RIM decided (and we tend to agree) that it could improve upon the already solid
BlackBerry 8300 Curve by adding GPS or WiFi -- carrier's choice -- in the form of the 8310 and 8320, respectively. T-Mobile has announced today the release of the 8320 variant, offering
@Home branded UMA service and speedy data to supplement T-Mobile's EDGE network (in hotspot range, anyway) in your choice of "titanium" and carrier-exclusive "pale gold." We've had a few minutes to play around with the champagne hued version, and with WiFi added into the Curve's already solid mix, it pretty much goes without saying that this is the best BlackBerry yet. Setting up our wireless network on the Curve was a breeze, though we had some trouble keeping calls from dropping over an Airport Extreme; fortunately, T-Mobile's offering up optimized Linksys routers for a song, and you can always set it up as a separate network if you can't bear to tear down your 802.11a/n setup. We've heard some intermittent reports of Curves starting to show up in retail locations, but we can expect them to start shipping everywhere in early October. In the meantime, check out our hands-on gallery!
Update: T-Mobile's bumped the release date up to today -- no complaints here -- at an on-contract price of $249.
posted Sep 24th 2007 12:01AM
Does T-mobile require you to sign up for a data plan to use the wi-fi (like at&t does for blackberry 8820)?
Why would you own a Blackberry without a data plan? Especially for $19.99 /mo for unlimited!
@ Matt: Hey, unless i m wrong, they don't have a data plan less than 39.99. I know business customers get 50% off but not college students. Are u saying there is a 19.99 data plan for everyone?
Yes, if you have a phone plan T-mobile offers a $19.99 data plan. If you only want email they now have a $9.99 plan (plus voice of course). I think the $39.99 is only BES or stand alone data plans.
Curves are currently available at store #3810 in Stamford, Connecticut. Checked em out today...may consider it now that it has WiFi and works with @Home...
This phone makes me drool... the pale gold makes me sick and angry.
Do you have to purchase a data plan to use the Wi-Fi???
No.
thats good to know. Can I ask whats included in a data plan then? Besides the unlimited web access?
Check out my unboxing: http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com/2007/09/24/unboxing-the-blackberry-8320-curve/
Also, give me some tips on how I can get my data working properly (see link above).
Not available for telephone or online sales. I just spent 20 minutes on the phone with a corporate sales associate and she was all ready to place the order, went to check on something related to the router (which she said was $50 with a $50 rebate) and came back to tell me it's in the system, but she can't sell it! She didn't have an ETA.
You must be talking to the wrong people, then... mine was ordered over the phone this morning and I'll have it Wednesday.
So turns out they couldn't sell it because it wasn't online yet. Just ordered on the phone through corporate customer service. Should have it tomorrow or Wednesday.
They couldn't activate the hotspost@home, though can after receive.
@Lee:
That's odd.
The phone was available for me to order either via telephone or online through the my.t-mobile.com upgrade page, but the phone wasn't available on the main site.
Mine should arrive Wednesday, too! :D
Any interference when running WiFi and Bluetooth at the same time? I had bad interefernce when using their Nokia 8086 Hotspot @ Home model.
I've had the 8320 a couple days now, and I've noticed that UMA calls drop unexpectedly after a few minutes, never more than 10, using a Jabra BT headset, whereas I've gone over 1.5 hrs on the wired headset. Calls also have some pops/dropouts on BT. Looks like BT and 802.11 use the same RF band? Wonder if it's not possible to use BT headset while making UMA voice call? Any other experiences out there?
actually we were given the green light to sell the curve on saturday, so the 22nd was the actual launch date. This is in the retail channel.
In a rare and shocking turn of events, the T-Mobile branded model actually looks cooler than the AT&T! Compare the beautifully rich carbon tone of the T-Mo versus the bland light gray of the AT&T:
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/gallery/handsets/t-mobile-blackberry-curve-8320-unboxing-part-2/?pid=1142#picture_nav
hey so what do you actually get with the enterprise over just the blackberry's internet? what is the upside to it?
BIS service means you connect to a mail-forwarding server on the carrier's network that allows you to connect to existing POP or IMAP accounts, and forwards mail to your handheld.
BES service means you have to install a BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) in your corporate environment and connect it to your Exchange / Notes / Groupwise mail servers. Does full reconciliation of all PIM data OTA (or via USB) as well as of course mail, and any push-based applications that leverage the MDS (Mobile Data Server, a module of the BES). If your organization does not want to purchase the BES you can look for hosted-BES options, which give you greater flexibility than BIS.
@zando
the $39.99 gives you access to the BES (Blackberry Enterprise Service) with the $19.99 plan you only get access to the BIS (Blackberry Internet Service)
And here's some observations: http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/blackberry-curve-observations/
Do you have to purchase a data plan to use the Wi-Fi???
Actually you will need some type of blackberry soc/feature on your account to enable wifi on the device but technically T-mobile does offer a free soc/feature that is currently being used on blackberry pearl devices to enable wap services such as mms and t-zones for those customers without a data plan. The curve was supposed to eliminate the need for such a feature due to the fact that both mms and t-zones work on device without any data feature present.The wifi only searches for 802.11b and 802.11g setups...