BlackBerry Curve : Specs | Price | Reviews | Test

When it comes to BlackBerrys, you have the really tiny one, the one with GPS, and now you can add to that list the one that just rocks. And we're not just talking about the Curve's music player or fully integrated stereo Bluetooth. RIM's latest fun-loving smartphone (available for AT&T later this spring) boasts a sharp two-megapixel camera and a much-improved multimedia software package for taking your favorite songs, pictures, and videos to go--all without sacrificing the long battery life that's made BlackBerry the device of choice for e-mail addicts. The BlackBerry Curve 8530 is the latest in this popular line of smartphones. The new model offers a redesigned look.

Though it doesn't bring Wi-Fi or 3G support, the BlackBerry Curve offers a best- of-breed design and a well-rounded set of features to make it an attractive. he Blackberry Curve is a sleek smartphone for much more than e-mail, it sports a sharp 2-MP camera and some serious multimedia muscle. Blackberry Curve 3G 9300 Expert Review: A quick and clever QWERTY-toting BlackBerry for the budget-conscious - Buying advice from the UK's.

DESIGN

Overall the Curve 8530 has a fashion-forward design aimed at a younger consumer audience. Instead of a chrome bezel and pronounced convenience keys that you find on the Tour, you'll find a rubber strip around the side with convenience keys that seem to bulge out of its sides. On the top of the device you find a set of media-control keys.

 

The front of the phone shows off what is perhaps its best feature -- the trackpad in place of the traditional trackball. Whether you're a seasoned BB veteran or a newcomer, you'll appreciate the intuitive, easy to use reliable performance of the trackpad. This one feature alone might be enough to knock the Tour out of contention. The keys on the keyboard are a "chicklet" holdover from the previous generation.

The Talk, End, Return and Menu keys are redesigned as if they are part of the screen -- not a design choice I'm particularly fond of. The screen itself pales in comparison to the beautiful display on the Tour, but there is nothing outright wrong with it. There's nothing to complain about, but if you were to hold your Curve up to a Tour, you'd notice the difference.

The biggest annoyance, design-wise, is the LED indicator light. On a regular BlackBerry there's no way you're going to miss a message. You will not be distracted by the LED light on the Curve 8530, the indicator which is just a touch bigger than the tip of a ballpoint pen, and its light is... understated, to put it kindly.

Size and Weight

The Curve 8530 overall is smaller than the Tour, and feels lighter, though it still has a very sold and composed feeling to it. You won't hate yourself for dropping this phone -- it feels like it can take a beating which is refreshing compared to some of today's delicate phones.

 

 Keyboard and Trackball

Always a main concern of mine, I'm positive others out there have the very same concern and question... How does the keyboard feel?? Coming from the Bold, the 8900's keyboard, while seemingly tiny at first in comparison, feels great! After 20 minutes with the new Curve it already feels as if I have owned this device forever. This is probably the best "narrow" full QWERTY keyboard you are going to ever find on a samrtphone.

I do have one qualm with the 8900's keys though... they are a little on the "clacky" side. I remember the original Curve suffering from this as well. For comparison's sake, I will say it's not as "clacky" as the original Curve series but it's still not as quiet of a typing device as I like. But I guess that will depend on the user as well. I pound away at my keys all day long so the clacking gets loud and a bit annoying after a while. Other users may not be quite as "abusive" to their keyboards and thus not mind it. Some people I know prefer a lot clackiness on the keyboard as it's another form of device feedback and helps you get into fast typing rhythm. The final verdict on the key board? Coming from any other BlackBerry device a user should find this keyboard comfortable, even if you have larger hands and fingers (as I do). If asked for which I prefer,I would be taking my Bold's keypad over this one based on the size of my fingers. However, a lot of folks (especially those with smaller hands) are going to feel right at home here and absolutely love this keyboard bar none. Even if you prefer a big keyboard but want a smaller form factor, the Curve 8900's is easy to get used to and really is that good.

Onto the TrackBall... the infamous, much talked about, black,  aka "atomic" trackball. Aside from the obvious fact of this thing being harder to get dirty due to its color... it does over all feel smoother to me.  It's more like I'm gliding through the menus rather than "scrolling" through the menus. Some of this feeling may be attributed to the fact the 8900's 528 MHZ processor makes for a speedy OS experience, but I'm going to suggest the trackball plays a major part in this improved feeling.

The trackball is the same size as any other trackball - it looks as though I might be swapping out the white ball on my Bold and picking up a black one. But personally I think it goes beyond the color of the ball itself. It has more to do with the material of the ball (definitely different) and how it sits within the housing. The black trackball seems to be set perfectly in the device so that it doesn't allow for "gumming up" or the build up of dirt - which is a common problem for all other devices - even the Bold. This trackball does not give me the impression that it will be an issue, but I guess time will tell on this as well.

Screen

We have all heard the raves about the BlackBerry Bold's brilliant 480 x 320 display, with even our own Dieter Bohn (WinMob FanBoy) proclaiming its greatness in the Smartphone Round Robin Round Table Podcast, but let me say... RIM didn't slack on the 8900 either! With a high resolution (higher then the Bold's) 480 x 360 screen, the 8900 packs even more pixels into a slightly tighter area (the display is a bit narrower than the Bold's). The snap shot above does not do it justice. The colors are amazing and the display provides great contrast and makes great use of that high resolution. Others have mentioned in their reviews the 8900 seems to have a "warmer" feel to it... I can see this, but it is in no way an issue with the device.

PERFORMANCE

I've already mentioned that the Curve has a big leg-up over its brethren by having a touchpad instead of the trackball. The aspect where the 8530 really hits it out of the park is with its operating system. The Curve 8530 features BlackBerry OS 5.0, currently the only device on the Sprint lineup to do so.

The 5.0 operating system isn't revolutionary, but offers nice many little improvements, such as wirelessly syncing of contacts with certain email providers, the ability to flag messages for follow up, better application permission management, and vastly improved ability to manage ringing profile settings. The processor on the Curve 8530 is less powerful than some of its contemporaries, including the Tour, and sometimes it would hang. For most of what you do most of the time, however, you won't notice this lack of power. Power users, on the other hand, should consider a more powerful device.

Voice Quality

Generally the 8530 is a solid performer, but its call quality is only just average. There was a little background static at times and the sound itself was somewhat hollow. Not a deal breaker, but you get the distinct sense that you're using a cell phone when making calls on this device.

Wireless Data security

This BlackBerry boasts a 3G Sprint antenna, GPS, Bluetooth, and best of all Wi-Fi. The latter of these is not available on the Tour -- another point in favor for the Curve. Though Sprint's 3G coverage isn't as extensive as AT&T or Verizon in my area, wherever I did have coverage there were no hiccups to be found.

The BlackBerry Enterprise Solution offers two transport encryption options, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and Triple Data Encryption Standard (Triple DES)*, for all data transmitted between BlackBerry® Enterprise Server and BlackBerry smartphones.

Private encryption keys are generated in a secure, two-way authenticated environment and are assigned to each BlackBerry smartphone user. Each secret key is stored only in the user's secure enterprise account (i.e., Microsoft® Exchange, IBM® Lotus® Domino® or Novell® GroupWise®) and on their BlackBerry smartphone and can be regenerated wirelessly by the user.

Data sent to the BlackBerry smartphone is encrypted by BlackBerry Enterprise Server using the private key retrieved from the user's mailbox. The encrypted information travels securely across the network to the smartphone where it is decrypted with the key stored there.

Data remains encrypted in transit and is never decrypted outside of the corporate firewall.

 OS And Software

Of course, this smartphone includes the now-standard BlackBerry apps: the DataViz DocumentsToGo office suite, Pandora, BlackBerry Maps, and a slew of social networking apps. Sprint's version of this BlackBerry also comes preloaded with a host of Sprint-specific apps, including Sprint Navigation, Sprint NASCAR, NFL, TV and music apps. Although these apps sound promising, I had a hard time getting them to perform reliably and sometimes couldn't get them to launch at all. This may be a downside of offering the same apps across all of its phones.

Currently shipping with OS version 4.6.1.94, the 8900's operating system seems to be a blessing from RIM and has actually revived my faith in the fact they do not intend to release devices with buggy OS' (ie Bold, Storm), but can still put out an OS that feels complete and not have me wondering if should back my device up today for fear of some crazy app error that's gonna wipe my device. Maybe I shouldn't be that surprised - Edge devices are old hat for RIM. The 3G on the Bold and touchscreen on the Storm must complicate things just thatmuch more.

The OS is snappy and responsive, navigation is a breeze and the 8900 feels like it wants to be put to work. Complete satisfaction on the OS front from this device.

A lot of the improvements can be felt in the 8900 OS and it clearly shows in the web browser as well. We all remember Kevin's documented issues with the browser on the Bold and while they have gotten better, they are still not near where the 8900 is. There has been some talk in the forums about RIM doing something different on the 8900 in the way treats Edge, and while I haven't stumbled across any official word on the subject, after using the device for a while during my testing I'd totally have too say *something* is going on here. I'm not sure exactly what it is... maybe it's just the speedy processor and glitch free OS working to their full potential or maybe something even more tech-cool is at work. Or maybe it's the fact the 8900 has twice the RAM. THANK YOU RIM!!

Feel free to inform me in the comments if ya know something else that's going on here, but the fact the 8900 does not come with 3G seems like it will not be an issue for this device as I found the pages load just as fast (some if not faster) on the 8900 then they do on my Bold. Have a look at the comparison chart below for the details. Nothing really earth shattering but it does perform well.

Camera

The built-in camera on new generation Curve doesn't have a flash, which is a step backward for BlackBerry. Its 2 megapixel camera also lacks auto-focus and has a lower resolution that the cameras found on other models (Bold 9700, Tour, Storm). Given these considerations however the camera still performs quite well.

CONCLUSION

On other carriers, the BlackBerry Curve 8530 is stripped down and made to fit nicely into place in its product line. For Sprint however, this is not the case. You get the newest operating system, the newest hardware with the track pad, Wi-Fi, all things you won't see on other Sprint BlackBerrys... at the best price.

The Curve 8530 will fall short in certain aspects, though -- it is less powerful than the Tour, its keyboard isn't as slick as it could be, its camera doesn't hit the benchmark of 3.2 megapixel with auto focus, and the screen isn't as impressive.

On balance, however, unless you're a world-traveling power user, the Curve is a much better deal than any other BlackBerry for Sprint right now.

Pros:

• Trackpad
• Updated styling
• Battery life outperforms other BlackBerrys
• Smaller than the Tour

Cons:

• Just average call quality
• Small LED indicator
• Low-resolution camera
• Smaller than the Tour - less screen real estate

Other Features

• BlackBerry OS
• SMS, MMS & Email Messaging
• Instant Messaging
• 512 MHz CPU
• Games built-in plus downloadable games
• HTML Browser
• GPS with A-GPS support
• MP3, AAC, AAC+ & WMA player
• DivX, XviD, MPEG4 & WMV player
• Java
• Voice dial
• BlackBerry maps
• Organizer
• Clock
• Calendar
• Calculator
• Alarm
• Photo caller ID

BlackBerry Curve Price

The best price of Blackberry Curve 8900 in India is Rs. 18159. The price has been sourced from 9 online stores in India as on 10th March 2011. BlackBerry Curve Price – Click here [via eBay]

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BlackBerry Style : Specs | Price | Reviews | Test

BlackBerry Style : Specs | Price | Reviews | Test. Check out our BlackBerry Style review to find out why Sprint's first. the phone flips up conveniently to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. Flip open the Style to find a 2.7-inch, 360-by-400-pixel TFT LCD screen and a full BlackBerry keyboard, complete with a slightly raised. We review the BlackBerry Style 9670 clamshell from RIM. We've unboxed it and gave it a once-over, but here's our full-blown review.. In the past, you've been able to get a BlackBerry smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard, or a BlackBerry smartphone that comes in a convenient flip-style form factor. But you haven't been able to get one that offers both -- until now.

RIM and Sprint have announced the BlackBerry Style 9670 smartphone, the first flip-style BlackBerry to offer a full QWERTY keyboard. Expand full review. Photo gallery: RIM BlackBerry Style Photo gallery: RIM BlackBerry Style. The BlackBerry Style marks RIM's second-ever. RIM introduced BlackBerry OS 6 earlier this year, then launched it with an all- new form factor in the Torch, a touchscreen slider.

 

Design

The BlackBerry Style's design has its plusses and minuses. It's convenient, certainly -- clamshell-style phones generally are comfortable to hold when typing and when making calls. But it's also a bit retro, and not necessarily in a hip way. The Style is a bit bulky when compared to some of today's sleeker smartphone, especially those with touch screens, like the Apple iPhone 4 or most of the new Android devices.

My review unit was the steel grey model (a royal purple version won't be available until next month), and the design is attractive. When closed, the Style measures 3.8 inches tall by 2.4 inches by .7 inches thick -- almost as big as the average BlackBerry Curve smartphone. The external display measures 2 inches diagonally, and is all you can see on the face of the phone. It displays a clock and will alert you to new messages. Scrolling with the up and down volume keys on the side of the phone will let you scan through previews of new messages, which is handy.

The Style's hinge mechanism feels sturdy and the phone springs open easily with one hand. When the phone is open, it measures a whopping 6.9 inches tall by 2.4 inches wide by .7 inches thick. On the inside, you get a 2.7-inch display on top, and a full QWERTY keyboard, a trackpad for navigation, and the traditional BlackBerry keys on the bottom. The keyboard is similar to those found on the BlackBerry Bold phones , with a slight ridge between each row of keys. I found it exceptionally easy to use for typing; I was able to compose messages quickly using my thumbs, and only occasionally made typos.

The 2.7-inch display seems small, though, especially when compared to the 4-inch (and larger) displays offered on many Android-based phones today. It is bigger than the 2.4-inch screens offered on most candybar-style BlackBerry phones, such as the Curve and Bold models, though. It offers a resolution of 400 by 360 pixels, which is lower than I'd like to see; even the 2.4-inch screen on the BlackBerry Bold 9700 offers a higher resolution of 480 by 360. Still, most images and text looked clear enough.

Making Calls

While the Style may look a bit bulky and old school when flipped open, it is excessively comfortable to hold during calls. You can easily cradle the phone between your neck and your ear if necessary, and holding it in your hand is just as comfortable.

Voice quality in my test calls made on Sprint's network varied from excellent to fair. I occasionally noticed some garbled voices and background noise, but most of the time, I could hear callers very well and vice versa. The volume level was very good, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trackpad/Keyboard/Screen

Trackpad - I didn't notice any "twisting" of the trackpad on the Style like some reported having on their 9800s. It's very responsive and allows the user to navigate through OS 6 with ease.

Keyboard - I love that the Style has the full QWERTY keyboard. The nice wide keys make typing easy but I personally would have liked them to curve a bit more like the 9650 keys. Overall typing experience is great on the Style. The shape rests comfortably in your hand while typing.

Screen - With the internal screen size only being 2.7" (360x400 pixels), I was pleasantly surprised with how big it seemed. Even while scrolling through websites, I didn't have an issue reading what was on the screen. I will say that the zooming in option takes a bit of practice. One thing that disappointed me with the 9800 was the fact that I couldn't get one of my most used apps, CardStar, to work. Even when using the handheld scanners I couldn't get my Torch to allow the barcodes to scan. On the Style, I had no problems using the app.

Battery

The Style comes with an 1150 mAhr rechargeable battery which made me think I'd have the battery dead by noon. My BlackBerry usage is constant (some would say it is borderline obsessive) throughout the day. On day one I started up the Style at 6 AM and didn't get the red battery icon until 8:30 PM. I felt that was pretty impressive on the first run since even my 9800 didn't last past 5 the first day. On day two I only made it to 6:30 PM and on day three it lasted until 7 PM.

Memory

The Style has 512MB internal flash memory plus the included 8GB microSD card. It runs OS 6 smoothly with plenty of extra space for all your favorite applications & themes (once there 6.0 ready that is).

Camera/Video

The Style has a 5.0 MP camera with flash and takes some pretty nice pictures. There does seem to be a bit of a delay when pressing the trackpad and the camera actually snapping the picture. The biggest issue I have with the device is why the camera is where it is. I would have preferred it be in the same place as the Pearl Flip which would have made taking pictures a lot less awkward. I'm still trying to figure out why someone thought the back of the bottom half was the best place for a camera.

Video quality on the Style is adequate (yes, we all know it could be better) for every day videos.

Software

The BlackBerry Style is the second phone after the BlackBerry Torch to offer the all-new BlackBerry 6 OS. The Style is not a touch-screen phone, though, unlike the Torch. I found that using the touch screen to interact with the BlackBerry OS was a more pleasing experience, but using the BlackBerry 6 OS on a non-touch screen device is still a much better experience than using the older BlackBerry 5 OS.

RIM has overhauled its BlackBerry operating system with the latest version, called BlackBerry 6. The goal behind the redesign was to deliver a powerful, but still user-friendly platform that offers the bells and whistles needed to compete with today's best mobile OSes, like Apple's iOS and Google's Android. And, for the most part, BlackBerry 6 succeeds.

One of the most notable changes to the BlackBerry 6 OS is the new home screen, which offers notifications with previews, so you not only see that you've received a new message, but also who that message is from. You can add content and bookmarks right to the home page, and you can swipe to the left to access your most-used apps and to the right to access your favorites.

BlackBerry 6 OS also features a new universal search that can locate results both on and off your phone; begin typing, and the universal search feature automatically looks on the phone, in RIM's BlackBerry App World, on Google, and in installed apps. In addition, you get a universal inbox that catalogs not just e-mail, but also information from services like Facebook, Twitter, and BlackBerry Messenger.

Like the Torch, the Style will ship with BlackBerry's App World pre-installed on the phone; this is a welcome step, as you had to download the app store to your phone in the past. The updated App World will feature carrier billing, as well as new options for developers to monetize their apps, including in-app purchases, app subscriptions, and ads within apps.

Other new features in the OS include a Unified Social Feed, which lets you access sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace from one app; updated messaging capabilities, which includes the ability to send group messages; and a new podcast app.

Browsing the Web

The new BlackBerry 6 OS comes with an all-new WebKit-based browser, which is designed to offer faster and "more robust" performance. I tested the new browser side-by-side with an older version of BlackBerry's browser on a Curve 8530 smartphone, and the new browser was noticeably faster. Pages rendered much more quickly, and displayed more accurately.

I also was impressed with the browser's new auto-wrap text zoom feature that can "intelligently wrap text in a column while maintaining the placement of a page's key elements," according to RIM. When I zoomed in on a Web page, the text automatically wraps the text to fit the screen.

I did find, however, that using the browser on a phone without a touch screen wasn't as impressive as using it on the BlackBerry Torch. Zooming in and out on the screen with the menu buttons wasn't as precise as when you're able to do so by tapping on the screen. I also found that the Style's smaller screen seemed a bit restrictive when viewing some Web sites.

The Blackberry Style supports Sprint's high-speed 3G network, as well as 802.11b/g/n wireless networks, so you have plenty of options for speedy Web access and downloads.

 

Messaging

The Style retains the excellent messaging features and e-mail handing found on previous BlackBerry phones. Corporate users will like the familiar ability to sync with BlackBerry Enterprise Server, while home users will like the ability to sync up to ten business or personal POP3 or IMAP4 e-mail accounts using BlackBerry Internet Service. You get both a unified inbox, as well as individual inboxes for each account.

RIM has upgraded its text messaging interface, too, as the Style offers a threaded view for reading SMS and MMS messages. In addition, the Style comes with several instant messaging options, including BlackBerry Messenger, AIM, Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger.

Multimedia

BlackBerry 6 OS is supposed to offer an enhanced multimedia experience, according to RIM, and it mostly delivers. The Style features a better music and video player than past BlackBerry phones offered, though its interface is still a bit bland. You also get a built-in YouTube video app, as well as access to many of Sprint's video offerings, including Sprint TV, which offers a mix of live and pre-packaged TV shows, and Sprint Football Live, which lets you view NFL games on the phone.

RIM also has revamped its BlackBerry Desktop Software with new features, like Wi-Fi music sync, which allows you to sync music, photos, and videos from your home computer when you are in range of your home wireless network.

New Features

One of the most hyped features in BlackBerry 6 is the new universal search that can locate results both on and off your phone; begin typing, and the universal search feature automatically looks on the phone, in RIM's BlackBerry App World, on Google, and in installed apps. It works fast and it works well.

Other new features in the OS include a Unified Social Feed, which lets you access sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace from one app; updated messaging capabilities, which includes the ability to send group messages; and a new podcast app. In addition, you get a universal inbox that catalogs not just e-mail, but also information from services like Facebook, Twitter, and BlackBerry Messenger. I also like the new look of the BlackBerry Music player, which has a new emphasis on album art, making it much more attractive.

Available Apps

As of this writing, BlackBerry 6 is available on only one device: the BlackBerry Torch. Thankfully, that phone ships with BlackBerry's App World pre-installed on it; this is a welcome step, as you had to download the app store to your phone in the past.

BlackBerry App World has been updated since I last reviewed it, and it's a much better -- and bigger -- store. Developers can now charge 99 cents or $1.99 for their apps; in the past, apps were free or were priced at $2.99 an up. The updated App World also adds carrier billing through AT&T, as well as new options for developers to monetize their apps, including in-app purchases, app subscriptions, and ads within apps.

But what's perhaps the most important aspect of an app store is its selection, and App World's has improved. The store that launched with around 700 apps now offers more than 5,000. While that number pales in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of apps available in Apple's iPhone App Store, it still represents a decent selection. Sure, App World could stand to grow, but it's current selection of apps is admirable.

Bottom Line

The BlackBerry Style is not as high-style as its name would imply; it's actually more of an old-fashioned-looking phone. But that's not a bad thing. It may not boast a cutting-edge touch screen or a big, giant display, but the Style's style makes it an eminently usable phone.

Blackberyy Price

BlackBerry Style is a well designed phone that comes with attrative looks. BlackBerry Style Price – Click here [via eBay]

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BlackBerry Torch : Specs | Price | Reviews | Test

Though performance could be better and it could stand for some hardware upgrades , the RIM BlackBerry Torch 9800 and BlackBerry OS 6 offer. When we began our review of the BlackBerry Torch (aka the Bold 9800), our hearts were all aflutter. The leaked shots we'd been seeing of. Read gadgetmostwated's full review of the BlackBerry Torch 9800 blackberry from Research in Motion that features a vertical sliding form factor and. The incremental upgrades in BlackBerry's new Torch 9800 won't win over many android or iPhone 4 users, but they should prevent.

blackberry Torch 9800 Expert Review: A slider, a touchscreen, a new approach. But can the Torch keep RIMs fire burning?. If you don't already own a BlackBerry, you will not want this phone. And if you do, you still might not want it, even if it may very well be the "best BlackBerry ever." Today, we've got the new BlackBerry Torch 9800, which RIM calls its best BlackBerry smartphone ever. Are the differences significant?.

What is BlackBerry?

The most exceedingly common observation about the Torch is that it's very much still a BlackBerry. Despite the gloss-speckled new BlackBerry 6 software, despite the retro-quirky slider anatomy, it's a BlackBerry. Well, what is a BlackBerry?
BlackBerry, in the beginning, was a glorified two-way pager. It's slowly evolved from that decade-old core into what it is today. Like Microsoft Office, a lot of people might use it at home, but it's mostly designed for its corporate base. What BlackBerry tends to be good at, and what BlackBerry users love about them clearly exposes those corporate-tinged roots: well-designed hardware keyboards, push email (routed through RIM's servers), BlackBerry Messenger (a robust, addictive BlackBerry-to-BlackBerry instant messaging service), communications security and encryption (see: Obama, Saudi Arabia, UAE). What it's not been good at: basically everything else. I mean, if you want to highlight the philosophical difference between RIM and say, Apple, consider that RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis brags about how carriers love BlackBerrys because they conserve bandwidth, while Apple told AT&T to screw itself when the carrier suggested making the YouTube app less awesome for users by eating less data.
When you see that for the first time since 2007 BlackBerry is not the top-selling smartphone platform in the US, RIM's looming problem seems a lot loomier. The Torch and BlackBerry 6 are RIM's effort to avoid the same kind of fate Windows Mobile suffered by ignoring regular people and leaning too much on corporate IT departments to keep them in business, especially when Apple and Google are making inroads into the workplace.
That's a lot of context to swallow, but understanding the DNA and RIM's incipient existential angst is the only way to understand the Torch: It's like Two Face, but even less focused. Is BlackBerry 6 a touchscreen OS? A trackpad and keyboard OS? Mostly for business users? Regular people? It's not quite sure, and the results can be pretty messy. The psychological split is real, and its imprint dominates nearly every aspect of the phone. FWIW, I'm looking at the phone purely from the role of a consumer—if your boss or IT department is handing you the phone, it's not like you've got a choice anyway. Just thank them for giving you this one.

This is how you put together a phone

Not to rely too much on the trope that the Torch is "like a BlackBerry," but the overarching industrial design and build really is just like everything else RIM has produced over the last year, simply evolved into a chromier slider form factor. While it works, almost shockingly well, because so little else has changed there's a sense of the uncanny, a subtext of indecision surrounds the whole design.
The Torch is as well-built as you could realistically want a phone to feel. The sliding action is smooth, perfectly balanced in the amount of effort it requires to shoot the screen up over the keyboard. It takes a push, and then it zips along the track until it clacks, satisfyingly. And it feels like you can do it 10,000,000 times. The rippled back is the right amount of rubbery, not so much it makes you hands feel weird, but textured enough the phone will never slip from even gross, clammy hands. The only issue is that the lock button on the left corner of the phone is too easy to trigger, so I pulled the phone out of my jeans pocket, an email half-filled out with jibber jabber or random phone number partially dialed, more often than I would've liked to.
The keyboard, ripped from the Bold 9700 is stereotypically fantastic, clicky and ergonomic. It is still one of the best keyboards on any phone out there. The optical trackpad is a suitable trackball replacement, but most of the time, I simply wondered why it was there, since there's a much bigger surface to manipulate—the 3.2-inch screen—right above it.

The screen is a dealbreaker

After nearly a year of staring at screens packed with pixel counts of at least 800x480, the Torch's low-res 480x360 display is a grisly sight. It's like going back to standard definition after a year of HD, and then having a wet fabric softener sheet shoved in between my eyeballs and the screen. Text looks ugly and jaggy compared to the Droid or iPhone. Websites are grosser. Pictures less detailed. It's almost a cruel joke AT&T's playing on RIM, knowing it'll be on pedestals mere feet away from the vastly better screens of the iPhone 4 and the Samsung Captivate. It's unbelievable that anybody's flagship phone in 2010 has a display this low rent. Even if you were absolutely determined to buy a new BlackBerry phone, you should wait for one with a better screen.

Needs more guts

Like the display, the Torch's brains are straight out of 2008. It quickly becomes apparent that the 624MHz processor is too slow. It often hangs and stutters moving from app to app—say from messages to Twitter to Facebook and back to the home screen—pinch-zooming in the browser, or sometimes even moving from app drawer to app drawer on the home screen (the latter less frequently, but it definitely happens). That's even with 512MB of RAM, the same amount as the iPhone 4, Nexus One and other modern phones. Even if you found the performance acceptable (which, if you've spent time with an iPhone 4 or Android 2.2 phone, you won't after about 10 minutes), it means that there's not a lot of headroom for more advanced capabilities down the road: The guts seem like they're being pushed to their max already.

Camera and video

The five-megapixel camera is disappointing, to say the least, even if the software interface is mostly pleasant and mercifully simple, while offering a metric crapload of scenes like a real point-and-shoot, from portrait to party. The only real software drag is that there's no tap to focus, so the easiest way to get creative with depth-of-field or focus on something off center is to half-press the convenience to focus, then recompose the shot. It's the photos and video themselves that disappoint. While they don't lack for detail in daylight, photos do tend to be undersaturated, and at night, the low light performance is pretty lacking. Video, a mere 640x480, doesn't make up for the lower resolution with higher quality, as you can see.

Calling, networking, battery life

The Torch's battery life is up to BlackBerry par, which is to say, thoroughly excellent. I'm talking a day and half of moderate usage, and a day of heavy plowing, without a recharge (granted, I didn't use GPS very often because I didn't like AT&T's map application). Calls are loud and clear, though I noticed a subtle, high-pitched reverb—not quite an echo—in the earpiece whenever I talked, on multiple phone calls. Reception wasn't noticeably bad, but coming out of the subway more than once it took a few minutes to switch from EDGE back to 3G, and people more invested in the signal bar display might be nervous that it's apparently quite sensitive—even as I'm typing, it's bouncing between 4 and 5 bars like an ADHD child who's just been handed a giant box of Nerds. But no serious complaints.

The software: It's schizotastic

If the Torch's dual nature hinted at BlackBerry's psychological discord, BlackBerry OS 6 crystalizes it in a melange of glossy plastic, blue gradients, smoky shading, dull grays and white screencapes. It's largely a mess.
Like Android, BlackBerry OS 6 will ostensibly support phones with and without touchscreens, which means that unlike iOS, Windows Phone 7 or webOS, it's doomed from the outset to a lack of clarity. RIM has more or less embraced that fact, so proliferation, a scattershot explosion of choices, seems to be the operating principle. Sure, there are a million ways to accomplish any one task, but it means there's no obvious right way to do it either. It's conceptually slippery.
Examples! The front end of the interface is glossy, stylized, and not un-pretty. Dive into an options menu and it's like being hurled back into Palm OS circa 2005. It's highly incongruous. Or, more fundamentally, the way BlackBerry OS 6 integrates social networking, as most modern phones are wont to do. As you might've seen, it does this in a couple of ways. There's a social feeds app that, as you might expect, pulls in feeds from Twitter, Facebook, BBM, RSS and more, creating a single stream, so you don't have to dive into individual apps. The official Twitter and Facebook apps are baked into the OS as well, and they plug into the central notifications system and universal inbox. So, when there are new items in your Twitter or Facebook stream, you'll get a message in the universal "messages" inbox (which collects emails, texts, etc.) that you have new feed items waiting; there's the social feeds app; and there's the individual apps for Facebook and Twitter. If you have actual Facebook or Twitter messages, like a DM, they'll show up in the universal inboxand in the main notifications display on top of the homescreen. The only way to clear the messages count is to dive into the actual apps and read them—the social feeds app won't work for this. Like I said, it's messy, and at least initially, confusing, even though the idea of a single stream or inbox sounds fantastic. It's the implementation that fails.
The homescreen feels conceptually muddled too. Rather than going for a full desktop with definable shortcuts and widgets all over the screen, like Android, it blends a drawer system with a half-desktop metaphor in a way that's less than natural. A handful of icons are visible, which can be dragged up, like a drawer opening skyward, to reveal more icons—apps or now, contacts—hidden below. When the drawer isn't "open," most of the screen is wasted space, just an expanse of wallpaper between the four visible icons and the status bar above. Flicking left or right takes you to a different "drawer" (or "panel," in Android parlance). Each one is a section, like frequent apps, media apps, or downloaded apps. Oh, one interesting point is the pause RIM has inserted into sliding between drawers. It registers your flick, takes a second, and then moves to the next drawer. It's an odd behavior, but so consistent it has to be deliberate. At the top is one of the more useful aspects of the homescreen, a notifications window like Android's—touching it drops down a list of messages and events from email or Twitter or whatever.
Universal search is awesome, and very much what it should be. If there's one thing done truly well, interface-wise it's universal search. Start typing for a contact, an app, a song, an email, whatever—it'll pull it up, or offer to search the web, YouTube, App World and others. You can basically bypass the rest of the interface for getting to something, at least a good portion of the time.
The touch keyboard is passable, but I don't think you'll ever use it over the real one. Otherwise, why did you buy this thing?
The BlackBerry 6 browser, now running on WebKit, is mostly on par with what other phones are offering—since they're using WebKit too—but not exceptional. The interface is cleaned up, and better, with a combined search/address bar. It rendered most pages the way it should (albeit still with no Flash), though in real world testing over Wi-Fi, it never beat an iPhone 4 on the handful of pages I tried, like Giz. Pinch to zoom can be laggy, particularly if a page is still loading. It is predictable and can be fairly smooth, once everything's loaded. (Oddly, the whizzy effects to twirl between tabs never stuttered.)
Email also uses WebKit for HTML rendering now, and while the perks of BlackBerry are still there—hello, push Gmail—there are subtle annoyances, particularly when it comes to Gmail. For instance, a threaded conversation doesn't show the sender of the email, simply the number of items and the subject. Moreover, for most people, the split between the phone's inbox and the server's—which doesn't exist with standard IMAP implementations, or a Gmail app—feels awkward. The app itself is conservative, aesthetically. There's a way to make email beautiful and functional; Windows Phone 7's proven it. The allure of BBM as the be-all, end-all of mobile instant messaging is slightly diminished as well, given that Google Talk for Android accomplishes most of what I'd want it to do, and crosses the boundaries between phone and desktop.
The music and video apps are indeed nicer, even if RIM's implementation of perma-Cover Flow is gratuitous. Say you have an album queued up—above the player interface is a carousel of album art, repeated 10 times, or however many songs are on the album. You can flick through to jump to whichever track you want, but seeing the art repeated over and over is just odd. (I didn't get to test wireless desktop syncing, the feature I was most exciting about, unfortunately.)
It's strange that RIM sacrifices its own software at the whim of a carrier deal. BlackBerry Maps has been refreshed and made better, but you can't actually use it. You're stuck with AT&T Maps, which is slow and made me yearn for Google or Bing Maps. (You can sneak a peek at BlackBerry Maps if you try to preview your location inside of BlackBerry Messenger after sharing it. I wish I could've actually used it.) There's even a separate AT&T AppCenter, which wasn't quite working when I tried to access. Are people supposed to use the newly better BlackBerry App World (with carrier billing), or AT&T's AppCenter? Other crapware includes AT&T Navigator, AT&T YellowPages, to start. It's kind of an odd message to developers, whom RIM needs, in a way. BlackBerry's become a distant priority behind iOS and Android for many, and a lot of the apps that are cross-platform are grossly inferior or straight up ugly on BlackBerry. (I'm thinking of Facebook and Foursquare, in particular.)

What it all means

The distillation of this grand mishmash of observations and scenarios is this: BlackBerry isn't good enough anymore if you're comparing it to other smartphones. What does it do betterthan the rest? That's the fundamental question. And the answer is that for most people, in most situations, compared to Android and iPhone, not a whole lot.

People who love BlackBerry exactly the way it is will like the Torch and BlackBerry 6, because it's pretty much the same. It offers a lot of marginal improvements in a lot of places—like the browser—even if it makes a mess of some things. That said, in a few months, they might like it a lot less. Nielsen numbers show that half of BlackBerry users are thinking about switching. This won't change their mind. And even with all of those corporate accounts locked down tight, it's hard to say that's not a problem.
Maybe RIM's too big, too entrenched to build the kind of phone that'll make people want a BlackBerry again. But they could've at least given the damn thing a better screen.

BlackBerry Torch Unlocked Price

Despite the fact that the Blackberry Torch is a very high-end model, you can still get it for cheap. With an unlocked BlackBerry you can select your own provider and plan. By making a keen selection, you can save a lot of money! The Price for the BlackBerry is all over the place. It all kind of depends on where you look and where you want to buy a Blackberry. However, I've seen some pretty sharp BlackBerry Unlocked Phone prices online. BlackBerry 9800 Torch Best Price - Click Here! Continue Reading

New Best iPad 2 Apps 2011

New Best iPad 2 Apps from over 200.000 applications, providing and reviewing iPad 2 apps, New apps for iPad 2: iMovie, FaceTime, GarageBand, Photo Booth iPad 2. Here is a compiled list of the Best apps for iPad 2. These apps  are iPad 2 Apps. Get the lowdown on the best applications for the new iPad 2 following list exhibits best eight iPad music apps and iPad ebook iPad 2 and the iPad Smart Cover are made for each other. Technology is at its best when it feels completely natural, almost like there's no technology at all. And it's just the beginning of better-than-ever iPad 2 apps.

We already know about the applications that will be pre-installed on the iPad 2 (pictured above). Joining the staple bunch of iOS tools (Photos, Contacts, Calendar, Maps, YouTube, etc.) will be the face-to-face chat app, FaceTime and the wacky image effect generator, Photo Booth.

But what other apps are going to look great on the iPad 2, and what HD versions of existing iOS can we expect to see for the new Apple tablet?

GarageBand

Available as a purchase from the App Store, the iPad version of Apple’s famed audio editor for dummies will let you produce and record music wherever you go. The application includes virtual instruments, an eight-track recording studio, and the ability to share your finished creations with the World.

iMovie

Another app announced at the launch of the iPad 2, iMovie will allow you to make slick movies from the footage shot on the on-board video camera. The program includes pre-installed themes to suit the style of your video. You can add photos taken on the device to your movies, as well as importing or recording audio. All the editing tools are housed within an easy-to-use, tactile interface.

Twitter for iPad

Probably the first thing you’ll want to do when you get your iPad 2 is shout the news from the rooftops to make everyone jealous. Install Twitter for iPad and you’ll be able to make the announcement in style. The official app looks gorgeous and is perfectly suited for uploading all the gorgeous photos and videos you’ll be shooting on your tablet.

Instagram

One of the sensations of the year so far, Instagram will surely be set for a HD release now that the iPad has a camera built in. Until then, you can use the awesome iPhone version to apply a bit of artistic fun to your photos. The application lets you run your photos through a dozen different filters, sharing your creations with the thriving Instagram community.

Skype

I’d bet my horse on seeing a version of Skype for iPad by the end of the year. Video chat will be a delightful experience on the second generation iPad and the limitations of FaceTime (i.e. not everyone can use it) will make Skype the go-to app for this. Hopefully, we’ll see the introduction of multi-video chat for iOS, too, which will look great on the iPad 2 screen.

VEVO HD

iOS 4.3 allows users to stream content from third-party apps from their iOS to their Apple TV, through the new AirPlay functionality. Unlike Netflix, which doesn’t plan to support the feature, VEVO HD will allow users to watch its video content on a bigger screen. The app boasts a collection of more than 25,000 music videos available to enjoy on your iPad 2 or television.

Photoshop

Adobe has already suggested that it might bring a fully fledged version Photoshop to the iPad 2, as a standalone app and/or a companion tool to attach to your computer. The inclusion of the camera, and the beefed up A5 dual core processor make the iPad 2 a capable platform for a fully formed Photoshop product. Until this release, however, you’ll be able to tweak and tinker with your iPad 2 images using the Express version of Photoshop for iOS.

Infinity Blade

iPad gaming is set to get even better thanks to the iPad 2’s new processor and faster graphics engine. What better way to demo its awesomeness than by playing Chair’s Unreal engine-powered, Infinity Blade? The graphics are among the best you’ll see on the iOS platform and the cut and thrust gameplay is great fun, to boot.

Dead Space HD

Another game that’s going to play a treat on the iPad 2 is Dead Space HD. The atmospheric shooter is the scariest I’ve played in a long time, and the terrifying aliens and creepy music are so impressive in high definition. Unlike Infinity Blade, Dead Space HD is quite thought-provoking, and you need your problem-solving skills if you want to get off the planet alive.

Helsing’s Fire HD

Our resident game lord, Jon, this week described Helsing’s Fire HD as 'one of the best iOS games you’ll play'. He hailed the presentation as the best ever on the platform, and reckons this puzzle-style adventure game is one of the first things you should add to your list of stuff to install on your new iPad 2.

Best iPad 2 apps : The big announcement today was about not only the iPad 2 but the color white for iPad 2. The iPhone 4 was supposed to have a white product but it is Here are some cute and cool iPad apps for children. See books and games for little kids all the way to seven years and up So you just got your new iPad 2. Or you have already had your iPad one of the best uses of the iPad that I have seen in a long time and Apple posts some guided tours of the new apps for iPad 2. but it needs to be said: the iPad 2 isn't just the best  tablet on the iPhone And iPad Apps Gone Free: Shift! 2, Squawk, TowerMadness HD, And More apps available.

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