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Email And Cell Phone In One From RIM
ericmc42 writes: "Research in Motion anounced a new Blackberry this morning, and it has a GSM cell phone in it! It looks great! Email, PIM, Phone all in one. The best part about it is that the email still uses the same packet switched network that all other Blackberrys use. This means the email connection is 'always on' and the battery life should be good. Also interesting is that it runs Java 2 as its operating system."
The most base function of an operating system is to provide an abstraction layer to the hardware, for applications. The J2VM provides this virtual machine. While the 'OS' might not provide all the bells, whistles, icons, and security holes which we have come to expect in a modern bloat package, it still abstracts, and allows people to write for the phone in a decent language.
Actually the photos moved to here.
"i can never say no to anyone but you"
Uh - no. Blackberry's use Puma's Intellisync to sync with Palm data. So you don't need your Palm. But we just got a Treo 180 in this week, and it is a really sweet looking device. The 5810 looks just like my R957 with an ear bud jack :) I love my Blackberry - but I don't think the 5810 is something I'd have to run out and get.
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I'm sticking with Palm OS based PDAs, like my monochrome visor deluxe, at least until color screens get affordable. Also, you can get Palm.net for only $10 a month. Also, the Palm VII is now just $199.
Actually the new puppy uses GPRS for packet data, not Mobitex like the 957 and other older models.
This actually troubles me somewhat. Read around on the 'Net about what mobile devices worked on 9/11 in NYC, and you'll generally find that Blackberries on Mobitex worked fine while other networks were jammed. Don't know if GPRS (which is really new) would provide the same reliability... anyone know?
"The cup... the drop... it's a YES!"
FUD. Blackberry's come in 'Internet' editions which don't need exchange. You just setup a .forward to your Blackberry email address and go. Setup is done via a web interface to set your From email address (so folks don't know it was sent from the BB), filters to filter what goes to the Blackberry, signatures, etc.
The Exchange stuff is nice since it controls when email is sent to your BB based on when it's plugged into the dock or not, but I don't mind having most of my email copied to my Blackberry. A coupel quick keystrokes and I can delete most/all the email every couple of days.
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The big difference between this device and most of the others being mentioned in a lot of the replies is that it is G3 network compliant. As far as the J2ME as an OS, I think that was a bad decision. Integrating the Palm OS gives you support for a lot of existing software AND the J2ME environment. J2ME is a virtual machine; it isn't intended to be a full-blown OS platform.
My $0.02 will always be worth more than your â0.02, so
The Treo matches this RIM feature for feature and surpasses it in a few important areas: Unlike this new Blackberry, the design is such that it is actually useful as a phone--it looks like a phone, talks like a phone, etc. Always-on email is coming with GPRS later this year, and the available Qwerty thumboard is also just as good.
The Treo is smaller (RIM: 4.6 x 3.1 x 0.7 inches, Treo: 4.3" x 2.7" x 0.7"), it has a touchscreen, runs PalmOS, has 16 megs of ram (RIM: 8 + 1 sdram). There may be more. I can't tell, but it looks as though you may need to use the headset to use the voice capabilities. Treo offers you all three: handset, headset, speakerphone.
It looks as though the RIM uses GRPS [blackberry.net] instad of the Mobitex network. This should mean faster download times than the treo. However, as soon as Handspring gets the firmware update out, it will also be using the same network.
OK, I actually had a RIM 850 for a while (still have it actually, but it's not activated now) and there are a few BIG problems with them: 1) Signal "penetration" - Don't go 6 steps inside a building and expect to carry on a conversation (not that my Sprint POS phone is any better) 2) Frequent crashes - The thing crashed soooo much, you would think it was a M$ product (worked better after I took the slow-a$$ browser off) 3) Range - If you live more than 12 miles from a tower, forget about it, and I'm in a pretty big metro area. My $.02: A great toy, but don't make it your only cell phone, especially if you travel.
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Saving baby carrots around the globe.
A friend of mine works at RIM, and I saw one of these things while it was still in developement. And I have to admit it's one great device. His did not have the Internet enabled, so I couldn't test that, but he said it's identical to the older Blackberry.
If you liked the Blackberries, then you'll love this thing. It's pretty much identical, only it has a headset jack where you plug in the handsfree mike and earphone.
Has very good reception (at least in the Toronto and Hamilton area). Also, it has good battery life, although it's far shorter than the email-only Blackberry.
All in all, a great cellphone, email, internet, PDA. Much better IMNHO than anything out there (Treo, Kyocera, even Nokia)
I just got a treo last week and I absolutely love it! As a former Visorphone owner, I can say that it has improved almost every feature that the Visorphone offered.
The treo doesn't provide all of the features of the blackberry, however. The big draw seems to be the packet switched, always-on network. It would be nice to have a little light start blinking whenever I have an email. With the treo, I have to dial into an ISP and check the mail like I used to do on a computer.
I guess it wouldn't be too big a deal to setup an email filtering program that automatically sends me an SMS message whenever an email arrives marked urgent, or when it has been sent from specific people.
I think Yahoo mail already offers a service where if the body of the message contains a specific codeword, it will auto-forward to another email address. This could easily be a cellphone - which would be a great way to get important email immediately.
Over here in Waterloo we've known about this Blackberry for quite a while (among us UW programmers and all). What we also know about is that RIM really needs this Blackberry to succeed or it's gonna dive.
They've spent a lot of money buying out other buildings in the area and building a brand new building of their own. Again, like dot coms they've been getting a ton of money and not been producing as much (that's the buzz round abouts).
I hope for RIMs sake that the new Blackberry's sell really well, I think that price is the only obstacle but it will sell well among their corporate customers.
internet like monkeys'
The 386-based RIM devices have been around fo years, and so far nobody is running Unix on it. I'd say it will still be a while.
They make it easy to load software onto the device, which comes with a serial cradle and DOS software to load data onto the flash disk. That part would be a piece of cake. But probably the display controller is funky and who knows about the Mobitex comms.
Mea Culpa. I'm a dumbass. Those are the prices for the Treo, which I read moments after the RIM stuff, and confused the two. Cnet says: (at the bottom of this article.)
"The new BlackBerry is expected to sell in the neighborhood of $499, plus monthly network fees of about $40 depending on use. This compares with the Treo at about $400 plus monthly network charges, or $550 without. "
Again, my apologies.
- Dan I.
The RIM devices use triple DES encryption, which I guess could be broken, but nowhere in the path of delivery of emails is it ever unencrypted and re-encrypted in some other format. The encryption keys are only on the device and on the backend server behind the corporate firewall.
Palm and such have no clue how to get this type of security up and going.
What is your GSM carrier and plan, and how are you liking it? I will be using VoiceStream in the Kansas City area, so would be especially interested if that is your carrier. Can you get VoiceStream iStream service on the Treo?
:)
I am using voicestream, and it's fine. I've used Nextel in the past, and, as far as I can tell, Voicestream is just as good. They seem a little cheaper than Sprint (at least when I signed up) and I have so far had no problems. The free weekends are also especially nice for data connections. I find Istream to be completely unnecessary. Voicestream and the Treo install software both claim I have to pay an extra fee for Data service and have my own ISP. That's not true - I followed the directions on this article and connect to the internet in six seconds without paying anything. I can't say how long it will last - but it's great for the moment. One friend suggested voicestream does this on purpose, because it's cheaper for them to provide an ISP than it is to provide an outgoing line out of their network for me to connect to an outside ISP. Interestng idea.
How annoying is the short battery life? I am not a road warrior, so I can charge my phone nightly. Is that good enough?
I don't think the battery life is all that short. I think it's rated at something like 2.5 hours of talk time, and a coupla' days standby time. Going for two days is stretching it, but if you charge every night there should be no problem unless you talk on the phone a lot.
How bad is the rumored problem with "face oil" on the screen from talking on the phone?
Some people reported that this was a problem with the visorphone. I had a visorphone before my Treo, but never had this problem. On the visorphone, the speaker is angled away, so to hear anything, you have to hold the screen away from your face. The Treo is set up just like a regular flip-phone, so this never becomes a problem. I've been using mine for about a week and have never had this problem.
How are you carrying the thing? I am thinking I'll need a belt case, since it isn't going to fit into a hip pocket like my little cell phone.
I just carry it in my pocket. It's larger than tiny cellphones, but not all that much. It also fits comfortably in a shirt pocket. Handspring has a belt-clip carrying case that they're releasing soon, but I don't think I'll need it. I do tend to wear baggy pants, though...
Have people gotten tired of you answering the phone by flipping up the cover and saying, "Kirk here?"
Hell no! I even got the Trek Sounds hack just to be even more geeky, and everyone thinks I'm really cool!
Overall, I love the thing! Making the Visorphone first as a beta test was a really good idea, because it had a lot of flaws, but so far I'd have to say that they've vastly improved almost everything with the Treo.