Cell Phone Battle: And now there are two…
Hey folks,
The latest news to come out of the Smartphone community is that Waterloo-based Research in Motion is trying to get their BLACKBERRY THUNDER ready for production. Whereas the truth is that initial reports that came out in May, said that the Thunder can be expected somewhere around September.
And I would wait - as the Thunder has got a lot of publicity and I love what is being talked about regarding this device right now - except I'm afraid my Motorola KRZR K1 is going to explode in my hand anytime now.
So perhaps it's not necessarily a bad thing that I've eliminated the Thunder from my current search - simply because if it does end up coming out in September - I would expect RIM's "iPhone killer" is going to have a pricetag along the lines of the newest 3G iPhone (I'm not talking about 199 or 299 on a contract - I'm talking $599 for the 8GB version and $699 for the 16GB version (source: iPhonebuzz.com).
So in any case, while the Thunder has caught my interest - what I'm expecting to be an exuberant price upon launch, as well as some amazingly viable options available now - it's going to go on the burner as probably the front runner when I look at getting another cell phone perhaps down the line.
Further, I don't think I even should have put the Palm Centro as one of the cell phones I'm "seriously" looking at - just because there are so many better options out there, to get me started on my first smart phone ever!
So the head-to-head battle is:
HTC Touch Cruise (C4) - Specs
The HTC Touch Cruise - I've talked a lot about this, but one of the big things that has got me going is the interface. I love the smooth transition between the different menus, and am very curious as to the usage of the WindowsMobile OS. However, I have been told there are issues with applications and processes running in the background can make the phone sluggish. But one thing at a time for sure - I'll have to decide between this and the Bold - and then take it from there.
Also, a very interesting Car Kit comes with it - which gives you turn-by-turn GPS, as well as a Car Holder that you can put onto the Dashboard. I'm quite intrigued by it for sure, but not ready to give the go ahead just yet!
Blackberry Bold 9000 (C4) - Specs
Apparently between July 15th and the 21st (According to BlackberrySync.com) will be the launch date of the Blackberry by Rogers. Have to admit, having a HUP (Hardware Upgrade) available on my account may work out in my favour after all....if I decide for the Blackberry Bold.
I am quite impressed though with the scalability of all the applications involved and those that I can add on. I'm intrigued by this also because of the GPS capability and the new Blackberry OS. Definitely has got my curiosity going as well.
Stay tuned!
July 9th, 2008
I’d pick the Bold simply because RIM’s new Blackberry OS is pretty darn impressive. To each their own, though.