BlackBerry Curve 8330

You don't need to shell out big bucks for the latest, greatest smartphone to get a great feature set. Case in point: The BlackBerry Curve 8330. This excellent phone includes plenty of features for both work and play. And you can get it from Sprint for $100 (after a mail-in rebate) when you sign a new service contract.

Design

PROS: The 8330 features the same design as past Curves: It is petite, with a slightly rounded design, and sports a Pearl-like trackball directly below the 2.5-inch screen for navigation. The QWERTY keyboard is small, but I found it sufficient for thumb typing. The case of the 8330 is titanium, a slight change from the lighter gray of the original Curve.

CONS: The 8330 features a nice-looking screen, but it pales in comparison to the stunning screen found on the newer Blackberry Bold. Graphics are not as crisp or clear.

Making Calls

PROS: Voice quality is very good; I had no problems hearing my callers and they said the same thing about me. The 8330 is light (it weighs 4.2 ounces) and comfortable to hold during conversations, despite its slightly blocky shape.

Browsing the Web

PROS: The 8330 supports the 3G EvDO network, which helps improve video performance, and made surfing the Web noticeably speedy.

CONS: Some sites can be difficult to view on the 8330's browser, which is an older version of the BlackBerry browser.

Messaging

PROS: Like all BlackBerrys, the 8330 excels at messaging. It supports up to 10 personal or business e-mail accounts; adding one is a snap. The 8330 also adds supports for consumer instant messaging clients, like AOL's AIM, Google Talk, and Yahoo Messenger.

Software

PROS: The 8330 supports the Sprint Navigation service, which provides turn-by-turn directions.

CONS: Unlike some of the newer BlackBerry phones (such as the Bold or the Storm), the 8330 does not come with a productivity suite. If you'd like to edit Office documents, you'll need to go out and get your own software application.

Multimedia

PROS: The 8330 supports Sprint's TV service, which offers a mix of live channels (showing the same content you'd see on your TV) and content that has been specially packaged for viewing on your mobile phone. Sprint says it service offers access to more than 70 channels. Other features include a 2.0 megapixel camera that can capture still photos and video clips, and a music and video player.

CONS: When watching Sprint TV, I found the video quality was mixed, whether I was watching live TV or pre-packaged mobile content. I had to wait while files buffered, and the picture often looked blocky and sometimes broke up completely. Performance is largely related to network strength, though.

Blackberry Storm or Blackberry Bold - Which One Is Better?

Blackberry has created two great phones that have similar features. They include camera, built in GPS, Media Player, Video recording, maps, wireless e-mail, organizer, browser, corporate data access, phone, sms/mms. Although, they are different in physical appearance they have many of the same features and functions. Consumers will have to really dig when comparing and contrasting them before making a final decision.

For a more in dept look of the two cell phones, I am going to compare and contrast their most popular features starting with the Storm and then the Bold. The display windows of both has transmissive TFT LCD, Font size (user selectable), light sensing screen; supports over 65,000 colors. One however, has a 3.25 inch screen size with a high resolution of 480 x 360 pixel color display and the other has a 2.6 inch screen size with half VGA resolution of 480 x 320 pixel color display.

Next the camera on the first one comes with 3.2mp, auto flash, auto focus and 2x digital zoom. The second one only has 2.0mp with flash but is equipped with 3x digital zoom. Both may require a microSD card to enable the video recording feature depending on the amount of memory available.

The battery life has a slight difference. Stand by time is 15 days and the talk time is 6 hours vs. a stand by time of 13.5 days and talk time of 4.5 hours. Both have a removable/rechargeable cryptographic lithium cell battery.

You will not get lost with either phone because they both offer a built in GPS system and maps. These features allow you to plan and view your trip right on the screen, save a list of favorite places you like to visit and step by step driving directions to any location of your choice.

They both have built in 3.5mm stereo with headset compatibility, integrated earpiece/microphone, speaker phone and Bluetooth ready. However, one has a touch screen keyboard (allows you to type by touch) vs. a QWERTY keyboard (allows you to type on a regular keyboard) on the other. The built in microphone is a great asset to both phones because it allows users to send voice e-mails. This comes in handy when you are in a hurry, donÕt feel up to typing or want to give a message in person but are unable to.

They both have media player which allows you to watch video or audio formatted programs, allow you to edit your Microsoft word or PowerPoint slides (copy and past, adjust font and other formatting) and doubles as an iPod allowing users to create their own playist list for easy listening.

The Blackberry Storm and the Blackberry Bold are very similar with few differences. Overall the Blackberry Storm offers a little more. It offers better picture resolution, more digital camera MPS, a longer battery life and more built in memory. However, if you donÕt like touch screens and prefer the usual keyboard style, the Blackberry Bold offers it. There are such minute differences between the two; one would have to begin to look at styles, colors, prices and services to help them make a choice.
by Caroline Telford

The RIM BlackBerry Bold Vs Apple’s iPhone 3G Battle Of The Smart Phones.

The consumers and companies win with the BlackBerry Bold can sync with a companys BlackBerry Enterprise server and it also supports Microsoft Exchange's push email server. You can also configure the Bold to work with POP3 and IMAP4 e-mail accounts as well. RIM has remained loyal to it’s core customers government and enterprise while dipping it’s toes in the consumer pools. Over the past year the BlackBerry Curve has replaced the BlackBerry 8700 as the BDOC. Meanwhile Apple has only recently made plans to venture into the enterprise market which is where they are hoping to make their next fortune.

Many people consider this smartphone to be the BlackBerry device that is designed to take on Apple’s iPhone 3G in the enterprise environment and even dip into the high tech consumer market as well. Powered by a 624 MHz mobile processor and support for tri band HSDPA and enterprise grade Wi-Fi networks the Bold makes short work of downloading email attachments, streaming video or rendering webpages. The BlackBerry Bold also includes 128 MB Flash memory plus 1 GB on board storage memory as well as and a microSD/SDHC memory card slot that is conveniently accessible from a side door.

If the battery is running too low, the Bold won't shut down but will disconnect the radio, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi antennas, the other features of the phone remaining accessible. However if the phone is put to charge the radio antenna will not be switched on immediately but rather after 10-15 minutes of charge. Battery life was thought to be an issue on the Bold by many but it lasted three days before I decided to juice it up. There is no option to switch from 3G to Edge which I think is a travesty because every other 3G smartphone on the market has the ability to do so.

After few weeks of testing BlackBerry Bold and beside a few minor problems we only have adjectives of approval for it. The Blackberry Bold is RIM's next generation full size Blackberry that will have the latest cutting edge technology built in including a new larger keypad, 802.11 WiFi, 3G HSDPA wireless, Bluetooth, as well as a GPS chip for location based maps and services. Microsoft and Apple promote the lack of third party involvement as a security advantage but I'm not convinced that's how it will appear to the companies that have learned to trust and rely on the BlackBerry.
by Christoper West

Blackberry 8700V Review

The trend in mobile market is that phones are getting more and more intelligent, such as the output from the Blackberry. One of the series is the Blackberry 8700, which is a good start especially for users of BlackBerry beginners.

Design The design of the device adopts classic Blackberry form factors. Shown with silver color and dominated with the black on some parts of the body the BlackBerry 8700V looks very stylish and simple. Many buttons on the keypad usually cause mistakes when typing if users are still not used to QWERTY keypad. But as long as you accustomed to it you can't deny the convenience and fast speed when typing it for email.

Email For people especially businessmen for whom emails are their thing the Blackberry phones are the gift from the gods. Blackberry is always connected to the Internet if there is no interruption of service and network provider. If there are any incoming emails they can be read directly because there are features such as SMS notification.

Chatting For your regular use the facility to chat with Yahoo Messenger can be installed directly through the BlackBerry Help with icons plus yellow. In addition there is also a link to download BlackBerry Messenger, Google Talk v2.0, Maps, News and Fun Games.

Connectivity Blackberry 8700V in series does not mean that there is a change in network connectivity. This device is still using the facilities such as Bluetooth, GPRS, EDGE, data cable, USB, and also Internet data connection using the other facilities. Results and also the speed at the time we open the pages of many sites that do t require image loading time is no too long. So if you want a fast connection and stable, likely Blackberry 8700V can be your choice.

Batteries A powerful and durable resource also is very important for a device. With a battery of 1100mAh, this Blackberry 8700V series is able to survive up to 17 days in standby, while the time to talk about 4 - 5 hours. However, if we use for the application that is too heavy, such as browsing the Internet, and sending email, the battery's performance is less optimal.

Conclusion Since it is strictly business phone oriented, it is understandable that the blackberry 8700V doesn't possess a media player. Anyway, it is a nice emailing handset with ideal web browsing speed. by Jerry Smith

The Blackberry mobile phones are worldwide popular for their outlandish features and functionality. The BlackBerry 8310 is provided with the Quad band technology having formats like GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM1900 which provides the users with worldwide roaming facility. A user can easily communicate the message by typing the messages on the full QWERTY keyboard. The handset has the security password question in it so that no else can misuse the handset. The facility is also provided for the keyboard lock so that, if the phone is in the pocket, there is no pressing of an unwanted key. Along with these features, the common features present in any other mobile are also present in this device like phone book, calendar, alarm clock and many more. The device is also possessed with feature of the BlackBerry maps with which one can easily find a lost direction. For the fast Internet connection, one can connect through connectivity like GPRS and EDGE. It is not necessary for the users to open a laptop or his PC to access the Internet he can easily access the Internet through his handset and search his favourite websites through HTML browser.

The BlackBerry 8310 has 2.0 MP camera with the feature of zoom and flash and many interesting camera features. The feature of viewfinder display is also present in the handset. The viewfinder feature can realize superimpose having good visibility without giving uncomfortable feeling to the user. The device is embedded with the MP3, MIDI, Polyphonic ringtones . The facility of voice dialing is also present in the device. One can speak the name, without looking at the screen, without using his fingers, and the phone will respond immediately and will put that contact on to dial. The 111 gm weighing phone has the capacity to store files in the space of 64 M bytes and the device also has the option of flash memory plus MicroSD memory. The Blackberry mobile phones have maintained the hierarchical dignity. The handsets are usually business oriented phones, same is the case with the Blackberry 8310 mobile phone. One can control the business and the personal lives with the handset. by Stephen George