BlackBerry to cut BIS

[Lyt]

That's Vodacom then, not Blackberry. Blackberry is fantastic especially for corporate e-mail and I had no issue with my BBs since 5 years. Personally I am looking forward to the new devices and I'm sure they will be fantastic.

BB's core is messaging and e-mail. That's what it was made for, and it still hasn't evolved past that stage. Blackberries fail with anything else, and are just not up to standard with many other modern smartphones, aka they suck. You say it's good for corporate e-mails, I agree, but won't you get exactly the same thing from an IPhone + a whole load of extras? ( If money isn't a deciding factor when it comes to purchasing a phone, but nowadays everybody seems to walk around with a 10k phone. ) . Blackberry needs to step up the game or step out, and until then , my opinion stands. But hey, they are a minor player on the smartphone market ( something like 6% ) , so can't expect much from them.

Which sucks donkey balls. I wish they'd charge for BIS per megab. Its useless as is. Charging a bit would get rid of all the kids downloading movies over it.

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This ^

I don't even bother to pay R60 p/m anymore, can't do anything on the internet anyways with this throttling and 3G eating away battery life so fast.

[SeanSWatkins]

I don't think they care for BIS anymore, with the dropping data prices atm are you really saving much at R60 a month(or whatever, could have the price wrong...i truly dont know, nor do i really care). i only use like 100MB of data a month, and i use plenty of apps that require it.
That said the BB 10 looks impressive, and their idea is that they want to contend with the iPhone and High-end Android devices. While i wish them every success, i do feel it was just too little too late. Ala Microsoft Surface.
Unfortunately with the freedom of Android, the only way i'll own a BB is for development...

[Tank]

to be honest, my Blackberry has been a good phone these past 2 years but the tech is horribly out dated, currently using a 9800 torch and the battery life is my biggest gripe, come end feb when i upgrade i'll be going back to Nokia and i will be giving the Lumia 920 a go

[Aapdans]

Hope they pull it off.. I like the Blackberry phones, only use the emails, bbm and whatsapp on my phone so don't care about anything else.. only downside it's not very reliable!

[goldfritter]

People are quick to note BlackBerry's shortcomings as a smartphone vs Android and Apple, but I don't see any devices that compare to the value for money you get with a cheap BB and BIS, to be able to access the internet, message people for free, etc. For thousands of people, especially in a poorer country like ours, it's a sweet deal.

Also, competition is good. If BlackBerry and Windows phones started competing on a par with Apple and Android products the smartphone scene could get very interesting indeed.

[oldhat]

People are quick to note BlackBerry's shortcomings as a smartphone vs Android and Apple, but I don't see any devices that compare to the value for money you get with a cheap BB and BIS, to be able to access the internet, message people for free, etc. For thousands of people, especially in a poorer country like ours, it's a sweet deal.

I must disagree with you on this point. There are much cheaper Android devices live the Samsung Galaxy Pocket that outperform a basic Blackberry device(8520). One can also get a 100mb pre-paid data bundle from CellC for R15.00 which is enough for basic browsing, emails & chatting on WhatsApp for a month!

Also, competition is good. If BlackBerry and Windows phones started competing on a par with Apple and Android products the smartphone scene could get very interesting indeed.

This I DO agree with, competition is good & for that reason alone, I do hope RIM succeed...

[goldfritter]

There are much cheaper Android devices live the Samsung Galaxy Pocket that outperform a basic Blackberry device(8520). One can also get a 100mb pre-paid data bundle from CellC for R15.00 which is enough for basic browsing, emails & chatting on WhatsApp for a month!

Quick search on Pricecheck shows Galaxy Pocket and Curve 8520 are both available for around R1 000. Some people would still argue R50/R60 per month for unlimited browsing is still a better deal than R15 for 100mb. If your phone is your only source of internet and you don't have a computer those 100mb would be gone pretty soon.

But I understand your point, that there is competition available at the low end of the market. BB is just so ingrained into social interaction in SA that it will take a damn good deal to break that hold. Or perhaps BB10 will do the job for them...

[codeleather]

Ahh no BIS that would be a mistake I think on blackberry's part, I have a blackberry at the moment and I must say it is quite nice.
But I will admit that most blackberry users are very annoying, with their constant facebook posts about losing all their contacts :/.

[JP'S]

I have a blackberry ( 9360 curve) and its served me well... Cutting BIS is a shit idea. That's what made the BB's so unique.

[Tank]

i say again apart from battery life my torch is a great phone

will miss it