Why is it that the BlackBerry Storm doesn’t have Wi-Fi? If you believe BoyGenius—and how could you not!—it’s because Verizon Wireless doesn’t want it to have Wi-Fi. That’s a fine conspiracy theory, yes, but consider the following:
• Name one CDMA BlackBerry with built-in Wi-Fi. You can’t.
• Doesn’t VZW require you to have a BlackBerry data plan? So it’s not like having built-in Wi-Fi prevents VZW from making money
Now, whether or not VZW was concerned with battery life and/or performance is another matter, but to imply that VZW is some James Bond villain hoarding all the Wi-Fi is silly, I think.
Having been a Verizon customer for a long time, and haveing had a number of different handsets on Verizon, I can say that without a doubt Verizon has a long history of intentionally crippling devices made for their network. They wield a lot of power with their handset makers, and have consistently disabled both GPS and WiFi so that folks have to use their services. Keep in mind, a data plan may be required for certain phones purchased directly from them (with their “discount”) but if you’re getting your phone from eBay or if you’re off contract you might not have to use their data, and that’s something Verizon definitely doesn’t want. Even if it’s a longshot that someone would bother getting a blackberry without data services, it’s just too easy and too profitable for Verizon to cripple it. They can’t pass it up, no matter how “open” they claim to be.
Name one device with crippled wifi.
I second Nate’s demand. I’ve have 3 wifi capable phones and none have been crippled. The closest they have come was with the XV6700 (HTC Apache) by making you choose between wifi or evdo. Even then , that was fixed by a WinMo update.
Blackberry Curve.
Also, Verizon has a much longer history of disabling Bluetooth for anything but headset use (e.g. DUN, file transfers, etc).
I thought for sure you were going to blame it on McCain.
I just assumed Verizon wanted to be able to sell overseas plans to business travelers which are RIM’s bread and butter. Not having gotten my hands on a smartphone yet as I’m waiting for this phone or else the nerve to leave verizon for the iPhone, but having gone on a recent trip abroad, it appears business travelers might have tried using just wifi abroad to skip the add’l cost. As long as verizon’s 3G can handle it here though, I’m leaning to the Storm.
The model numbering seem to match their previous numbering convention: the Curve 8300(gsm)/8320(gsm+wifi)/8330(cdma) and 8800(gsm)/8820(gsm+wifi)/8830(cdma). Count on a GSM+Wifi model (9520?) to be released in a couple of months.
I like this one. I buy it for my cousin and he’ll be very happy. This thing worth your money.
The CDMA Blackberry Curve was release first on Sprint, and neither one of them has Wifi. Most of the GSM Curves don’t have it either.
You can’t cripple what’s not there to begin with.
Now, if you want to talk GPS, I’m with you. They lock it down on every phone they release. Wifi’s a different story, though.