Users have been complaining for quite a while that the 8830 was the last device that did not have a camera. Many companies (and courtrooms) have strict rules about cameras in their facilities and it is surprising that RIM has yet to address this. Nate from BlackBerryHomepage let me know that he just got visual confirmation that Nextel will be getting a camera-less BlackBerry 8350i in the near future. Not sure how many people will jump on a device running on the slow Nextel network just to lose the camera, but it does show that RIM understands that cameras are not for everybody.
So what do you think? I am just surprised it is taking so long…
Nikolaus Walch ( View Profile) Enthusiast - Posts: 601
Posted: March 5, 2009 at 11:56 AM EST
I’ve wondered about this for quite some time myself. BlackBerrys are superior devices for Lawyers and other Professionals who can’t carry cameras into sensitive locations, so why would RIM limit themselves from this market.
Question: for the 83XX Camera-berrys, isn’t there a backcover you can buy without the camera hole, flash hole, and mirror? That would turn any 83XX camera berry into a camera-less-berry! Much cheaper to do that than to redesign the phone.
Tom ( View Profile) Enthusiast - Posts: 364
Posted: March 5, 2009 at 2:57 PM EST
In a BES environment, the BES Admin can push out a policy that renders the camera useless (but, of course, the physical appearance of the lens remains in tact).
DavidB ( View Profile) Guru - Posts: 1751
Posted: March 5, 2009 at 3:19 PM EST from my BlackBerry 9530
Right Tom, and that’s the problem. Security guards don’t know BES policy, they see a camera lens (there are even classes that teach how to discern a camera in a phone) and you are stopped in your tracks. Get caught past security with one in some place and you COULD land in jail!
RIM would be wise to put out a 9630 and 9530 models without camera!