BlackBerry users on Sprint and Verizon, especially, are used to waiting 8 to 10 months, sometimes even more than a year before new BlackBerry devices become available on their CDMA networks. There had been a ray of hope, however, that the recently leaked BlackBerry 8100 cameraphone, a.k.a. the CameraBerry, was going to to come out around the same time as it’s GSRM brethren.
Well, that ray of hope has been dimmed, as one of Russell Shaw’s informants has told him that the BlackBerry 8100 for T-Mobile and Cingular are pretty much ready, however, the Verizon version, and since Verizon and Sprint use the same gear one could assume the Sprint version as well, have experienced some “notable development delays“.
Russell’s theory is that the BlackBerry cameraphone engineer, who’s job posting we blogged about yesterday, will work on the CDMA version of the BlackBerry 8100. If you are just hiring someone to work on an upcoming device, that device is probably no where near being released.
Additionally, Russell, got an inside tip from one of his BBHub readers that is in-the-know stating that the Sprint BlackBerry 8100 won’t come out “this fall” which means more than 6 months away on the BlackBerry calendar where the time passes by a bit more slowly than the rest of the universe.
It does seem logical that the release of the CDMA 8100 is at least a few months behind the release of the GSM version…that certainly has been the trend. I don’t know if RIM has the capacity to develop both devices simultaneously.
As to Russell’s speculation re the camera engineer: with all due respect to Russell, I think this is a sheer guess in the dark. I really respect Russell and his blog, and certainly his speculation sometimes has been correct in the past. However, this camera engineer could have been hired to work on future BB models with camera and to develop better camera phones for the future; now that the 8100 is being released, I would presume that RIM will continue to develop their line of devices with camera.
Also, I’m no engineer, but it seems to me that the same camera used in the GSM model will be used in the CDMA model, as it works with all other manufacturers. Certainly, developing a device for CDMA is entirely different than for GSM…different chipsets, software, etc. However, I wouldn’t think that the camera would be different. To me that would be like saying that the trackball would be different, or the outer casing would be different. The camera is pretty much independent of the system the phone uses.
Here’s what roc a fella had to say about the issue of BB releases:
“It always seems there is 8-12 month delay from the device coming out on GSM to CDMA”
link
If the CDMA 8100 device were coming out soon roc would know. The fact that roc didn’t mention any exception in his statement means a lot. When the CDMA 8100 is going to be released, roc will know about that. But for now I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Robb: you must be out today; I’m surprised you haven’t posted yet on the details of the new BB 8100 “Pearl”…
I really like the Blackberry Pearl device but I prefer the sprint data access speed to T-mobile’s slower network. I have heard that T-mobile may be upgrading their network, but I don’t know when and whether that will help me if I am using today’s Pearl device.
Any guidance on whether it is better to switch to T-mobile in order to get the Pearl today, or wait for Sprint to come out with their own 8100? FYI, Sprint’s internal customer service web area shows the BB 8100 as “coming soon” but I could not get any details.
Jan,
The normal pattern for CDMA BlackBerry devices on Sprint and Verizon to come out after their GPRS counterparts is 8 months to a year later. With the Pearl doing as well as it is, RIM may try to speed this up a bit, however, even if they do, we are probably looking well into next year before there is a CDMA BlackBerry Pearl.