BlackBerry Tour to Be Offered in Two Versions - With Camera and WITHOUT Camera

on 30 Jun 2009 07:50 AM

While the crack team was sleeping, Brian & Benjamin sent us in tips that Verizon's website is now showing the BlackBerry Tour available for pre-order in two versions - both with camera and WITHOUT CAMERA. You can click on the image above to jump over to Verizon's site and spin the Tour around to see it's camera-less behind. Try zip code 07828 if you're in need. Very cool for RIM to cater to those individuals who need a device sans camera for work. It's a bit of a shame though as the Tour's camera does take some seriously awesome photos (like alarmingly good).

Filed Under: News & Rumors;

29 Comments

Posted by codemaker Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

Nooo! My wifi hopes are dashed against a large rock. Oh well.

Posted by xxhydroxx Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

you can say that again. NO WIFI = NO BUY. Thanks anyway...

Posted by codemaker Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

Even though it does not have wifi. I will still buy this device if RIM does not announce a new CDMA BB with wifi (and evdo rev A) before the end of the year.

Posted by mefa4268 Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

not that it matters to me in the least, but i just saw that the tour is only going to come with a 2 GB microSD card. is that was was to be expected? i'm glad I still have my 8 GB card from the Storm! Thought I'd pass along word since I hadn't seen that written anywhere yet.

Posted by crackberryn00b Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

Most devices don't come with a memory card at all... so I would say it was not to be expected. The Storm was a bit of a special case in that it was informally THE iPhone challenger and needed something to bump up it's specs in the memory department.

The Tour coming with a memory card may be their way of making it seem like a better value overall.

Posted by warhed230 Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

No wifi=no problem. Unless you don't have 3G were you live. & if you have vzw that shouldn't be a problem. Besides, 3G is just as fast as wifi. & it zaps the battery! Gonna give some love to the tour.

Posted by Working Class Hero Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

3G is not as fast as WiFi, nice try! When you're at home, in the office or at a WiFi Hub, it is definitely the way to go! The battery drain you're talking about is a reslut of having both your network radio on and the WiFi radio. Turn off the network radio when using WiFi and your battery will last longer than if you were to be using 3G!

Posted by ten08 Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

"...cater to those individuals who need a device sans camera for work." I don't get this. Is having a camera on a BB unprofessional? I'd understand the option if it made the Tour cheaper, thinner, or faster.

Posted by LoSt180 Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

Various Government facilities don't allow cameras. So those with camera phones are forced to leave them in their cars.

Posted by ten08 Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

I guess this would be obvious to those who see a "no cameras permitted" sign on a daily basis. Thanks for educating this small-town southern boy :)

Posted by bfarneth Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

I work in a facility that won't allow camera phones and we have hundreds of 8830 users who will, eventually, upgrade to this phone. So the need for no camera is justified.

Posted by kmkings311 Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

I can't help but notice the model w/o the camera is the same price as the model with! Doesn't make a whole lot of sense...

Posted by jdbower Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

I would guess that 80-90% of the units sold would be the camera model which means that producing a model without a camera would be a low volume device. I wouldn't be surprised if RIM and/or Verizon had lower margins on the camera-less version because they lack the economies of scale for the changed components.

Posted by tealturboser Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

It doesn't take much to not put in a component. You do realize that even though Blackberry has expended the majority of the users are Enterprise users. This phone is the Blackberry for business travelers, who don't like the touch screen of the Storm.

The real reason why they are selling it for that price is because they can.

Posted by jdbower Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

Actually you'd be surprised at the amount of effort involved with even just keeping a second ordering code around. Add to that the expense of maintaining a second assembly line, the NRE of building molds for a second rear plastic clamshell, the cost of either making a more complex software image or maintaining a completely separate build tree, and a whole host of other logistical issues coupled with the low cost of the camera component (probably <$5) and it's not too far-fetched that the total COGS of a low-volume variant is higher than that of the camera model.

Not sure about your Storm comments, most BES users I know would prefer to have a camera in their phone since it saves them from bringing a P&S along with them. It's only the ones who serve the government markets customers who are prevented from having any sort of imaging device.

Posted by trmiv Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

ten08: There are quite a few workplaces that will not allow cameras or camera phones inside their buildings due to privacy, corporate espionage concerns, etc.

Posted by Bob61 Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

Uh... did I miss something? Offering one model with camera and w/o and then charge the same price? Regardless of the pic quality, why wouldn't you want the model with the camera if same price? Or is this a way that RIM/Verizon will make a statement that based on sales, consumers prefer phones with cameras? :)

Posted by ThatAnonymousGuy Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

I bet anything that the "average" consumer will buy the camera-less version and come back in the store screaming bloody murder that they were sold the wrong version.

I see that it could help because I couldn't take my phone into an annual shareholders' meeting because it had a camera.

Posted by gtstang462002 Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

I bet you have to specifically ask for no camera or you will get one. But it looks like I will be getting one after all since there is a camera-less option. Now the next question is will they say since there is no camera then there is no MMS on the device? That is what they did for the 8830WE which is cr*p because the device is capable.

Posted by shimojunk Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

This phone is a nice upgrade to the Curve 8330 which I have, but there is nothing revolutionary on it. Yes, Rev. A, better keyboard, screen, camera, but it doesn't add any functionality that my Curve doesn't do. All these upgraded components have been implemented on an existing BB.

The reason why I'm going to hold off on purchasing the Tour is because I want to see what kind of applications are going to be created for it. With a faster CPU and more RAM, developers should be able to create more robust apps. Until I see apps. that are a must have, I think I'll keep my Curve.

Posted by cjzielie Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

do u think there will be a possable discount for storm owners to purchase for less than million dollars , for those of us who dont have upgrade

Posted by tnewton3 Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

Verizon
Lack of Wifi
Stickin with my Bold thank you.

Posted by Spawn12 Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

I find it quite funny and shocking that Verizon are offering both phones at the same damn price....surely the non camera version should by logic, be a bit cheaper??.

Glad i dont live in America...here in the UK we dont get shafted as hard as you guys do...most if not all the BB models here have WIFI with exception to the utterly crap Storm.

Personally even if this does come over to the UK, which i highly doubt..ill stick with my Bold...although the Onyx looks like a better bet.

Posted by chairguru22 Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

My work has one but it's not enforced at all. Everyone has Blackberrys or iPhones. I'm sure that the places that do actually enforce it strictly would ban personal phone use entirely anyway.

Posted by CmbtSwmr7 Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

They allow you to carry your phone but do check to make sure that it is not camera capable.

Not sure where you work, but in my line of work they take this pretty seriously. Thankfully, I have a storm and don't want to carry it on me anyways so the camera isn't an issue. :)

Posted by drjay868 Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

Its great that Big Red's offering with and w/o camera, but what's up with both having the same price?

Posted by Karamba Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 948 days ago

Like in a courtroom.

iPhone is not serious about large enterprise and government accounts as it does not offer that option.

Posted by gschoelles Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009 947 days ago

They weren't smart enough to hook up the pre-sales to existing customers upgrade. The links only take you to new customer sales.

Posted by mjmillman Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 946 days ago

Not sure if it is posted yet, but you can now upgrade and preorder on Verizon!