Monday 13 July 2009

Not Your Fathers Phone: The New BlackBerry Curve 8900

By Allen F. Baker

BlackBerry phones are very popular among business people. They have numerous corporate applications which make them invaluable to anyone working for a large business. The phones do not have many apps or features that would appeal to the regular person. For a while the phones have been absent of multimedia functions such as being able to stream movies, music, or even feature a substantial web browser. This has been true about BlackBerry phones until now. The new RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 phone offers customers a brand new way to enjoy a BlackBerry. The new Curve 8900 features a great list of user friendly apps which makes the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 a great phone not only for business people but for anyone as well.

The RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 has numerous design improvements over many other phones in the BlackBerry family. It is the thinnest phone to date featuring a full QWERTY keyboard. In a world of bulky full QWERTY phones the BlackBerry Curve 8900 is a very welcome addition. The phone was also designed with smooth edges and clean lines allowing it to fit neatly in ones pocket or hand. While the phone is made of plastic it is quite durable. The phone utilizes different paints and finishes to improve its durability. The phone looks better than previous BlackBerry curves as well. It was given a nice modern sleek look which will help it appeal to a wider audience (BlackBerrys are known to be popular among business men and women). The Curve 8900s screen supports 65,536 colors at a 480x360 resolution, which is an amazing display. The phones screen displays color with an extra level of brightness and sharpness that cant be beat by most phones. While the BlackBerry 8900 is smaller than most BlackBerry phones the keyboard is still easy to use. Despite its size typing is very simple. The keys are raised above the phone and feel very tactile. They are even backlit which make typing in the dark easy as well.

This phone has a wide variety of functions that make it useful for business people as well as enjoyable for casual users. For starters one doesnt need to download an application to open and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. A Curve 8900 user can do that right off that bat with the new DataViz program. Alternatively the phone features an improved web browser that supports full HTML. Wi-Fi is readily available and allows users to surf the web fairly quickly as well as stream movie and music. With the new web service users are even now able to watch YouTube clips from their BlackBerry. Unfortunately compared with other phones the web surfing is rather slow because of the phones lack of any 3G support.

The camera found on the Curve 8900 was clearly improved on. The Curve features a 3.2-megapixel lens which is vastly improved over the previous 2 megapixels found on other BlackBerry phones. The picture quality was good but be wary of taking photos in dark areas. The camera can even record video. Similarly the video quality was decent but it was rather grainy.

The actual phone performs very well. The microphone does a good job at not picking up any background noise so the person on the other line will not have any trouble understanding you. Also the speakerphone was quite functional. The volume was adequate and there wasnt much distortion coming through the speaker when the volume was increased.

BlackBerry has finally released a phone that the general public can enjoy. In the past BlackBerry phones have generally only been suitable for business people. But the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 is a phone everyone can enjoy.

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