Exclusive Boy Genius interview! White Pearl, 8800, and 9XXX information

Posted
by
Steve St. Pierre
on December 4, 2006, at 11:19 AM
in BlackBerry-Help
. Tags: .
Comments: 33 responses
33 Comments

boy_genius_logo.jpg

Do you expect consumers to be more intrigued by the 8800 now that the BlackBerry name is more prominent in their headspace?

I’m not sure, I think the 8800 is still aimed at the corporate world. I heard the 8800 is ok, but the device after will be RIM’s “perfect” device. The 8800 is hot, though, you take off the battery cover and it says “Battery cover off!”

They need marketing, though! Marketing, Marketing, Marketing! Do commercials, real ads, not pathetic give aways and contests – get the consumer interested, attach a celebrity to it. Have you seen the Sidekick 2 ads with Paris Hilton, Snoop, etc? Everybody needs a Sidekick…that’s marketing! Whether [RIM] likes it or not, they need to focus on the consumer.

I’m in total agreeance. Can you tell us anything else about the 8800 that wasn’t covered in the presentation?

Well, I can tell you RIM made around 500,000 Pearl’s…there is currently 1,000,000 8800′s in production – that should tell you how they feel about the device. I have heard it launching on Cingular as early as January or February.

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  • George

    BoyGenius is the man, and props to bbcool for getting it done. Great interview and insight.

    The only downfall with having a BG is that it totally throws my upgrade cycle. First I was lusting for the Pearl, and by the time it came out I was done with that and decided to wait for the 8800(Crimson/Indigo). Now BG drops the bomb that RIM will be coming out with ‘the perfect device’, almost as thin as an ipod, that’s crazy. It’s also crazy how BG is two product cycles ahead.

    For now I’ll stick with my 8700.

  • George

    BoyGenius is the man, and props to bbcool for getting it done. Great interview and insight.

    The only downfall with having a BG is that it totally throws my upgrade cycle. First I was lusting for the Pearl, and by the time it came out I was done with that and decided to wait for the 8800(Crimson/Indigo). Now BG drops the bomb that RIM will be coming out with ‘the perfect device’, almost as thin as an ipod, that’s crazy. It’s also crazy how BG is two product cycles ahead.

    For now I’ll stick with my 8700.

  • Krad

    I personally will never go back to a qwerty bb. I wouldn’t mind purchasing a new 7100,8100,9100,etc every year, or other year. It is the perfect design for my needs. I am a bes admin.

    Although wm5 or wm6 isn’t a bad os, i still have yet to find a decent form factor device

    internally i think the blackberries will look great this coming year… but they will hit a road block like palm did with their os.

    Will the blackberry or the os, be able to keep and handle “live meetings” or on the fly video conferencing?

    the white pearl looks great… but also makes it stand out so much that i would get mugged on the subway.

  • Krad

    I personally will never go back to a qwerty bb. I wouldn’t mind purchasing a new 7100,8100,9100,etc every year, or other year. It is the perfect design for my needs. I am a bes admin.

    Although wm5 or wm6 isn’t a bad os, i still have yet to find a decent form factor device

    internally i think the blackberries will look great this coming year… but they will hit a road block like palm did with their os.

    Will the blackberry or the os, be able to keep and handle “live meetings” or on the fly video conferencing?

    the white pearl looks great… but also makes it stand out so much that i would get mugged on the subway.

  • User

    BG, such an idiot. He’s no doubt open to a wealth of info but knows nothing at all about the industry. Leaks are interesting but not when they get people fired, and “companies better wath out” how chilish can you get, I hope someone sues your sorry ass BG.

  • User

    BG, such an idiot. He’s no doubt open to a wealth of info but knows nothing at all about the industry. Leaks are interesting but not when they get people fired, and “companies better wath out” how chilish can you get, I hope someone sues your sorry ass BG.

  • David

    Love how he bashes the pearl, becuase of the poor quality…but he bought 7 of them??? If he is such an insider, he would have had one to test prior to buying 7!?! I think he is bitter over the pearl because his “breaking news” is what hurt his credibility…Also when he says, “All we do is bring people the news, and info. They can then make their own decision” that is a crock…we will make our own desicions if you tell us NEWS..but BG made a STATEMENT of FACT…it would have been so much better had he admitted his error..

  • David

    Love how he bashes the pearl, becuase of the poor quality…but he bought 7 of them??? If he is such an insider, he would have had one to test prior to buying 7!?! I think he is bitter over the pearl because his “breaking news” is what hurt his credibility…Also when he says, “All we do is bring people the news, and info. They can then make their own decision” that is a crock…we will make our own desicions if you tell us NEWS..but BG made a STATEMENT of FACT…it would have been so much better had he admitted his error..

  • Thought

    First, congrats to Steve for a great victory in securing this interview!

    Second, David, I don’t see how BG’s “breaking news” regarding the Pearl hurt his credibily…BG’s info regarding the Pearl if anything established his credibility. Of course, I’m talking about all of the reports of the Pearl prior to its initial release on T-Mo. If you mean the story about Cingular’s release…well, I really don’t think that has done anything to hurt BG’s credibility: he has too great of a track record for that one minor incident to take down his entire reputation.

  • Thought

    First, congrats to Steve for a great victory in securing this interview!

    Second, David, I don’t see how BG’s “breaking news” regarding the Pearl hurt his credibily…BG’s info regarding the Pearl if anything established his credibility. Of course, I’m talking about all of the reports of the Pearl prior to its initial release on T-Mo. If you mean the story about Cingular’s release…well, I really don’t think that has done anything to hurt BG’s credibility: he has too great of a track record for that one minor incident to take down his entire reputation.

  • badonkadonk

    I think it’s funny that BG thinks he’s doing this great service for the wireless industry… the Pearl leak bumped up RIM’s stock price, but likely cut a huge swath into their 7130c sales. Same thing with publishing info about upcoming products – if I know that the 8800 is coming out in January, will I buy that if I know that something better is coming out in say April? The truth is – there will always be a better phone. There will always be a “next gen”. And companies like RIM are expecting a certain amount of device churn to provide the revenue needed to make those next gen phones. increases to the share price only help the share holders, not the company.

    RIM specifically is a lot like Apple, in that they prefer to play their cards close to their chest, so that when a new unit is announced, it is done at launch. and there are devices available that you can like, buy. then. Compare that to Moto who anounced the Q a full *year* before it went on sale, and by the time it was released, it was already out of date.

  • badonkadonk

    I think it’s funny that BG thinks he’s doing this great service for the wireless industry… the Pearl leak bumped up RIM’s stock price, but likely cut a huge swath into their 7130c sales. Same thing with publishing info about upcoming products – if I know that the 8800 is coming out in January, will I buy that if I know that something better is coming out in say April? The truth is – there will always be a better phone. There will always be a “next gen”. And companies like RIM are expecting a certain amount of device churn to provide the revenue needed to make those next gen phones. increases to the share price only help the share holders, not the company.

    RIM specifically is a lot like Apple, in that they prefer to play their cards close to their chest, so that when a new unit is announced, it is done at launch. and there are devices available that you can like, buy. then. Compare that to Moto who anounced the Q a full *year* before it went on sale, and by the time it was released, it was already out of date.

  • J

    I have the Blackberry 8700c. Was going to get the 8800. but now that there is a 9xxx coming out. I guess I should hold out.
    Good work on your own website. Do you have any details about what the 9xxx will feature? And when it will be available? Keep up the good work.

  • J

    I have the Blackberry 8700c. Was going to get the 8800. but now that there is a 9xxx coming out. I guess I should hold out.
    Good work on your own website. Do you have any details about what the 9xxx will feature? And when it will be available? Keep up the good work.

  • jw

    BG calls himself a journalist?!?!?!?

    So any whistle blower, spy, leak, etc can just label themselves a journalist to add a false credibility to what they are really doing and it’s ok? I guess if it’s good enough for BG and the NY Times then it must be true.

  • jw

    BG calls himself a journalist?!?!?!?

    So any whistle blower, spy, leak, etc can just label themselves a journalist to add a false credibility to what they are really doing and it’s ok? I guess if it’s good enough for BG and the NY Times then it must be true.

  • http://www.blackberryforums.com/ jibi@bbf

    Just to correct one point:

    “I bought 7 of them for family and friends. All 7 either broke, or they gave it away.”

    …I’m still using mine (one of those 7 family/friends devices) with no issues… teehee :)

  • http://www.blackberryforums.com jibi@bbf

    Just to correct one point:

    “I bought 7 of them for family and friends. All 7 either broke, or they gave it away.”

    …I’m still using mine (one of those 7 family/friends devices) with no issues… teehee :)

  • qwert mcnugget

    nice pics .

    still no support for captruring video , eh ? that means that rim staill hasnt caught up to 2004 .

    now when you delete this comment , everyone will know, .

  • qwert mcnugget

    nice pics .

    still no support for captruring video , eh ? that means that rim staill hasnt caught up to 2004 .

    now when you delete this comment , everyone will know, .

  • Cinja

    My pearl is also working tip top except for a java error or 2 randomly. BG is definitely correct when he says Cingular dropped the ball on the pearl launch. I mean you try heading to one of those stores and asking about it. You get stares and comments like “we get 1 here and there”. They stated they shipped on the 21st and they did…the problem is they could have shipped 10 or 500,000, we cant blame BG for Cingular’s mistake-he told us what he knew and he told us the truth. End of story.

  • http://na Cinja

    My pearl is also working tip top except for a java error or 2 randomly. BG is definitely correct when he says Cingular dropped the ball on the pearl launch. I mean you try heading to one of those stores and asking about it. You get stares and comments like “we get 1 here and there”. They stated they shipped on the 21st and they did…the problem is they could have shipped 10 or 500,000, we cant blame BG for Cingular’s mistake-he told us what he knew and he told us the truth. End of story.

  • ben

    You guys are a bunch of haters.

  • ben

    You guys are a bunch of haters.

  • ben

    You guys are a bunch of haters.

  • ben

    You guys are a bunch of haters.

  • ben

    You guys are a bunch of haters.

  • Josh

    While this guy may get the “scoop” he sounds like a pretentious person!

  • Josh

    While this guy may get the “scoop” he sounds like a pretentious person!

  • anon

    I laugh at the fact that you people think that a guy named ‘boy genius’ is in any way a source of credible information.

  • anon

    I laugh at the fact that you people think that a guy named ‘boy genius’ is in any way a source of credible information.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_sx9JBQrFY Raul

    Underpromise; overdeliver.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_sx9JBQrFY Raul

    Underpromise; overdeliver.