BlackBerry 9720 Review and Price

BlackBerry 9720 Review and Specs - Hello guys, I will share information about the new smartphone review. Previously, I have written about the BlackBerry Q5 Review and Specs. Now I want to give you about a review of the BlackBerry 9720 Review and Specs. What about performance? Let's talk about this.

BlackBerry 9720 Review and Price

BlackBerry has eliminated the habit to label or categorize its products into specific types such as the Bold, Curve, or Pearl, so there is no special category for 9720 models. As some products based on previous BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 9720 is also equipped with 2 shortcut keys. Button on the right side by default function as a camera shutter while the one on the left serves as a shortcut to the BBM.

BlackBerry 9720 is equipped with the same screen size as the Bold 9900, but with a lower resolution. Although the quality is not too bad, but still, the screen 9720 is one of the smallest in his generation. Different from some previous products that use TFT LCD, BlackBerry opted to use IPS screen panel (in-plane switching) in 9270. This display type is known to have a wider viewing angle with faster response time. 9720 is also equipped with a touchscreen panel so than through the trackpad and buttons are available, the user can also use the screen to navigate between menu functions.

BlackBerry 9720 Review and Price

BlackBerry 9720 running BlackBerry OS 7.1 which has been familiar to loyal users the BlackBerry product before generation of BB 10. There is a bit of a different experience to offer BlackBerry on OS 7.1 belongs to 9720. It is found from the lockscreen display now display the shortcut icons to get to the camera feature. Lockscren display presented if the user presses one of the buttons between the call, menu, back, end or keys on the keyboard that has a number while the phone is locked.

Early use, general hardware behind the kitchen runway capable of accommodating 9720 performance of BB OS 7.1 to run normally. But as we get applications installed to the phone, 9720 performance also decreases especially when the user open multiple applications simultaneously, this is due to the relatively small RAM capacity. Not only that, the internal memory of the phone is also very small. To be able to record video users even have to insert a microSD memory card which unfortunately is not available in the sales package.

BlackBerry 9720 Review and Price

The camera features photo, 9720 can be said to be identical with the Dakota and Bellagio. This phone has the ability to capture images in the same maximum resolution with the exact features with both previous products that also runs on the BlackBerry OS version 7. Flash settings, autofocus, geotagging, as well as 11 scene selection modes prepared in permutations for the results of its image as you wish.

Being in the middle price segment, users should not expect a super full of connectivity options on the 9720. BlackBerry only offers a choice of data path operators HSPA, wifi, Bluetooth and data cable. Not available options that NFC can facilitate data transmission between devices.

BlackBerry 9720 Price

We got the information about the price of 9720 is approximately $230. The price difference is certainly present in some countries. You can immediately visited the nearest store to get a definite price.

Only that the discussion about the BlackBerry 9720 Review and Price, look forward to the next review from us. Thanks for visit.

BlackBerry Z30

BLACKBERRY Z30 REVIEW

The last BlackBerry smartphone to be released in October 2013, the Z30, is also the largest handset launched by the Canadian company in its entire history. The Z30 packs a nicely responsive 5-inch Super AMOLED display, which at 1,280-by-720 resolution and 295ppi is crisp enough, if not top of the range (Samsung's Galaxy S4 delivers 441ppi, for example). The screen could do with being a little brighter, too. Still, the 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm MSM8960T Pro CPU with 2GB of RAM keeps everything zipping along nicely. There's 16GB of internal storage, expandable via a MicroSD card slot located under the back cover. Connectivity is good, with support for quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, HSPA and LTE, along with dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and NFC. The Z30 features a large 2,880mAh battery, which BlackBerry says will last for 25 hours of mixed use (or 18 hours of 3G talk and 16 days on standby), which seems a reasonable assessment in our experience. However, the positioning of the charging port on the side is one of the handset's least elegant features, and that large battery takes a lot of charging — or at least it did on the sample we tested. As well as the Micro-USB 2.0 charging/data-sync port, there's a Micro-HDMI port for video output on an external monitor or projector. The 8-megapixel rear camera is adequate and businesslike but nothing particularly exciting (and refused to open a couple of times on the unit I road-tested). Still, this is not a handset aimed at the snap-happy crowd, even if the TimeShift feature, which allows you to remove unwanted elements from a picture, and the image-editing software are useful additions. The rear camera will record full-HD (1080p) video, while the 2-megapixel front-facing camera will do HD (720p) video. The Z30 is the first BlackBerry handset to run the 10.2 version of the BlackBerry 10 operating system, which improves on what was already a good user experience. BlackBerry says the Z30 is aimed at a prosumer and business audience with an emphasis on productivity; it certainly feels as though it's been built with busy professionals in mind. One key updates is the BlackBerry Priority Hub, which collects the most important messages across email, social networking and other accounts to give users quicker access to high-priority conversations. You have to do some work to teach it which are the priority messages, but it's a handy addition. Although I found the Hub occasionally slow to update with messages as well, it's still a useful tool, as is the Attachments view that makes it easy to find files. There are several tweaks aimed at making it simpler to see and respond to messages: the lockscreen displays a summary of emails and tweets, which is a handy and mildly addictive way to keep up to date; you can also respond to a BBM message without leaving the app that's open at the time. Similarly, the BlackBerry 10 'peek', which allows you to check your messages without closing an application, is a useful addition once you've mastered the up-and-across swipe. Elsewhere you'll find some sweet keyboard shortcuts to speed up typing as well (Docs to Go is handy enterprise-oriented addition here), while the 'reader' option in the browser strips out all the extraneous formatting and images from web pages, making them much easier to read. Perhaps the worst thing you can say about the BlackBerry Z30 is that's it's a little lacking in fun — I felt slightly guilty watching a YouTube video on it, for example. And the BlackBerry World app store isn't going to help turn your somewhat po-faced Z30 into a party machine either, as it still lacks depth compared to the Android or iOS alternatives. Having said that, you can side-load Android apps, which should help you fill in the gaps. The Z30 is a polished business handset aimed at the multitasking executive, and contains lots of neat tweaks aimed at making such people as productive as possible. It's the short-back-and-sides of the phablet world — a briefcase when everyone wants a cool courier bag,  or a pair of brogues when everyone is wearing trainers. For a rectangle, it's surprisingly square. In short, it's a little too serious, and BlackBerry 10 lacks the broad app ecosystem that would give the Z30 wider appeal for use in the office and at home — which is what most buyers actually want in a smartphone. To be a real success, smartphones have to appeal to consumers as well as business users. It's also impossible to review such a device without noting BlackBerry's current situation, with analysts Gartner even suggesting that enterprise customers should start looking at alternatives fast. The Z30 isn't the handset to turn the company's fortunes around, but it will certainly appeal to the (increasingly niche) business-first audience.

SPECIFICATION & FEATURES

BLACKBERRY Z30 PRICE

Price in USA $838

Price in UK £474

Price in EURO €650

Price in PAK Rs.80,000

Price in INDIA Rs.45,000

BlackBerry 9720

BLACKBERRY 9720 REVIEW

The BlackBerry 9720 is the latest BlackBerry OS device to be launched by BlackBerry. Many have questioned the need for another BlackBerry OS device as opposed to BlackBerry 10, however I think that there is still a place for this little guy, especially in the corporate section. It is already available in the U.K. and should be popping up in other regions soon.Going back to a BlackBerry OS device was certainly no easy task for me as I hadn't used one since I got my Z10 on the January 30th launch day. However, I felt in order to give this device a chance I had to jump in and use it full-time to really get to know it. It was a bit of a learning curve and I was swiping here and there for a while but soon the old habits came back and I was able to get back into the stride of using BlackBerry OS - though I do find myself still swiping every now and then. The 9720 comes with an IPS touchscreen display at 2.8 inches. Where previous BlackBerry OS touchscreen devices have sported a TFT touchscreen display, the 9720 has an IPS (in-plane switching) display. This type of screen offers a wider viewing angle and quicker response times. Definitely an added plus, although I'm not entirely sure a wider viewing angle is welcome.I didn't run into any issues with using the touchscreen but with the trackpad I found myself using that more than the touchscreen for selecting things. If I did use the touchscreen, it just made me want to swipe and gesture but existing BlackBerry OS users will have no trouble here.Overall the screen is bold and bright and pretty much what you'd expect on a device like this. The 9720 comes with a 5MP camera, sadly there is no auto-focus to be found here but it does have an LED flash. It isn't the best but you can get some decent low light shots with it. It definitely won't be your main camera but for quick snaps to share on social networks it will suffice. Auto-focus would have been nice but seeing as it looks like it's part of the Curve line, it fits the bill. Beefing this up a bit would have been a plus but the combination of a 5MP camera with no autofocus really kills the ability to get any good quality photos from the 9720. Being a low end BlackBerry, it feels pretty cheap, albeit nice and light in the hand, with a plastic body and an unusually patterned, rubberised back plate that offers good grip at the expense of pleasing aesthetics. In essence, form is most definitely following function with this latest offering from BlackBerry. With an 800MHz single-core processor and 512MB of RAM, we weren’t expecting anything close to the slick BlackBerry 10 experience we’ve seen thus far in 2013, but the 9720 takes an awkward step backwards. To the software front then, which is frankly the 9720’s talking point. Though on paper it runs on a dated BB7.1 OS, it has been modified with aspects carried over from BB10. For example the device can be unlocked by swiping up on the screen, and the unlock screen also features a shortcut key to the camera. A unique feature included on the device is the ‘Multicast’, which is essentially an app that lets you broadcast a message over Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn from a single window. The FM Radio too gets a sharing option, letting you share what you are listening to over BBM. The messenger app also features BBM voice, which essentially lets you make voice calls over 3G or Wi-Fi. The battery is a 1450mAh JS1 and I found it did last me a day. It took a while to break in as do most batteries in general but once it was in full stride, I could go from morning to night in one charge - though on very heavy usage days, I would have to plug it in earlier but it would get me through most of the day. The BlackBerry 9720 has a great form factor and a great price tag. It’s light but durable, and is priced just right for the young smartphone user. It has a nice QWERTY keypad, and a touchscreen that is responsive. So far, it looks like a skimped out Q5. But it isn’t. It doesn’t have the latest OS and has the older app ecosystem. The specs are far from being on par with the competitors on other platforms. And it doesn’t have anything that we haven’t seen on a BlackBerry so far. It might appeal to those who still like the BIS experience and like the feel of OS 7.

SPECIFICATION & FEATURES

BLACKBERRY 9720 PRICE

Price in USA $297

Price in UK £180

Price in EURO €220

Price in PAK Rs.33,000

Price in INDIA Rs.15,990

BlackBerry 4G LTE PlayBook

BLACKBERRY 4G LTE PLAYBOOK REVIEW

After a long wait, Research In Motion has unveiled its 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook launched in August 2012. In the world of modern technology, smartphones & tablets are always evolving. RIM is always striving to bring forth a groundbreaking product that puts it ahead of other competitors. Today, we will take a brief look at their most recent tablet offering, the 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook. As you may have already postulated, the new 4G BlackBerry PlayBook looks almost exactly like the original.  It’s black.  It has the same oh-so-smooth matte-textured backing.  As far as design goes, it’s essentially the same tablet: elegant, bold, and stylish. According to RIM, To my surprise, despite being slightly thicker, it actually weighs less on my scale!  About 4.7% less to be exact.  I measured a weight of 426 ± 1 grams on the original PlayBook, and this 4G PlayBook weighs in at only 406 ± 1 grams.  I’m guessing that’s all the extra battery that was taken out. The display, on paper, is the same 7” 1024×600 (WSVGA) capacitive touchscreen as on the original PlayBook.  But there are differences.  Compared side-by-side with the original PlayBook, the 4G PlayBook’s screen is noticeably yellow-er.  Of course, this is very hard to notice on its own. I’m not sure if this is a problem with this particular 4G PlayBook, or the all of the 4G units.  I would say this is a slight step back from the high quality screen we’ve seen from the original PlayBook.  It’s gone from great to merely average.  In the image below, the 4G PlayBook is the one on top. The screen isn’t resistant to fingerprints and smudges so don’t expect a flawlessly shiny display without using lint-free gloves while handling it.  The PlayBook comes with a cool BlackBerry-branded screen cleaning cloth, and you will probably make good use of it. The new 4G PlayBook is packed with features, much like the original.  It has a 6-axis gyroscope, accelerometer, light sensor, magnetometer, and a GPS.  Not much new here.  They all work sufficiently well…except the GPS.  While trying to use the (barely functional) Bing Maps bundled with all PlayBooks it could either a) not find a GPS signal or b) it thought I was in Guelph (500 km away).  Close, but no cigar. I’ve even tried the Android Navigation app.  Apparently I’m still in Guelph.  That rules out the chance that it is an app-specific error.  Nevertheless, the GPS works great on the Wi-Fi PlayBook and I see no reason why the GPS in the 4G PlayBook would malfunction.  This is very strange behavior indeed. With both LTE and HSPA+ radios, the 4G PlayBook allows you to have ultra-fast data speeds in major cities, and still reasonably fast speeds everywhere else.  We at N4BB were particularly excited for the LTE capability.  Thanks to Telus, we have access to a theoretical peak download speeds of a blistering 75 mbps over LTE.  There’s also HSPA+, but that’s slower and not as cool.  Let’s start with the LTE results using the “Speedtest” App in App World, here’s what we found. By struggling to barely get two bars of LTE signal in my area, the 4G PlayBook managed a home-internet-shaming feat of 46.371 Mbps with an average of 22.182 Mbps.  The upload speeds consistently hover around the 1 Mbps level.  With such speeds, the PlayBook is one quick tablet on Telus’ LTE network. Fortunately, if you happen to wander outside the present LTE coverage, good ol’ HSPA+ is there to keep you connected.  So let’s test out the PlayBook’s HSPA+ speed next. The 4G PlayBook finishes the test with a very typical result of 7.679 Mbps max and 6.117 Mbps average download speeds.  The upload speeds settle in at around 0.681 Mbps max and 0.536 Mbps average. I did have a full 5 bars of HSPA+ signal to work with so I doubt the speeds get anywhere better closer to civilization.  Not to complain though, as it simply matched my Wi-Fi connection speed.  The fact that HSPA+ pales so much in comparison to LTE makes the HSPA+ result as lackluster. Also, refusing to label HSPA+ as 3G , 3G+ or 3.5G speeds (even though it is), it is simply called “4G”.  LTE connectivity is simply labeled 4G LTE to differentiate itself from HSPA+. For audio recording, dual microphones are located on the top of the PlayBook and provide stereo sound.  Similar to the original, this is still quite a rare find in a tablet and very welcoming to see. Front-facing and rear-facing cameras with resolutions at 3MP and 5MP respectively provide very respectable image resolutions when taking pictures.  Much like the original PlayBook, the sensor isn’t amazing, so you won’t be taking great pictures in low light, or up-close (due to the lack of autofocus).   Here is a sample I took of a cup of coffee in medium lighting conditions. The stereo speakers are once again, identical to the original PlayBook and awesome.  You obviously won’t get studio quality sound out of any tablet, but the Playbook can dish out some serious volume without losing much in terms of quality or in the low-end . That in itself is quite an accomplishment. Standard charging and data transferring is done through the Micro USB port.  The Micro HDMI port is still there and so is the magnetic rapid charging port for rapid charging. The Wi-Fi antenna is still a welcoming 802.11 a/b/g/n.   The Bluetooth radio is 3.1 +EDR (updated) with support of the following Bluetooth profiles: Dial-Up Networking (DUN) Serial Port Profile (SPP), Secure Simple Pairing (SSP), Human Interface Device (HID).  That’s a great step forward from the 2.1 + EDR Bluetooth the original PlayBook had at launch.  Hopefully this will be updated to version 4.0 in the future. As advertised, the 4G radio sets it apart from the PlayBook of old.  LTE (700, 1700 MHz), HSPA+ (2100, 1900, 1700, 800, 900 MHz).  Covering “faux” G (HSPA+) and the real 4G LTE bands, the 4G PlayBook is a truly portable tablet solution. If you looked up the word “beast” in the dictionary, you’d see a picture of the 4G PlayBook.  You asked for more power, and you’ve got it.  Let me introduce you to the 1.5 Ghz Dual-Core TI OMAP 4460 (conceivably it could even be the 4470). Right out of the gate, the CPU speed test just goes to show that the new chipset can flex its mighty OMAP 4460 CPU.  The new 4G PlayBook clearly beats the original PlayBook by a factor of about 2. As far as boot up times go, rebooting the 4G PlayBook takes exactly 3 minutes and 5 seconds, while booting from the off state takes a quicker 1 minutes and 28 seconds.  Why the big difference?  Well, the shutdown time on the PlayBook is significant and does take quite a while.  As we compare this to the Wi-Fi PlayBook, we will stick to OS 2.0.1.668 to keep it a fair test. The Wi-Fi PlayBook reboots in 3 minutes and boots from the off state in exactly 2 minutes.  With a 50% increase in clock speed, it makes sense that the 4G PlayBook boots up nearly 50% faster from the off-state. Battery life is always a complicated question to answer.  With the new faster chipset in the 4G PlayBook, you might expect that the battery life would be less than the original’s.  But this depends on what you’re doing: watching video, keeping it on standby, or web browsing.   However, the plot thickens…Riddle me this, Batman: How does the 4G PlayBook end up with a smaller 4800 mAh battery. With the Wi-Fi PlayBook having a battery life of about 7 hours.  The 4G PlayBook would barely make it past 4 hours.  Turning off the 4G radio, the 4G PlayBook settled into it a groove, matching the Wi-Fi PlayBook to the percent.  Moral of the story: 4G and battery life don’t mesh well.  This is without LTE.  My guess is that it would be abysmal with LTE on.   But we like to live dangerously. Summary, you’re looking at about 7 hours of battery life on medium usage with Wi-Fi, and around 4 hours on HSPA+ or LTE. The 4G LTE-equipped PlayBook comes with the same 7-inch display as its predecessor, and includes both front- and rear-facing HD video cameras. HDMI out and stereo speakers are also included. On the software side, users can expect the same operating system experience they're getting now from the PlayBook, including support for RIM's unified inbox and built-in calendar and contacts apps.

SPECIFICATION & FEATURES

BLACKBERRY 4G LTE PLAYBOOK PRICE

Price in USA $635

Price in UK £345

Price in EURO €470

Price in PAK Rs.70,500

Price in INDIA Rs. 35,200

BlackBerry Curve 9320

BLACKBERRY CURVE 9320 REVIEW

RIM (Research in Motion) announced the BlackBerry Curve 9320 in early May that launched in end of May 2012. This is the 3G version of the Curve 9220 that we reviewed in April. It has similar features as the Curve 9220, in addition it comes with 3G support and a better 3.2MP camera with flash. Let’s get into the detailed review. The screen above the keypad is a 2.44-inch TFT LCD display with a QVGA resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. The phone comes with Blackberry Messenger which connects other Blackberry users to each other over the internet. There are keys for Dialer, Menu, Back and End / Power with the Trackpad in the middle. The 35 – key QWERTY keyboard is comfortable to type and it is backlit. There is a microphone and a loud speaker at the bottom.On the right, there is a micro USB port and a dedicated BlackBerry key. There is also a lanyard slot at the top.The lock / unlock button is at the top and the 3.5mm audio jack is next to it. There is a 3.2MP EDOF ( Extended Depth of Field) camera at the back, better than the 9220. It shoots decent shots and also includes LED flash that lets you shoot in low light, but it is too bright. Some close up objects also end up blurry even if you change the mode to close up. It also has geo tagging and different scene modes. The video recorder lets you record videos at VGA (640 x 480 pixels) and has image stabilization. You can also reduce the Video resolution to MMS Mode (176 x 144). The Music Player can play WMA, MP3, FLAC, OGG, AAC, AMR, WAV, MID formats and video formats such as MP4, M4A, 3GP, 3GP2, M4V, AVI, ASF, WMV. There are several music player options such as shuffle, repeat etc. You can use the button between the volume rocker to pause / resume the song. There is equalizer and bass booster to enhance the audio. The loud speaker is quite loud and offers optimal audio output. The FM Radio has RDS and auto scan option. The browser scored 275 points in the HTML5 test with 3 bonus points., which is slightly better than the browser in the OS 7.0. Looks like RIM has improved the browser in the BB OS 7.1. The browser start page shows your bookmarks and history. RIM isn't as forthcoming with the full hardware specs on its lesser models, but that perhaps doesn't matter, as each device fits fairly well into a hierarchy. In the Curve 9320 you get 512MB RAM and 512MB of internal memory, but the 800MHz processor isn't formally disclosed. The lack of internal memory means a microSD card is essential – essential for any content you want to carry around with you like photos or music. You might find yourself limited in terms of app space, although to be fair, most of the core apps come preinstalled and BlackBerry App World isn't as appealing as Google Play or Apple App Store when it comes to exciting new apps. Sitting between the volume controls is a pause/play button, making music control a little simpler, should you need a moment of quiet. There is also an FM radio if you need a bit of Kiss FM to get you going in the morning. BlackBerry has seen fit to equip the Curve 9320 with a healthy 5.3Wh power pack. Battery life is noticeably good, the best we've come across for a 3G device. The Curve sails past the usual acid test for a smartphone: a full day of intensive use. In fact, but using it intermittently for email and web browsing and the occasional calls we could comfortably get through a couple of days. RIM's prospects at the high-end of the smartphone market may be balancing on a knife edge but when it comes to budget handsets it's still going strong, and its latest addition, the BlackBerry Curve 9320 is a good example of why.

SPECIFICATION & FEATURES

BLACKBERRY CURVE 9320 PRICE

Price in USA $203

Price in UK £99

Price in EURO €150

Price in PAK Rs.22,500

Price in INDIA Rs.14,250

BlackBerry Curve 9220

BLACKBERRY CURVE 9220 REVIEW

If you are looking for a budget-friendly smartphone, which not only has a solid form factor and rich features, but also has some brand value attached to it, then you should not ignore RIM's BlackBerry Curve 9220. The company launched this feature-rich affordable smartphone last year, and after using the device for almost a month, I am a satisfied user and believe the phone offers good value for money. The phone has a 2.44-inch transmissive TFT LCD with a resolution of 320x240 pixels at 164 ppi. The screen produces good colours and offers fairly decent viewing angles. The screen is sunlight readable. It has high brightness and contrast level, and offers good colour rendering. The BlackBerry supports a 2 megapixels camera with 5 X digital zoom and it gives you 1600 x 1200 pixels image resolution. Amazingly, this not so good camera also allows you video recording. It does not even have a front camera. But we can say that the camera quality is good and it gives you clear picture. However, among its competitors in this price range, you can get 5 megapixels camera with flash and more camera functionality. The Curve 9220 gives an awesome sound quality both on headset and loud speaker. When tested, the call quality was superb and even my voice to the caller was sharp and clear. The video quality is superb in this screen size and it supports .mp4, .m4a, .3gp, .3gp2, .m4v, .avi, .asf, .wmv and .wma video formats. The video quality of downloaded videos is great, whereas the videos shoot from the mobile delivers poor picture resolution. The music player supports mp4, .m4a, .3pg, .3gp2, .m4v, .avi, .asf, .mp3, .wmv, .wma, .flac, .ogg, .aac, .amr, .wav and .mid audio formats. The BlackBerry Curve 9220 comes loaded with all social apps like, Facebook, Twitter, you tube and many more. BlackBerry Messenger Service (BBM), blackberry App world, Maps, Social Feeds with Wi-Fi connectivity gives you all that you can think of in this price range. The browser offers multiple window access and is easy to use. It is available in Black, Pure white, Pink, Red and Teal Blue colours. SMS, MMS, Email, Push Email and Instant Messaging are multiple messaging options available for you. The stereo FM radio in-built can be played both on headset and speaker mode. And all other basic features like organizer, document viewer, memo pad, files, calculator, etc. are all inherited in it. The voice calling/dialing, voice notes are some important features you will notice in this phone. Multitasking and swapping applications are fast and easy with its 806 MHz processor and 512 MB RAM. BlackBerry Curve 9220 comes with 1450 mAh Li-Ion battery. When tested, battery delivered up to 6 hours and 30 minutes of talk time and it delivered up to 15 days of standby time. The music playback time is up to 25 hours with and without headset usage. The BlackBerry Curve 9220 is a well-designed phone with plenty of features incorporated into it. It fits within the budget and provides a great user experience.

SPECIFICATION & FEATURES

BLACKBERRY CURVE 9220 PRICE

Price in USA $182

Price in UK £116

Price in EURO €137

Price in PAK Rs.18,000

Price in INDIA Rs.9,800

BlackBerry Curve 9380

BLACKBERRY CURVE 9380 REVIEW

After playing it cool for a few years, RIM has apparently decided that there's something to this touchscreen phone lark after all, releasing a budget all-touch device in the shape of the BlackBerry Curve 9380. The BlackBerry Curve 9380 marks somewhat of a milestone for RIM, as it is the company’s first device of the supposedly affordable Curve series that comes in a touchscreen-only form. It disposes of the legendary physical keyboard. The 3.2-inch TFT touchscreen is packed with 360 x 480 pixels for a crisp and clear display. The BlackBerry sports a 5 megapixel camera with auto focus which helps you to click images at 2592 x 1944 pixel resolution. The LED flashlight helps you take pictures in the dark. The phone also allows VGA video recording at 640 x 480 pixel resolution with the built-in video camera. The touch sensitive controls help you to zoom into the picture easily. Other camera features like Geo-Tagging, face detection and image stabilization let you take pictures with better quality. The BlackBerry Curve 9380 is a stylish and sleek All-touch phone. The curve runs on a BlackBerry 07 OS with 806 MHz processor. This helps in quick accessing of the applications in the handset. The phone also features a 512 MB RAM. The Curve has a capacitive touch screen which lets you easily scroll through the applications and icons. The smartphone has a glossy surface with the primary camera located at the back. The Optical trackpad makes navigation on the phone smooth. The phone features four back-lit call option buttons at the bottom of the display screen. The dedicated camera button is present beneath the volume rocker at the right side of the Curve and the flashlight is situated next to the camera. Charging is done through the micro-USB port, which is featured on the left side of the smartphone. The 3.5 mm audio jack is set on the top edge, where you can plug in any generic headphone and enjoy listening to music. Other features like proximity sensor for auto-turn off is also present in the handset. The Curve can access Internet through GPRS, Wi-Fi, EDGE and 3G. Connectors like Bluetooth and microUSB let you transfer data like videos, images and music tracks with other devices. The preloaded SNS applications let you access Twitter, Facebook 24x7 and stay connected with your friends. You can also check your personal and professional emails through the Push Email facility installed in the handset. Instant messaging allows you to chat with your friends even on the go. You can access the Blackberry App World on the BlackBerry 9380 and download applications according to your needs and interests. Other applications like Blackberry Maps, Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF), Document Viewer and Organizer are also available in the handset. The BlackBerry Curve helps you to pinpoint your location, plan your route and get directions with the in-built A-GPS. Other features like predictive text input, Games, MMS enabled, UMA technology, NFC and voice input are installed in the BlackBerry Curve 9380. The BlackBerry 9380 comprises of 512 MB onboard memory which can be expanded up to 32 GB using microSD card and microSDHC cards. The smartphone is powered by standard Li-Ion (JM-1) mAh battery which gives a talk time up to 5 hours each on 2G and 3G. When fully charged, the Curve provides a standby time up to 360 hours on 2G and 3G. You can tune into your favourite music numbers throughout the day as the battery supports music back up to 30 hours. The BlackBerry Curve 9380 is RIM’s first ever-released Curve with a touchscreen. The Curve lineup is usually an expression of RIM’s understanding for a budget phone and this one supposedly, doesn’t make a difference. It should attract customers with a lower entry price while offering the full BB OS 7 experience.

SPECIFICATION & FEATURES

BLACKBERRY CURVE 9380 PRICE

Price in USA $256

Price in UK £148

Price in EURO €190

Price in PAK Rs.28,499

Price in INDIA Rs.16,700

BlackBerry Bold 9790

BLACKBERRY BOLD 9790 REVIEW

Research in Motion has announced that the Bold 9790 will be launched first in Indonesia on November 26, followed by the rest of the world. Mobile phone manufacturers in the recent present seem to be fascinated by touchscreen. Despite the small screen size (2.45-inches), the Bold 9790 has a touchscreen with the new liquid graphics. The screen has a resolution of 480x360 and displays 16m colours. Under the hood is a powerful 1GHz processor which makes running Blackberry OS7 easy. The Bold 9790 also has an internal memory of 8GB and you can increase the storage space up to 32GB with the help of microSD card. With regards to connectivity you have Wi-Fi, 3G and GPS. The Bold 9790 has an auto-focus 5MP camera with single LED flash and can record VGA videos. Following the Blackberry tradition, the media formats that the Bold 9790 can handle are impressive with MP3/WMA/WAV/eAAC+/FLAC to take care of your audio needs and MP4/WMV/H.263/H.264 to satiate your video cravings. The pre-installed apps across all the new crop of Blackberry phones include Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and Gtalk, social networking apps Twitter and Facebook and an app called social feeds that collates all your social content in one template. The Bold 9790 is no different. Once again please make sure that you download the updates for each of these apps. The bundled games include Brickbreaker and Wordmole. This is a space where RIM needs no introduction and device after device they have excelled in sticking to the high standards of productivity (e-mail/office applications) and improving upon it with each software update. Setting up emails on the Bold 9790 was an easy two-step process after which my phone wouldn't stop buzzing as the inbox started flooding with e-mails. The phone has a bundled a full-version of Documents-to-go app which takes care of all your document apps. It is very easy to edit/create documents on the go on this nifty app. The bundled earphones are great for calls but the quality left a lot to be desired considering the fact they were extremely flimsy. The Bold 9790 is a slim (110 x 60 x 11.4 mm), sleek and handsome phone that is bound to be adorned as a permanent accessory by suited professionals. The design is definitely a win and the icing on the cake is that the Bold 9790 is lightweight at just 107 grams. Ergonomically speaking, the phone sits snug in my palm and single-handed usage is easy. The volume rocker and the camera shorcut button are on the right and the left has the 3.5mm jack. I particularly like the rubber-finish back cover in grey. It looks extremely classy. If I know fans of Blackberry, the one thing that they will swear about their device is the QWERTY keypad and it becomes vital that the new device has a great keypad. The Bold 9790, however, falls way behind in this regard. It is good, but the Q, A and Alt keys on the left of the keypad and the P, Del and Enter keys on the right are unwieldy owing to the curved nature of the corners making the feel of the press much different than the other keys. In daily usage, this becomes a hindrance. The new Blackberry OS 7 looks very similar to OS 6 except for the fact that RIM has done away with the transparent icons which were present on the previous iteration of the OS. I never faced any stability issues with the other devices running the same OS but the Bold 9790 crashed on me thrice during one of those intense messaging sessions. This raises an issue about stability of the device but I believe this could be a problem with the review unit. The touchscreen on the Bold 9790 was refined and smooth, much to my surprise. The small screen doesn't hamper the experience. Also, the screen has good color reproduction and brightness levels. Visibility under bright sunlight is not an issue. The 5MP auto-focus camera was the surprise element in the Bold 9790 (my astonishment may also be a result of the low expectations). I found minimal chromatic aberration in daylight shots and there was absolutely no image distortion. Though processed, the images had good colours. The light from the flash spreads evenly across the entire subject. The phone captures VGA (640x480) videos in 3gp format and the quality of the captured video is decent. There is some evident screen tearing though. The great browsing experience continues in the Bold 9790. Pages loaded extremely fast and the single column view for most websites made reading an easy job. Clarity is the selling proposition for the Bold 9790's loudspeaker. It isn't very loud but I prefer this anyday over sound jarring at maximum volume. The music player has a great interface and the sound quality through a pair of good earphones is crystal clear and loud. The video player played all the videos I threw at it except 1080p ones. After the battery life debacle with the Curve 9360, I had set me expectations really low with this phone too. And I think it was a good idea because the battery life is fair to say the least. You will need to run to the charger after 20 hours of normal everyday use. It drops a few specs (screen resolution, processing speed) but also the price of its big brother the Bold 9900, making the Bold 9790 a very attractive midrange BlackBerry.

SPECIFICATION & FEATURES

BLACKBERRY BOLD 9790 PRICE

Price in USA $274

Price in UK £230

Price in EURO €203

Price in PAK Rs.30,500

Price in INDIA Rs.14,994

BlackBerry Porsche Design P'9981

BLACKBERRY PORSCHE DESIGN P'9981 REVIEW

RIM has launched the Porsche Design P'9981 smartphone from BlackBerry, a BlackBerry smartphone that has, unsurprisingly, been designed by Porsche. The Blackberry Porsche P’9981 is a gorgeous looking phone but perhaps not in the traditional sense. There is no doubt that a lot of work has gone into the design but it is not a design which you fall in love in. It’s more of a design which invokes intrigue and a desire to touch and find out more about. The Porsche brand is recognized worldwide for producing vehicles immersed in opulence and style and its marriage with the Canadian manufacturer, Blackberry delivers a device dipped in perfection and punched with performance. We are talking about BlackBerry Porsche P’9981. Constructed entirely from stainless steel and finished in leather, the device sports a detailed keyboard. The wide QWERTY keyboard which spreads across nearly 67mm width of the smartphone has been forged  individually from metal and adds to the ease while messaging and texting. The navigation buttons are placed right under the 2.8-inch touchscreen. The device features a pinch-zoom in the browser however the compact size of the display gives it a clumsy feel at times. On the right side of the device we spot a volume rocker, mute button which doubles up as a play/pause button and a shortcut to camera which can be customized. The left is dominated by a 3.5mm jacket and a microUSB port with a lock button on the top. The sharp edges and squared-off corners and the use of metal adds to the premium look and style. This makes the device feel sturdy and bulky - in fact it felt heavier than its 155g in our hands. A built in NFC on the back cover comes handy in initiating transactions and establishing pairing with other NFC based devices or authentic BlackBerry accessories. Under the hood, BlackBerry Porsche P’9981 packs a enhanced single-core Qualcomm MSM8655 1.2GHz processor paired with 768MB RAM which ensures a faster and smoother web navigation coupled with the fluid animation and instant responses. The device runs on the BlackBerry OS 7, which was seen first in Bold 9900. We see the familiar set of elements and UI within the two smartphones, some may even see P’9981 as a Bold 9900 in a expensive skin. However there are some other differences too. There are some new set of icons and background options. Also the luxurious P’9981 includes a custom theme and houses features and innovative apps like Wikitude which engages you in a more dynamic way. The Wikitude World Browser app allows you to read reviews on restaurants, theatres and VIP events.  If you must know there are over 150 million points of interest curated exclusively for P'9981 smartphone users. All this plus dual-band Wi-Fi and BlackBerry App World 3.1 makes discovering the newest apps, themes and games faster and easier than ever. The device also provides a Porsche Design branded 1,230 mAh battery along with a  microSD card slot to expand the 8GB of internal memory. To swap the SIM cards, you will need to take the battery out - we would have preferred a side slot for ease and convenience. On the camera front, BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9981 sports a 5-megapixel EDoF camera on the back with a 4X digital zoom and 720p HD video recording capabilities. There are also options for face detection,image stabilization, geo-tagging and scene modes. However the fixed-focus is a disappointment, as it limits the proximity for the macro shots. The pictures also lack the general vibrancy and crispness achieved via auto-focus cameras. The video recording on the other hand is smooth with accurate color rendition. The device also supports MPEG 4, H.263 and  H.264 video formats. While P’9981 maybe Bold 9900 in a glamorous avatar, it's not for everybody.  However in the same breathe we would add, if you are fishing for compliments, the BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9981 makes for a mighty fine bait. The performance you demand. The power you need. Styled by Porsche Design, forged in stainless steel, finished in leather and powered by BlackBerry. The Porsche Design P’9981 Smartphone from BlackBerry is engineered luxury at its finest. Superior BlackBerry performance and elegant Porsche Design styling place the P'9981 smartphone in a class of its own.

SPECIFICATION & FEATURES

BLACKBERRY PORSCHE DESIGN P'9981 PRICE

Price in USA $2,350

Price in UK £1,275

Price in EURO €1,800

Price in PAK Rs.2,19,500

Price in INDIA Rs.1,36,000

BlackBerry Curve 9370

BLACKBERRY CURVE 9370 REVIEW

Designed for the budget-conscious world traveler, the BlackBerry Curve 9370 for Verizon Wireless is a slim and sleek phone with a full QWERTY keyboard. Capable of working in up to 200 countries, this device features the latest BlackBerry 7 operating system. The Curve 9370 is one of the most compact, lightweight BlackBerrys available, and that's a design choice that I'm particularly fond of, given my diminutive hand size. It measures only 4.3 x 2.4 x 0.4 inches and weighs in at mere 3.5 ounces, so it looks small compared to even average-sized smartphones. Despite the diminutive size of the Curve 9370, it still has a decently-sized display that measures 2.44 inches diagonally, so nothing feels too cramped. With a resolution of 480 x 360 pixels, the display quality isn't anything stunning, but it's not terrible either; at the very least, I was happy with how vibrant colors looked on it, and it had a wide viewing angle thanks to sufficient brightness. There are other inexplicably poor design choices to the UI, like a notifications bar that does not allow you to see previous notifications only new ones and needing to highlight and select the volume control menu from the home screen (rather than just allowing users to use the volume rocker to adjust sounds), but you get the idea. Calls made on the Curve 9370 were just fine, as I never encountered any issues with clarity or dropped calls during my time with the unit. Texting/BBMing also works well, and is a fairly smooth experience thanks to the (mostly) well-designed keyboard. It's also worth noting that this BlackBerry is equipped with NFC capabilities, which I was pleasantly surprised to see. The issue, however, is that NFC has not proliferated too much yet, so I was actually unable to test it out, but it's a welcome addition nonetheless. Unlike calls and messaging, however, internet browsing is an absolute nightmare. Web pages usually take a good 5-10 seconds longer to load on the Curve 9370 than on my personal smartphone, which is on the exact same Verizon Wireless 3G network. So, I can say with certainty that the issue is not with the data speeds, but rather the browser itself. And those tests that I did in which I was trying to compare load times often just ended with the BlackBerry browser claiming the page was done loading when in fact it had only loaded the topmost chunk of the page; attempt to scroll down and I would find nothing, nor would it load anything further. There are a lot of broken aspects such as this that you'll encounter when dealing with the browser in OS 7. I ran into a handful of freezes and crashes during my time with the Curve 9370 and truth be told, I don't know if this was a bug or if it was foolishly done by choice I couldn't actually scroll up to the top to access the navigation bar, like you do with any other mobile browser. Instead, to enter a URL you have to hit the BlackBerry key, scroll down to "Go To…" and then hit confirm, at which point you're taken to the navigation bar. Due to headache-inducing issues like these, internet browsing could very well be the worst part of the heavily-flawed BlackBerry OS 7. Productivity is what BlackBerrys do best, so it's not too surprising that the Curve 9370 has a healthy assortment of apps that will help you get the job done while on the go. As usual, there are enterprise-friendly apps like Password Keeper and BlackBerry protect, as well as Documents To Go, a Word/Excel/Powerpoint viewer and editor. More importantly, the Curve 9370 continues to excel in the typical area of BlackBerry expertise, as it has great contacts, calendar, and email apps. I especially love the way email threads are organized within the app; as a Windows Phone 7 user — an OS in which the kinks with displaying email threads are still being worked out — I can say that it's a pleasure to navigate threads are organized in BlackBerry OS 7. It's easily the strongest part of the operating system. But the Curve 9370 is not without weaknesses in the productivity department, the most notable of which is the Maps app. I've already covered this in other reviews involving BlackBerry OS 7 (in which the Maps were supposed to be improved), but my goodness, the Maps in OS 7 are just dreadful. Aside from its inability to find an astounding number of locations (whether you provide a name of a landmark or an actual numbered address), it's also plagued by painfully long loading times and its inability to display the map and the directions simultaneously. The lack of a touchscreen really hurts here too, since on-screen navigation, as it is in many parts of OS 7, is an absolute chore. The Curve 9370 is a little light on the entertainment front, but then again, that's not really what people get BlackBerrys for. So I'm less inclined to knock it for its lack of entertaining content, but the usual suite of media apps are still here, including a YouTube app (which basically just takes you to the mobile YouTube site), Slacker Radio, and BlackBerry music, video, photo, and podcast apps. That being said, any sort of streaming media — YouTube especially — tends to struggle due to the incredibly slow speeds of the browser and operating system. Like I said before, I know for sure that the long load times and stuttering video problems I experience are issues caused by BlackBerry OS 7 and not my Verizon Wireless 3G connection, because my personal smartphone is on the same network and can watch the same videos without any issue. Social networking is also covered in the form of YouTube and Twitter apps (as well as a Social Feeds app which consolidates everything into one location), and messaging options include Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and Google Talk. At 5 megapixels, I wasn't expecting the camera on the Curve 9370 to be as mediocre as it is. Don't get me wrong, I'm never very impressed by smartphone cameras, but I found the BlackBerry Curve 9370's camera to be extremely disappointing. The camera on my HTC Trophy is the same resolution, but it takes far better pictures than this BlackBerry. Pictures look extraordinarily grainy, an issue that is highly exacerbated by even the slightest amount of low-light situations. Colors are bleak too; I would venture to say that the only thing that didn't really disappoint me about the Cuve 9370's pictures was the white balance, which was typically accurate and kept whites looking pure as pure as they could look through all the noise rather than suffering from any sort of tinge. The video capture capabilities aren't impressive either, as it cannot capture at as high of a resolution as some of the other current-gen BlackBerrys. With a shoddy VGA 640 x 480 resolution, videos taken with the Curve 9370 not only look bad, they can't even compete with those taken with the likes of the Bold 9930, which can at least do 720p video capture. Given my past experiences with BlackBerrys, I was not surprised to see that the battery life of the Curve 9370 was excellent. On my first full charge, I thought I would try my best to see how quickly I could drain it, so aside from the sustained 3G connection, I kept Wi-Fi and NFC on while also browsing frequently, downloading multiple apps, playing games, placing two lengthy phone calls, and using the Maps app once…and the phone managed to last for a little over four days on a single charge. For my second charge, I did all of the above and tossed in email push and it only shortened the battery life by about a day.

SPECIFICATION & FEATURES

BLACKBERRY CURVE 9370 PRICE

Price in USA $257

Price in UK £160

Price in EURO €190

Price in PAK Rs.28,500

Price in INDIA Rs.16,990

BlackBerry Curve 9360

BLACKBERRY CURVE 9360 REVIEW

A gorgeously thin BlackBerry, with a very high quality feel, and the benefit of a full QWERTY keyboard and optical trackpad. The 9360 comes with BlackBerry 7, which integrates facebook and twitter into the communications hub of the phone. Still, picking up the 9360, first impressions are excellent. The phone is the exact same height and width as the 9300, but 3mm have been shaved off the thickness, making the device much sleeker to hold, and it looks much more purposeful too. At 99g it feels astonishingly light to hold, though never flimsy. In fact, it's as solid and well-built as any BlackBerry. The fabulous keyboard has been retained, of course. The 2.44 inch display is the same size as the old Curve, but the number of pixels has more than doubled. It's still a small screen though, and this limits any chance the Curve has of being mistaken for a media phone. It's well and truly a business phone, but that's OK with us. The operating system has been upgraded to BlackBerry 7, which should be a seamless transition for old Curve users. The new operating system has several refinements, including much better integration of social networking including facebook and twitter. This certainly helps to boost the usefulness of the Curve as an all-round communications and messaging machine. The upgraded 800MHz processor gives the phone a certain amount of oomph! Coupled with 512MB of RAM, the user interface shows virtually no lag, and even apps such as web browsing and BlackBerry Maps show no sign of slowing down. The latest BlackBerry 7 operating system tweaks the look of the interface, allowing you to scroll across different screens for lists of apps arranged in categories: All, Frequent, Downloads, Media and Favourites. It includes Near Field Communication NFC so it's ready for mobile-based payment schemes when they become available (almost none exist in the UK currently). The latest BlackBerry Messenger 6 is also here, and now adds the ability to trade free instant chats with your mates from within some apps and games. But while this and other recent BlackBerrys have many good qualities, the lack of additional apps in BlackBerry App World is beginning to look more like a problem. Lots of the basics are covered, with some okay games, some good business apps and some fun stuff too, but the choice now looks embarrassingly far behind what's available for Google and Apple's platforms. Internally, the 800MHz processor backed by 512MB of RAM may not be the fastest on paper, but it feels very nippy in practise, due in part to the streamlined OS, which isn't held back by fancy animated graphics or active widgets. Overall, it's a decent performer. The 5-megapixel camera includes a single LED flash, as well as image stabilisation and face detection. It can deliver some sharp and detailed pics in good light, but noise creeps in quickly in less than ideal light conditions and there's no autofocus. Video recording drops the quality to VGA level (640x480 pixels), with no HD option. Connectivity is good, with quadband GSM and 3G available for roaming, plus the option of Wi-Fi for faster data access. There's even support for Near Field Communication (NFC) if you can find a use for it. But what idiot had the bright idea of equipping the 9360 with such an underpowered battery? It's just 1000mAh, which is smaller than the Curve 9300 and really isn't enough for a serious phone. It's part of the compromise needed to make the 9360 so thin, but we can't help feeling it's a mistake. Battery-wise, the 1,000mAh model held up very well indeed, delivering a solid day and a half of heavy use. As RIM's new baseline standard, entry-level phone, the Curve 9360 offers a fair bit, and has enough slimness to keep the style-oriented interested. Unfortunately, a lot of the issues that plague RIM's top-of-the-line OS 7 handsets, like an uncertain future for apps, dated user interface, and sub-par battery performance are all recreated in the Curve 9360.

SPECIFICATION & FEATURES

BLACKBERRY CURVE 9360 PRICE

Price in USA $207

Price in UK £130

Price in EURO €153

Price in PAK Rs.23,000

Price in INDIA Rs.12,000