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The BlackBerry 8820’s soft launch is rumored to have begun yesterday, slowly trickling into stores as BlackBerry 8800 stock runs out. We’ll be supposedly seeing an identical price point to the 8800: $299 with a two-year contract, but still no sign of confirmation on AT&T’s site. If anyone manages to spot one in the wild, drop us a comment!
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If this is true, the launch is a huge secret to AT&T employees. A business sales phone representative told me that the 8820 was Verizon’s version- AT&T sells the 8800, he says. Right, whatever. Then I call the local store- he tells me the same exact thing about the 8820 being for Verizon. This doesn’t inspire confidence about this launching for real anytime soon. I don’t think they can just flip a switch and instantly have employees knowledgeable about it. I hate to say it, but I may have to stop believing Internet rumors. I know, I know. Drastic.
I talked to a guy at the local AT&T shop about 3 days ago. He was waiting for one, so it was nice to see someone who actually knew what I was talking about. He said he didn’t have a set date, but figured it to be near the end of September.
I stopped by the downtown AT&T store in San Diego and they did not have any 8820’s available. The rep stated they usually know about a product’s release 4 to 5 days prior to the actual release day. So far, they do not have any info whatsoever on the 8820.
Talked to a att rep today at a store in a San Jose,CA mall. He said he doesn’t know when they are getting the 8820 in and normally he hears two days in advance of any new phone arriving. It sounded like he’s answered that question many times before.
The AT&T cell phone store I go says they would be the last to know about a new phone being released. Does not inspire confidence. Does Verizon indeed have the 8820 NOW?
I was in an ATT store today asking when the 8820 & 8310 were going to be released. The ATT employee went to the store computer to inquire about my question. He read from the screen the 8820 would be released sometime between Sept 14-18. The 8310 would be offered in Red and Platinum releasing on Sept 24 or 25.
I called several stores today & only one person knew anything. Most have no clue what the BB 8820 is. He told me to call back today as they get their shipment after 2pm. I did that & he said, “Try again tomorrow. It is on our pricing list so it has to be shipping soon.”
Doesn’t look like any stores are selling it today. Either it isn’t released, or no stores are low enough on 8800’s to get it. My bet is they have shifted it again. It may have something to do with the RAZR, since that is probably suspected to be a large seller.
Amazon is offering this for sale, but requiring “PDA Max” as part of the bundle. They don’t require this for the 8800. Does anyone know if this is a temporary error or a deliberate effort to get more money. As far as I can tell the PDA Max doesn’t give the consumer anything they aren’t already getting from the basic Blackberry data service, so there wouldn’t be any reason to buy it unless you were forced to.
My local store knew “nothing about any new blackberrys” including Pearl, Curve, or the 8820.
I was there two days ago returning the Curve 1 I had test driven but am waiting for a next round on one of those to stick with for another 2 years.
She said she usually hears about a week before anything comes out.
Wednesday, September 05 2007, @ 12:28 PM (-0800 GMT)
What about the GPS being disabled?
Our company gets discounts on select phones, and I had our IT guy ask our AT&T rep about the 8820 when they met to go over stuff last week. The rep told him that the 8820 was going to be released the first week of October and that I’d have to wait until then to find out if it’s one we can get a discount on.
So who knows if he’s right, but the fact that he works for Ma Bell and seemed confident about the release date makes me think there’s a reasonable chance he’s correct, and that it will in fact be the first week of October.
Can’t come fast enough as far as I’m concerned. I’ve got a Windows Mobile “smart” phone right now… *shudder*
i called ATT this morning in San Diego. the rep told me the 8820 was showing up on their internal screens, but was not showing as received inventory. she added they are even offering a $50 mail-in rebate with it. anyway, she said to check back monday as they only receive shipments via UPS on workdays. needless to say, i’m not holding my breath.
I just did a search on Amazon for 8820 but it only showed 8800. Can someone leave a amazon link here?
Amazon just took the 8820 off their store today. Sorry, guy.