Much chicken littling about this today…
According to various reports, Sprint has delayed the release of the PPC-6800 from its previously planned launch later this month. The delay may extend all the way to October, in order to launch with EVDO Rev. A access and Windows Mobile 6 instead of launching with what would have been an incremental software and hardware upgrade with Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU 3.3 and EVDO Rel. 0 access.
Source: Phone News - Sprint Delays PPC-6800… to October
Not sure I buy the date in the rumor. I’ve seen other sources (including a comment in the linked post) say that the delay is real, but it will be July, not October.
Good and bad here. I think releasing the phone without Rev A and WM6 was a dumb idea in the first place, and if I upgraded at all, it wouldn’t have been until Sprint relaunched the 6800 with those upgrades (which they planned to do in October initially, probably where that date comes from). Just ask people that “upgraded” their HP hx4700s (one of the first VGA Pocket PCs) from WM 2003 SE to WM5 how that went for them. As fond as I am of tinkering with AKUs, I know better than to run a full version of the OS that didn’t ship on the phone. (Dash users that started with WM5: how’s WM6 working for you?) So this means Sprint realizes shipping initially with Rev 0 and WM5 is a dumb idea. Bully for them. They’ll have the opportunity to sell the 6800 to informed consumers in July instead of October, and they’re just losing the sales they’d make in May and June to people that would later have to deal with upgrade headaches.
However, I’m still unthrilled with the phone itself. Let’s look at this objectively. Compared to my 6700, I’d be paying ~$450 to get:
- About a third thinner
- Scroll wheel
- Twice the storage
- Brighter screen
- More hardware buttons
- Windows Mobile 6
- EVDO Rev A
Not a bad set of upgrades, but I’m not sure it’s worth $450. Plus, I’m giving up:
- Customizable ROM
- MiniSD for MicroSD
- Built in headphone jack (the 6800 piggybacks wired headsets on the USB port via an adaptor)
- Mini joystick for d-pad (I knew there was a reason I missed my old Palm Zire 71)
The first item on that list is the big one, obviously, and being able to “bake in” my essential apps into the ROM on my 6700 makes the extra storage memory on the 6800 a moot point; I don’t need the extra space, thanks. All I’m really missing out on, near as I can tell, is a svelter form factor and the nifty Exchange features in WM6 (since I still use hosted Exchange).
Feh. Not worth five Benjamins. I’ll stick with my 6700 as long as I can.
I get the impression that Sprint really doesn’t care too much if the 6800 sells or not, and might be setting it up for failure. They’re also supposed to release the Palm Treo 755 in June, a CDMA version of the popular 750. This will be the WM6 phone they really push, and the easiest to sell compared to “QWERTY on the face” devices like the Blackberry or Q. I’m not sure American consumers really get slide out keyboards the way the Asian and Euro markets do, and the 6800 may be the last of its kind for Sprint.
Post a Comment