Three new BlackBerry 5810 devices arrived from VoiceStream. Appears we do not have the GPRS data service (iStream) configured into the account. I have called VoiceStream Customer Care and asked that they turn on the GPRS service. I was told it would take several hours to make this change.

I have also called Virginia Brockson of VoiceStream Wireless. She is the National Account Manager. Her phone number is 202-654-8223. I left her a voicemail and told her to make things right.

Mr. Porter's new number is 703.981.2782 Rick Therrien's new number is 703.981.1321 John Spann's new number is 703.981.2367

Also, Carl Bolter has approved us purchasing a better headset/microphone to use with this device.

-- Anonymous, April 02, 2002

Answers

I installed the latest software this morning (5/15/2002).

WAP Browsing: I still receive this error message on many pages I attempt to visit.

http://www.infospace.com/in... (Defalt Home Page) WAP Gateway: An internal gateway error prevents the gateway from fulfilling your request.

http://wap.voicestream.com WAP Gateway: An internal gateway error prevents the gateway from fulfilling your request.

When I close the WAP browser, my unit's display shows 3 bars of signal strength and GPRS.

I used a paperclip to hard boot the machine. Opened the WAP browser and was able to hit the default home page and several others. Then I receive the following

Error Occurred Unable to connect to the WAP Gateway at the following address:

APN: wap.voicestream.com IP: 216.155.165.50 Ports: 9201

You may not currently be in an area covered by wireless data service (GPRS) or you may be in an area that does not allow access to the above gateway. If you are configured for more than one Browser gateway, go to the Options -> Browser Configuration page and try choosing another gateway. If you are still experiencing problems, contact your service provider.

Note that all testing up to this point has been performed without changing my physical location.

11:30 - I just experienced five device resets while sitting in the cradle. Error 349. Just performed another paperclip reset. Seems to have righted things.

-- Anonymous, May 16, 2002

Yesterday afternoon, Mark Jenkins sent me an email message containing a link to a RIM ftp site with the latest pre-release build of the 5810 software.

ftp://ftp2.rim.net, username = subetam13, password=bld38updeight

-- Anonymous, May 15, 2002

I wanted to take a few moments to share some of my initial thoughts with you regarding the new RIM 5810 device and the accompanying VoiceStream service. I have been using the device for over a week and I thought I should document my initial experience. For background purposes, I have been using a RIM 957 device for close to two years. This device has been attached to a Navy BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) and is serviced by the Mobitex network.

From a hardware perspective, the 5810 is nearly identical to the 957. The only physical difference is the addition of an ear bud jack. The only complaint, so far, with the new hardware is the battery life. While the RIM 957 battery would last several weeks without a recharge, the new 5810 will require a recharge after just a few days. One would assume that the additional requirement for battery can be attributed to the addition of a phone as well as participation in a GSM/GPRS network. I have had conversation with Howie Wheeler concerning this issue. He explained RIM would be developing several portable chargers (automobile and standard house outlet) which will be available sometime in the May 02 time frame.

From a software perspective, there are numerous differences. The look and feel of the unit is basically the same, with the addition of a phone icon on the main ribbon and other phone support applets and configuration utilities. The integration of the phone is nicely implemented.

One major complaint is the WAP browser. Over the last several months, RIM has led us to believe there would be a native HTML browser included with the release of the 5810. We were quite disappointed to instead receive a WAP browser. There are only a handful of useful WAP sites on the internet. It is almost pointless to include a WAP browser. In addition to the limited amount of WAP internet sites, the service has been intermittent at best. I have been browsing a WAP site and attempted to retrieve the next page in a series and have received various error message. These network messages are all network related. It's as if the network disappears while in the midst of a session. In addition to WAP network issues, I have been having numerous email send failures. This problem has happened on numerous occasions since I took possession of the device. I can only assume this is also a network issue. I am a BlackBerry Enterprise Server administrator on our network and am confident we have not been having Exchange Server of BES problems in this same time frame.

I have been in contact with VoiceStream Customer Care and VoiceStream Technical Sales Support several times this week. Most times they have been helpful. I have indication from support there will be a new software version released in the next several weeks and we hope this new software will resolve some of the outstanding issues we have seen.

In the next few weeks, we will be evaluating RIM 5810 devices provided by Cingular. These devices will be connected to the Cingular GSM/GPRS network, rather than the VoiceStream network. This will give the Department of The Navy CIO's office an opportunity to determine if our difficulties are software related or network related. I will keep all of you post on our progress.

John Spann

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Problems with WAP Browsing.

WAP Gateway: Requested object was not found.

Daniel (tech support). 011549 is his identification information. He said their equipment on their end was not working either, so there must be a service outage. I told him I wanted a ticket opened on this matter. He refused.

-- Anonymous, April 05, 2002

Yesterday afternoon, I had a discussion with Howie Wheeler regarding chargers for the new BlackBerry 5810. Howie explained there would be two chargers available in the May timeframe. One charger would plug into a standard home electrical outlet and the other charger will be used in automobiles.

I explained to Howie how the Apple iPod attaches to a Macintosh computer using only a firewire cable and how this same cable, with a plug attachment, becomes the travel charger. I stressed to him how this charger configuration would be desirable to us. Hopefully, Howie will pass this information up to the engineering staff within Research In Motion and perhaps they can engineer a charging solution that is as simple and effective as the solution Apple had implemented.

-- Anonymous, April 04, 2002

Hi John,

This is the information you need to get the latest Desktop Software version.

ftp://ftp2.rim.net, user id: vsrelease password: 26fdnldr.

Let me know how that works.

Thank you!

ps. Mark Jenkins gave me that information (202-415-3485).

Virginia Brockson VoiceStream Wireless National Account Manager 202-390-5109

-- Anonymous, April 04, 2002

Mark Jenkins is a technical support person at VoiceStream that we can deal with. Virginia will get me his email and voice number.

-- Anonymous, April 03, 2002

I took the 5810 home for the first time last night. I used the phone for about 2 hours of talk time and did a little web browsing and a bit of email. By the end of the evening, the battery was dowm to about 50%.

I suspected this was going to be a problem, based on feedback from Rick. I called Howie Wheeler and he told me there was at least one, perhaps two, chargers that would be coming to market in May. The charger would work in the car as well as from a standard outlet. I was not clear if one charger would perform both functions.

We also returned the engineering prototype to Howie.

-- Anonymous, April 03, 2002

I called VoiceStream Customer Care at 1.800.937.8997 to inquire how to display the actual phone number from within the BlackBerry phone application. At the present time, it shows unknown.

The service ticket for this call is 704259. I gave all three phone numbers relating to the three 5810 devices. They are going to update the phone remotely and it will just show up. It should be completed within 24 - 48 hours.

-- Anonymous, April 02, 2002