Did Rogers make a deal with RIM or what?

[subzerohf]

I am frustrated with Rogers. It has been over a year since Windows Mobile 5 was launched. Cingular has released their 2125, T-Mobile their SDA, and even Telus has the Q. Meanwhile, Rogers/Fido have nothing new to offer. Nothing, zero, nada. And then the bomb dropped yesterday, they announced the Blackberry 8100 Pearl (btw, it is a gorgeous phone).

I love my SMT5600, but I want some WM 5 action as well. Since Rogers is so quick to release the new Blackberry and did nothing for WM Smartphone, it is obvious that they have some kind of a deal with RIM. Can anyone confirm that? If so, when my contract is up next spring, may be it's time for me to jump ship. :really mad:

[Mike Temporale]

There's no where to jump to. ;)

No, there's no devil dealing with Rogers. As much as I would like to beleive that - I'm no fan of theirs. The Q is CMDA until at least late Q4 of this year. At which time Moto will make the GSM version available to the operators for testing. Which means no GSM Q until Q1 of 2007 at the earliest.

Remember, the beauty thing about GSM is that you can pickup any phone you want and drop in your Rogers/Fido SIM and away you go. If you like the 2125, pick one up off ebay, unlock it, and you're good to go. Or perhaps a SP5/SP5m. They're all ready to go on Rogers/Fido, just need your SIM.

From what I have been told, Every operator in Canada is looking at the Q.

[Skiwhack]

Yeah T-mobile, they did a nice leapfrog over the 7130 that I was considering to replace my 7100.

way to go RIM and T-Mo!

Here is the press release from yesterday
http://www.rim.com/news/press/2006/pr-07_09_2006-02.shtml

Chandra from T-mobile business support confirmed today (9/8 at 12:40 CST) that it will be available on 9/12 but no pricing information is available at this time. I'd have to guess $199 after rebate or with 2-year agreement.

Possibly Find it for free at http://www.ushopwireless.com/wireless/launch/index.php?oc=SS
where I got the then brand new 7100t for free with a 1-year contract while everybody else paid $199.

[subzerohf]

That phone (http://blackberryforums.pinstack.com/6346-just_rim_introduces_blackberry.html) looks so good it is very tempting.

Still, I prefer to stay in the Windows camp because of the OS and the assortment of applications. Also, although RIM claims that the Pearl is a MP3 player, it does not play WMA or MP3 with a sampling rate higher than 48 Khz - that sucks!

[Mike Temporale]

Also, although RIM claims that the Pearl is a MP3 player, it does not play WMA or MP3 with a sampling rate higher than 48 Khz - that sucks!

48Khz? You're joking, right? That's just silly.

[Jerry Raia]

Guess RIM is not too interested in a Media Player device. :lol:

[ctmagnus]

I actually saw a Q today. That's the first time I saw a product that soon after release.

That's just one of the many benefits of living in a small town. ;)

[Mike Temporale]

I actually saw a Q today. That's the first time I saw a product that soon after release.

That's just one of the many benefits of living in a small town. ;)

Thoughts? Did ya like it?

[ctmagnus]

Well, it was a furniture store/The Source that only carries Telus phones (as opposed to the typical The Source that carries Rogers phones) and it was the furniture store's grand opening (it changed hands a few weeks ago) and I was there to buy a desk chair so I didn't spend too much time drooling over it. And considering that it is still CDMA-only, I didn't really give it a second thought. If it was GSM, though, things would be different.

[Jerry Raia]

I have no doubt a GSM Q is coming. 8)

[Ryan Joseph]

Also, although RIM claims that the Pearl is a MP3 player, it does not play WMA or MP3 with a sampling rate higher than 48 Khz - that sucks!

Hey guys, I just got a Pearl and I can't say enough good things about it. I really wanna' see if this problem is true or not. But I can't seem to figure out how to test it. How do you find the sampling rate for a given MP3 track? It's not the bitrate, right? So...how can I find an MP3 to test it with? :oops:

[subzerohf]

Sorry folks, I mistook it as the bit rate. Typical bit rates are 128 or 192 kbps. So the number 48 equates to low quality. However, sampling rate for CD is 44.1 Khz, and the Pearl does support it. You can check it out at RIM's page (http://www.blackberry.com/knowledgecenterpublic/livelink.exe/fetch/2000/8021/7925/1269203/What_Is_-_Supported_media_files_on_the_BlackBerry_Pearl.html?nodeid=1270524).

I got to admit, BB has come out with a great phone - it's just missing one thing - Windows Mobile 5. :wink:

[Ryan Joseph]

You can check it out at RIM's page (http://www.blackberry.com/knowledgecenterpublic/livelink.exe/fetch/2000/8021/7925/1269203/What_Is_-_Supported_media_files_on_the_BlackBerry_Pearl.html?nodeid=1270524).

I got to admit, BB has come out with a great phone - it's just missing one thing - Windows Mobile 5. :wink:

Okay, good, I was confused. :) My ringtone is a 128bit MP3 and I wanted to see just what wouldn't work. Thanks for clearing that up. :wink:

And I actually kind of like the BB OS. There are some things that WM definitely does better, but for the most part, I think it's really strong. If you wanna read my review, check it out here (http://ryaninc.blogspot.com/2006/09/blackberry-pearl-review.html).

Ryan