Verizon Releases New Worldwide BlackBerry

Verizon recently announced plans to release a new BlackBerry, scheduled to come out on May 14^th. The RIM BlackBerry 8830 "World Edition" will apply a few new twists to the gadget popular among businesspeople, offering worldwide network service, and a smaller body, with a slightly different appearance. The new blackberry will be less than 5 inches high, about half an inch thick, and will come in silver, equipped with the standard mini QWERTY keyboard. Although it will be capable of working on both domestic and overseas networks, it doesn't seem to break too much ground. Potential buyers would be well advised to wait for a slightly later version, which will likely come out when some issues are worked through.

It has always been something of a matter of annoyance to travelers that US cell phones simply don't work overseas. At first thought, one would think that this is just an matter of business contracts, that the obnoxious service providers have not managed to work through, but in fact the United States uses an entirely different cell phone network technology than Europe. While Europe uses SIM technology, the US (as well as Korea, interestingly enough) uses CMDA. The new BlackBerry 8830 will be automatically compatible with both networks. Of course, both technologies will shortly go out the window when they are replaced by the faster and better WIMAX networks.

Although the new BlackBerry sells for a rather reasonable three hundred bucks, after a hundred dollar sign up rebate, the service, especially the overseas compatable service, adds up. Worldwide data service costs $70 per month, on top of a voice plan which would likely be another $50 or $60. For those who plan to stay in the country, data service costs a slightly more reasonable $45. The new BlackBerry does offer some improvements for the cost, though. Its battery life is improved, now providing 220 minutes of talk time, and it is a bit smaller than its predecessors.

The bottom line? Probably not worth it. While the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition does offer some advantages, it will not be of help to too many people. Most will prefer the new BlackBerry Pearl, RIM's sexy new smartphone, which, despite its lack of a proper keyboard, has sold quite well. The rest of us can wait for either a slightly cheaper phone with worldwide roaming, or, ideally, the age of cheap mobile broadband and massive flash storage capacity.

Sources:

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/blackberry-8830/rim-blackberry-8830-to-debut-on-verizon-wireless-may-14-255054.php

http://www.verizon.net