Daily Techno-Babble

In a lot of ways the new Blackberry 8310 Curve (AT&T version) is very similar to the 8800. It supports media playback, GPS, and all the expected Blackberry features for email and PIM. Where the curve differs is in size, weight, and several interesting features pulled from the other popular consumer Blackberry, the Pearl. Having owned several Blackberries and numerous other cell phones my expectation with the 8310 was centered around the idea that the 8310 was the replacement for the very popular 8700c that served me well for far longer than I anticipated it would (still works even now, years later…). So how does the 8310 compare? Can it improve upon both the 8800 and the 8700c? The short answer is yes, and read on for more details on how I think the 8310 might just be one of the best Blackberries yet.

Technorati Tags: AT&T, blackberry, cell phone, Curve, PDA, 8310, RIM

Read the rest of this entry »

For the first time since I have been a user of the Blackberry system there is currently a significant outage of the service. CNN and other sites are reporting that the service has been offline since yesterday and that the folks at RIM are still struggling to bring the system back online. I can’t help but wonder if they are having issues with the latest Microsoft 0-day exploits since there have been reports of other systems being hacked through this latest hole popping up all over the web over the last several days. Rampant speculation aside, those users who depend on the Blackberry service for work related activities must be starting to really twitch right about now….

Having been a long time fan of the Blackberry 8700c from Cingular I found myself being drawn to the latest edition to the Blackberry lineup, the 8800. Several of the new features such expandable memory and the GPS navigation seemed to make a very strong case for the cost of getting an upgrade. So I took the plunge and picked one up at the local Cingular store and after one month of using this new Blackberry I have quite an interesting review for everyone. If you are interested in making the upgrade from the 8700 to the 8800 then you won’t want to miss this review!

Technorati Tags: blackberry, bluetooth, cell phones, gadgets, review

Read the rest of this entry »

Looks like RIM is ready for a followup to the Blackberry 8100 (Blackberry Pearl) with the 8800 coming soon to Cingular and T-Mobile (maybe others also). Engadget has posted some information on the new model which features a new slimmer form factor, memory expansion, and no camera. With this featureset the 8800 seems clearly targeted at the usual crackberry addicts, business users. I still use my trusty 8700 daily but this new model might be just the upgrade I could use in a few months. I like the fact that this model has the full keyboard vs. the SureType of the Pearl. Details are still a bit sketchy right now but as soon as I know more you can be sure I will post it!

For those who just love their Blackberry but hate the fact that they don’t support all the new nifty features you see on all the latest phones then this new model might just be for you. The RIM Blackberry 8100 “Pearl” has not been announced just yet, but several decent photos have been leaked onto the net along with several short video clips. Features include removable storage and a camera making a powerful combination indeed. Personally, I just love my 8700 but I do miss having a place to store extra junk. Having a built-in camera is not a huge deal to me since I would rather use a more capable digicam for that task. All things considered, this may just be the coolest model RIM has developed and may drive Blackberry into the mainstream.