The Boy Genius Report: BlackBerry 8700 4.2 OS & 8800 Confirmed

Once again by way of the Boy Genius, we managed to get a first look at the 4.2 OS for the BlackBerry 8700 which now adds voice notes, Push-To-Talk, file explorer, .wav attachments, mp3 player, bluetooth file transfer, GPS support, among other very cool things.

As you can clearly see, Boy Genius was dead on: the model number you ask? 8800. QWERTY keyboard lover? You're so in luck. The codename on this model? Gamma Ray. Camera? Business users rejoice, none so far.

In a recent ALX file from RIM, it has the following entry:

"<os radio="GPRS" series="8800" Colour="True" Theme="Normal" JVMLevel="1.0" VoiceNotes="True" pttApp="True" Memory="Large" KeyboardType="Qwerty" Sound="Tunes8700g" SystemSize="normal" Bluetooth="True" MMS="True" ThemeSupport="Enhanced">GPRS/rimGammaRay.sfi</os>"

As a comparison, here is the entry for the 8100 (aka Pearl aka Stealth):

"<os radio="GPRS" series="8100" Colour="True" Theme="Normal" JVMLevel="1.0" Camera="True" VoiceNotes="True" pttApp="True" KeyboardType="Reduced" MMS="True" Bluetooth="True" Sound="Tunes8700g" SystemSize="normal" Backdrop="68M_240x260" ThemeSupport="Enhanced" VAD="True">GPRS/rim8100g.sfi</os>"

You will notice that the Gamma Ray does not have entries for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD) nor a Camera. This is preliminary, at best, and obviously subject to change; but it's also the first official mentioning of the upcoming BlackBerry 8800 from RIM (albeit, by accident). Click on for more shots than you can shake a WinMo phone at.

There is also a nice little bug in this version, setting a male picture as the Caller ID picture for a contact will turn to a woman when the call is connected.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 13th 2006 4:41PM]

So do we have a launch date on 4.2?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 13th 2006 9:24PM]

Ah, yes.

Sexiness.

And photo caller ID, at long last?
That's hawt.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 14th 2006 4:29PM]

I will be able to put this on my current 8700c at some point and get all those features?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 15th 2006 2:30PM]

Is the operating system on blackberry.com? I know this is a dumb question but Im not sure.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 19th 2006 12:27AM]

My bad for the dumb question. When is it coming out?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 28th 2006 2:31AM]

So far, as Ive heard on www.blackberryforums.com , it should be coming mid to late october?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 28th 2006 7:13PM]

Great set of features!! Didn't see if this could be an OS upgrade on an 8700. Does anyone know?

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 27th 2006 10:06AM]

Awesome, Now can trasfer photo and ringtone to blackberry via usb?
Does anyone know when is the Launch date?
Or where I can download?

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 1st 2006 9:12AM]

that is soso sososo bad bad bad bad


tks!!!!!

huige mobile辉哥BB专卖 在此一游

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 9th 2007 11:27AM]

Hello all,

I just got an 8700C can I put this os on it and also where can I get it from?

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 24th 2007 10:38PM]

Where can I get 4.2 handheld software for my 8700?

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 19th 2007 2:07PM]

Does the new BlackBerry 4.2 OS supports to read device's email in html format?

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 18th 2007 3:45PM]

You could get it from Telefonica Venezela

https://www.blackberry.com/Downloads/entry.do?code=D010396CA8ABF6EAD8CACC2C2F2F26C7

and to do the update you have to delete the "vendor.xml" from your computer.

Notice: Mac-Users couldn't sync with os 4.2 on 8700g through pocketmac

Deci

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 25th 2007 10:34PM]

I keep getting an error when I try to download it and being that I don't speak spanish, not a clue what it says

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 1st 2007 4:51PM]

I've slapped together a writeup of the Blackberry Upgrade Process on my website at http://www.johndball.com

Check the Guides and Tutorials link for the guide if not on the front page.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 8th 2007 7:43AM]

Is there any way to get voice activated dialing on an 8700g with 4.2?