It is usually after someone else has provided a fix AND the knowledge of that fix is posted all over the internet, THEN Sprint...will make a feeble attempt to do something.

That's recently happened with the Alltel ROM being flashable now and the keyboard fix. I'm guessing that some really lame "update" is released around 11/1 by Sprint.

I'm going to predict that by 11/1, a custom ROM that fixes BT will be available (yes, I realize the Alltel ROM may already do that; I'll try it myself this PM). And I wouldn't be at all suprised if a kitchen is available by then.

At, that point, if/when Sprint releases an 'update', it'll just be used as a source for new core OS components and drivers by this community. Though I suspect the community will be ahead of the upgrade too ...

In the chat channel it was reported that there is supposedly a kitchen over at XDA that could be modified to work with the 6800. If they get that done then we should have a seasoned kitchen that works for us. Only time will tell.

AWESOME - thanks for sharing that news!

Well I finally have my device in my hands.

Personally, I think its MUCH snappier than the 6700. I removed a bunch of junk from the home screen (microsoft live, sprint music store, etc) and I must say, I've never seen Opera zip along so quickly. On wifi, my 6800 is only about twice as slow processing pages as my computer and that's saying a lot considering I used to get so pissed off at how long my 6700 took to do so. Now if I could only figure out how to install programs to my microSD instead of the main program memory (it doesn't give me an option on install), I'd be completely set.

Oh and MY personal main complaint about the 6700 is COMPLETELY resolved on the 6800. The earpiece on this thing is so loud that I have to turn it to the LOWEST setting or it hurts my ear. Considering I couldn't hear half the time with my 6700 on the HIGHEST setting, this is a wonderful improvement!

I'm pretty happy with it overall so far. I can only imagine how much the real fun will start once custom ROMs are ready. I'm not quite ready to put a new bootloader on the phone just yet to try one of the hacked ROMs. Kind of nervous that I might not be able to flash it back to the old bootloader and Sprint finds out if I have an issue with it.

The 6800 Rules!!!

Battery life is WOW compared to the 6700... I haven't even tweaked the light settings yet to turn them on the dimmest setting, nor have I turned off beams, and I've been playing with this thing all day. It was 80% out of the box and its at 40% now... My 6700 would have been dead about an hour ago lol

I don't actually have a 6800, but the fact that the keyboard slides out on the opposite side is a huge turn off for me. I just have a habit of using the nub instead of the directional pad, even when open. Am I the only one?

i actually like the direction it slides out in... thats how i normally look at the ppc when viewing things in portrait mode.