OK gang. This is either the first picture of the upcoming Verizon BlackBerry Curve that we’ve seen, or, a pretty decent Photoshop job. I’ll let you decide.
I am on the record, however, for saying that I cannot believe that Sprint, who is rumored to come out with their version of the BlackBerry Curve 8330 around mid April, will get this device before Verizon does. If the Sprint BlackBerry Curve rumors are right, Verizon has about 2 1/2 weeks to squeeze to get something out.
I’d be willing to bet that this is the first of many “leaked” shots of the Verizon BlackBerry Curve 8330 that will hit the blogosphere over the coming days.
[Source]
There are pretty credible rumors that the BlackBerry Curve 8330 will appear on Sprint’s network on the 16th and 20th of next month for business users and individual consumers next month. The picture of the BlackBerry Curve that you are looking it is the Sprint branded version of the 8330.
I, however, just can’t believe that Sprint, with all the troubles that they have been having of late, will release the BlackBerry 8330 before the likes of Verizon, who usually is the first carrier to offer CDMA versions of BlackBerry devices.
{democracy:9}
Back in May of last year we wrote a post asking how long will it take for Verizon to release the BlackBerry Curve, and, 462 comments later, the conversation on that post is going as strong as ever.
There are rumors floating around that Verizon may come with the CDMA BlackBerry Curve as soon as the end of this month, however, I am still going with some right around WES, about a month later.
I know many RIMarkable readers just don’t understand why Verizon subscribers would stick with a company that doesn’t offer the phones that they want up to a year after they come out on GSM networks in some cases. The comments, however, in this particular post, which seem to have been picking up steam as of late, give some insight intto the minds of Verizon subscribers who are upset that they can’t get the BlackBerry Curve, but, rely on Verizon’s network so much that they don’t feel they can switch, or, in some cases, switch back after leaving to get the GSM Curve.
I am not saying that they are right or wrong, misguided or misinformed. I am saying that I understand. As millions of Verizon subscribers believe, I think that Verizon has the best network out there and that it is so much better than the competitions that we are willing to forgo new devices on GSM carriers. Verizon, however, needs to take note. I also believe that many of these “loyal” Verizon subscribers would switch in a heartbeat to a GSM carrier the moment they feel like the GSM networks have the network coverage and speed of Verizon’s network.
It’s a dangerous game you play Verizon. If T-Mobile or AT&T upgrades their networks to 3G everywhere and fill in the coverage gaps that they are notorious for having before you either move to LTE or convince manufactures to come out with CDMA devices at a faster pace, you could see your earnings shrink faster than Sprints.
Since the release of the Verizon BlackBerry Pearl, soon to be followed by the release of the Sprint BlackBerry Pearl (Nov. 23rd as rumor would have it), we have received a wave of questions asking when the BlackBerry Curve would be out on Sprint or Verizon.
I don’t have any more inside information than the next guy who spends way to much time wondering what RIM will do next, however, I can all but promise you that there won’t be a CDMA BlackBerry Curve out before Christmas.
We ran a poll a few weeks ago just to see when RIMarkable readers thought the Curve would hit a CDMA network and the overwhelming majority of the folks that responded don’t think that we will see the BlackBerry Curve until next Spring, however, about 20% thought that it would be here before Christmas.
Well, unless those pollsters mean Christmas of 2008, I don’t think there is a snow balls chance that we will see the CDMA Curve that soon.
