Alltel antes up BlackBerry 8830 World Edition

by Chris Ziegler, posted Sep 9th 2007 at 11:52AM

They're a little late to the party, but it looks like Alltel has started slipping its own variant of RIM's BlackBerry 8830 World Edition into retail channels in the past few days. Thanks to a 900 / 1800MHz GSM radio packed in there beside the standard CDMA / EV-DO fare, the 8830 gives subscribers to CDMA carriers like Alltel a somewhat painless route to international roaming without juggling multiple handsets. The cameraless posterior means that the 8830's pretty much all business -- but with GPS in the mix, it's a darned good business to be in, we reckon. Check it for $250 on contract after rebates.

[Via PhoneMag]

Filed under: Handsets, RIM, Alltel, 1xRTT, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, EV-DO, CDMA

Tags: 8830, alltel, blackberry, rim, world edition, WorldEdition

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Zondajag @ Sep 9th 2007 12:25PM

ooooh shiny...i want one lol...im gonna have to save up though :P

Neutral

David @ Sep 9th 2007 2:03PM

I reckon I'll buy one - should be good for travelling around.

Neutral

sully @ Sep 9th 2007 3:43PM

Interesting.

Neutral

WiiWinner @ Sep 9th 2007 3:46PM

oooo, that's nice!

Neutral

Racy @ Sep 9th 2007 4:22PM

looks nice

Neutral

jake @ Sep 9th 2007 5:38PM

Comeon EngadgetMobile! We have been selling that for almost two weeks now! :p

Neutral

Chris Ziegler @ Sep 9th 2007 5:42PM

Yeah, it appeared that way, but we still felt it was important enough of a launch to spread the word when we found out. Tell your company to get on the ball with the press releases for us, would ya? ;-)

Chris

Neutral

Jake @ Sep 10th 2007 3:24AM

Chris,

Email me @ iamthatdizzy@gmail.com with an email addy so I can give you guys a better heads up on new things at alltel... There always seems to be a delay in when you guys report on all things alltel...

:p

Neutral

Adam Greenwell @ Sep 10th 2007 9:15AM

What? GPS enabled? Crap, I have the VZW 8830 with their good ol' crippled GPS. You guys at Sprint and Alltel are lucky to have a carrier that doesn't have a stranglehold on your equipment.

Maybe reflashing my 8830 with Alltel firmware would unlock the GPS...

Neutral

t5 @ Sep 10th 2007 2:35PM

As always VZw is blamed for everything when it comes 2 GPS on BlackBerry Devices. Has it occurred to you that is VZW Only put our sevices on any equipment way sell. Blame goes to the blackberry company. We are, however, working to have VZnavigator on Blackberry devices

Neutral

Talion @ Sep 28th 2007 4:35PM

8830 GPS won�t work in Europe.

I did a google search and came up with this from: evdoinfo.com/content/view/2051/64/ and last updated 15 August 2007.

Quoting: �Q � Does GPS work internationally?
A � No, the GPS chipset on the 8830 is disabled when the device is in GSM/GPRS mode due to Qualcomm requirement.�

The only mention of a tie between GPS and CDMA in Blackberry�s own user manual is:

Quoting: �About assisted GPS support
Your BlackBerry� device is designed to support assisted GPS when your device is connected to a CDMA network. If you make an emergency call or your device is in Emergency Callback Mode, an emergency operator might be able to use assisted GPS technology to estimate your location.�

I have been unable to find any info on Blackberry�s website or their user manual that the 8830�s GPS will not work in Europe. In point of fact, in a phone conversation with a local Alltel/Blackberry salesperson he indicated that he too believed that the 8830 GPS would work in Europe. Seems like a deceptive business practise on Blackberry�s part to me.

Hardly a "World Edition" GPS-wise.

Travelers beware.