BlackBerry 6 Upgrades For Bell Customers Will Not Arrive Until 2011 [Leaked Documents Suggest Bell Canada Will Not Upgrade BlackBerry Users To BlackBerry 6 Until Next Year]

Posted on TFTS by Robert Nelson on Friday, 27. August 2010 under: Mobile/Cell Phones

Bell Mobility has a few BlackBerry handsets that will be eligible for the upgrade to BlackBerry 6 when it comes available later in the year. Unfortunately though, just because RIM is going to release the software, that does not mean it will be available by way of individual carriers right away.

As for Bell, so far they have not announced anything officially, however there has been a document leak which has some not so great news for anyone that may be waiting — the BlackBerry 6 “expected upgrade” is scheduled for 2011. Nothing anymore specific was given, though we can only hope that it is early in the year as opposed to later. And while this may be an annoyance, this delay from when RIM makes 6 available to when the carriers do is expected considering they have their own testing phase to run through. In other words, carriers delaying the rollout of software upgrades for mobile phones is fairly routine. Those in the US and on Verizon will likely testify to that.

In regards to the three handsets that will be eligible, those models include the BlackBerry Bold 9700, Pearl 3G 9100 and the recently released Curve 3G 9300. And just in case you were hoping to see BlackBerry 6 and you are not sporting one of the three previously mentioned phones, it looks like you are out of luck, that is unless you upgrade. As for pricing, the Bold 9700 is currently sitting at $99.95 with the Pearl 3G and the Curve 3G both at $49.95. Personally, if I were looking to upgrade, the Curve 3G for $49.95 sounds fairly reasonable. That is, as long as you can handle the wait.

Those considering a new BlackBerry could always purchase a model that will get the upgrade — or better yet, grab the BlackBerryTorch 9800 which is expected to launch with Bell in the fall. After all, at least the Torch will come with BlackBerry 6 pre-installed.

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