New poll: Which BlackBerry is for you?
by Volker Weber
Now that RIM has announced the wide-body Pearl, better known as the BlackBerry 8800, you have a choice of full keyboard plus GPS, or smaller device plus camera. Which one is for you?
Comments
Since three days I have a Pearl. I'm still discovering it. The camera is poor and I'm still playing with the context-sensitive data input. For me it is not easy to store a telephone number on the fly like it was with a conventional mobile. The build-in personal information manager functions need too many clicks and they have a strange logic. But maybe it takes just time for me to get used to the new world.
The most important thing with SureType is that you select the correct input language. Easy for Americans, but not for us, since we have to use more than just german. Press alt-return to quickly switch the language (bottom row, leftmost and rightmost buttons).
Adding numbers: from your call log, press the menu button, select "Add to Address Book".
I want a third choice. I want the form factor of the Pearl, but I want to swap out the camera and have the GPS instead. That would rock.
The keyboard/SureType works reasonably well for me, but then I don't normally type anything longer than a couple of sentences on it. It's a bit surprising, maybe, that RIM didn't solve the multiple languages issue, since Canada is effectively bilingual. Of course Europeans may have several languages to worry about, so the problem gets worse. The alt-return shortcut is pretty easy, but it would be nice if the device had contextual language awareness. If you're responding to a message written in german, it might be reasonable to provide an option to switch to that input language automatically. And maybe you could assign a language preference to your contacts, so a message to someone who prefers spanish results in that input language. That idea falls apart pretty quickly once you consider multiple recipients, and maybe contextual awareness is just not feasible. Yet.
The GPS is really a neat feature. But I am using the camera more often than I would use the GPS.
I'd like to see 3G in a qwerty blackberry, that would have saved me from the GUI (powered by snails) that afflicts the Nokia E61. I'd prioritise this over both a GPS and a camera.
I still have my 8700 and pick it up for a play every now and then - it's *so* fast and has a sharp hi-res screen that puts all the Nokia smartphones to shame. My only criticism of the whole BB thing is the premium application space, i.e. one pays more for third party apps than for any other smartphone platform *and* there are fewer of them.
I have currently invested all my hopes for smartphone nirvana in the recently announced Nokia E90 (come on vowe, we're waiting for your review) and it's feature list is seriously impressive; 3G, camera, high res inner screen, camera, qwerty, GPS and FM radio. I just hope that it's not underpowered like the E61.....
John, the 8707v is a 3G BlackBerry. I have used it and I was not particularly impressed.
As for the E90, I would not hold my breath. I have yet to see a fast Series 60 mobile, and Nokia leans towards complexity and not simplicity. Try to setup WLAN access or VoIP on the E61 and you see what I mean. I am also not expecting an E90 any time soon, so you might have to look elsewhere for reviews.
Volker, btw, have you ever thought of starting a special interest "blog" about the mobile mensch? Now, seriously ... did you? vowe.net is since a almost a year getting more and more mobile in its topics. There is an awful lot of reviews, critiques and useful information about mobile devices, gadgets and working environments here. I believe, many people would like to retrieve this information in a more focussed form. Maybe it's also just a matter of the right categorization within this site. Could be fun. Besides of course the classic Notes related themes you offer. (Just a thought on a lazy sunday afternoon ...).
Honestly, from time to time I'm asking myself "what did vowe.net say about" a certain technical topic.
I have no plans to start any other "blog". I find special interest blogs boring. I'd rather mix lots of topics into one.
And that is why I visit vowe each morning...cause its fresh, interesting and NEVER boring!
What Colin said. One of the best things about vowe.net is the variety of content.
When I want to see Volker's thoughts on a particular device or topic, there's a handy little Search feature, which I've used for everything from Blackberry to Apple to Notes to DoesNotWorkPlace to DRM.
When I want to be bored, I go somewhere else. heh...
Neither of the BlackBerry devices is for me, I'm waiting for the Nokia E90.
And when I want to read boring news then I go to http://www.engadget.com/ .
no blackberry for me!! palm treo 680-with chatteremail installed does just fine!!!
