BlackBerry Bold Release Date and Pricing
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It really did not take long for the launch information and pricing details of RIM’s upcoming BlackBerry Bold 9000 Series to hit the Internet. This information is specific to the US market and more specifically; Verizon, T-mobile, At&t, Sprint users. The BlackBerry Bold 9000 Series will make its debut in July on Verizon Wireless, Sprint and At&t’s network. While the GSM launch is exclusive for At&t, it does not seem that RIM is making the device exclusive across CDMA carriers (Verizon/Sprint) and instead only penalizing T-mobile customers.
The big downer here is that T-mobile customer will not be able to pick up the BlackBerry Bold 9000 Series until September (3 month exclusive agreement for At&t?). Â To make matters worse for T-mobile customers, the price tag will be $50 dollars higher than the other 3 major carriers in the US. Â Verizon, Sprint and At&t will offer the BlackBerry Bold for $300 after typical rebates and 2 year commitment while T-mobile customers will pay $350. Â The one thing going for T-mobile users at this point is the alleged support for their recently launched 3g 1700 MHz band. Â I guess the $50 premium is to help recover some of the cost for the 3g network after all, but only time will tell.
Updated release dates (August 31st):
- At&t BlackBerry Bold: September 12th (October 2nd is the safe bet)
- T-mobile USA: January 2009
- Verizon Wireless: January 2009
- Sprint: January 2009
[Source InfoSeek]
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Som celebs now have this phone, where can you purchase one before the release date? Thanks!
Well you can find some Blackberry Bolds on eBay, but the PIN is disabled by RIM. If the PIN is disabled it basically makes the phone useless for Internet access and Email since your PIN is the unique identifier of your Blackberry for RIM and your carrier. I know the guys over at the iPhoneblog picked one up off eBay recently and all they can do with it is browse through the menus, but the email app and internet are blocked. John Mayer did get his hands on one, but he is a spokesman for RIM, so he has a legit release unit.
Personally I would just wait it out, it will launch in June on At&t then follow up on Verizon and Sprint. T-mobile should be last since they need the 1700MHz 3g band and the current specs leave out that band for 3g.
Where is it ???
Rogers Canada just confirmed July 25th for their release date.
http://crackberry.com/blackberry-bold-coming-rogers-july-25th
Hopefully the At&t delays are proven wrong and we see this thing launch in the US before August.
I’m not sure if this is the phone but a friend of my girlfriend lives here in Washington and her boyfriend lives in Canada. Its been over a year struggle for them to talk without insane charges. They’ve now acquired a blackberry plan that allows them to text via Blackberry Messenger. My girlfriend was trying to tell me the phone they both purchased that wasn’t the pearl or curve. Was she talking about this one, or are other blackberries available to both CA and USA customers?
Nick,
Any update on the release dates for the Blackberry Bold? Naturally, the dates you outlined have already come and gone, as the phone is not even out on At&t as of yet. Not sure if you had any other information on when it is expected to be released, specifically for Sprint. Appreciate any valid additional information you may have. Thanks!
As of right now it is a mid-September launch from At&t (exclusive US launch). Sprint, Verizon and T-mobile will not be picking up the Bold until early 2009 after the exclusive period ends. Unfortunately at this point it does not look like the Bold will be any cheaper than $299 on a 2 year contract for At&t, but hopefully with rebates they can bring it down to iPhone 3G pricing ($199). If they don’t lower the price it is going to take a call to retentions to get a $199 price match.