Oh here we go. According to an AT&T employee, the upcoming BlackBerry 8820 will have its GPS functionality crippled so that it won’t seem more appealing than the iPhone.
Allegedly when RIM flew off the handle, AT&T suggested that the company play ball or it would drop the BlackBerry line altogether.
“First, this is a major piss off to AT&T customers looking to get their hands on the BlackBerry 8820 mid-September, but what’s more important is why AT&T chose to do this. Apparently – and remember, this is coming from someone inside AT&T – the carrier didn’t want to launch a device that would seem superior (or be competitive) to the iPhone. Sounds a little crazy, until you realize that a GPS/Wi-Fi’d device with push email and no funny-texting touch screen that’s subsidized in price sounds a bit more appealing than a $500 device that enterprise customers can’t use.”
If this news is incorrect or blown out of proportion, I won’t be surprised. It seems too good to be true. However, if this news is dead-ass correct, then AT&T is a very, very bad company that cares nothing for its customers or hardware partners except Apple (I also wouldn’t be surprised).
EXCLUSIVE: AT&T neuters the BlackBerry 8820 in favor of the iPhone [BlackBerryCool.com] via MacNN