unchallenged.

I'm guessing an early November release. Pure guess but that is how the Cheerios aligned themselves this morning.

Has nothing to do with Verizon. If RIM doesn't have the product ready, it doesn't matter what Verizon does or does not want.

I would be shocked if this made it out before years end.

Without the carrier relationship and push RIM has little more than nothing. So Verizon does have a lot of say. With Apple and say AT&T there is an equal amount of dog/tail wagging each other. With RIM and Verizon and ~Thunder~, it's not clear RIM can afford to let this slip too much further or Verizon will push their various LG/Samsung/etc. devices harder.

You kidding? BG is a huge Blackberry fan, they break more BB news then iPhone.


The posts on crackberry were too good to be true. In the real world products that are vastly different from the existing line take serious time to develop. Do you know how long it took Apple to get the iPhone out the door? Something like 2 years IIRC. If RIM gets the Thunder out this year it will be a miracle. If VZW wants to release this thing by the holidays, they need to have a final product begining testing now. They dont.

If RIM is hoping the Thunder is going to be "The Next Big Thingxxx8482;", then they better get it in gear! No one (no one rational anyway) believes this will be an iPhone killer, but it can still be big. The iPhone has shown what interest a slick touch screen device can garner, and no doubt RIM wants a piece of this. Maybe I'm naive, but I figure with all the spy pics leaking out the device can't be that far away. They straightened out the wrinkles with the Bold pretty fast, and I'd expect the same level of attention to be paid to the Thunder.

...to be fair, most, in not all, of those pictures are rendered, not live/actual pictures of the device. That said, if RIM needs to tweak/improve the device before launch and this cause a delay, I'm all for it. I'd rather wait for a better product than deal with one that's not ready for "primetime." Moreover, besides the e-mail capabilities and other core BB features, most people get or at least stick to BB devices because they are stable and reliable. It would therefore not be in RIM best interest to push out a product just to compete with the iPhone or satisfy some our techno lust and then fail miserably in doing so. Certainly even if the device doesn't live up to be an "iPhone killer" (not that it has to be, but come on, who are they really gunning for?) RIM won't tank, but with high expectations come (possibly) high disappointment and given the high stakes RIM can't afford to disappoint. I say take the time if they need it.

Poorly worded on my part, I wasn't referring to Boy Genius himself. I was referring to the content of the quotes/post. I agree wholeheartedly that the CrackBerry post was a bit sugary.

I guess you didn't understand me, so let me say it again. If RIM can't the device working then it doesn't matter when Verizon wants the device to launch, PERIOD.

I, for one, didn't think that the 3G iPhone wouldl be a BB killer. Apple got most of its converts last year and will get the dregs this year who have to have 3G browsing (not many) and the peeps who can now afford one at $200. If the Thunder can be released by early October on VZN that will pretty much stop the iPhone in its tracks right there. Better phone (possibly), better network (surely), done. If Apple had a heads up on the Thunder's release date that could be why they dropped their price so much. Sell 'em now, don't wait. There's a reason they dropped the price of the iPhone 60% and it isn't because they were happy with things last year. And it wasn't to give all of us an early Christmas present either.

Yeah, that must have surely been the reason. :?

My guess, based on the progression of the recent phones that RIM has released, is that their touchscreen device will be nothing more than a touchscreen device. I bet it will have very similar functionality to the current blackberries, meaning, it won't be as plagued with bugs as you would expect. But again, thats my guess. What features do you expect it to provide that RIM has not already had development time with, aside from the touchscreen? It seems like the Thunder is really only going to be user interface different from the existing line of products.

i think its going to be delayed to december/ january myself i believe the boy genius his info is pretty solid for the most part

That's AT&T subsidized pricing, not Apple's imperative.

the iPhone 2 costs just as much as the iPhone 1 does. Well, if you want messaging it costs even more. $200+ $10/mo * 24 mo = $440. Look at the phone only price of the device, same pricing as the first device.

I assume you meant "can't get the device working"... I understood you fine. What I'm saying is that Verizon has a _SAY_ in the delivery date. RIM will have to find engineers, outside help, etc. to meet it maybe but they're not just gonna tell VZW to pound sand until RIM is ready.