BlackBerry 8350i to Refresh Nextel iDEN Offering

Awesome… but what on Earth took so long?

I work for a wireless provider in canada that uses the PTT function on our MiKe handsets.
We have MANY clients who have the 7100i, which is a very OLD device, and these clients are looking for new units.
Any idea when this will be available in Canada???

yeah it took em Way too long for this. i had the old 7100i when i had nextel and i was great. This looks promising

[...] BlackBerry 8350i to Refresh Nextel iDEN Offering Rumor site Boy Genius Report has posted an upcoming device roadmap for Sprint Nextel. While some of the dates are inaccurately, notably the close-to-launch Motorola Renegade V950, one product stands out as a major refresh to the Sprint Nextel family. For years, Nextel users have only had one BlackBerry option; the 7100i. When the device launched, […] [...]

I can’t wait! I’m counting the days and checking the Sprint website daily!

I am a 7100i user. I will be happy, if this new device was on the market today.

This phone seems awsome. I have been waiting for Nextel to come out with a smartphone with a full keyboard. Does anyone know when this phone comes out. Please tell me.

I want it…… now.

Sprint website shows the new 8350i now. Sprint announced today. The are just saying out by years end.

[...] addition, Sprint today confirmed that the BlackBerry 8350i, Sprint’s first Nextel iDEN BlackBerry in years, is a true Curve model. However, Sprint [...]

Does the 8350i have Microsoft activesync ?

I hope this is a hybrid phone with EvDO. If not, they just wasted a LOT of money for nothing.
Why would you put this “new” phone out if it doesn’t have hybrid and the EvDO?? Real dumb asses.

I think the Blackberry Curve 8350i is going to be a great phone! However, to add icing on the cake, I would give the backing of the phone a rubbery covering as well to make it more durable, the trademark of Nextel phones.

I am returning my Blackberry Curve and exchanging it the other new Sprint-Nextel Phone, the Renegade V950. It is a awesome phone and IS a hybrid phone with High Speed EVDO and the Nextel 2-way and a LOT more.
http://www.letsgomobile.org/en/3861/motorola-v950-renegade/

Its not a hybrid (8350i), so why did they even bother!

What is a Hybrid phone?

if your looking for a very great phone the v950 is the one to get. You wouldn’t belive what this phone can do. My words to you is see for yourself.

A motorola v950 is not exactly a hybrid phone. A hybrid phone would be any model in the “ic” series phones by motorola. The hybrid phones operate both the CDMA (Sprint) and the iDEN (Nextel) networks. One band is always connected to the iDEN network for the walkie-talkie calls and has another band always connected to the CDMA network for voice calls, the ic 502, ic402, ic602, and ic902 are considered hybrids because they use both technologies. The motoroal v950 however, is strictly a CDMA phone and uses the EVDO Rev A data speeds for the walkie-talkie calls and not the iDEN system. It is a 100% CDMA phone so it is not a hybrid but it is equipped with the technology to talk to iDEN Subscribers. These phones strictly on the CDMA networks do have can have some problems staying connected to the data network and many users complain about having to power cycle their phone once a day if not more to get the walkie talkie re-engaged to the network. Other than that, the Renegade v950 is a great phone.

If anyone has any questions regarding the new 8350i for Nextel or would like to be updated as the launch of the product approaches, please contact me directly and i will get you information as it is released. I can also assist with the pricing of the product for both individuals and businesses alike. For questions or informaiton, please contact me at cpowell@vazcom.net

does the nextel blackberry 8350i work on boost network too?

I spoke to a Sprint/Nextel representative today. They said that this phone will be availible to buy online December 15,2008. It wil cost you $150.00 and a $100.00 mail and rebate. This phone will be availible in stores sometime in January and the same price.

I sure hope none of you folks buy this phone. Sprint giving Nextel a POS w/o no touch screen. Don’t buy it and they will and can do better if they want to.

Firstly, I talked to a Sprint rep today and she said that it would be available in stores Dec 15, 2008, at the same price as mentioned above. $150.00 after a $100 mail in rebate. As for “none of you buy this,” why not? Touch screens are not at all that great. If that’s your sole reason for not buying this, you need to take a look at what they’re offering compared to the 7100i.

where can you buy the phone on the 15th of dec

You can only get the phone on a direct order and be eligible

email chris.corrigan@datalinksales.net

i will tell you how to get it on 12/15. retail will not have it til 2009

i also have a great pdf file on it for those interested

Touch screens are great and a vast improvement over previous phones. I have a Instinct from Sprint which is a great phone, you just can’t get service in most places with it. Sprint should give Nextel a touch screen also. They are very capable of doing it and I don’t understand why they won’t. Above all, the touch screen is very easy to use over a slide out keypad, or a cheesy keypad like blackberry is putting on the 8350i.

YEa !!!!! i got mine on ebay yesterday for $490 i will be getting ot soon to my house it comes with everything including the book and the sim and the box the real deal .

” iDEN Curve 8350i Blackberry Unreleased Sprint Nextel” i will be getting it in the box and Brand spankin’ new i saw the pics tooo ! i can wait and heres the link so u people can cry
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230312358243

I spoke to sprint today December 6 2008 and they said that the phone is already out for pre-order, what this means is that you will have to call them to pre-order and they will call you back when is ready to be sold. The final date is december 15 at 7 am , that is when the phone comes out, but the stores will probably not have it by then, pre-order by the 15th of december and it’ll be in your hands by the 20th of december.I personally going to wait till December 15 to call and order it .Enjoy it.

yea then when it breaks your effed in the A because u bought it off eBay and they cant fix it. Been there and done that

Yo eddie can you make a video of it and put it on youtube?

I bought one 3 days ago off ebay from a guy in and around KC somewhere, So I called to activate it and they told me that they couldn’t because the SIM id was in a range of the ones given away to some employees or customers or something, and that they were all marked as fradulent now. They did say they would sell me one at the sale price, But the one I got off ebay is on some black list they have of some sort, She also said that they won’t be able to activate any until the general release. So trust me folks, sit tight and wait to get it the right way, I’m out 399.99

Burdy

If you had a nextel you should just be able to slide your old sim card in and start it up.

They will let you pre-order as of today. It actually shows up in their system. Just ordered mine.

How did you order? Did you call the sprint office or a local rep??? Please do tell.

I’ve been working in the cell phone business for over 10 years. I started using blackberry’s when they first integrated the blackberry service with mobile phones. I’ve tried touch screen models and they are horrible no matter what the brand. I’ve played with the blackberry storm and while I’m impressed with the screen, to type an e-mail was more of daunting task. When you type you have to press firmly on the screen for recoginition unlike the IPhone, but both devices letters are switched with letters next to each other. A full querty is the way to go for reliability reasons and ease of use. Blackberry’s are for business use, not just a trendy item to have in your pocket. This 8350i should be a great device for the Nextel community. From what I’m hearing the price should be $250 with either an elgible renewal or new activation and then you get a $100 mail in rebate. FYI on sim cards do not just slide your old one in a new device, this will limit the new devices capabilities.

Ryan,

Swapping card will only limit the use of the phone in 2 cases.

1. Switching to a Hybrid phone (wont work at all) you have to use the card that came with it.
2. You switch from a i730 or older that has less memory to a i870 or newer that has the larger memory. It will still work but will limit the features.

I have had Nextel since they came out and the only time it didn’t work is when I got the new ic902 Hybrid and HAD to take it in.

Yes!!! Sprint emailed me the tracking number for my new nextel blackberry!! It is 1.5 hours from my house as we speak. What is wierd is that the new phone still doesn’t show up on Sprint’s site to order…but the stores can. Go to the stores.

I placed my order for 2 of the new 8350i. They can start taking orders now and having the dropped shipped to the end user. The end user, will then have to take it in for a phone swap.

Oh, I’m sorry the delivery date is set for 15 of Dec. so if you go in to your local nextel/sprint store. They can take your account info and place the order on the 15th or you can go in yourself and place the order. I would recomend that everyone opt for the second option.They tend to forget things, at those stores. Once the order is placed it should take about 3 days to receive the unit.

I ordered mine fist thing this morning. You can now do it on line.

My rep has ordered two for me, I’ll be getting the tracking number later on today…..I cant wait to get the phone in my hands!!!

12-16-08 (9 pm) Now my Nextel BlackBerry 8350i radio will not stay on. At first it wouldn’t connect to any part of the network, for voice or data. I couldn’t change PINs on the BIS site because my IMEI and PIN were not recognized as those of a Nextel device. The wait times for customer service are greater than one hour each time I call (before being disconnected after getting very standard and ineffective troubleshooting advice from representatives.) Something stinks here…

Wait…am I activating a Nextel phone or an iPhone 3G?

12-16-08 (9:45 pm) I wiped my handheld and got my radio to stay on. No data connection yet though. I’m currently on a 28 minutes (and counting) hold for a BlackBerry representative again. So far, its been three hours since the device arrived by UPS delivery and I haven’t been able to make one telephone call yet. On the bright side, all of this “down time” has given me a chance to fully charge to new lithium ion battery…

Oh yes, the Wi-fi works great, just like it does on the Bold. I can hardly wait for the Nextel connectivity to work so I can sync my Google contacts and calendar data. It should be blazing fast over Wi-fi. However, as of now it will not work until I establish a data connection with the BIS via Nextel (why…I don’t know.)

Its now Wednesday morning at 9:16 am and a persistent error (estimated wait time of two to four hours to clear) is still preventing me from using my phone. This time, I only waited about forty minutes before talking to a Nextel BlackBerry specialist. Last night the wait times were about 61 minutes before getting through to a BlackBerry specialist.

Note: The BIS database was not updated with information on a significant number of BlackBerry 8350i telephones (like mine) and is currently rejecting my IMEI and PIN information because it does not recognize them as belonging to Nextel devices. The Nextel BlackBerry manager on duty was not able to resolve this issue. A third party wireless management company has been called in to help troubleshoot the persistent 8350i activation errors. Unfortunately, while this backlog is unresolved, I cannot revert back to using my trusty old BlackBerry 7520 device that has never given me any trouble… quite unlike the delinquent BlackBerry 8350i.

Got mine activated and so far no problems, but I do have a question, does anyone know what music files and video files will work on the phone….(mp3, mp4, avi, etc.???)

On Wednesday, Decmber 17, 2008 at 4:00 p.m. after getting an RMA to return the device and putting service back onto my Nextel i365 I tried one of the troubleshooting techniques that had previously failed when suggested by a BlackBerry technician. I took the SIM out of the working, activated i365 and placed it into the 8350i that was all but prepared for return to Nextel to see if any voice services would work and if the NXTL would appear in some form beside the antenna graphic. Voila! NXTL appeared and i could use it as a phone. I called BlackBerry technical suppeport and got a Sprint BlackBerry technician that had been reassigned to deal with the multitude of 8350i activation problems and he was able to put a BlackBerry plan onto the 8350i with the i36 SIM card installed. He was also able to allow me to update the BIS with my PIN (that had been previously used by another ISP BlackBerry.)

I am trying to set-up a personal email account and I do not have that option. The only one showing on my BB is “I want to use a work email account with a BB Enterprise Server”. I was thinking that I needed to register an nextel.blackberry.com but I keep getting an error message that “it is registered with another service provider”!! I need some assistant this is the only feature on the phone that i can not get setup.

Shena,

I had the same problem which took about 2 hours to fix, at a sprint store, with a rep helping me. This is the only way I could get it to take my email…

Shena

You have to go to main menu, then setup wizard, then email setup

Erik, curious to know if Sprint is sending you a new phone/SIM card? Have had the same issues as you since 12/17 after using the phone for less than 8 hours; and have not been able to use since.

Are there any helpful tips you can provide that may not have already been listed here?

Erik, I am having the same problem and Sprint had to re order my phone which they did not even tell me the phone is on backorder. Tech support said that he has had some other customers with this same issue and it is a bad handset. I do not understand why Sprint do not have any handsets set aside for bad shippments. Please let me know if you have gotten your phone yet.

My blackberry 8350i is working properly i got my e-mail set up and also wifi. I basically set up everything on it already my gps, I uploaded all my music and videos and doc. It runs perfect but I did need to talk to like 6 representatives in order to get it activated but my new sim worked so far no problems what so ever. Phone is very cool kind of easy to use. This is my first blackberry and i love it! best thing about it you can listen to music wile you do other stuff with your phone like text and surf the net take pic.s. All I’m saying this is a great phone i recommend it to anyone who loves blackberry

My 8350i works fine when talking on the two way or regular phone line but only problem I’m having for me to send text messaging or be able to receive a text message I have to turn my phone off for maybe 5 minutes then turn it on then turn it on so I can receive it. I spoke with a lady from Nextel on the text messageing side she told me their having problems with the text messages through the network. I wonder if that is true

its not true. they feed that line of shit to anyone who will listen. if that was the case everyone using bb would be having issues.

Yes, its true. Sprint/Nextel currently has a “national work order” (or whatever they call it) regarding the text mail issue. While my initial problem was a defective 8350i unit, the BB support tech I’ve been working with (Dustin) informed me the ticket had been put in since our initial encounter.

Mills,

I was on the phone with Mark (Blackberry Advance Tech Support) he told me the same thing all night last night he told me its been a well known issue all day they believe its something have to do with the text messaging server? I had my text messaging working full speed until today its messing up

I bought 2 of the new 8350i Blackberry on Dec. 15th. I havent had text messaging for more than 8 hours straight without turning the phone on and off or taking the battery out for it to work. The service is GARBAGE! Ive talked to Level 2 Blackberry support 9 times in 2 weeks today. Ive been into options, deleted my service book,take the battery out, put back in, host routing table, register now….nobody knows what their doing. They all tell me their is an outage. Ive been a customer for 7 years and never had this problem til I got this phone. I work in a company that has switched over to AT&T and this issue may make me switch too. The AT&T Blackberry Bold is so much more advanced. They should of never released the 8350i until they had all the bugs out. If the text worked, it would be Perfect all the way around……!!

Nextel Blacberry Level II # 866-275-1072 for all of you that have a new 8350i Blackberry…..They wont let me talk to anyone higher until Level II tries anything and they want to do the same diagnostic tests that they already did 9 times that Ive called! GOOD LUCK.

can my 7100i sim card work with the new 83501?

cant wait to get mine. thank for all the comments.

Great comments both good and bad. Some actually think before they speak but don’t we sometimes. Having said that, the 8350i seems to offer a lot of what people have asked for since the 7100i was released so long ago. All phones have advantages and disadvantages. Bottomline: If you appreciate what BBs offer and are avid Nextel user like I am then this phone is for you. However, for some of those first in line for the new 8350i BBs, you got both your “reward and disappointment”. You get the joy of telling us what we are missing and the frustration of learning what “bugs” have yet to be worked out (eg. SMS receive mode, among other things). Yes, SMS problem is a “national” work order problem confirmed by corporate technical support–I called several sources both locally and at Sprint.com. Trust me they want it fixed as fast as the rest of us do. Besides it is Blackberry’s good name on the line not just Nextel/Sprint’s name. So if you can’t afford the inconvience…stick with what you got until they fix it. Besides, the sun will indeed rise tomorrow and life will go on with or without this 8350i. God Bless you all!

A week ago, I went to Sprint and got the Blackberry 8330. Sprint’s 3G network is blazingly fast. Then I saw a colleague with a Blackberry 8350i, so I went back to Sprint and exchanged the 8330 for the 8350i—since my job requires me to also have a walkie-talkie.
The Sprint salesperson did point out that the 8350i runs on the Nextel radio network, but failed to make it clear that Nextel’s network is slow and nowhere near Sprint’s 3G network. The store only had two 8350i’s and I was lucky enough to get one before they were put out as display models.
Now I’m stuck with the 8350i (since Sprint would only allow one return/exchange with 30 days of purchase) which takes 2, 3 or 4 times longer than the 8330 to open a website. Watching Youtube.com is a joke as Nextel’s network is rather slow.
If you love to surf the ‘net, don’t get the 8350i and stick with Sprint’s 8330 or other 8000 models running on the 3G network. But if you use the walkie-talkie more than you surf the ‘net, then get the 8350i.
I know I cannot have everything in one phone such as the 8350i. But considering that I have to now carry only one phone instead of three (and capable of using the 16gig MicroSD compared to the 8330’s 2 gig capacity) —more than outweighs the shortcomings of the 8350i running on Nextel’s network.
Overall, I’m still happy with the 8350i. I only wished that Nextel runs on the 3G network.

There is a real problem with this phone. My first one came in December and I am now on my third one as of February. Even tech support admits they have a laundry list of issues with this phone and no upcoming work arounds. Nextel wanted to launch this phone quickly to stem sagging sales but didnt properly finish beta testing it. The most prominent issue centers around the horrible echo that occurs either constantly or intermittently either on the 8350i side or the other party’s side. In any case it is so bad as to render phone calls unintelligible sometimes. Nextel suggests turning the volume down to almost mute. That’s great except you then can not hear a word of the other party’s conversation with you. They told me that this problem occurs if you put a skin around the phone. That is fine, except I never had a skin. Here is the REAL problem: Nextel refused to take back the phone without charging me the early termination fee even though I reported issues the first day I had the phone. I had also gone to the repair center 6 times in less than 30 minutes to be told that there wasnt anything they could do. So…. if you are really ready to have to deal with a whole lot of problems, better stick with something that’s been around for a while. Its a shame that Nextel just can’t seem to get it right.

I just got the new update for my BB and when somebody calls me on the direct connect it shows me a missed call even if i talked to them. How do i turn that off and i noticed when i got the update, in the downloads it shows me direct send messages. What is that and the phone will not let me delete it. Other than that, my phone seems to be working ok. Please email me back at firejg96@yahoo.com or just replie back. Thanks

I OWN AN IMAC COMPUTER, DOES ANYBODY KNOW HOW TO GET IT TO SINC IT ONLY ALLOWED ME TO DO IT ONCE, IT SAID DO YOU WANT TO SAVE MASS STORAGE WHEN I PLUGED THE USB CALE TO MY COMPUTER AND HASN’T DONE THAT AGAIN, CAN ANYBODY HELP ME PLEASE THANKS.

Want to play music thru my bluetooth headset, can someone help me out?!?!