NEW SPRINT VS. NEXTEL BLACKBERRY'S

This past Thursday morning I sent an e-mail to Dan Hesse, President and CEO of Sprint, inquiring about the two BlackBerry's:

Hi Dan,

I know you are super busy, so I won't try to waste your time. I'm an avid CrackBerry,…I mean BlackBerry user. I used to be on the Nextel side of business before having to change over to the Sprint side. The greatest loss was the Direct Connect feature on all of my older phones and BlackBerry's. I was extremely tempted to switch to AT&T back in August just to keep that feature, but only on an updated BlackBerry, but I have been with Sprint/Nextel/Sprint since July of 1998.

Rumor has is that Nextel is coming out with an iDEN compatible BlackBerry some time this year. Is the Sprint Curve 8330 going to be compatible with the Direct Connect feature? If not, will the Nextel iDEN Blackberry have a digital camera feature. I currently have the Blackberry 8830WE, but miss both features, which was something that I had on my Motorola i580. And if Nextel is indeed coming out with a new BlackBerry, which quarter is it projected for?

Thanks for any feedback!

Brian

When I got to work and checked my e-mail just a little while ago, I ACTUALLY got a reply back:

Dear Brian

Thank you for your email. I have done some research on your questions and the Sprint Curve 8330 will not have Direct connect. Also the Nextel iDEN Blackberry will not have a camera on it. I do apologize for any inconvenience. If you have any other question please visit us at www.phonescoop.com.

Thank you again for contacting Sprint. We appreciate your business.

Sincerely,
Camika D - Sprint

You heard it hear first...I'll be sticking with Sprint and purchasing the BlackBerry Curve 8330 when it is released sometime this month. I can't wait!

THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME

As all of you know, I am extremely addicted to my BlackBerry, or “CrackBerry.” Although I have gotten in the habit of not always having it on me, it’s always at least in the car where ever I go. Lately, I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the BlackBerry Curve 8330, which is set some where between April 16th and 20th. I’ve even been on the phone with customer service trying to pry information from them about conflicting reports.

As if I am not already anxious enough about the release of the BlackBerry Curve 8330, now I am also hearing reports that the Nextel side of Sprint will be releasing a new BlackBerry sometime this year. Dan Hesse - President, CEO of Sprint quoted in the Sprint Nextel Corporation Q4 2007 Earnings Call on February 28, 2008, “…later this year we'll introduce the first ever iDEN WiFi BlackBerry, which will feature push-to-talk, a QWERTY keypad and contemporary industrial design.” FINALLY!

I bought my first BlackBerry 7520 on the Nextel network in May of 2007, which incorporated the iDEN network. Because of massive texting issues I was having with it, I threw my BlackBerry against a rock in July of 2007, which subsequently fatally damaged my blackBerry. Later that month I purchased the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition on the Sprint side. Best of all I was still able to keep my $7.50 unlimited text message plan when I switched sides, but ultimately lost the Direct Connect (PPT) feature.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my current BlackBerry, however, I miss the digital camera and video feature of my old regular phone. Now that Sprint will be offering the Curve (which has a 2.0MP camera) and Nextel will be coming out with a new model (maybe with a 3.2MP camera) and my favorite, the DIRECT CONNECT (PPT) feature. Either way I’ll be happy. Both BlackBerry’s will be duel network compatible.

So, the “chirp” is coming back along with all the other great BlackBerry features. I’m assuming that this new Nextel BlackBerry will be announced at the 2008 Wireless Enterprise Symposium in just a little over 4 weeks. I can’t wait. I think I’ll be able to hold off a little longer (self-control).

SOUP IT UP

There are some things in life that you just can't get enough of. For me, this is one of them!

SWEET GAME

Phoenix 2, Anaheim 3 in SUDDEN DEATH!

CURVING TOWARDS THIS INSTEAD...MAYBE

In addition to the Samsung Instinct which was just announced, Research In Motion aka Blackberry just announced that their Curve series will be offered for Sprint. I bought my first Blackberry (the 7520 from Nextel) back in May of 2007, but had a short life expectancy due to it being thrown against a rock in July because of network complications. After about two weeks or so I switched from my Nextel service to Sprint and purchased the Blackberry 8830WE, which I totally love. However, I miss ONE thing that my Nextel "bullet proof" phone had that my current one doesn't...a camera.

I missed the camera feature so much that I had seriously looked into purchasing the Pearl series from Sprint, losing the full size QWERTY keypad just to have the camera feature, but I didn't want to deal with learning how to use the "smart text" feature. I hate T9 text, which is something that I don't have to worry about with my current Blackberry.

It looks as of April 15, 2008, the Blackberry 8330 will be available for around $179.99 (versus the $299.99 Samsung Instinct price tag) after instant and mail-in rebates. This is something that I am very seriously looking into purchasing. In addition to the camera feature, it also allows you to take movies (which are stored on a micro SD card-Blackberry now supports up to an 8GB micro SD card) so you can take hours of video, and a digital voice recorder feature. Rumor has it that you cannot use both hands to text on the Samsung Instinct's virtual keypad, which is a draw back because I do text and drive at the same time.

I compared both the Samsung Instinct and Blackberry 8330 specs side by side. Other than a few little things, basically I've come to the conclusion that I will be getting a LOT more for my money if I purchase the Blackberry. As far as the billing fees are considered, I'll be paying the same on either phone, so that's not an issue any longer.

Anyways, here are some additional specs on the Blackberry 8330.

SPRINT INSTINCT

Sprint just announced the unvailing of its' new phone, the Samsung Instinct, which is due out in June. I am very excited about this new product and have already signed up to be one for the first to own this product. Usually I'll wait a few months for any new product to so that any kinks can be worked out. Lately I've been looking into ditching my Blackberry 8830(WE) for the Trio 750WX, only because I really miss the digital camera feature and won't have to spend the extra $50 a month for the Blackberry service.


Here are just a few of the specs of the Instinct:
- CDMA/EV-DO Dual Band (800/1900MHz), which will now fully support the Nextel
Direct Connect feature (something that I REALLY MISS), and 3G Capable
- 3.1" TFT Touch Screen @ 262,144 colors
- 2.0 Megapixel Digital/Video Camera with Flash at 2X Zoom
- MP3 Player
- Micro SD (supports up to a 8GB card)
- Phone as Modem
- Full HTML/WAP 2.0 Browser ready
+ Java
+ E-mail
+ GPS
- Bluetooth 2.0 (Stereo)
- Phone Features:
+ Dimesions (4.6 X 2.2 X 0.5 inches) @ 4.4oz
+ 5.75 Hours of Talk Time
+ Alarm, Calendar, Calculator, TO-DO, Stopwatch, Memo, World Clock, and
Unit Converter
+ Address Book (up to 600 names with Call Groups, Muntiple Numbers per Contact, Picture and/or Ring ID)
+ Sprint TV (CNN Live) and Radio
+ SPRINT EXCLUSIVE of VISUAL VOICEMAIL
(which allows you to pick and choose the voicemails which you want
to hear)

Additionally, initial reports are indicating that the Instince will come with a 2GB SD Card and TWO (2) BATTERIES for a price tag under $300.

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FINALLY SENTENCED

This was an arrestee that I booked and transported to OCJ in March of 2004. Now, four years later he is FINALLY sentenced. While he was making his phone call to his mother, she said he was all over the news. His response? He began laughing and yelled to the other two accomplices that they were in the news.

I have no sympathy and having personally seen the store surveillance tape that captured the whole murder, I wish he would have received the death penalty. The store employee who was murdered was someone that I saw on a regular basis when I worked at the police department. The murder was basically an initiation to a white supremest gang.

Irvine 7-11 Murder Sentencing