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BlackBerry 8820 held a record in BlackBerry history for being the first unit of its kind to have an integrated Wi-Fi. 8820 retained a number of features that were present already in previous BlackBerry units and what emerged was a smartphone targeted to corporate users who valued performance more than entertainment values. 8820 is released under AT&T.

BlackBerry 8820 is reminiscent to the design of its predecessor, the BlackBerry 8800. With the following measurement: 4.5 x 2.6 x 0.5 inches, the black and sleek 8820 weighs 4.7 ounces. The phone being somewhat wide as compared to a majority of smartphones makes phone calls and texting a bit uncomfortable for users. Its 2.5 inch screen features 65K colors at a resolution of 320 x 20 pixels. Texts and images look vibrant and automatic backlighting adjustments are also included in the unit.

Below the screen is a full QWERTY keyboard that is identical with the BlackBerry 8800. It also includes the Talk and End Keys, Menu and Escape buttons and the trackball navigator. The right portion of the phone is where the volume controls are located, while in the left are the mini USB port, 2.5 millimeter headset jack and a pre-defined key that launches the PTT or Push-to-talk services of AT&T. A microSD expansion slot is located behind the battery.

The top portion is where the power and mute buttons are located. As mentioned earlier, the BlackBerry 8820 doesn’t include a camera. What will always remain as the best feature of the BlackBerry 8820, or any BlackBerry phones for that matter, is its excellent e-mail features. The e-mail application is very easy to set up and users can load up to ten e-mails accounts.

Synching the phone to users of IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange or Novell GroupWise is possible with a BlackBerry Enterprise Server subscription. A preloaded BlackBerry Messenger is also included and users can easily download versions of AIM, Google Talk and Yahoo Messenger for every user’s instant messaging needs.

The 8820 supports Wi-Fi connectivity and T-Mobile HotSpot. Thanks to EDGE connection, loading with sites such as ESPN and CNN using the 8820 is faster. Viewing web sites with 8820 is possible with Page View or Desktop View options, although its always recommendable to use the Desktop. A built-in GPS support is also included that is very helpful for drivers.

Even without the camera, the 8820 still walks up a notch in mobile technology by featuring multimedia features. It includes a media player that can play MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, and eAAC+ music formats and MPEG-4 P2, H.263, and WMV video formats. It also offers music streaming via XM Radio although BlackBerry asks for extra charge for such features.

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Research In Motion Ltd, or RIM, has attempted to bridge the gap between the casual buyer and the corporate world with the new Blackberry 8800. The new smartphone is still aimed at business moguls but RIM gave it a little twist for the tech savvy yuppies who are also always on the go. Blackberry 8800 is more like a combination of the strictly business 8700 and the consumer-oriented Pearl.

The Blackberry 8800 is stylishly designed with its thin and sleek built, measuring 114 x 66 x 14 mm and weighing 134 g including its battery. Sure, it’s a little longer than the 8700c, but it’s unquestionably thinner. It is easier to slip into your purse or pocket. However, the phone is considerably wide, making it awkward to hold it to your ear during a call. Its smooth and glossy appearance matched with a bright color screen would surely catch your eye. It is coated in a deep midnight blue and chrome accents, giving it a sexy allure.

This blackberry unit sports a stunning 2.5 in. screen with a 320 x 240 pixels and 65,000-color primary display resolution, which has a light-sensing technology feature that adjusts the backlighting of the screen automatically depending on your location—indoors or outdoors.
With the said technology, texts and images are remarkably clear and vibrant even under harsh lighting. The light-sensing feature also adjusts the backlighting of the keyboard and trackball as well.

The 8800 is just the right size for comfortably typing with both thumbs on its full QWERTY keyboard and the same time, small enough for single hand typing whenever necessary. This is remarkable as most QWERTY type phones cannot pull this off. However, people with large hands may find it a little cramped and too small for their thumbs.

As a rip off from the Blackberry Pearl, this unit also sports a glowing pearly white trackball instead of the jog dial that most businessmen have gotten used to. Yes, it make some time getting used to but we must admit, a glowing orb is definitely more attractive than a primitive jog wheel on the side. Don’t you just love having a pearl to slide your thumb onto? This elegant trackball offers five-way navigation, making paragraph and specific letter navigation a lot easier.

Blackberries have been famous for its superb email capability and the 8800 is of course adequately equipped with the famed push technology. It can also sync with the Blackberry Enterprise server of your company supported by IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange or Novell GroupWise for real-time delivery of corporate email. What’s more, the unit can support up to 10 email accounts, which can include POP3 and IMAP4. However, its wireless option is limited to Bluetooth 2.0 and there is no A2DP support for stereo headphones. The device also has no Wi-Fi capability and 3G connectivity. It operates on EDGE for net surfing, which supports HTML Web browsing.

The quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; EDGE) smartphone also has built-in GPS and Push-to-Talk (PTT) feature—added functionalities that can be extremely useful to people who rely heavily on electronic gadgets.

As it this smartphone is a crossbreed of business and leisure, the 8800 included built-in media player which supports MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, and MIDI formats for music and MPEG4, WMV, and H.263 files for videos. However, as it still more business-focused, it excluded camera in its list of features.

The Blackberry 8800 comes with a 64MB of flash memory but a separate microSD card would come in handy if you plan to use it for your daily commute playlist of songs. RIM promises a 5-hour talk time and up to 22 days standby time on this device.

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While some have dubbed that the RIM BlackBerry 8703e the best last generation BlackBerry, it’s safer to say that BlackBerry has been very consistent in offering the best set of gadgets that will cater every corporate users’ needs and every new release means that there is something new to offer. Released by Verizon Wireless, 8703e retains BlackBerry’s strong foundation in e-mail support with a number of other offerings.

The design of 8703e is reminiscent to that of the GSM BlackBerry 8700g, with a dimension of 4.3 x 2.7 x 0.8 inches and a weight of 4.7 ounces. 8703e is quite bulky as compared to the Pearl series but it is advantageous in the sense that it features a full QWERTY keypad unlike the SureType which has been source of complaint by many Pearl users. It features a large 2.5-inch diagonal QVGA display, showing 65,536 colors TFT at a 320 x 240 pixels resolution. Texts, images and videos can be viewed at its best in 8703e, as they appear sharp and bright. Automatic backlighting adjustments are also included. Font size and some other options can also be adjusted in the Options menu. Aside from the QWERTY keyboard, the phone also includes a Talk and End Buttons located below the display.

There is also a middle button which can be programmed that will launch other application. On the left side of BlackBerry 8703e is the 2.5mm headset jack, a mini USB port and a customizable soft key. The top portion is where power button and mute key are located, while the back side is where the speakerphone is located. Blackberry 8703e is perfect for everyone’s e-mail needs as it is compatible with Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino or Novell GroupWise servers and send and receive e-mail in real time. Setting up an e-mail account is also possible in 8703e by going to the E-mail setting utility on the device and entering the e-mail address and password. The phone also has the capability of opening attachments of any popular file formats like Word, Excel, Power Point, PDF and JPEG. However, it doesn’t have any preloaded instant-messaging clients although it still supports SMS and MMS.

Connectivity features of 8703e includes 3G that enables users to connect and browse the Web at speeds up to 2Mbps. Bluetooth 2.0 is also integrated, but is limited to synching Bluetooth-enabled PCs, headsets and hands-free kits. The unit can also act as a modem for a laptop using a USB cable only if the user is signed up for Verizon Wireless’ BroadBand Access Connect service.
The big drawback with 8703e is that it doesn’t have any multimedia capabilities like audio, camera or video player. The unit does include a single game, Brick Breaker. Nevertheless, these lacks may still not raise a big issue among strict corporate users.

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RIM BlackBerry 8700g marked the reborn of BlackBerry in 2006 after almost a year of not releasing a new line up of products. Released by T-Mobile, BlackBerry 8700g is also known as 8700c under Cingular, exceeded a number of expectations since the release of BlackBerry 7290. Among BlackBerry 8700g’s cool features are the QWERTY keyboard, EDGE and Bluetooth 2.0.

One of the biggest improvements of the BlackBerry 8700g is its more sleek and compact package, although its square design could still be a little bulky and uncomfortable at times. It has a dimension of 4.3 x 2.7 x 0.7 inches and a weight of 4.7 ounces. This black-silver gadget features a bright, 2.5-inch QVGA display with 65K colors at a 320 x 240 pixel resolution that surely make texts and images look sharp and clearly-defined. A light sensing technology is also included to automatically adjust the brightness and contrast of the screen according to the environment. A small LED is also installed above the screen. It will flash various colors depending the nature of an alert: network activity, message notification, low battery or Bluetooth connectivity. 8700g’s spacious QWERTY keyboard below the screen have resulted to mix reviews. Some have commented with its slippery feel it while others claimed that they had no problems especially with sending e-mail messages.

Aside from the QWERTY, the phone also includes a dedicated Call, End and soft keys. A USB Port and headset jack is located on the left side while the mute button is on the top edge of the device. Connectivity options with 8700g are one of its greatest assets. It supports T-Mobile EDGE which results to a better and faster web browsing and downloading.

BlackBerry’s e-mailing capabilities have always been fantastic and have become better with the inclusion of the push e-mail technology for bringing and sending messages in real time, as well as supporting Yahoo Web mail accounts. 8700g also accommodate ten e-mail accounts and supports Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, IMAP and POP3 e-mail accounts. An attachment viewer for popular file formats, like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF and JPEG is also included. 8700g also includes the following applications: calendar, web browser, tasks list, memo pad, alarm, and calculator. Multimedia capabilities with 8700g are limited as it lacks audio and video player. Only one game is also included in the unit: Brick Breaker.

Calling with 8700g is never disappointing as the call quality has always been good. It can get about four hours of talk time and five days of standby time. Its lack of pre-installed instant messaging software may appear disappointing at first, although users can choose to download Oz’s instant messenger client which also supports AIM, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ and MSN.

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Think of the possibilities of the future. It’s not really that a long time ago when you were wishing that you could conveniently bring with you all the information and documents that you need in every place you need to go. While you had the convenience of a laptop to bring your office documents and a mobile phone which enables you to connect with all the contacts that you need to talk to, you still had this illusion that one day a gadget will surface to merge these capabilities. Blackberry 7100i answers this demand.

The Blackberry 7100i is definitely a convergence of aesthetics and technology, throwing away the old-school square Blackberrys and incorporating an edgy and angular professional look. This smartphone released by Sprint Nextel has a dimension of 4.7 X 2.3 X 0.9 inches and has a weight of 4.2 ounces, making it a very comfortable gadget to carry and to keep on the pockets.

Blackberry 7100i’s 2.25″ screen displays 65K colors in a 20 X 260 pixel screen. Its full vibrant color allows users to comfortably read documents, write emails, and surf the web. The screen when viewed in direct sunlight maybe washed out.

The reduced QWERTY keypad is also an improvement, as it helped in condensing the bulk. Above the keypad is the navigational controls which include Send and End keys. 7100i also includes a trackwheel and escape key in the right for navigation in the menu and e-mail messages. The left side includes the Walkie-Talkie Key, USB port and the Headset Jack. The top includes the power button and speakerphone. On the top is where the LED indicator is also located, to alert users for new messages or any other new information. The external antenna which is also located on top, adds an extra 0.75 inch of bulk. The speakerphone is located on the backside of the phone.

Blackberry 7100i’s connectivity features include GPS technology that supports in the navigation of directions, which is a very important feature for drivers asking for directions. The 7100i can easily supply routes. The push-to-talk technology enables the Talkgroup service which works like a Walkie Talkie for Nextel users who are on the same Nextel Walkie Talkie network. It also offers Bluetooth technology, USB and users can connect to the Internet via WAP. Blackberry is popular to business users because it includes a function that safeguards important information like messages, address book entries, calendar entries, memos and tasks. Microsoft Word can also be launched in Blackberry 7100i.

Communicating in realtime is also possible with Blackberry 7100 with the inclusion of mobile version of instant messaging platforms like AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Yahoo! Messenger, and ICQ . And aside from it’s email capabilities where it is the most popular, it can also open attachments as well whether they are documents from Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Corel WordPerfect, Adobe PDF, Zip Archives, HTML, and ASCII files.

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