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The Apple iPhone, which combined regular mobile phone capabilities with Apple’s iPod high quality MP3 player, has created hype in the world of smartphone fanatics with its sophisticated and sleek design. Yes, it looks a bit broad in its candy bar style and QWERTY keyboard layout. And looking bulky at 2.4 in x 4.6 in x 0.7 in and heavy at 4.8 oz. However, it surprisingly fits just perfectly nice in the hand. It is antenna integrated. It boasts of a whopping 3.5-inch glass touchscreen, which has a resolution of 480×320 pixels and 32-bit (128 colors) that gives a stunningly vibrant user interface.

As a full iPod Nano, it contains all the 5G iPod features, such as high-quality videos, iTunes music and podcasts. Moreover, it allows you to browse music from album to album, with cover in pretty artworks as you choose the song you want to listen to. It uses 4gb or 8gb flash memory for bigger audio and video storage capacity.

As a phone, it asserts to have 8hrs talk time and 250 battery hours on standby. It has all the essentials of a mobile phone such as automatic redial, call divert, call hold, call timer, caller ID, call waiting, volume control, ringer control, conference call capability, computer link, call transfer,  speakerphone, polyphonic ringer, voice mail capability, multimedia messaging service (MMS) and short messaging service (SMS). Of course, it also has a digital camera and digital player.

As for connectivity options, iPhone features WiFi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0. It also offers full internet browsing and push email options, which include IMAP and POP3 exchange services of Microsoft, and Push-IMAP or Push extensions for Internet Message Access Protocol. It uses GSM (Global System for Mobile communications, GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) for cellular enhancement protocol.

iPhone operates on Darwin, a Mac OS X version open source linux computer operating system; and is also quad band calling supported, with GSM) 850, 900, 1800 and 1900, taking you to more places around the world.

On top of all these a new, and rather ingenious feature called accelerometer, would surely impress you with its capability to recognize which way up the phone is, automatically reorienting itself when you flip the unit from portrait to landscape. The same feature, which uses motion/proximity sensor, also switches the screen off during a call to avoid accidentally pressing the buttons on the screen.

The iPhone services are provided by AT&T, formerly Cingular Wireless.

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Calling and receiving messages around the world is now possible with Verizon Wireless’ release of the RIM BlackBerry 8830. The bland BlackBerry smartphone is now out with this phone’s integration of EV-DO support and multimedia capabilities but there is still no camera for this unit.

The BlackBerry 8830 has a dimension of 4.9 x 2.6 x 0.55 inches and a weight of 4.73 ounces. Although the unit is slim, it is one of the larger BlackBerry because of its taller and wider body, probably to give room to its spacious QWERTY keyboard and trackball that are reminiscent of the 8800. The 2.5 inch screen features a 65k color display at a 320 x 240 pixel resolution. Texts and pictures are sharp and bright and are still viewable even in darker environments, thanks to the automatic backlighting adjustment of the screen.

The volume controls are located on the right portion of the phone while the 2.5 mm headset jack, mini USB port and a predefined key for launching voice dial on the right side. The power and mute buttons are located on the top of the unit. One disappointment in this phone is the location of the miniSD expansion slot behind the battery cover.

The biggest feature of the BlackBerry 8830 is the dual-mode functionality that automatically switches between CDMA and GSM networks for international roaming, without changing the phone number. This means that users can get voice coverage in 157 countries and e-mail coverage in 2 countries, but these services of course, incur charges. Additional features include speakerphone, smart dialing, speed dialing and conference calling.

Connectivity options with 880 include Bluetooth 2.0 for wireless headsets and hand-free kits. The unit can also be used as a wireless modem for laptops. The unit’s support with EV-DO means that users can experience data speeds of 300Kbps to 600Kbps which makes web browsing seamless. The phone also has not only one, but two available GPS programs for driving directions

8830′s e-mail capabilities fared well with other BlackBerry models, especially with the retaining of the Push technology in sending and receiving e-mails real tim and synching with BlackBerry Enterprise server that support for Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, or Novell GroupWise. Messaging options include SMS and MMS. Instant messaging is only limited to the BlackBerry Messenger client.

Voice dialing is easy with 8830 and the quality of sound during calls is always excellent. Talk time can reach to five and a half hours. Multimedia features in 8830 include music and video players, although the lack of camera still results to a mixed reaction among corporate users and pure mobile enthusiasts.

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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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