WiFi equipped BlackBerry 8820 about to hit the streets

by Joshua Topolsky posted Jul 17th 2007 at 5:28PM

RIM just got real nasty on everyone with its latest announcement, namely, that the WiFi equipped, integrated-GPS-havin' BlackBerry 8820 has just gotten the proper release treatment, stating that the device will be heading to retailers in the "coming weeks," and is slated to land on AT&T later this summer, making a ton of American businessmen very, very happy. The GSM world phone, which we got to manhandle back in May, features 802.11a/b/g, EDGE data (no 3G boys?), UMA (allowing the phone to seamlessly switch between cellular and WiFi networks without dropping calls), and a microSD / SDHC slot which can support cards up 32GB, which is quite a lot of gigabytes. It wouldn't be surprising to see this pop up over at T-Mobile, considering its WiFi love, which AT&T still has yet to embrace (though Mr. Jobs claims it's coming). Other specs stick pretty close to the RIM playbook, which isn't going to ruffle any feathers probably. Stay tuned for exact release dates and other appetite-whetting information as it becomes available.

Filed under: Handsets, RIM, ATT, EDGE

Tags: 8820, blackberry, gps, research in motion, ResearchInMotion, rim, wifi

Subscribe to these comments

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Ardy @ Jul 17th 2007 6:00PM

RIP Palm!!!

Neutral

junktrunk @ Jul 17th 2007 6:12PM

Hmm... there's no such product as 32GB microSD. Try 4GB.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroSD

Highly Ranked

Sean @ Jul 17th 2007 6:55PM

Doesnt need to be currently on the market, just means when it comes out it will be compatible.

Neutral

Sean @ Jul 17th 2007 6:50PM

but no camera? thats it RIM spoon feed it to us we dont know any better

Neutral

Will @ Jul 17th 2007 7:14PM

their main target is the business person...many of whom aren't allowed to have cameras on their phones, on top of the fact that most could care less about one

Neutral

Cygnus @ Jul 17th 2007 9:29PM

No camera? Who cares? How many people actually use their cell cams? The GPS and WiFi is exactly what I need. The only thing I am upset about, is that I was hoping to see this release on T-Mobile. I've been holding out on the 8800. But, now I'm just going to switch to ATT. Farewell, Big T! I loved ya, but if you cannot get the devices, well, then I'm outta here.

Neutral

xman @ Jul 18th 2007 12:50PM

of course this will be for T-mobile since it has UMA service, which ATT does not currently offer.

Neutral

Donald @ Jul 17th 2007 8:41PM

Hopefully the keyboard is a little more comfortable than the 8800 this is succeeding, and there is an extremely juicy battery to handle everything.

Good on RIM to include microSDHC support, too.

Neutral

Rick @ Jul 17th 2007 9:55PM

How does AT&T do it? Do they have photo's of RIM/Apple executives involved in a daisy chain... Jeez! The worst cell-phone company and land-line company going... and they always get the phones! (IPhone, etc.) They must have hordes of money from the land-line fleecing of America, which they enjoyed for so long? 3G? Hopefully, for the rest of us!

Neutral

TyTy @ Jul 18th 2007 1:13AM

Is it me or do this BB look like a Q?

Neutral

Rob Poitras @ Jul 18th 2007 12:58PM

I was about to buy an unlocked curve for my tmobile account but this sounds like it will be worth waiting for. Are we about a release within a month or outside of 30 days?

Neutral

frank @ Jul 18th 2007 6:17PM

UMA!!! Sweet!

Neutral

Jesse @ Jul 19th 2007 3:06PM

Oh, that'd be nice! Sign me up.

Low Ranked

OzzieDog @ Jul 23rd 2007 11:52PM

Maybe I can get a straight answer here, does WiFi help with call reception/transmission?
If I am outside the Cingular/AT&T coverage, will it switch to one of the other carrier (towers)?, like roaming?
Simple answer will do.

Neutral

Dustin @ Aug 1st 2007 2:06AM

Wifi is not for other carrier's towers, it's simply your standard computer network. So, if you have a plan supporting it, you can be covered near an internet network even when you have no cell service.

So, to answer your questions YES it helps with coverage but not in the way you think.

Highly Ranked

lefty1904 @ Jul 28th 2007 7:27PM

anyone know if the blackberry messenger will go free, when under wifi. for 8820

i doubt it thou, cause they make most their money off the email/server/messenging client.

if anyones knows please let me know.

i recently got the 8525 htc tytn, yes its got alot of stuff but for a phone way too many things ull ever use, simpily slows down the phone most of the time.
camaras on phones suck, compared to blackberrys (blackberries***)

Neutral