("I hear it now-a BBHub story that isn't about the Pearl-yay!!")
Robb of RIMarkable reports that one of his readers has been offered a pre-release option for the Verizon BlackBerry 8703e. The options started becoming available yesterday.
That reader happens to work for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Can't say BlackBerry and Verizon don't know where the power lies. But then again, I'd expect lots of corporate users to get their 8703e options this week as well.
You?
Next couple of weeks. Maybe sooner. But it wouldn't make sense to announce the device on the same day the Pearl goes on sale, now would it?
There had been some reports the Verizon BlackBerry 8703e was going to be released last Friday.
Well, that didn't happen. I even had my doubts it would.
But Matt, who notes that he is a Verizon Wireless employee, has no doubts when the 8703e will come out.
"Hey all," Matt writes to me (while actually talking to all you readers). I work for Verizon Wireless and the BlackBerry (8703e) will be out online first (in mid)-(September and in stores a week or two later."
Then Matt tells me and by extension all of you, that pricing will be $350 with a new two-year agreement but $499 at full retail.
An officially unavailable, but unofficially downloadable Verizon BlackBerry 8703e Tips and Tricks document not only has, well, tips and tricks, but it offers an illustration of the 8703e's features.
One of those with arrows that point to the features. Like you see in the Quick Start Guides, which I betcha are coming so very very soon for this model.
A model BTW that may very well be announced, like, tomorrow.
Download link to the Tips and Tricks is below this post.
But, wait, wait.. don't you want to see some of the Tips and Tricks too?
Here's a link to a site that has posted an official RIM document telling you how to use the Verizon Wireless BlackBerry 8703e (due out as early as tomorrow) as a tethered modem.
OK:
First you need to have the BroadbandAccess Connect plan from Verizon Wireless. The manual tells you to either call 1-800-2-JOIN-IN or visit your local Verizon Wireless retail store.
Engadget Mobile has a couple of shots of the Verizon BlackBerry 8703e.
Almost everyone thinks the device will be announced this coming Monday.
Yes, I know these shots are of the "form factor" only, not the device in action.
But I have a brain challenge for you this morning. Visualize the theme screen from my previous post on the 8703e inside the handset that we show you here.
(Of course if you want "makework," you can get busy w/Photoshoppe (sic).
Then wait five more days. You'll see what we mean.
"The successful candidate will be responsible defining, selecting, prototyping, debugging and verification of camera solution for Blackberry devices. He/she will have extensive knowledge of CCD and CMOS image sensor in mobile application. He/she will define test hardware, develop test software, and write up verification plans and reports. He/she will have experience in testing/verifying image quality and performance. The candidate must be self-starter and be very comfortable interfacing regularly with other engineering groups (hardware, software, marketing, factory, component qualification, etc..) and with external electronic components suppliers."
That led some of us to believe that a BlackBerry with a camera was several months if not more, away. You don't hire people for what sounds like formative, testing research for a product that is several weeks away from launch.
But with this week's news and pix of the camera-enabled BlackBerry 8100, a different picture is emerging.
Here's what we think is going on.
I have heard from a trusted source that although the Cingular and T-Mobile BlackBerry 8100 models are ready, there are some notable development delays in the Verizon 8100s. I hear that model is several months away.
I believe that this position will be involved working with Verizon Wireless on their BlackBerry 8100.
But whatever the vision here, I just checked this a.m. The position has been filled.
Unlike all other BlackBerry models to date, there won't be any carrier-specific letter labeling on this new camera-ready 8100 series.
By "carrier-labeling," I mean no more BlackBerry (model number) "c" for Cingular, "t" for T-Mobile, "g" for Verizon, "v" for Vodafone, "r" for Rogers, etc.
We hear this decision has been made to cut down on market confusion, as well as to reduce expenses incurred by re-plating physically identical devices.
Verizon Wireless said yesterday that it would start prorate the so-called "early termination fee," allowing those customers closer to the end of their contract to cancel their account at a cheaper rate than previously possible.
The legacy policy has been that no matter what point the customer- BlackBerry or not- was at in their contract, they would have to pay the full $175 termination fee.
Under the old plan, no matter at what point in their contract, the customer would have to pay a $175 fee. Now, the fee will be prorated proportionally to the time left on the contract. That's say, if you have 6 months left on your 24-month contract and decide to go, you'll only have to pay 25% of the $175.00 ($43.75)
Yesterday, mild-mannered (yea right) "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer advised his viewers to make a trade on BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion.
Jim says that he believes the stock price is now at a "beckoning" level, and might well be boosted after the company releases a BlackBerry 8700 for Verizon.
As reported this morning on investment site TheStreet.com, Cramer acknowledges there is a lot of negativity toward RIM right now, and even though it is risky to bet on a stock before the end of a quarter, Cramer believes that the company will report better-than-expected earnings when the latest fiscals are released on June 29.
That's a week from today.
But the real spike will occur with the Verizon BlackBerry 8700 release.
At that point, Jim says the stock will bounce back. That's when you would want to sell, he pointed out.
Our sister site Engadget Mobile notes a report that says T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless are not supplying call record data to the National Secuirty Agency, but its not so sure if Cingular and SprintNextel are following the same policy.
The first two companies said they supply this data only with a court warrant, which apparently had not been filed in the case of a call collection project the NSA deems necessary to trace and track potential terrorists.
"If yore a Cingular or SprintNextel customer, well, it looks like you're in the same boat as the vast majority of landline users," writes Engadget's Marc Perton. "Those companies refused to deny particpation in the NSA program."
On BlackBerry, such phone record policies would presumably only be for phone calls, not text or email messages.
According to a report by Forbes.com's Mary Crane, T-Mobile is the only major U.S. BlackBerry carrier to report improved sales for BlackBerry last month.
Crane implies that was chiefly because the carrier introduced its own BlackBerry 8700 model.
Meanwhile, Crane notes that Piper Jaffray analyst T. Michael Walkley has been told by several Cingular Wireless store managers that the popularity of the new HTC 8125 has been cutting into BlackBerry sales.
Same story but different players at Verizon Wireless, where, according to Walkley, BlackBerry sales were flat last month in the face of strong competition from Palm's Treo700w.
