BlackBerry Rules the Smartphone Roost

February 8, 2008 · Comments

Kari Swishers Blackberry BlackBerry users rejoice: we are still currently on top of the smartphone heap for now. iPhone is #2. Why does this provoke me to do a bit of cheering and hoist Kara Swisher’s Jolly Rogers? Well, realizing that it’s as temporary as my belief that the New England Patriots were going to go 25-0 (halfway into the next season) instead of somehow falling short in the SuperBowl, I think it’s important to pause and consider why. ( Mary-Lynn, are you listening?)

Email

People want their email. It’s the main request for mobile devices. We BlackBerry types have used email for years. We wanted the Internet and cameras (just showed up in Berries a year ago). But the rest of you seeking smartphone features wanted email.

Note: my BlackBerry Curve supports 10 email accounts on one phone, so I get my primary mail service (Gmail) plus my corporate, plus 8 more.

Buttons

Yes, I’ll grant that the iPhone is sexy, and that for a while, it sucked conversations out of the room because once one came out, everyone would stop what they were talking about and go into how hot iPhones are. But here’s one: my phone has buttons. I can type words the first time, without asking Apple to guess what I’m saying. (Given some of the more arcane curse words I sometimes type, I don’t want Apple guessing). This becomes useful when typing under the table in meetings.

Everything Else

Okay, the iPhone is a media killer. It’s half iPod on its mother’s side. You win there. It’s a better browsing platform. Even now that I have wifi, the iPhone has a much nicer browser. The widgets you can put on an iPhone are amazing. You’ve got all that, and I won’t take that away.

So the question becomes: what do you want from your phone? After voice, what comes next?

Tell you what I want to do on my BlackBerry Curve: edit the menus. There are options there I will *never* push. Can I remove them? I haven’t found out how yet.

And before you get all “you hate Apple” on me, I’m writing this on a black Macbook, which is seven feet from a white Macbook, which is 15 feet from a Mini, 20 feet from an old iMac, and 30 feet from an Apple TV.

What’s your phone of choice?

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  • This is the conversation thats been going on in my head for a while! I love my Blackberry 8800 but its just not 'mac' enough for me. If the iphone had a real keyboard with no 'guess what I'm writing' software I would make the change on our next tech refresh.
    I will probably make the move to Iphone, because I don't want to carry my blackberry and an ipod. Two things to remember to pick up, two things to charge up, two different interfaces to learn. Blackberry and Pocket Mac arguments to deal with.
    What I want after voice is email, and after that I want my podcasts!
  • I have an HTC 8525 (sold under the AT&T name) and I love it.

    I don't want a phone that is an mp3 player as I have an ipod for that. But I do want a phone that works with my office Exchange server, sends email on the road, has internet access, and can take decent pics. As a bonus there is some software that allows me to turn my smartphone into a mobile wifi router. This means I can hook my macbook up to the net anywhere I can get a wifi signal without having to pay for local wifi at Starbucks or an airport or wherever.

    I got this phone over the iphone for one simple reason. The HTC 8525 is not a first generation device... they've worked out a lot of bugs. Whereas the iphone is still early in its development and has loads of quirks I wouldn't like. And the lack of a qwerty keyboard is a total deal breaker.
  • I'm a strictly Windows Mobile kinda guy as well.

    Email on the go is great with Direct Push - yes I know you can get mail pushed to you with your Blackberry but that requires a extra layer (the BES) whereas Exchange + Windows Mobile includes everythnig you need natively.

    I agree with you Chris, that a keyboard is handy (having come from the T-Mobile branded version of the HTC TyTN/8525 as Adam mentioned). I have, however, just moved away from a QWERTY to a 16 key phone. I couldn't go totally touch though I don't think.

    Natively creating/editing Office documents (including 2007) is another key feature for me, as is web access. OK, Pocket IE isn't the best browser but it gets me by until Opera 9.5 or SkyFire are released.

    The key is choice though am I'm glad we have one.
  • I currently rock a T-Mobile Dash and love it. It was a toss up between it and the blackberry pearl (at the time). I went with the Dash for mobile IE and window media player. But now that it's been over a year since I've had it, the media player wasn't as important as most web video is either flash or QT, which neither will play. So really, the only complaint I have is the video size that it records at. I wish it were of the same quality as the Nokia's.

    For my next phone? Well I just figured out that the 8gb iPhone is the same price as my 16gb Touch that I just got and confirmed that I can get it to work with T-Mobile, so I might be trading in the Touch for one of those. Otherwise I was looking at getting T-Mobile's Wing. It's a touch screen, full keyboard flip out, windows mobile phone. But I'm in no hurry. I just love having everything on my mobile.
  • Chris, I don't know if you're a cell phone obsessive like me, but I've definitely gone through my share of phones trying to find the elusive "perfect fit."

    This past year I've owned: Blackberry 8700c, Blackberry 8700g, Blackberry Pearl, Samsung Blackjack, Nokia n95, HTC 8525, Blackberry Curve, RAZR, and finally iPhone.

    Let me first say that I was on dumbphones until I opted for the data plan and to receive emails. Once I was onto mobile mail, I could barely stand anything that wasn't PUSH -- even the iPhone tests me when it comes to PUSH.

    So I went through 10 or so phones, and then stopped cold turkey when I got the iPhone. Its sheer utility in the web browser's ability for me to check real web-sites on the go, easily get weather, stocks, and directions are absolutely amazing.

    The key drawbacks, as has been said ad naseum:

    no keyboard (using this in the cold is a horrific experience)
    no push email
    bad bad battery life

    Now to counter, I've learned to live with this keyboard and after having my iPhone locked, and being forced back to my 8700g, I feel like my typing is slowed on the Blackberry. And I have found an iPod backup battery charger, which by no means helps the iPhone's beautiful lines, at least it keeps me online when on planes, trains, and automobiles...

    Once blackberry releases HTML rendering, I think we'll see some iPhone users reconsider their BB, as frankly, reading HTML markup on my blackberry is just plain unbearable.

    And if you guys need any advice on phones, lend me a shout !
  • LEMills
    I loved my treo and some of the apps it had, but its loss has been overshadowed by my love for the Curve. Decked out with Opera and a gaggle of Google apps, it's all I need for access on the go. And because I can't seem to leave my little Fujitsu notebook behind, the Curve is my modem, too.

    All that *and* "cut and paste".
    -L.
  • I've got my Sanyo Katana, which isn't a smartphone at all. But it does SMS and voice, which is really all I need it to do at this point.
    I'm too cheap to get one right now, but if I were to come across a sum of money (and be stupid enough to not put it towards paying off my RIT bills) I think I might lean towards an iPhone, if only for the fact that I carry 4 things with me practically all the time: my wallet, my keys, my phone, and my iPod. With an iPhone, it'd consolidate the last two. And I think I could get used to the non-keyboard. Maybe.
    Of course, I don't know much in the realm of smartphones, and really am just going by your descriptions.
  • I agree, the blackberry is everything I need it to be. I have used the iPhone myself and just can't get the typing to work for me. I'm sure with time though I would get used to it. For music, I just use a nano which isn't too much more to lug around.
  • I have an iPhone and my grips with it are:

    1. No unified email inbox (like Mail.app or Black Berrys)
    2. No ability to "send as" from through email
    3. No task app to see your todo lists
    4. No video
    5. No MMS

    That said, I wouldn't trade it for any phone... okay at this point I have been really excited about what Qik is doing with live streaming video through Nokie N95. I would probably trade for one of those...
  • I have tried them all. I started with a Razr, then went to the Samsung Blackjack and that could not handle the e-mails, then I tried a Treo with Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint, finally I settled on the Blackberry 8800. I love it. The only thing missing is the camera but the qwerty keyboard is head and shoulders above any mobile phone. I have seen the iphone in action and quite frankly, love my e-mail so much on my Berry, I just can't see myself making the change.
  • I'm using a first generation Motorola Q, which syncs with my corporate email Exchange Server, gives me access to my personal email accounts, and has a somewhat decent web browser that accesses Google Reader, Twitter, and a few other applications here and there. Other than some of the browser limitations, the biggest issue that I've encountered is its lack of support for Google Maps' ability to plot your location based on cell phone towers. Even with that, however, the ability to access email at any time, at any place (well, within North America - this is the first generation Motorola Q), has certainly affected the way in which I work. Oftentimes I am not tethered to a desktop or laptop computer, which is nice.
  • When I got to the Sprint store, and checked out the Blackberry Perl, it was too small! So, I have the HTC Touch phone, b/c I also wanted a fast web browser. Haven't really had a chance to mess with setting up my email yet. I may regret my decision, but so far I love this phone!
  • It's the iPhone. Seriously, I am more satisfied with it than almost any tech purchase I have ever made. All my business mail is hosted by Google so IMAP makes everything nice, and now that I've gotten used to the touch screen keyboard I can type on it faster than I could on my old BlackJack. And having the real web is great. The Google Maps app, now that it will figure out where you are, has been incredibly handy.

    I never use the iPod features, though.
  • I have a Blackberry and an iPhone. I have the Berry Curve 2, with the cam, the GPS, etc. I have also had a berry for the past 6 years.

    When the iPhone came out, I waited a few weeks then picked one up. It's slick for sure, and as you said, the media.... you just cant take that away. The music, video, the browser, etc.. it rocks.

    However beyond voice, my number 1 need is email on my mobile device. I am on the go a lot and depend on email for many things. When it comes to email for a corporate environment, Blackberry rules the world.

    Here is what it boils down to for me. My Curve is sitting next to me flowing email and is my primary phone number, and my iPhone has zero charge and is in one of the pockets in my backpack. Nuff said...

    Rock,

    G
  • BlackBerry 8820. Pretty much the same reasons. Love the Wi-Fi option. I must add the 8820 is not officially available in Canada yet.
  • Tonya
    If ever interested in trading a iphone....I have a dash that id swap with you in exchange. :)
  • Okgurlatheart
    Would love to trade my dash for a iphone
  • I'm not that sure WinMo allows more security and ease of management compared to the iPhone. Could you bring me some info about this ?
  • timothyodell
    an orange blackberry curve that I have been using now for about a month (I know late bloomer)
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