RIM appears to have accidentally revealed that Virgin Mobile USA will get their first true smartphone.
After the demise of Virgin Mobile’s acquired Helio unit, the carrier has languished without any logical 3G data path. Boost Mobile on the other hand has, in the same time, switched back to CDMA, and is offering a $60 3G BlackBerry plan, using the Curve 8330.
Now it appears that Virgin Mobile will one-up Boost Mobile with the release of a the Curve 8330’s successor, the 8530. RIM’s software download page lists a single download for Virgin Mobile; a BlackBerry OS 5.0 restore file for the Curve 8530 smartphone. The file name and format match Virgin Mobile and the Curve 8530.
Virgin Mobile has yet to announce any type of smartphone offering. The companies previous highest-end device is the Pantech Ocean 2 from their former Helio unit. The Ocean 2 has since been discontinued, and all Helio phones were deactivated with the shutdown of the Helio unit. That left the Kyocera X-TC and LG Rumor 2 as their highest-end devices sold currently.
This consolidation of offerings comes also in the wake of Sprint’s Prepaid Group consolidation. Both Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile are now fully first-party offerings of Sprint. Sprint remains the only Tier 1 carrier in the United States to not leverage its own branding in the prepaid marketplace.
[…] Seems to have let the cat of the bag on this one. PhoneNews found out that Virgin Mobile USA is now listed on the software download section of BlackBerry.com, […]
Price and cost?
[…] will offer the BlackBerry Curve 8530 at some point this summer. According to a recent report from PhoneNews.com, we could be adding another carrier to the list. They caught a tidbit on RIM’s download page, […]
[…] will offer the BlackBerry Curve 8530 at some point this summer. According to a recent report from PhoneNews.com, we could be adding another carrier to the list. They caught a tidbit on RIM’s download page, […]
I know Virgin Mobile! All the phones they offer are locked down and have many features such as blue tooth file transfer and software downloads crippled. I can’t imagine a BlackBerry being crippled thus, but I bet this one will be.
blackberry is agood phone
They have sent out the Blackberry and Rumor Touch to people who pre ordered them online(united States)
well it’s about damn time. I had a virgin mobile phone til i saw straight talk’s unlimited plan for 45 dollars a month. Now i just wish i didn’t switch, but i still think 60 dollars a month for virgins unlimited everything plan is still exspensive. If only straight talk had a blackberry…
I’ve had this phone for almost a month and I love it except I can not receive (nor have I ever been able to receive) any text messages from any person who has AT&T. They can receive mine. It is confirmed as a issue only with ALL virgin mobile blackberry phones. and all of the BB phones are having this problem for a long time. As per several forums for at least 2 months. I can not recommend this phone to anybody until they fix the text issue.
I held of getting 8530 till MMS was fixed but Virgin mobile has not publiszed the AT&T text issue which is not the fault of AT&T. My contacts have already spoken with AT&T. Virgin Mobile deletes my question directed to these issues on resolution date and they are removed off questions and answers forum page for BB 8530. Virgin mobile has resolved most of the unable to receive MMS except for this one. This phone can not receive any picture messaging from the LG Rumor touch. Blackberry places it in SMS folder and shows as symbols and from 9999999999. They are aware of the issue with all the blackberries and can not comment on when it will get fixed. Their upper level tech support is contracted as a 3rd party and even the basic call in tech support is not allowed to speak to tier 3 other then email and wait 72 hrs for reply, then you have to call back to basic tech support to see what tier 3 said, give your reply and wait another 72 hrs and so forth.
If you are interested in this phone and have AT&T contacts, forewarned, call the tech support 888-322-1122 and ask if AT&T text issue has been resolved before purchasing. If they say they know nothing the issue then ask them to ask somebody who knows about it.
I just got off the phone with the Virgin Mobile people about the fact that my Blackberry Curve can’t receive picture messages. They acted like it had never happened before. I got the same line about the 24-72 hour turnaround time and the fact that I couldn’t speak to them. Apparently this is an old problem that has never been resolved. This is unsettling. I love the Blackberry but this is unacceptable. If it keeps up I’ll return the phone for something that works better. Virgin Mobile should be ashamed of themselves for pretending that this isn’t a problem. They should fix it or stop offering the phone.
Waiting Game and Michael, Thank you both for posting your comments about the blackberry as I was about to buy the phone. I have a friend I text alot and he’s on AT&T so not being able to text att would tick me off. Instead I went with the LG Rumor Touch and I have to say I love this phone. The menu setup is so user friendly and the battery seems pretty good, texting is a breeze and sending MMS messages is also a breeze. Just the only thing I don’t like is having to shut off Location just to watch youtube videos but I can always watch youtube videos on my laptop so no big deal. I highly recommend the LG Rumor Touch.
Strange, I have had the VM BB Curve 8530 since September 26, and other than some small text delays on all carriers, both MMS and SMS work flawlessly from all carriers, including AT&T. I am in the Chicago market, if that makes any difference. I suppose like anything, your mileage may vary.
I still cannot get this resolved. I can’t even get picture texts from other Virgin Mobile customers. It wasn’t until I mentioned these posts that they even admitted that there was an ongoing problem. They said that a general fix took care of most phones but some had to be dealt with individually. They have no idea when it will be fixed, they just keep resetting the 24-72 hour clock that they ensure me will be enough time to resolve it. I guess the 24-72 hour period they are talking about must be some time in 2011. The reps don’t even have a contact number for their own tech department. They are a phone company and they don’t have a number for their own tech department! That tells you how dedicated the company is to customer service. Some administrator sets a policy, then he puts in place these very nice reps with limited knowledge as a buffer to make sure that these issues never reach his desk. Dilbert would be proud.
Michael, any update on the MMS problem you are having? I am interested in this getting this BB model. Only this issue and if the handset is crippled because of VM policies are the reasons I am at a stand still from buying.
I got tired of talking to them about it. They did nothing and kept giving me the run around. They can’t even call their own tech people so anything customer service tells you is just made up. I returned the Blackberry and got a Samsung Intercept instead. It works fine and no problems with messaging. Honestly, I liked the Blackberry better but got tired of all the crap. VM called me about a month later to ask if I was still having problems with the Blackberry. I will say that it’s not a universal problem, just certain customers, but if you do happen to have a problem don’t hold your breath for them to fix it. Their tech service is very bad.
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