Blackberry Phones

After what was clearly a false start for Bell, they have now posted the BlackBerry Pearl 3G online for new and current customers to order. Word is most store locations should by now have stock as well. The Bell version of the BlackBerry Pearl 3G is currently only available in black and will set ya back $49.99 with a new 3 year contract, $179.95 on a 2 year and $279.95 on a one year. Finally, if contracts are not your style expect to pay $329.95 sans contract. As with the BlackBerry Bold 9700 release fom Bell, the Pearl 3G also lacks any carrier branding so that might be a plus for some buyers out there. Head on over to the Bell website to get started.

We’ve known for a while that Gowalla was ramping up their efforts for the BlackBerry platform. Although, that information was based strictly on it being an eventual web app. Looks like things have changed in that area. Considering the war that is waging between Gowalla and Foursquare a dedicated BlackBerry app is certainly needed if they want to capture BlackBerry users. The Gowalla BlackBerry beta is now available for download via the Gowalla website. If location based services are your thing, check it out.

Been wishing you could write for CrackBerry.com? Here’s your chance!

Everybody’s favorite tv show is now done for the season (and with Simon leaving you know it’ll never be quite the same again), so we decided it was time to put a BlackBerry slant on idol spirit with our own CrackBerry Idol 2010 competition!

You can think of CrackBerry Idol as a very fun and very public application process to become a regular-contributing member of the CrackBerry editorial team. If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “I wish I could write for CrackBerry.com” or “man, I could do a way better job than Kevin or Adam on that review” or “CrackBerry needs a female writer on the site” then this is the chance you have been waiting for. The winner of CrackBerry Idol 2010 will have the opportunity to join the CrackBerry team on a paid freelance basis (1-2 articles per week – nothing too crazy so you can still keep your job, go to school, etc.). There are lots of wicked goodies along the road to being crowned the CrackBerry Idol 2010 winner, including free BlackBerry apps, accessories and phones (not to mention you’ll be CrackBerry famous once your face hits the blogs) so it’s definitely worth putting in your creativity, time and effort. The CrackBerry Idol winner will even get to attend the BlackBerry Developer Conference this September with the Crack team in San Francisco! The great news here is we’re looking for more than one new individual to join the CrackBerry editorial team, so even if you don’t win the final community vote but impress the heck out of the judges you may just find your name here on the blogs one day.

The first step on the road to becoming the CrackBerry Idol is making it through the audition round, which is now open! Get on it!! For full contest details keep reading below or jump over to the contest site at crackberryidol.com. I have a feeling we’re in for a fun summer here on the blogs with this event going on. Spread the word, and good luck!

CrackBerry Idol 2010 – Your Chance to Freelance for CrackBerry.com!
Event Overview:

CrackBerry Idol is open to BlackBerry enthusiasts around the world who’d love become CrackBerry famous and help contribute to the CB blogs on a regular basis (1-2+ posts per week – nothing crazy, so you can keep your normal job, go to school, etc.). While there ultimately can be only one individual crowned as the CrackBerry Idol 2010 winner, by the end of the event we’d like to welcome at least two new members to the team who will help out on BlackBerry App, Accessory and Device reviews.

To make the cut, you’re going to have to show us what you got! You’ll need to have a passion for BlackBerry and be able to express your thoughts clearly both in writing and on video. It’s a digital world that we live in and CrackBerry.com is a website, so you’ll need to have the skills and equipment required to take photos and whip together your own youtube videos. If you visit CrackBerry regularly, you’ll have a feeling for the minimum standards we require – and if you can raise the bar with your mad skills, then show us! The good news is you don’t need to be an “expert” for this role. The BlackBerry is a consumer product – we want consumers. If you love a product, express your love. If you hate a product, voice your concern. Being informative and entertaining is what it’s all about.

Awesome Prizes for Competing and Winning: If your audition video is accepted and you make it into the competition rounds of CrackBerry Idol, in addition to the fame and glory you’ll rack up sweet prizes as you progress through the rounds of the competition including BlackBerry apps, accessories and even a new BlackBerry if you make the final round. And for the CrackBerry Idol winner, we have an extra special prize – you’ll get to attend the BlackBerry Developer Conference this September in San Francisco with the Crack team!

How to Enter

Preliminary Round: The audition – Put together a 30 second to 2 minute video clip letting us know why you love BlackBerry, why you want to join the CrackBerry team and why you think you have what it takes to be the CrackBerry Idol. Toss it on youtube for everybody to see. If you want to be part of the CrackBerry team, you can’t be shy!

* Video Submission: Once your video is uploaded to youtube, email us the web address link for your the video to crackberryidol@crackberry.com.
* Audition Deadline: All videos must be uploaded to youtube and we must receive your submission email by midnight PST on Tuesday, June 15th.
* Making the cut: Depending on the total number of entries, the CrackBerry Idol judging panel will choose how many individuals and which individuals will move onto first heat of the competition rounds. All individuals submitting audition videos will be contacted by the end of day, Friday June 18th on whether or not they have been selected to advance to the next round.

Competition Rounds

For those who advance past the auditions and into the competition rounds, the contestants will be put to the test in the form of real-life reviews. Contestants will have access to existing CrackBerry editors (aka coaches) to provide guidance and tips on putting together their entries. While we won’t set strict deadlines in advance for the competition rounds, the aim will be for reviewers to have a full week to put together their review in each round of the competition. The following week will see the reviews published to the CrackBerry blogs with feedback provided by judges and the CrackBerry readership. Once all entries have been posted in a given round, the community will be able to vote for who moves on to the next round and who gets cut. The CrackBerry Idol will progress through the rounds per the summary below until an ultimate CrackBerry Idol 2010 champion is crowned!

CrackBerry Idol Round 1: The app review – Round 1 of the competition is the all-important BlackBerry app review. If the app to be reviewed is not free, CrackBerry will provide it to the contestant free of charge.

CrackBerry Idol Round 2: The case review – Round 2 of the competition is the BlackBerry case review. Cases are always the #1 category of BlackBerry accessory, so it’s important that any CrackBerry reviewer be able to express their feelings about BlackBerry protection.

CrackBerry Idol Round 3: The “other” accessory review – With cases out of the way, the next round of the competition will involve reviewing another, more-complicated type of accessory for the BlackBerry such as a Bluetooth headset or accessory like the BlackBerry Presenter, BlackBerry Music Gateway, etc.

CrackBerry Idol Final Round: The device review – Contestants still remaining in the competition at this point will be challenged with the task of putting together the mother of all reviews, the new BlackBerry Smartphone review. The finalists will be able to choose which commercially-available BlackBerry they would like to review.

The Final Vote: Once the final device reviews have all been posted, the crowning of the CrackBerry Idol 2010 winner will all come down to the final community vote. In the end, one ultimate CrackBerry Idol winner will be crowned. In addition to the devices and accessories received during the competition that contestants will get to keep, we’ll have some other awesome prizes for the winner and finalists.

The Fine Print and Other Questions you may have:
- How many contestants are competing in each round? As this is the first ever CrackBerry Idol, we’re not sure how many auditions we will receive. We feel a good goal would be to have 20 contestants move forward from auditions into Round 1 (app reviews), 10 contestants move into Round 2 (case reviews), five contestants move into Round 3 (other accessory reviews) and 2-3 finalists duking it out in the final round with their device reviews. Depending on if we receive a lot more or less auditions, these numbers may change.
- What does a review consist of? In general, CrackBerry reviews always involve a written component as well as images (software screen captures, accessory/device photos, etc.) and/or a video. For the CrackBerry Idol reviews, we’ll want to see each review feature all of these components in every review.
- What will I be reviewing? Throughout the competition, contestants will work with CrackBerry editors to decide what to review. Ideally we’d like to see contestants reviewing different items, so in the case where two or more contestants want to review the same thing we’ll all work together to decide what makes the most sense. All paid apps, accessories and devices will be provided to contestants free of charge by CrackBerry.com
- What happens after I win? If you’re asking this question already, we love the way you think! Though there will be only one individual crowned the CrackBerry Idol 2010 winner, we’re looking for at least two good (we could be swayed into more!) individuals to join the CrackBerry editorial team on a freelance basis (~1-2 articles per week). We value consistency and commitment, so this type of regular work is paid for on a per article basis.
- No current paid employees or freelance members of the Smartphone Experts family of sites are allowed to enter.
- I have other questions… where do I send them? If you have other questions, you can email them in to crackberryidol @ crackberry.com.

How many times have you been told to not bite off more than you can chew? If you take on too many projects, or flood your schedule, chances are something will be forgotten. Without proper management, you will probably neglect an important item of interest. It’s almost a natural reaction to smack your forehead when you realize your mistake. Luckily, your ever faithful BlackBerry is equipped with a Calendar and Tasks list to keep you in line. On the other hand, what if you are reminding yourself of a meeting request that was emailed to you? You could be doing a lot of back and forth navigation between applications to get your reminders straight. The Copy and Paste option isn’t always the easiest solution either.

Role Call Tasks is an incredibly powerful task management tool that builds upon what your native task application started out to do. It allows you to easily create tasks with reminders and various sorting options. If you’re up to the task (pardon the pun), why not check out if Role Call Tasks will help you stay on top and on the task at hand (sorry, another one).

About Role Call Tasks

The application was developed by Blue Sky Analytics LLC, who is also behind Role Call Reminders Lite and Role Call Tasks Lite; a free application that serves as a basic version, of sorts, of Role Call Tasks. I currently have version 1.1.0.1 installed, which takes up 132.1KB. You must be running OS 4.5 or higher to use Role Call Tasks.

The idea behind Role Call Tasks is to give you the power to create a task and manage it, while minimizing the steps taken to do so. As you’ve seen with your native task feature, Role Call makes use of priority, reminder, notes and due date options. Task settings are resolved by entering the task subject and shortcodes all on the same line; rather than scrolling through the various preferences we are used to. This speeds up task entry immensely. The following are shortcuts that you can use:

* “at time” or “for time” allows you to set a due time. “at 12:30” sets the due time for 12:30pm
* “-r number” sets a reminder for the number of minutes you wish, so a 15 minute reminder will be “-r15”
* “. Text” lets you leave notes such as; “.finish review for CrackBerry”
* high and low priority can be set by typing “hi pri” or “low pri” (or “high priority” or “low priority”)

I can then type “hi pri CrackBerry Review at 3:30 –r 20. Don’t forget to post” and create a high priority task due at 3:30 with a 20 minute reminder and notes. Role Call Tasks also has shortcut keys to speed up your application navigation.

category view. choose to view all or individual categories

Users can view their tasks by date or by category. For viewing by date, I would suggest hiding the days that have no tasks. This will eliminate unnecessary date entries and de-clutters your view of your tasks. The application integrates smoothly into your native Tasks and Calendar. I did like some of the advanced options available as well. If you were unable to complete a task on time, you can use the “Punt” feature to push it forward up to 4 weeks. Also, if you are not sure when a task has to be completed, then you need the Someday option. Someday, lets you insert tasks, without dates, in the Task by Date view. That way they aren’t forgotten completely. Role Call Tasks also includes the ability to send your task lists in a CSV file. Lists can be sent as a detailed or simple list.

email your task list(s)

Now if you had Role Call Reminders installed as well, you can then create tasks from your call log, emails or contacts; thereby decreasing task entry even further.

Conclusion

Role Call Tasks is a powerful task entry tool indeed, especially when coupled with Role Call Reminder. It offers streamlined task entry and menu navigation that takes the effort out of making and managing tasks. The shortcut text takes a short amount of time to memorize, but in time, it’s faster than scrolling through options. Role Call Tasks can be found in the CrackBerry App Store for $4.99. If you would like to try before you buy, you can download the free Role Call Tasks Lite (less features).
Pros

* Less time entering tasks
* Email task lists in csv format
* Various task list views

Cons

* Requires another app to create tasks from calls, contacts and email

Ah, a Tour owner’s dream. The BlackBerry Bold 9650 started life out as the BlackBerry Tour2. It then went through a late-stage metamorphosis and received a memory upgrade and name change for a couple of different reasons. One of the reasons is to utilize a positive product name RIM has built (the Bold line), and another would be to prevent hundreds of thousands of angry BlackBerry owners from practically taking over the entire city of Waterloo, Canada. You see, the BlackBerry Bold 9650 is what the Tour should have originally been, and by releasing a Tour2 under a year from the original device’s debut would be straight up insulting. RIM killed two birds with one stone by renaming the device to be a Bold, continuing a successful device brand, and also trying to not completely obliterate an existing handset (even though the Tour 9630 will certainly be end-of-life’d very, very quickly). So is the BlackBerry Bold 9650 the best in the biz? You’ll see soon enough, after the jump of course.

We have been playing with the BlackBerry 9650 on and off for a couple months, and now that we have an official unit from RIM and Sprint, we’re able to effectively judge the handset. Instead of doing a traditional review, we figured since the device really hasn’t changed so dramatically from the original BlackBerry Tour, we’d put our likes and dislikes into different sections.

Likes:

* Durable, solid construction and hardware.
* Great keyboard as always.
* Sounds great as a phone, great reception, perfect voice performance with calls.
* Much faster than the original Tour 9630, no real slowdowns or hangups in the OS, and a much speedier overall experience thanks to a newer and faster processor.
* Wi-Fi — obviously.

We love the solid hardware that RIM has been known for. It definitely shows in the BlackBerry Bold 9650 and it’s a real work powerhouse.

Dislikes:

* The raised trackpad, menu, send, BlackBerry, back keys (they are raised up beyond the keyboard and are a little too high).
* The terrible music speaker on the phone. It’s on the left side, and is a single speaker with a single opening in the case compared to 3 openings in the BlackBerry 9700 case. Sound sounds muffled, and the volume is pretty low. Overall, it’s kind of disappointing. Note: the speakerphone sounds great, we’re talking strictly about music/audio playback.
* The camera lens is still recessed so it can collect dust and isn’t cleaned easily. It would have been great for RIM to make the entire cover go over the camera lens so it would be flat and thus easily accessibly/wipeable.
* The phone is large in size and feels pretty outdated compared to sexier, even on carrier alternatives.

At the end of the day, this is what the BlackBerry Tour should have been. RIM’s hardware roadmap seems to be 1-2 years behind other mobile smartphone powerhouse manufacturers (that is being generous), and the BlackBerry Bold 9650 demonstrates this. The device is incredibly solid, but it’s overly large, especially when compared to a sleeker, sexier BlackBerry Bold 9700 sitting next to it. With phones that are pushing CPU speed barriers at 1GHz and beyond, RIM’s using an estimated 500MHz CPU here with 512MB of RAM and no internal storage. And that’s not exploring the truly ancient operating system that powers it.

The handset itself just straight up feels outdated. It’s a logical choice for a CDMA user, but we can’t help but feel like this device really doesn’t belong in a 2010 lineup. This is a great BlackBerry, and if email is your life, great. If not, there’s not too much we can say the BlackBerry 9650 offers over competitors on Sprint or Verizon. HTC’s EVO 4G and the HTC Droid Incredible (yes, they are two Android handsets) are miles ahead of this device, and unfortunately we’re not sure we’d recommend this handset over one of those except in extreme scenarios.

RIM has launched the latest radical handset Curve 8250 that mainly targets on the new entry level consumers who still have not laid their hands on the Blackberry functionality; this means that the target is on the mainstream users rather than those who would traditionally go for a smartphone. This measure is also reflected on the price of this usually expensive handset as it is available for free on £25 cap on a contract or alternatively, the pay as you go users will be able to get one of their own for just around £200 which is pretty cheap when compared to the price of the other smart phones on the market.

RIM has also made sure that the absence of its track ball does not affect its fans by including a typical rubberised buttons along with an optional track pad. While the Curve 8250 is facing fierce competition from its rivals, it seems to have made a wise move by incorporating optical track pad. The 8250 has a lot of elements that depart from traditional Blackberrys just beyond the trackpad. Load of features like updated look for the call and end-call keys, a new hidden convenience keys, dedicated set of media keys across the top of the device and a small LED indicator, all compliment each other to position the Curve 8250 to reach itself to the younger market that the Blackberrys have failed to capture.

Design:

Familiar design:

The Blackberry Curve 8250 Smartphone would look instantly familiar to anybody who has used any Curve handset, except for the new addition of the optional track pad which has replaced the company’s iconic mini trackball or Pearl as RIM would like to call it. This smarty has a superior material quality emphasised by its curvy features and hence displays a much sleeker look. While the front fascia of the phone features the usual snazzy finish the rear panel comes in with a smooth finish. The trackpad that was embedded as a replacement for the trackball seems to have increased the reliability of the Curve. Although the design of this model is very similar to that of its predecessors, it measures as (H x W x D) 109 x 60 x 13.9 and weighs just 106 grams.

Touchpad blessing:

As soon as we used the trackpad, we felt that it is an improvement over the ball and have not looked back since. We have been fairly not impressed with the touchpads on PDAs like the HP iPAQ Voice Messenger, but thankfully the one on the 8250 is in a totally different league. The touchpad has been a pleasure to use as it seems to be both accurate and responsive and we really did not miss the old style trackball at all.
The pad has employed similar gestures as the pearl and feels just like the one that you would use on a laptop. Just click on the pad to make a selection, the same way you would do with the trackball. You will also be able to adjust its horizontal and vertical sensitivity to customise the speed at which it zips around the icons on the screen. A disappointment is that the pad does not come with a backlight and is just solid. An improvement that we would be expecting in the future Blackberrys is the ability to scroll by just resting the finger on the edge of the pad; which would offer the ultimate accuracy, ease of use and functionality. We would say that there is very little to criticise the trackpad except for the fact that you have to get used to its speed. RIM representatives have indicated that this new trackpad is likely to be included across all the new curve devices, mainly because of the fact that it has no moving parts and so is less prone to dust and dirt.

Convenience keys:

Yet another departure from the RIM Blackberry Curve 8250 apart from the trackball is the design of convenience keys on the side. RIM has included a rubber strip that wraps around the perimeter of the entire device that encompasses the keys on the sides, which makes the side keys of the 8250 look as though they are protruding from beneath the rubber. Though the chrome trim is missed, it seems to work for the phone. Both the bulging keys and lack of chrome makes the Curve look less delicate and more rugged than the other BlackBerry Phones in the market.

Multimedia keys:

As we had mentioned earlier, three media keys have been included on the top of the device which includes Play/ Pause/ Mute, Next and Previous. These buttons work in conjunction with the music player to aid you through the navigation of music which is a very welcome addition that plays well to the younger market. This version of Curve also features an expandable microSD slot with 1 GB car preloaded. The last physical makeover is that of the Talk, Options, Return and End/Power that makes them look a bit more hipper. As the new trackpad does not stick out from the case like the old one, the four main buttons under the display sit completely flush that gives the handset a much sleeker look than the previous Curve models. The keys are all part of the same top level that the screen is and do not look like individual ones, though they act so. The rear of the phone also sports some of the same rubber that surrounds the perimeter of the phone along with a black plastic piece across most of the back. This plastic is curved quite a bit, which beckons the user in order to spin the phone in a circle which will bring about some irreparable marks from all of spinning.

Small display:

The Curve 8250 sports a 2.64” Thin Film Transistor display of 320 x 240 pixels. The screen supports 65K colours and Quarter Video Graphics Array. All these features have made sure that the display is vivid and colourful. Another thing that we have to admit is that, though 8250’s screen is an upgrade from the original Curve, it does not seem to hold a candle to competitors from its own parents like the Curve 8900, Tour or Bold.

Keyboard:

The Curve 8250 has retained the QWERTY keyboard of the original Curve. If you were just hoping for an escape from the plastic spaced out keys and trade up to a keyboard like that of the 8900 or the Tour, then you are out of luck. The keys may be small, but as they are slightly raised they’re easy to hit with your fingers and thumbs so tapping out emails is not a problem. Overall, the QWERTY keyboard is much easier and reliable without being cramped.

Annoying LED:

One thing that everybody will agree to be annoying in the previous Blackberrys is its blue light that keeps flashing that is very distracting while driving at nights. The good news here is that RIM has solved this issue with the inclusion of a smaller LED indicator which is just about the size of the tip of the pencil.

Features:

Connectivity:

RIM has sensibly included a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, so if you do not like the supplied headset, you can always swap it for one of your owns but the downside is that, you will lose the hands-free functionality. Though the addition of the standard headphone jack is very welcome, RIM has annoyingly placed it on the left edge of the phone rather than on the top which means that the lead tends to snag when you take the handset in and out of your pocket.

Connectivity too is a kind of mixed bag. If you are just thinking to hop on to any of the great 3G deals, then just be prepared to be disappointed. On the one hand you get Wi-Fi for fast web browsing at home or when you’re within range of a hotspot, plus Bluetooth for use with car kits or stereo headsets. However, there is no GPS and this is yet another BlackBerry that does not support 3G at a time when it is really difficult to find a smartphone from any other manufacturer that does not feature 3G support. That said, the lack of 3G is not really all that noticeable when you are just using the device for email due to BlackBerry’s clever compression technology. However, it is different story with the web browser as when you are away from a Wi-Fi signal and working over the mobile EDGE network it can be pretty slow to load pages in the browser.

Operating System in Curve 8250:

The default OS of the Blackberry 8250 is OS 4.6.1.259. The basic suite of Blackberry Software includes apps like web browser, address book, calendar and Push e-mail. Like most of the recent RIM models, it also sports audio and video software along with an Office Suite called the DataViz Documents To Go.

Browsing and messaging:

Despite the small display and lack of 3G support, the browser seems to be pretty decent as it is very responsive and easy to navigate using the onscreen cursor through the optical trackpad. Rendering sites is pretty good, but it mucks up the formatting every now and then on complex pages. The messaging features of the 8250 are simply top class. One thing that we found to be consistent throughout its hardware and software design its intensions to appeal to the younger market. This is very much evident by the red and white asterisks that litter notifications section in order to inform the user about the new messages and notifications. This very much resembles the iPhone that makes use of the same colour schemes to indicate few notifications. All these indications clutter up the home screen especially that of the status bar on the top. A great news for those social networking freaks is that, Facebook and MySpace is built-in by default and also offers a slew of IM clients like AIM, Gtalk, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo and Blackberry messenger. Last but not the least you will also be delighted to find the Blackberry Maps in the device.

Other than few of the cosmetic updates of notifications, very less of the OS has departed from the other Blackberrys. In certain applications, the phone seemed to hang a bit more than we would expect it to, which was very surprising given that the phone uses 512MHZ processor, which seems like it would be quite plenty.

VOIP:

One of our favourites that T-mobile offers is UMA or as T-Mobile likes to call, HotSpot@Home. This feature offers native VOIP service where WiFi is available. One of the biggest uses of UMA is that, if you are in an area that does not offer a good T-mobile coverage you will be able to jump on WiFi and instantly have crystal clear conversations. When we first tried this feature with the Blackberry Pearl Flip, we encountered some issues in switching between the UMA and EDGE. We found that the switch was much more seamless with this Blackberry and a few times, we also noticed that a call would start in UMA and end in EDGE without dropping at all.

Camera:

There are several styling cues throughout the whole device that it is certainly after that market share that might be interested in iPhone and inclusion of camera seems to be one of them. RIM has equipped Curve 8250 with 2 mega pixel Camera of resolution 1600 x 1200 pixels and also supports Quarter Video Graphics Array with primary lens that is essential for capturing video. Unfortunately, RIM has lowered their game in this area to be on par with iPhone. Though the camera takes decent pictures, it does not have flash like in the iPhone, which is found in almost every other Blackberry camera. The round iPhone-esque lens has been more exposed and subject to dust than the other Blackberry devices. We would have loved to see a decent 3.2 mega pixel auto focus camera that is found in most of the recent phones. Photos taken outdoors in good light look decent, but as the camera lacks a flash or autofocus it really struggles indoors leaving you with dark and noisy photos. The camera can also be used to take videos at a resolution of 320 x 240, but the results look a tad jerky. Video format support covers MPEG4, H.263, H.264, and WMV3. Fun factor has been added to the application with the Photocall feature that enables the user to tag photos to the contacts.

Quad-band compatible:

As the Blackberry Curve 8250 is quad band compatible and hence you can use it in most countries around the world and as with the Blackberrys we have tested in the past, the 8250 too has an excellent call quality. The ear piece offered is loud and clear, the mic is not over directional and even the speakerphone works great that is boosted by the beefier speaker the RIM has used for this model.

Battery life:

One thing that has always been a strength of all the Blackberrys is their long battery life and the Curve 8250 is no different. With a single charge, you will get three full days with some mailing, phone calls and a little bit of browsing. Very impressive!

Verdict:

As we have indicated throughout the review, Blackberry Curve 8250 has several elements that position it to a younger market segment, which is very evident with the rubber outlay around the phone, updated call and end keys and multimedia keys. Though these small changes are notable, they cannot be said as the standout features of the phone. We should admit the optical trackpad is a big step forward for the Blackberrys. The trackpad has made it much easier to use the device and more importantly has made it look sturdy and sleek than the other models with track ball. The shortcomings with the lags in applications and lack of flash have been very well made up by the pad. 8250 is certainly a little light on features, with 3G and GPS the most serious omissions, but the phone still manages to rise above these limitations. It is the combination of its excellent email features, long battery life and easy to use interface that make it so likeable.

If you are looking to upgrade to a T-mobile Blackberry we would normally suggest Blackberry Curve 8900, but with the inclusion of trackpad on the 8250, we would ask you to think twice. The 8250 is just perfect for those who need just more than a standard mobile, but do not have the kind of money to go for an iPhone or the HTC Hero.

Check other Blackberry Curve Smartphones in our website.

Blackberry Curve 8250 Phone – Technical Specification Table