AT&T pre-launch lineup: BlackBerry 9700, HTC Tilt 2, Garmin G60, more!
One of our oh so trusty ninjas just hit us up with a fantastic-looking pre-launch list for AT&T. These phones listed are not launched yet but are reportedly coming soon. Just remember that coming soon could mean anywhere …
Context & Ripple Effects
This leaked list lands at the end of a bruising month for AT&T's image: late July brought confirmation that the carrier was behind Apple's rejection of the Google Voice app, confirmed Visual Voicemail failures for iPhone users that AT&T declined to own up to, and a syndicated column flatly calling the carrier a failure on service quality. A fresh slate of hardware is the counterweight AT&T can actually control.
There is also lineage here: the HTC Tilt 2 follows the original AT&T Tilt, which launched October 5, 2007 at $299.99, and the BlackBerry 9700 extends a RIM franchise AT&T has carried since the BlackBerry 8820 in September 2007. The notable newcomer is the Garmin G60 — a GPS-first vendor trying to buy its way into carrier distribution.
First-order effects
- RIM and HTC each get a flagship refresh positioned on AT&T's shelves — the Bold-series 9700 and a Tilt sequel to a device that debuted at $299.99 two years earlier — while AT&T gains non-iPhone headline devices to market against its network-reputation problem.
- Garmin's G60 would put a personal-navigation maker inside a major US carrier's lineup for the first time in this coverage, testing whether buyers will take a GPS brand's phone over Nokia or Palm alternatives.
Second-order effects
- If the G60 ships with bundled navigation, Garmin starts competing directly with the standalone PND business it dominates and with carrier-bundled services from rivals like Verizon's VZ Navigator partners — pricing power shifts toward whoever owns the map software.
- A credible Tilt 2 gives AT&T a Windows Mobile answer for keyboard-and-touchscreen buyers, squeezing the mid-tier space where devices like the newly confirmed $99.99 Samsung Solstice are meant to sit.
Third-order effects
- Leaked pre-launch lists are becoming the de facto way carrier roadmaps reach the public — BGR's 'ninja' sourcing means AT&T's lineup is now priced and debated by enthusiasts before any announcement, shrinking the carrier's control over its own launch narrative.
- For handset makers, carrier shelf slots remain the gatekeeping currency in the US market: RIM, HTC, and even a navigation company all need AT&T's blessing, which keeps carriers structurally powerful no matter how bad their consumer-service press gets.
The trend: US carrier device roadmaps are increasingly surfacing through enthusiast-site leaks weeks or months ahead of official launches, letting rumor cycles set buyer expectations that carriers then have to meet.