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Email And Cell Phone In One From RIM

Posted by timothy on from the everything-that-rises dept.

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."

6 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. Handspring Treo? by Stigmata669 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Maybe I am wrong, but dosn't the Treo provide all of these features, and the benifit of a widly adopted OS with programs and a computer sync feature? It seems to me to miss alot of the features of the Treo, and not provide a whole lot in return. Save money, maybe, but you still have to cary your palm around.

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    1. Re:Handspring Treo? by baptiste · · Score: 5, Informative
      Save money, maybe, but you still have to cary your palm around.

      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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  2. Photos by theCURE · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually the photos moved to here.

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    "i can never say no to anyone but you"
  3. Looks great? by nakhla · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Hmmm...Maybe it's just me, but I don't think it looks that great. I think it looks like crap. As far as PDA/phone combos go, I think that this model from Samsung looks great. Plus, it's got the useable size and shape necessary for both PDA and phone use, unlike the new blackberry.

  4. Not the same network as other Blackberries by nuwayser · · Score: 5, Informative

    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?

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  5. I prefer the Treo by backlonthethird · · Score: 5, Informative
    I've had it for about a week or so now, and it is hands-down the best monochrome PalmOS device I've ever had.

    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.