The Blackberry Curve 8530 is the CDMA version of the entry-level 8520. While it comes with the same general design and feature set, it gets a leg up over its close sibling with a few additional talents.
Physically, the 8530 shares the exact design cues as its GSM counterpart. If you remember our review of the Curve 8520, we praised it for its attractive profile, comfortable 3.4-inch display and handy size. Our opinion extends to this newer version.
As a phone, it turns up mixed results when it came to call quality. On our end, conversation sounded loud and clear, with just the slightest hint of interference. Those on the other end, however, had plenty to complain about, especially once the speakerphone was used. General handset performance was snappy, thanks to the speedy processor paired with fast 3G. Battery life is rated at 4.5 hours of talk time, which amounted to a day or two of regular use for us.
Despite the entry-level tag (same as the 8520), this new Curve offers a good amount of options. There are the usual Blackberry favors, from the souped-up messaging set (BlackBerry Internet Service, BlackBerry Exchange Server, threaded views) to the usual basic phone features. Unlike the GSM version, though, the 8530 adds 3G, Wi-Fi and even aGPS to the mix, making it much more robust in terms of functionality.
It comes with some good productivity tools thrown in, including a good document viewer. There's no native way to create Office docs, though, so you'll have to pay for a capable editor. Music playback is surprisingly a strength, with expansive file support and excellent sound quality (even through the onboard speakers). The camera module (2.0 megapixel) is a notable downside, taking rather disappointing photos.
Overall, the Blackberry Curve 8530 is a pleasant surprise. While marketed (and priced) as an entry-level smartphone, it comes with all the necessary features that make it a complete handset (heck, many of Blackberry's more expensive phones don't even have Wi-Fi). It also costs less than its GSM counterpart at only $99 on contract.
Blackberry Curve 8530 Brings Plenty Of Features For An Entry Level Phoneunratednoel2009-12-06 11:48:04
Phone ReviewsBlackberry Curve 8530 Brings Plenty Of Features For An Entry Level Phone
With the previous Bold model about a year past its original release, the Blackberry Bold 9700 came out at a perfect time. With sleeker looks and more powerful hardware than the previous model, it's just the right device to put RIM firmly in the thick of the business smartphone market.
Physically, the handset looks nothing like its predecessor. The new body is more svelte and compact, with an aesthetic that should appeal to both genders. Not only is it more pocketable than the previous Bold, it's also slimmer than this year's popular Tour. With classy looks, appealing lines and a great feel in the hand, it's an easy winner in the design department.
The downside to the compact frame is that the 9700's screen is smaller at 2.44 inches (compared to its predecessor's 2.75-inch). Display, at a 480x360 resolution, is brilliant, with crisp lines and vibrant colors. Navigation array, 35-key QWERTY keypad (crammed, but large and comfortable, buttons) and the rest of the physical controls work admirably. UI is similar to the previous device's, save for some slight refinements in OS 5.0.
As a phone, the quad-band handset manages excellent call quality on both ends of the conversation. Voices sounded clear, with nary the sign of any distortion. The speakerphone mic picked up voices very well on our end, although speaker quality was just average. Battery life has a rated talk time of 6 hours, which should be good for a couple days of regular use.
With a powerful 624MHz CPU, the smartphone runs very fast. Coupled with speedy 3G, performance of connected apps is downright snappy. Browser has received much improvement over RIM's previous versions (faster Javascript, CSS and Google Gears). Despite their efforts, however, the browser still lags behind other smartphones, marked by very slow-responding navigation.
The Bold 9700 comes with the usual Blackberry smartphone features, including a souped-up messaging and productivity suite, aGPS and Bluetooth. There's the excellent Blackberry Enterprise Server, of course, which supports Exchange, Domino and GroupWise. There's also an attachment viewer, a bevy of pre-installed messaging clients and Documents To Go.
Unlike many of Blackberry's previous releases, the phone comes with both 3G and Wi-Fi, allowing you more chances of staying connected wherever you end up (yep, it's a world phone too). The Wi-Fi service even comes with UMA, which lets you make unrestricted calls over data lines without running up your minutes.
The media player is decent, with a good range of supported formats. The 3.2 megapixel camera was a huge step-up from its predecessor, managing excellent photo quality, while providing for a good range of editing options.
Overall, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 is an excellent business phone, especially for frequent travelers who could use both the 3G and Wi-Fi support. The browser, while decent, is the handset's only low point, one that we expect RIM to work on during the next year.
Blackberry Bold 9700 Brings Marked Improvements, Excellent Business Featuresunratednoel2009-11-27 00:09:25
Phone ReviewsBlackberry Bold 9700 Brings Marked Improvements, Excellent Business Features
It's not that difficult to see that Blackberry is having problems attracting developers to its platform, with only around 2,000 apps in its inventory since the App World opened back in April. Apparently, a 56% share of the US smartphone market just isn't enough incentive to entice, given all the potential development nightmares that RIM's varied range of devices creates.
The company sat back through most of it. With the iPhone well ahead and Google making serious strides in attracting new developers, though, RIM is finally seeing fit to make their move. According to the company, they are now enacting numerous changes to their platform that should attract a greater number of developers to come on board.
Speaking at RIM's second developer's conference, co-CEO Jim Balsillie announced a number of developments that they hope will steer developers into investing resources their way. While none of the things mentioned are groundbreaking, they should put the platform on par with what both the iPhone and Android have to offer.
To ease the job for developers, the company is promising more native APIs, better access to app data and deeper integration. In-app transactions will also be made available, along with a new Blackberry Payment System, which can be used as an alternative to the App World's Paypal-based payments. They're also going to look to undercut third parties by enabling in-app advertising via their own Blackberry Advertising Service. Other things that can change the tide come next year include Flash 10 (which all smartphones, except the iPhone, will also get), a richer browser and OpenGL ES support to encourage games on future Blackberry phones.
The overall plan sounds just about what they should have been doing all along, although the last one did surprise me. 3D games on the Blackberry? Really?
[via Wired]
RIM Promises Moves Towards Getting More Developers On The Blackberry Platformunratednoel2009-11-10 13:57:25
NewsRIM Promises Moves Towards Getting More Developers On The Blackberry Platform
While the Blackberry Storm didn't exactly turn other touchscreen smartphones on their head, it wasn't all that bad. With a series of software improvements and beefed-up hardware, though, there are high hopes for its successor, the Blackberry Storm 2.
Physically, RIM's new touchscreen device isn't a big departure from the original Storm. It sports the exact same dimensions and similar weight, but adds a few subtle touches. The capacitive touchscreen measures 3.2 inches with a 480 x 360 resolution. It comes with a built-in accelerometer and a proximity sensor. The latter feature detects when a face is close to the screen, automatically turning it off to avoid mispresses.
The biggest update here, by far, is the revamped SurePress touch interface. Instead of a mechanical suspension system, like in the original Storm, the new handset uses electronic activators beneath the display to simulate clicks. The result is basic multi-touch support, improved touch response, faster typing and key rollovers. Along with some nifty UI enhancements, it makes for a touchscreen facility that can finally rival some of the best smartphones around.
As a phone, the Storm 2 manages excellent voice calls, with a rich and clear sound that's free from any background interference. Speakerphone was similarly loud and clean-sounding. Overall phone performance is pretty snappy, while the 3G facility makes for very good data transfer rates. The onboard browser appears faster than on other Blackberry phones, but it could also be the increased memory assisting the speed. Battery has a rated talk time of 5.5 hours, which makes it useful for about 2 to 3 days on normal use.
RIM thankfully decided to add Wi-Fi to the mix, making the Storm 2 one of the more interesting world phone (yes, it supports both quad-band CDMA and dual-band GSM) choices around. It also comes preinstalled with OS 5.0, which adds numerous enhancements to the handset's various applications. Messaging, of course, remains a major strength (it syncs with literally everything), while the browser (with Google Gears, Blackberry Widgets and streaming support) has received notable improvements. They even threw in DataViz Documents To Go Standard Edition to supplement the attachments viewer.
The onboard 3.2 megapixel camera is pretty good, with plenty of additional niceties (image stabilization, flash, lots of settings) and decent quality. Other features include aGPS (with Blackberry Maps), a media player with wide format support, stereo Bluetooth and microSDHC expansion.
Overall, the Blackberry Storm 2 is a serious touchscreen smartphone contender. The world phone capabilities, wide range of connectivity options, improved OS and SurePress technology makes it an attractive device for jetsetting business users.
Blackberry Storm 2 Adds Wi-Fi, Faster Performance, Improved Touch Facilityunratednoel2009-10-18 19:58:26
Phone ReviewsBlackberry Storm 2 Adds Wi-Fi, Faster Performance, Improved Touch Facility
This phone has been a long time coming for Sprint users and it's finally here. As with many other handsets in the line, the Blackberry Curve 8330 offers the same great messaging design, along a couple of welcome additions.
Sprint's new version of the 8330 adds a 3G chip to the mix, causing a slight added thickness when compared to the GSM version. It's now 0.6 inches deep, which is still slim enough for comfortable handling. Display is a 2.5-inch 320 x 240 LCD, situated right above the front-mounted QWERTY keyboard. Overall screen performance is excellent, managing to look clear and sharp even in outdoor conditions.
For messaging, the 8330 comes with the full range of Blackberry's tried and proven capabilities. You get all the goodies here, from the souped-up email talents (BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry Internet Service), along with a larger number of IM clients (compared to Verizon's Curve releases). The QWERTY keys are a tad too small, but travel is great, making it easy to use all the same.
As a phone, the dual-band (CDMA 850/1900; EV-DO) handset doesn't offer the best voice calls, managing pedestrian sound with a noticeable echo. Phone operation is fast and responsive, with only a slight lag when performing multimedia operations. It was good for over five hours of continuous talk time, making it usable for a convenient two days or more before recharging.
On the features end, the phone comes with a decent offering. There's a speedy onboard GPS (with Blackberry Maps preloaded and Sprint Navigation integrated for a fee), EV-DO (making for decent-speed full HTML browsing) but no Wi-Fi, a 2.0 megapixel camera (just average quality), stereo Bluetooth and excellent multimedia support. It also comes with a good lot of onboard apps, particularly ones geared for business and productivity.
Overall, we find Sprint's BlackBerry Curve 8330 a better option than that from Verizon, especially with the accompanying 3G access and integrated GPS in tow. The lack of Wi-Fi is, of course, a hard-to-ignore sticking point. If you can live with it, though, this should prove a great phone to pick up.
Sprint BlackBerry Curve 8330: Great Phone Gets A 3G Chip And Integrated GPSunratednoel2009-09-24 10:12:42
Phone ReviewsSprint BlackBerry Curve 8330: Great Phone Gets A 3G Chip And Integrated GPS
