Sep 9, 2008 11:40 AM
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Boy Genius has a fairly juicy bit of backstory on the delays plaguing the BlackBerry Bold, and the serious, stab-you-in-the-throat infighting between AT&T and RIM that drove RIM to deliver their touchscreen baby, the Storm, exclusively to Verizon in the US (probably in Nov.), where it will apparently be going for just $199 with a two-year contract and rebates.
The condensed version: AT&T told RIM to make a 3G device (the Bold) even though it wasn't really in RIM's bag, since AT&T is pushing to have every one of its devices using 3G, even if the network can't really stand up to the onslaught right now. So RIM did. Fast forward to now, AT&T has apparently been rejecting buggy OS builds from RIM for months, even though they obviously crossed the line into acceptable for most other carriers. Granted, there are apparently some very real problems, most pointedly with the Hotspot Browser, though we did not encounter them with our review unit.
RIM got more than a little fed up, and this supposedly drove them to deliver the touchscreen Storm to a carrier who is not AT&T. In fact, RIM is reportedly kicking up the marketing budget for the Storm. Which brings us to the last bit: BG says multiple sources have confirmed to him that the Storm will go for $199. [BGR]
Send an email to matt buchanan, the author of this post, at matt@gizmodo.com.
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