First 3G BlackBerry Announced

An anonymous reader writes "The Register is featuring an article on Research In Motion's first 3G BlackBerry, due shortly for release in the UK via Vodafone. The big news is that it contains an integrated 3G data modem - meaning UK addicts will be able to connect from the device and their laptop (via USB/BlueTooth) at 3G broadband speeds. No EDGE so the US will have to carry on waiting, but for those in the UK and Europe, short of integrated GPS, is the BlackBerry 8707v finally the first example of mobile device convergence everyone has been waiting for?"

Comments

Convergence Device

[cstec]

"is the BlackBerry 8707v finally the first example of mobile device convergence everyone has been waiting for?"

No, that would be the Treo. And we stopped waiting a while ago.

Heard Blackberries aren't that great

[maan]

I've never tried a Blackberry myself, but I've heard from someone that Email is the only thing it does right. Is that the general consensus? I'm using my Treo 650 for my (very) occasional mobile email needs, and SnapperMail is working great for me. And as a Palm, I find it a great PDA.

Maan

Re:Heard Blackberries aren't that great

[Anonymous Coward]

You pretty much heard correctly, with some conditions.

First, plain text email is the only aspect of email that the Blackberry does right. If it's HTML formatted you might get the text, plus any graphics that you would be able to view with a competent mail client come through as attachments. With RTF formatted email you'll get the text, but loose all the formatting. If you intend to do anything meaningful with attachments then forget it unless you install third party software. The built-in attachment viewer is quite pathetic.

As far as composing email, if you have large hands then unless you're using a 6700 or 7700 series device you'll find the keyboard to be a crampfest. The rest of the models with full keyboards are too small. At least that's been my experience. I rue the day when my 7780 bites the dust.

Regarding PIM functions, with version 4 of the device software they finally got this mostly right. The address book has enough fields now to properly sync with Outlook Contacts, whereas before if you had more than one address for your contacts you had to play with the field mapping to get that data into the Blackberry. With BES and Exchange, the wireless sync is very nice. Email, address book, calendar, and notes all sync wirelessly with Outlook so the only reason you have to plug the thing in is to charge it or mabye run a backup if you have other apps installed.

Don't get me started on how well these things perform as phones. With the exception on the 7100 series, Blackberries are generally awful as phones. The form factor is all wrong, the UI is all wrong, it's just plain wrong. Put your voice plan on a decent wireless phone, and put the data plan on the Blackberry if you must have one. Of course if you're going to go this route, and don't need live access to your email, then forget the Blackberry, get a Bluetooth phone, a Bluetooth PocketPC or Palm, and access the net through the phone.

If all you want in a PDA is good PIM and basic wireless always-on email then Blackberries are okay. If you're a PDA power user, Pocket PC's and Palms have much more to offer if you don't absolutely need to read your email the second it hits your mailbox.

Re:Heard Blackberries aren't that great

[chazzzzy]

Actually the 8700 is the best PDA/Phone I have ever used. Blackberry does email phenomenally well. And the phone on the 8700 is finally a very good phone with great sound quality.

Because of the large user base, Blackberry has learned how to make the Blackberry VERY intuitive... try doing something intuitive on a Windows mobile unit and you'll see what I am talking about. It will be at least a year before Microsoft catches up to Blackberry as far as ease of use.

Re:Heard Blackberries aren't that great

[Wolfier]

Here's a test for you:

Get a Blackberry, and get a PocketPC or a Palm. From 4 feet in the air, drop/throw them all on concrete.

I found that the Blackberries are built to withstand a much greater deal of abuse/collision/drop than all other PDAs.

That, combined with a great browser and emails that arrive the second (sometimes before!!) it reaches your mailbox, is a great combo for me.

Mobile Device Convegence

[timmyf2371]

I don't see this as the first example of mobile device convergence everyone's been waiting for; the first obvious feature missing is the ubiquitous mobile camera.

From looking at the market and hardware available, there's no one device which does anything and everything the "ultimate mobile device" would do. What I do see, is a few devices which merge some features, but miss out others.

For example, this new Blackberry device gives instant email, phone service, and 3G data access, but it's big and bulky and doesn't feature a mobile camera. The Nokia N-Series provides smartphone capability using Series 60, multimedia features, and high spec cameras, but it's small and only has a standard mobile phone keyboard.

The above examples are the way I see the mobile device market going; there will be many devices which offer convergence in many different ways. But, I don't see it possible to create a "one device fits all" type handset, purely because there are so many different market sections and types of people who use them.

It's a killer

[romit_icarus]

By positioning the 3g phone as a high speed modem, blackberry is doing something very significant: it is saying that the best thing about 3g is not that you can watch movies or do video calling on a phone screen , it's the sheer access to bandwidth wherever and whenever you want.:)

"Convergence" is here - has been for a while...

[jht]

Depends on what you call convergence. I call convergence a handheld that's reasonably small, handles data and voice, gives me real-time access to my e-mail, and serves as an effective adjunct to my laptop. And I call that a GSM Treo 650 - which I've owned for the better part of a year. With the addition of a quality IMAP-based e-mail client instead of Versamail, the Treo gets messages as they arrive, can do real background processing, and give me easy access and editing of all my accumulated information. If I wanted to, I could use the built-in camera to take pictures, and capture lo-res video to my SD card.

To me, that's convergence. The only thing it lacks is support for the higher-speed cellular broadband standards (and enough internal RAM), but the Treo 700w (Windows Mobile-based) works with the CDMA EV/DO service from Verizon, and the forthcoming 700p (PalmOS) is expected to work with Sprint's EV/DO network. GSM EDGE versions of both are slated to arrive pretty soon as well.

And the Blackberry that's covered here? That's the tip of the iceberg. The CTIA Wireless show is in Vegas less than two weeks from now. And there's sure to be quite a few relevant announcements there. I'm holding my breath for a ExpressCard-based EV/DO card, though - My MacBook Pro is on order and I'd rather use a card than tether a phone (I use a PC5220 card from Verizon right now with my existing PowerBook).

The ultimate definition? Convergence is a state of mind. And when your device does all the things you need, it matches that.

Re:nobody wants blackberry in the UK

[Tyr_7BE]

The blackberry is not a consumer device. It is a business device. Hence, no mp3 player, no camera, no third party software installed by default save for java to run the apps.

RIM is just starting to think about the consumer market with its 7100 series. It's the first "phone-like" blackberry.

Blackberries have always been targetted at business users. That means it has to work well and it has to work all the time. A blackberry does both. It handles email like a champ, makes calls without a problem, and gives you access to the web when you need it in a decent mobile browser. Now, according to the article there's an integrated 3G modem, meaning business types will be able to use 3G networks on their laptops, just by syncing via bluetooth to their blackberry. This makes it an even BETTER business device.

If you only consider what it was meant to do, Blackberry is best of breed.