Disqus
A Wi-Fi-enabled Verizon BlackBerry Tour code-named Atlas was rumoured awhile back, and now has received an official nod from Jeff Clemow, Sprint’s director of business product marketing. Although CDMA ‘berries have been hurting for the feature since RIM first started supporting it in the 8820, it’s not just BlackBerry getting Wi-Fi – it’s apparently a new requirement for manufacturers who want to get on their network.
“Sprint is embracing WiFi in all its major devices going forward … It is now a requirement for all our PDA equipment suppliers to include WiFi,” Clemow said, pointing to the new Palm Pre, which sports WiFi, as evidence of the carrier’s new position. “Several quarters ago we made a conscious decision to require all of our PDA suppliers to support WiFi.”
Personally, Wi-Fi is a clincher when it comes to the Tour, as it surely is for many other discriminating smartphone shoppers – if you’re holding out for the Atlas, though, you’ll have to wait until 2010 before Sprint offers it.
[via FierceWireless]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
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