http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones ... 797/review

So who's up for one of these then? Looks pretty good, have RIM finally pulled their finger out?

The Bold has always been my favourite of the Blackberry line - its' the only phone they've got that isn't trying to be some other companies idea - and it's obviously a very nice piece of kit. The workmanship on it, from the photographs, is first class.

Fundamentally though, no Blackberry Bold - no matter how well made or technologically sound - is going to improve RIMs position at the macro level. There are few people left who are thinking 'I'd buy a Blackberry Bold if it only had a better touchscreen'. All the people who ever thought like that have either bought a Bold already or have already bought something else. So the people they end up selling the majority of their phones to are existing customers and while that works profit wise, it's never going to be enough to placate the stock market, who have this black and white view that you're either expanding or dying. Apple had this at the start of the iPod era; they were a solid company making solid profits, but because those profits were relatively static you couldn't move for articles about how Apple was about to go under. This is the situation RIM are in now.

So the Bold will not do what the stock market wants it to do - it will never open new markets and create new customers. Unless/Until RIM can come up with something actually new - like they did many moons ago with push messaging - your'e going to see press about how RIM are on the edge of the precipice, regardless of whether they're actually making a profit or not.

Jon

I will get one as soon as I can. My upgrade is due in November but I will try to push Vodafone to get it earlier (I have two phones with them under my name so maybe they'll try to keep me). I'll try in a month's time once I am back from holiday.

I've had only one grip with Blackberries - they are generally slow. That seems to have been addressed in 9900 so in my eyes this will be a perfect phone. The keyboard is amazing from the feedback and reviews I've seen so far. Also NFC will be awesome to have if I can use to pay for my purchases.

If I wasn't going to get this phone it would only be for one reason - QNX phones are rumoured for Q1 2012. However I don't want to wait 5-6 months without being sure what they'll be like and when they'll become available. I can still sell 9900 if I feel I can justify the cost of getting a QNX phone next year.

It looks very 2004...

I've never been a Blackberry or Nokia E series fan, the design just doesn't appeal, and still no QNX.

It looks brilliant to me, the UI needs some serious work, but the handset itself looks fantastic. I'm looking forward to the QNX phones, but I'll be amazed if they actually arrive in Q1 2012, my money's on end of Q2 or Q3.

It looks sleek but functional. I'm not enough into "fashion" to tell what looks "2004" or "next year".

I wouldn't mind a play with one to be honest, but since I only ever really use the work-issued phone it's unlikely to happen. I do have my nearly 15 year old personal brick shaped phone which seems indestructible, but that's reserved for periods of unemployment when I'm unlikely to be upgrading

*ponders if we could get one for testing our mobile web apps*

Oh dear. According to BGR, it's going to cost $350 with a contract on T-Mobile in the US. That's... insanely expensive. More than pretty much any other current gen touchscreen smartphone. Has anyone announced a UK price yet?

on 2 yr contracts (for LA)
T-mobile Galaxy s2 free $80 per month unlimited voice/txt 2Gb data
Verizon Apple iPhone 4 16Gb $199 $119per month unlimited txt/talk 2Gb data
I think the americans must love the insanity of their contract costs!!!

Bold 9900 Uk from Vodaphone
2yr contract Handset free
£57 (most expensive plan offered for pay monthly)
Includes 1GB BT Openzone Wi-Fi access + BlackBerry Internet Service + 25MB a day in selected European countries. 3000 minutes, unlimited txts, 500mb data

You can have it for free on Vodafone with a £36/month, 2-year contract. That's 900 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB 'net.

Hmm, just had our new Vodafone Business Solutions price list. The BB9900 is £335 quid as a new contract, £430 quid as an upgrade. That's only about £100 quid less than you can buy them SIM free! God they're robbing business customers blind...


Jon

Who will businesses buy these phones for? They will end up in hands of people at the top, the same people who fly first class, who stay in 5* hotels and who charge thousands to entertained their clients. Companies don't care how much they spend on these people so couple hundred pounds on a phone won't make a difference so Vodafone can charge whatever they like. It is called skimming and it's been around for ages.

Mmm.. not where I currently am. Most of the execs ask for iPhone 4's and/or (it's usually 'and') 3G iPad 2's. The people who get BB's tend to be further down the chain. Most recent case, it was all the team leaders for what's called 'estates and services', which is all the gardeners and cleaners and such like. So in that case it's two grades above minimum wage.

In my current organisation, BB's are given to people who the management expect to be able to get hold of at a moment's notice but aren't actually important enough to spend any real money on. So they won't be getting 9900's. By the looks of the price list we'll probably be buying 8520's or 9300's if whoever makes the decision is feeling generous (or if I can actually convince them buying people a 2G phone then telling people to read their email on it is a joke).

Actually, I think the head librarian (who, in a University, is actually quite a VIP - call it the equivalent of a director) has a BB. But she was a BB person before we went to Exchange, so she was probably always going to stick with it. As I think I've said, people do tend to ask for BB's if they've had them before. She's probably the highest up the tree with a BB. Probably followed by.. the head legal eagle I think. There must have been enough push from the executive level to support BB's to get the BES system in the first place (we wouldn't spend 10 grand plus on something unless someone important made it clear we really should) but it's not the platform of choice in the upper strata by a wide margin.

Course I don't claim we're typical at all. Being a University it tends to be less 'push from the centre' than your ordinary business. We wouldn't dream of telling people which platform phone they should buy, for example.

Jon

My post wasn't about "BB vs other brands". It was about "cheap business phone vs expensive bus. phone"...

Hmm, doesn't look like I will be upgrading early:
BlackBerry Bold 9900 sold out at Vodafone UK
http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/mobile- ... -bold-9900

EDIT: I went to O2 and Three stores today, they've sold out too.