Posted on June 4, 2008, at 9:22 am .
We knew it was on the horizon, but Rogers and RIM today have finally made a joint announcement about the release of the BlackBerry Pearl 8120. Why should Rogers customers care? Well, how about snagging the first BlackBerry in Canada with UMA support allowing users to make unlimited VoIP calls via Roger’s Home Calling Zone. Of course, it will run you an extra $20 a month. Oh yeah, the device is also a steep $250 with a three-year plan. Oh Rogers, how you love to take our money.
You can learn more at: http://www.rogers.com/8120
UPDATE: The Rogers site is saying you can get this titanium beauty for as low as $150 with a mail-in rebate on a three year plan… Still, this over the upcoming BlackBerry Bold, even with UMA? No dice, Ted.
UPDATE to the UPDATE: It’s been pointed out by Aaron in the comments that the 8120’s Wi-Fi will only work for UMA and BIS email, so web browsing is a no go. Also, obsessed reader Mr. Mike reminded us to mention that the UMA 8120 will be the first BlackBerry released with OS 4.5. Thanks guys!
Check out the BlackBerry 8120’s features after the jump
Posted on May 16, 2008, at 9:29 am .
Word has it Rogers will be shoving out the Wi-Fi Pearl sometime soon, doubling up on previous speculation. This would be pretty big news, as it would be a helluva great release valve for Canadian wireless data rates, and the first step towards their rumored UMA service.
UPDATE: A rep just told me that they’ll have the Wi-Fi Curve, and confirmed the coming UMA service in around a month’s time. Still no word on a Bold date, but likely a month or two after the US.
Posted on April 17, 2008, at 11:17 am .
Our buddies over at QuicklyBored just got wind that the Wi-Fi Pearl will be coming to Canadian customers this summer with an accompanying UMA (calls over Wi-Fi) service similar to T-Mobile’s Hotspot @Home. We had heard hopeful whispers of a Christmas release, but alas, no dice. Also, QB’s editor, Kyle, just picked up a BlackBerry 8330, and is looking to pimp it out. Any suggestions?
Posted on April 1, 2008, at 11:20 am .
Fresh out of CTIA we have the announced release of T-Mobile’s Wi-Fi-enabled Pearl on April 15th. Yep, it’ll work with Hotspot @Home, so BlackBerry calls can cruise over your internet connection to save minutes, costing a scant $10/month. T-Mo kicked off the 8820 last week, and the Wi-Fi Curve came out back in the Fall, so they’re rocking the full Wi-Fi BlackBerry lineup now. No word on pricing, but if it’s anything like AT&T’s offering, you can expect it to be around $200 on a two-year contract. Nice way to kick off CTIA, let’s see what else we’ve got in store…
Posted on November 28, 2007, at 9:36 am .
In a dual cyclone of Wi-Fi awesomeness, the BlackBerry 8120 and 8320 have both hit Orange UK. All the usual goodies are here, inluding Wi-fi (with UMA voice support), 3.5 mm headphone jack, video capture on a 2 megapixel camera, and the push e-mail we all know and love.
Posted on November 27, 2007, at 3:58 pm .
The Wi-Fi Alliance, fine folks who set the standards for interoperability across Wi-Fi devices, has recently released a white paper which establishes a new certification geared specifically to handsets using VoIP. This Wi-Fi Certified Voice-Personal accreditation aims to ensure call quality by testing a, b, g, and n versions of Wi-Fi, protected-access 2, multimedia, and of particular interest to BlackBerry is the optional Power Save testing. These are all established certifications that the Wi-Fi Alliance has had for awhile now.
Continue reading ‘Wi-Fi Alliance establishes VoIP standards’
Posted on November 19, 2007, at 4:40 pm .
The FCC has released the docs and testing information for the BlackBerry 8120, giving us hope, however vain, of a North American release. The recently-cleared instruction manual for the BlackBerry 8120 doesn’t reveal too much that’s new about the Wi-Fi, GSM Pearl. UMA (voice handoff to Wi-Fi) is working soundly, making T-Mobile’s Hotspot@Home a likely target for the new device.
Posted on October 24, 2007, at 8:01 am .
T-Mobile has issued a little update for you 8320-users cruising the Wi-Fi. Nothing huge, just something that aims to clean up call quality and fix a previously reported bug where your UMA (voice-to-Wi-Fi hand-off) settings would get lost when performing a backup. If you’re in that boat, you can grab the update over here, which will bring your OS up to 4.2.2.180.
Posted on October 5, 2007, at 11:07 am .
Despite reports that UMA adoption rates are low, there’s still big bucks to be had, as a recent study by Infonetics Research is claiming that there will be $46 billion in the fixed-mobile convergence market by 2010. Beyond UMA handsets like the BlackBerry 8820, this market includes the network controllers the facilitate the Wi-Fi voice handoff, and residential gateways (like Hotspot@Home). The report is also forecasting a jump from 188,000 FMC subscribers in 2006 to 38.2 million in 2010. We can certainly expect the 8820 to be accounting for a decent chunk of that as it gains steam.
Posted on October 4, 2007, at 7:54 am .
A recent report from Analysys is claiming that European adoption of dual-mode UMA handsets, like the BlackBerry 8820 or the upcoming BlackBerry 8120, is low due to complicated set-up and relative ease of implementing separate land-line and mobile services. UMA handoff, which lets your Wi-Fi pick up voice traffic from your mobile when you’re in range, has been equated to fixed-mobile convergence in general, but this report argues that bundled pricing and shared marketing for mobile and fixed voice services is a more effective way of bringing the two technologies together.
