BlackBerry Storm due on Rogers before Christmas?
By Simon Sage on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 at 2:01 PM PST In BlackBerry, Rogers, Rumors
We had heard briefly that the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Storm would be coming to Rogers (NYSE: RCI) back in August, but we’ve got further confirmation that all three of Canada’s carriers will be getting the touchscreen BlackBerry before the end of the year. Bell and Telus have been pretty open about supporting the BlackBerry 9530, but we haven’t heard a peep from Rogers about the BlackBerry 9500. To date, Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) is the only GSM carrier to be launching the Storm, but with world phone capabilities, network technology is a bit of a moot point. Good on Rogers for lining this one up, but they’ll need to be a little more vocal about the BlackBerry Storm than they’ve historically been with new devices if they want to hype it as well as the competition.
UPDATE: … or not. Rogers has promptly quashed the rumour of a holiday release for the BlackBerry Storm, but I still figure Canada’s biggest carrier will get it sooner or later, likely as a higher-end iteration. There are still some spectrum issues too, that either Rogers would have to take care of, or RIM would need to hardwire in the device before it could support a Canadian 3G GSM network.
[via BlackBerry Cool]
You should know that until recently, Rogers refused to sell any phone that had wifi as it cut into any prospective sale of their expensive air time. In fact rumour has it that Rogers is dissatisfied with the iphone as the data usage is far less then they had anticipated. If other Rogers customers are like me, they are frightened to use the device away from wifi due to fear of getting nailed by Rogers airtime costs. I would almost hazard a guess that Rogers requested the phone not have wifi.
Wow, sounds about right, though. It took them ages to get the 8820 out. It’s good that they’re turning a leaf though – they seem alright with the Bold, the Pearl Flip will also have Wi-Fi in it, and the new data plans are bordering on reasonable.
I herd they “have a contractual agreement with Apple not to support the RIM device with a touch screen.”
Guys, this is NOT true.
1) It does not fit Rogers’ tech requirements.
2) The “confirmation” is based on a call to a low level customer service rep who had no clue what she was talking about.
Check BGR’s post. He’s right. Also, he linked to you and not BlackBerry Cool. I think the blogosphere is a little peeved because this “confirmation” is seen as link baiting.
Too bad, cause I want the Storm in Canada like, now.
Anyone know what rogers policy is on upgrading a blackberry to an iPhone? I’ve had a curve for a year – nothing wrong with it but would like to swap out for an iphone.