This is a nice way to start the day. The entire RIM roadmap for 2012 has leaked and it’s a doozy.

Let’s start with the simple stuff: the Curve 9220 and 9320 are ready to go for a mid-year release. The 9220 is indeed an EDGE-only device with a 2.44″ 320×240 display with a 2MP camera, 512MB RAM and ROM, WiFi, Bluetooth. It will probably not come to Canada as Rogers is the only network remaining with EDGE service an they are transitioning away from that technology.

The 9320 is going to be very popular. Likely launching for $299 or less, it also has a 2.44″ 320×240 display, a 3.2MP fixed-focus camera with video recording, 512MB RAM and ROM, WiFi, Bluetooth, FM Stereo and a dedicated BBM button. Very cool! The left hand side button will likely launch BBM from wherever you are in the OS, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it can be re-assigned to other functions.

The Curve 9320 looks to be launching in Q2 of this year.

 Next up is the 3G Playbook, which looks and feels the same as last year’s but has an updated 1.5Ghz TI OMAP 4460 processor, 42Mbps HSPA+ and NFC capabilities. It will launch with Playbook OS 2.0 sometime in Q2.

We don’t have any idea whether it will be offered by Canadian carriers, but you can be sure there are going to be some killer bundles with some upcoming BlackBerry devices. White 9790 anyone?

In addition to white Bold 9900 and Torch 9810′s we’re looking at a white Bold 9790 and Curve 9380 at some point this year. Probably launched sometime in the first or second quarter.

The BlackBerry 10 roadmap still seems pretty far off, but we have confirmation that there is going to be at least one BB10 device this year, likely late September or early October according to the roadmap. Anything is subject to change, but we hope that RIM doesn’t rush the device; rather get one killer device out the door.

Some other cool stuff? Wireless Media Server capabilities are coming to BlackBerry 7 devices, which will allow for streaming of photos, movies and music to your favourite electronics such as PCs, consoles and stereo systems. Considering this wasn’t bundled in the BlackBerry 7.1 release, it will likely be in the next major update.

There are some interesting statistics around Playbook owners and ownership, too: 72% of Playbook owners are aged 35+, 84% are male and the average annual income is $78,000. Not bad. Definitely peaking higher than the rest of the pack.

So there you have it! Lots of cool stuff on the way from RIM. What do you think of all this news? Does this bode well for the company’s turn-around? I wonder if Thorsten Heins is upset about the leak…

Source: BGR

Related posts:

1. Rumour: RIM to launch two BlackBerry 10 devices, Curves, HSPA+ Playbook in the next year
2. Sears drops BlackBerry PlayBook pricing until October 2nd, available from $299.98
3. BlackBerry PlayBook launch delayed until May due to a poor battery?

Based on the initial findings of a Corporate Governance review mandate issued last July, RIM co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie may be forced to step down as co-chairs of the Board.

As we told you in mid-December, there have been calls by RIM investors for a change of governance, with five-year board member Barbara Stymiest leading the pack of candidates for new chairwoman. She “should step up and take the lead in making dramatic governance change,” according to Vic Alboini, Jaguar CEO and RIM investor. What is being called into question is the need, or “business necessity,” for a CEO (or in this case, two CEOs) to be chairmen of the board. This practice is less common in Canada and the U.K., but quite common in the U.S., a reason RIM claims as justification for maintaining the current hierarchy.

While this does not endanger the CEOs’ main roles of running the day-to-day operations of the company, the call to remove Lazaridis and Balsillie as chairs of the Board is the first step in what many see as a fundamental shake-up of the corporate nature within RIM. The common trope is that the company cannot continue the way it has been going; 2011 was a disastrous year for the company, whose stock price tumbled 75% amidst poor product launches and failed earnings expectations.

The co-CEOs, who together own 12% of the company’s total shares, have insisted on sticking to their guns regarding the new BlackBerry 10 OS, which is expected to debut in new smartphones in the second half of this year. Until then we will see a marketing blitz for existing BlackBerry 7 devices with renewed vigor.

The Corporate Governance review is expected to be submitted by the end of January, and there is no word on whether it encompasses, as some investors implore, a splitting of the company into separate divisions. We are only in the first days of 2012 and already RIM is back in the news. Let’s hope this will be the year they turn it all around.

Source: Financial Post

Related posts:

1. Forbes: If RIM co-CEOs didn’t give millions to charity they’d still be billionaires
2. Lacavera, Péladeau and Shaw named CEOs of the year by Report on Business Magazine
3. RIM shareholder says company should split into 3 divisions: network, device and patent

When I reviewed the all-touch BlackBerry Curve 9380 (which I didn’t much like) I decided to take a stab at using its bigger brother the Torch 9860, a device released back in August. This much-maligned device didn’t receive nearly the same amount of press as the flagship Bold 9900, and was overshadowed by the familiar form factor of the Torch 9810.

But the Torch 9860 is a really nice device. I’ve been working feverishly over the past few days to get used to its software keyboard — a serious liability for a BlackBerry if I ever saw one — and through trials and tribulations it’s turning out pretty well.

Let’s just get something out of the way: this device will not be for everybody. It’s an easy device to dismiss, and easier to make fun of — “you mean it’s a high-end BlackBerry with no keyboard?!” — but RIM has done a very nice job with its design, and with BlackBerry 7′s fluid touch support, not having a physical keyboard rarely feels like a hindrance to productivity.

The big screen is sharp and vivid, and probably the phone’s biggest advantage. BlackBerry 7 made huge improvements in speed and quality to the browser, and the Torch 9860 reaps these rewards more than any other. Reading long emails is no longer an exercise in scrolling, and many of the other first-party apps such as Twitter and Facebook look and work great on the big screen.

Media also looks great on the 9860. Photos and videos can actually be viewed in landscape mode without squinting, and with the 1.2Ghz processor and 14.4Mbps baseband, it’s finally possible to use a BlackBerry to enjoy 720p HD content. The camera itself, a 5MP EDoF autofocus sensor, isn’t up to par with many of its 8MP peers, but the BlackBerry 7 interface is intuitive and enjoyable to use. I did find that it produced shots that equaled or surpassed any other BlackBerry device.

Finally, the keyboard is really the only roadblock to choosing the Torch 9860 over another BlackBerry. The virtual keyboard takes a lot of practice before mastering, and even then it is liable to make more mistakes than you’d like. It would be one thing if the virtual keyboard was better than that of iOS or Android, but it’s not. Sure, it’s capable of predictive text and autocorrect, but that doesn’t mean it works all the time. With practice, and by adding dozens of words to the custom autocorrect dictionary, I was able to keep from correcting every word manually, but it took a while to get to that point.

I found that instead of trying to type as quickly as possible and trusting the autocorrect to fix the errors, it behooves one to type at a slow, steady pace. At first this may seem like a hindrance, but it ends up saving time and avoiding undue frustration. After using the keyboard for around twelve hours, I can reasonably say I no longer fear the Torch 9860.

For someone who wanted a BlackBerry experience again without sacrificing size and function, the Torch 9860 suits me well. I can’t type as quickly on it as on the Bold 9900, and I doubt I ever will. But I can scroll through web pages, flip through photos and watch YouTube videos without feeling like I’m missing out on the whole picture, and, coupled with the decent screen and awesome build quality, makes the Torch 9860 one of the underdogs.

Do you use a BlackBerry Torch 9860? Why did you buy it? Has it held up over the past few months? Let us know in the comments.

Related posts:

1. TELUS officially states the BlackBerry Torch 9860 is “coming soon”
2. TELUS BlackBerry Torch 9860 launching August 29th
3. Bell BlackBerry Torch 9860 now launching August 31st, $129.99 on 3-year

Nostalgia is a funny thing. Though last year I left my BlackBerry behind for the shinier, app-centric shores of iOS and Android, I still recall my experiences fondly. There are times I miss the great keyboard, push email and how easy it is to compose lengthy soliloquies like it’s nothing at all. I retain a closeted affection for BBM and the friendships I clung to so dearly through PIN. But mostly I miss that flashing red light, hounding me to check my phone, check my phone, check my phone.

Since the arrival of BlackBerry 7, RIM has emphasized that they too can play the smartphone game in 2011. And in many ways they have succeeded, at least in retaining their current user base; I see a lot of Bold 9900′s when I’m out in public. And while others, like me, have left for greener pastures, we’re always willing to come back for a visit.

The Curve 9380 is the first all-touch Curve device, and is intended to bridge that small gap between entry-level and high-end consumer devices. To its credit the Curve feels great in the hand: it is well-constructed, and employs many of the same technologies, like NFC, that are available in RIM’s most expensive models. It also aims to convince users that there doesn’t need to be a hardware keyboard for it to be called a BlackBerry.

Will the masses listen, and is the Curve 9380 worth buying? Read on to find out.

Specs:

-     800Mhz Marvell processor
-     3.2″ 360×480 capacitive touch display
-     512MB RAM / 512MB ROM
-     5MP  EDoF camera w/ LED flash
-     VGA video capture
-     WiFi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP, A-GPS, NFC
-     1230mAh battery
-     109 x 60 x 11.2 mm
-     98g

The Phone

The Curve 9380 hues closely to the keyboard-adorned 9360 in its design, which means it’s very light, thin and fluid. At 11.2mm thick, the body barely registers in the hand; at 98g, it disappears in a pocket or bag. RIM has honed down the right-side convenience and volume buttons to such an extent they now flit out like little nubs, barely perceptible unless your fingers brush upon them. This is by no means a negative trait: the phone’s design is about as simple as it gets.

While the 9380 forgoes the weighty aluminum battery cover of its big brother, the Torch 9860, in other places it is constructed with premium plastic and a high-quality glass. The four buttons below the screen are actually housed within the glass which lends a sense of continuity to the form. It’s clear RIM wanted very little to distract from the main event: the 3.2″ screen. At 360×480 its resolution is quite low on paper but I didn’t find myself wanting for smaller text or sharper images. But for the browser, which would have benefited from more zoom, the Curve’s size relative to its resolution felt well matched.

As with all recent BlackBerry devices there is a standard-issue trackpad for text selection and other “legacy” functions. That the BlackBerry ecosystem still requires four buttons and a trackpad reasserts the issue that the OS needs doing away with — text selection and secondary context functions are finicky and unreliable via touchscreen alone — but neither are they intrusive. Around the left side, centred, is a microUSB charging port, while on top of the device is a headphone jack. The lock button has been built into the top, too, again contiguous with the front glass. Instead of being a separate button like on most phones, RIM has integrated the function without disturbing the form: more OEMs would benefit from such design edification.

The battery cover is made of plastic that, while relatively secure while attached, seems immediately like it’s going to break into a thousand pieces when removed. The company has done a great job unifying its battery line, though: both the new Bold 9790 and the Curve 9380 use the same JM1 battery found in the Bold 9900. Whether this translates into sufficient longevity we’ll talk about later.

I must say that one thing RIM is doing quite well is the continuing honing and simplifying of their designs. There isn’t another mobile company in the world that has honed a single design element to such an extent as to be instantly recognizable and yet modern and thoughtful. To compare the Curve 9380 to, say, the original Curve 8100 would be a lesson in refinement and careful, mindful planning.

The Display & Keyboard

While sufficient resolution for the size, the quality of the LCD is another matter. Low-quality, with noticeable gradient banding and a distracting, visible digitizer layer, I’ve seen better from RIM. Compared to the high-density display on the Bold 9900 or the fantastic, crisp LCD in the Torch 9860, this is clearly the Curve’s weakest trait.

Couple that with a stubborn digitizer that wouldn’t always register our key taps, we were loathe to try to type on this Curve. My frustration abates, however, when I keep in mind this device is meant for entry-level smartphone users, many of whom will have never used a touchscreen before. Comparing the quality to, say, that of entry level Android or Nokia device the Curve’s display is unequivocally better, even if $100 more expensive.

Colour reproduction is a strength, with solid contrast and accurate whites. Text, while large, is crisp and readable, which is a good thing because as a BlackBerry user you’ll undoubtedly doing a lot of reading and scrolling. Viewing angles are great, as is maximum brightness.

My main concern with the display is its responsiveness. Occasionally I would be scrolling down the BB7 home screen only to have a touch register as a press when it should have registered as a fluid scrolling motion. Similarly, when typing, the cursor would move randomly as if being roused by a phantom. Rarely could I get through an entire sentence without the cursor finding its way magically back to the beginning of the text input box. I could type quickly or slowly, it did not matter; the keyboard would register my presses incorrectly more often than not.

This is a problem for a BlackBerry device. As I’d come to learn with the mostly-excellent Torch 9860, RIM’s virtual keyboard is a different beast altogether than the one I was used to on iOS and Android. Key placement aside, it just feels strange, as if you need to be more deliberate, more evenly-paced. With the Torch, however, once I found a rhythm I was fine; the Curve, in portrait or landscape, full QWERTY or reduced, I continued to have recognition issues.

Granted, I did have a pre-production model, and RIM emphasized that hardware was not yet final. Let’s hope that this batch I got mine from was not fit for public consumption.

Camera

The 5MP camera on the Curve 9380 is decidedly better than that of the previous Curve generation. Anyone upgrading from the 8520 or 9300 will be delighted at being able to make out actual details in images. Such things I take for granted, certainly, but it always astounds me the number of friends I have happily snapping portrait and lanscape shots on their entry-level BlackBerry devices.

This isn’t to say the Curve 9380′s camera is good by any means, just significantly improved. Its EDoF nature makes actual focusing impossible; the idea is that the camera, past a certain point, is always in focus. As a result, taking photos is much faster because there is no focusing motor getting in the way of a quick photo. The upshot is that macro photography is impossible: shots closer than, say, five inches, are fuzzy and out of focus.

The flash does an excellent job in close proximity, wisely under- instead of over-compensating. It suffices for nearby portrait photos or in a dimly-lit room. There is a good amount of detail in each 5MP photo, though a fair amount of grain to go along with it.

Video is taken at a maximum of 640×480, likely due to the limitations of the 800Mhz processor than the optical sensor. While chugging along at a smooth 30fps, the quality is poor and appropriate for base YouTube fare or sending an email of your cat around the office.

In its default state, the phone comes with space for fewer than 30 photos and no video. It is incumbent on you, or your carrier, to provide a modestly-sized microSD card so that you may enjoy your music, video and photos to their fullest extent. Because we received our demo unit straight from RIM itself, I can’t comment on individual carrier phone bundles but it is more than likely the Curve 9380 will come with a 2GB card.

Software & Performance

This is BlackBerry 7. An improved, touch-friendly, Liquid Graphics-filled operating system, with most of the same elements that made BB OS either indelibly attractive or untenable repulsive to the masses over the past few years. For BlackBerry Lovers, the new experience is a necessary and functional refresh; to BlackBerry Haters, it’s too little, too late. Leaving behind the love it/hate it debate, however, how has BlackBerry 7 iterated since its release?

Quite well, to be honest. In spite of this particular model’s touch issues, BlackBerry 7 is responsive and attractive, with a modular framework that allows you to see exactly what you want to, and hide what you don’t. Since the first wave of BB7 devices, RIM has released numerous bug fix and performance improving updates to its first-party apps: BBM, BlackBerry Protect, News, Traffic, Podcasts, as well as BBM Music, its newest foray into social music. There really is a lot to like here, and out of the box it covers most of the “primary needs” of a mobile OS: phone, email, SMS, news, music, media.

If you’ve ever used BlackBerry OS, things are going to be pretty similar and much, much faster. If you are upgrading from a previous Curve, say an 8520 or 9300, either the Curve 9360 or this phone will seem like a huge upgrade. Both in terms of speed and fluidity, RIM has done an excellent job with overall performance. Rarely will you see that dreaded BlackBerry “spinning clock” and we noticed few, if any, app crashes. Since this is the last version of BlackBerry OS — next year RIM is moving over its entire fleet of phones to the BBX platform — it’s about time the Java-based framework reached a modicum of maturity. As I touched on in our Curve 9360 review, BlackBerry 7 is not a cure-all, rectifying all problems from previous versions. Rather it completes the shaky cycle of iterative software and hardware improvements, and we can happily say the BB7 line didn’t let us down as it neared its sunset.

In many ways the interface is still touch unfriendly. All those keyboard shortcuts — “T” to the top, “B” to the bottom, “C” to compose, etc. — are missing here. You will do a lot thumb flicking when scrolling long web pages or through email threads. Indeed, the entire text-and-selection procedure is more frustrating than it should be. Companies like Apple and HTC have implemented them rather well, but RIM seems to hold onto the “peck-and-hope” technique. Sure, there is a blue line that appears underneath next, but getting it to go where you want and copy what you want is entirely unintuitive.

Despite the niggling issues with text input and selection, the email, browsing and BBM experience remain as robust as ever, and that’s really why you’re buying a BlackBerry, right? With the unified BlackBerry ID you can transfer BIS data including email accounts (and therefore synchronized Gmail contacts and calendars) from device to device without issue. With remote restore you can retain your BBM list. With BlackBerry Protect you can backup all that data to the cloud, and locate your phone in case it is lost or stolen.

Browsing is also much, much better on the all-touch Curve 9380. Unlike the 9360 with its 2.2″ screen and lack of touch, even BlackBerry 7′s Liquid Graphics couldn’t save it from a disastrous browsing fate. Thankfully, the Curve 9380 has the chops to render web pages accurately — even high-bandwidth HTML5-heavy ones — and relatively quickly. The 800Mhz processor does, at times, show a modicum of checkerboarding, but nothing like in previous generations.

One of the biggest advantages to having a larger screen is when looking at photos and watching video clips. While it’s not recommended to catch up on your favourite movies on such a small screen, the experience is far better than a traditional QWERTY BlackBerry device. Flipping through pictures in the Gallery or reading through long emails is less exhausting with a bigger screen.

Call Quality & NFC 

We used our trust Bell SIM to power the Curve 9380′s 3G network connection — which maxes out at 7.2Mbps — and call quality was, as expected, excellent. Though the network is theoretically slower than RIM’s flagship devices, because data is so highly compressed through BIS, we hardly noticed the difference.

Maximum call volume also exceeded our expectations, as did the tiny speaker on the back of the device. While aimed at consumers, the Curve is a great business device: making phone calls has always been a strength of BlackBerry.

RIM’s continued inclusion of NFC in their entry-level devices is meant to solidify its place in the mainstream. While use is limited at the moment, once BlackBerry 7.1 arrives, and with it BlackBerry Tags (which we showed off the other day) it will become really useful.

Battery Life

Because the 9380 uses the same battery as the Bold 9900, we tempered our expectations and as a result were pleasantly surprised. The 1230mAh battery is plenty to power the device through the day, and then some. We looped a video clip for 7 hours and 15 minutes before the battery finally gave out. In real-world usage, the Curve lasted us nearly 26 hours based on stats in the usage menu.

If you are looking to repeat the multiple-day battery life of non-touch BlackBerry devices, you’re out of luck, and you might as well get used to the new modus operandi. As RIM incorporates touchscreens into their phones, battery life will continue to go down. And considering this generation may be the last of the non-touch BlackBerries, I’d get used to it.

Final Thoughts
Considering Telus is launching the Curve 9380 for $49.99 on a 3-year term and $369.99 outright, which is presumably the same price the other carriers will launch at, RIM is positioning it as a high-tier entry-level device. We have no doubt it will quickly hit $0 on a 3-year term, but it’s hard to imagine the swaths of teens currently using keyboarded Curves primarily for BBM trading them in for an all-touch BlackBerry, just for a little extra screen real estate. As we’ve learned with the tepid response of the Torch 9860, selling an all-touch BlackBerry is a difficult proposition.

Insofar as RIM has built an excellent device, the Curve 9380 does everything right: it’s premium-feeling, fast and stable, with a nice big screen and sleek design. But it’s the little things that suffer: the keyboard is awkward and unreliable, and the resolution is low. The camera is a big step up from previous Curves but doesn’t compete with the industry-standard results we see in the iPhone 4 or Galaxy Nexus.

In short, you already know if this is the phone for you, or for your daughter. If you can master the virtual keyboard, it’s a great device. If not, you’ll long for that Curve 8100. I know I’m still nostalgic.

Rating: 6.5/10

Pros:

-     Excellent design, well-built
-     Good battery life for a BlackBerry 7 device
-     Solid screen quality
-     Good performance for the price
-     BlackBerry 7 is fast and stable (compared to previous versions)
-     Camera takes decent shots
-     Great call quality
-     Good sound from the speaker
-     NFC a nice inclusion

Cons:

-     Video quality subpar
-     Low-resolution screen makes for a lot of scrolling
-     Keyboard is awkward and unreliable
-     High outright price
-     Disappointing battery life compared to previous Curves

Related posts:

1. Unreleased BlackBerry Curve 9380 gets pictured once again
2. Unannounced BlackBerry Bold 9790 and Curve 9380 show up on the App World developer portal
3. TELUS releases the BlackBerry Curve 9380

The Curve 9360 is significant for a number of reasons. It’s the first BlackBerry 7-compatible Curve, and while it eschews the aluminum backing of the 8900 series, it keeps, and improves upon everything else. It sports a faster CPU than the previous-generation Bold devices, a sharp display, 5MP camera with flash, and most of all, it’s waif thin. Is this your next phone? Read on to find out.

Specs:

- 2.44″ 480×360 pixel display (non-touch)
- 800Mhz processor with BlackBerry 7
- 512MB RAM / 512MB eMMC storage (expandable with microSD card up to 32GB)
- 5MP Camera with flash / VGA video capture
- WiFi (b/g/n), aGPS, Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP, NFC-capable
- 1000mAh battery (5hrs talk time)
- 109 x 60 x 11mm
- 99g

The Phone

You’re not going to buy a BlackBerry without knowing exactly what you’re getting. That also includes the form factor, which is the standard screen-buttons-keyboard design. So be in for a pleasant shock when you first hold this in your hands. At 11mm thick, the Curve 9360 is extremely, impossibly thin, and at 99g, feels fantastic to hold. It resembles in some ways BlackBerrys of a previous generation, the 8830 especially, which was squared off at the top and bottom, with a no-nonsense front.

The keyboard is very similar to previous Curves but the keys are slightly less raised, and due to the slight 60mm width, narrower, though unless you have giant thumbs typing should be quite natural. Coming from a Bold 9900 took some getting used to, as there is a good 6mm extra to work with, but this is easily the best Curve typing experience to date, with a slightly stubborn weight to each key that we appreciated when typing long emails. They take a bit more work to activate, but produce far fewer errors than the bouncy, loose keys of the 9300.

The screen is relatively high resolution; on the 2.44″ screen, the 480×360 pixels produces a ratio of 246 pixels per inch. Text, which is arguably the most important faculty of the BlackBerry, is clear even at minute sizes, with the most serif of fonts not belying their aliased nature. Colours are vibrant and true, while black levels fairly deep, though not up to par with the Bold 9900. There certainly isn’t the ‘Wow’ vibrancy of the Bold or the ‘OMG improvement’ of the Torch 9810, but compared to the muted, fuzzy text of its predecessors, the Curve 9360 is in a league of its own.

Around the device buttons that formerly had substance — the volume rocker and convenience key — are whisp-thin and barely noticeable. RIM wisely maintains the rubberized overlay and makes them protrude even more than necessary to make up for their tininess. The lock button sits alone on the top of the device — the forward/back/play of previous generations have been merged with the volume buttons — right next to the 3.5mm jack.

Around the back, the 5MP camera and flash are separated by a ‘Curve’ insignia, and this is where we run into the first spat of trouble. The battery cover, if you could call it that, is a glossy fingerprint magnet that is so flimsy you can feel it moving when you press down on the keys with your thumbs. Mind you, it’s not much —  we found the Curve 9300 to be much more flagrant in its cheapness — but the incidence mars an otherwise-flawless usage experience.

The four maintenance buttons on the front — Phone, BlackBerry, Back and End — are quite difficult to differentiate. You have to press right in the middle of the painted area to hit your mark, but should loosen up over time. We had no trouble with the trackpad, which is, because the device is not touch-enabled, going to be your main mode of transportation. We also like the RIM has done away with colour on the buttons and keyboard; the entire front is an unsullied white-on-black.

BlackBerry 7

Let us explain how much the out-the-box experience is improved on BlackBerry 7. Turn on the device and you’re greeted with a lovely demo video outlining all the excellent new features of the OS. Then you log into your BlackBerry account which imports your previously-used email accounts, including Gmail with which you’ve syncronized Contacts and Calendar entries. Within five minutes you have your previous 20 or so emails from each email account along with your entire Google contact list and calendar entries. No duplicates, no fuss. You then open BBM and restore a cloud-saved contact list, and you’re ready to talk to all your friends. Enter App World and your account information, including payment info, is there waiting to re-download free and purchased apps. We cannot emphasize how far along RIM has come in terms of streamlining.

Coming from a Bold 9900, we kept on hitting the screen with our fingers, but after a while we realized that regardless of what they call it, BlackBerry OS still works better with the trackpad. We found movement and selection to be far easier than tapping aimlessly on the screen, and while we did miss the inverted scrolling in the WebKit browser, for everything else the Curve 9360 has a leg up on its peers.

The new OS, along with a beefed-up CPU, means that transitions between menus, app load times, camera shots and overall performance is greatly improved. From email to texting to tweeting, the Curve does a great job. Even firing up the browser isn’t too bad, with load times and scrolling vastly superior to even the Bold 9780, but scrolling long pages is still unpleasant, and zooming in doesn’t always reorient the text the way it should. Still, if you’re coming from any older BlackBerry, especially a Curve, it’s safe to say you will enjoy a better browsing experience. HTML5 video works just fine inside the browser, though we had issues getting embedded applets to go fullscreen.

One of the biggest advantages of the new Curve is its 3G-enabled chip. With speeds up to 14.4Mbps, downloading big web pages or multi-megabyte files is no longer the painful and laborious process it once was. That being said, unlike its big brothers which sport a 1.2Ghz processor, the 800Mhz chip and 512MB RAM can’t always keep up with what you want it to do. We did run into the occasional time where the device would just sit with its infamous clock in the middle of the screen, thinking for a few seconds before proceeding with its business, though ironically this happened less than on the Bold 9900. Forget about doing anything else when installing an app, though — go make yourself some popcorn and come back in five minutes.

The rest of the experience we’ve covered pretty thoroughly in the review for the Torch 9810. You’ve got improvements to first-party apps such as Facebook, Twitter, BBM etc., while third-party apps like Foursquare and Ubersocial are slowly being updated to take advantage of new APIs. Since that review, App World 3.0 has been unleashed with an entirely new interface and lots of excellent features. There are BlackBerry Music, Protect, Podcasts, News: all excellent apps with lots of depth. They may not be the prettiest but they are incredibly, and increasingly, functional. You have Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, MSN Messenger, to round out the social offerings. For productivity, there is a full version of Documents To Go, and very capable Tasks, Memo, Voice Dialer and Voice Notes apps. Oh, and you can search the phone, or the internet, with your voice, straight from the home screen. There is a much-improved Maps application and the excellent social aggregator, Social Feeds, which allows you to not only add RSS feeds but, when you’ve signed into Facebook and Twitter, to see all your updates in one place.

Without a touchscreen getting in the way, and the inconsistent, sometimes achingly slow performance that comes with it, the Curve 9360 often seems quicker than its more expensive peers.

Bell includes a few of their own apps, though in reality they are shortcuts: GPS Navigator, which is powered by Telenav, is a $10/month service that is among the best turn-by-turn navigation apps on the market. Bell also offers its TV & Radio service, which for $5/month allows you to subscribe to various channel bundles. We’d recommend staying away from such offerings as the prospect of watching live, or even taped, television on a 2.4″ screen is somewhat absurd.

Camera and Media

The Curve 9360 comes with a EDoF 5MP camera, which means that it does not support autofocus — instead the camera takes shots almost instantly, as it doesn’t have to adjust its focal point to where you’re pointing. Everything beyond a few inches is in focus. This means that macro photography is not possible with this device, but, in general, photos look great. There is plenty of detail and colour saturation and detail are only slightly below that of the Bold 9900.

Unfortunately, likely due to the slower processor, video capture is limited to VGA, or 640×480. While not unexpected for a low-cost device, it is nonetheless disappointing. What video you can take is of decent quality, and a smooth 30fps. No front-facing camera on this one, either; you’re likely going to have to wait until QNX for that one.

The media capabilities of the Curve 9360 are quite good: photos look great, and you can smoothly scroll between shots in the Media Gallery app. Video also looks good, too, though it’s also processor-limited to low-bitrate encodings. If HD video recording or viewing is a priority, stick with the higher-end BB’s.

Music and video playback can be controlled with the volume buttons, and the play button nub in between them. Hold down on the ‘up’ button for a second and it will skip to the next song. Hit ‘down’ and it will return to the previous track. This is an intuitive, pocket-friendly way of controlling your music and videos, and along with the superb sound quality and high-speed 3G support, your Curve can now easily replace a dedicated media player.

Battery Life

Here’s where it gets good. Unlike the lacklustre (read: awful) battery life of the Bold 9900, the Curve’s somewhat tiny battery bears the brunt of a slower CPU and no touchscreen with panache. In other words, expect multiple days out of your Cure 9360. We used the device constantly over two days, and left it overnight on the third day, and woke to find it dead. That’s over 48 hours of battery life from a single 1000mAh charge.

Granted, the results are not as good as the EDGE-only Curves, the 8520 and 8900, but we’re willing to take a slight hit in battery life for the extra network speed. The screen is still quite usable at 10% brightness, which adds a few more hours, and if you use WiFi when indoors expect another few. And due to the tiny battery, charging from zero to full takes just over an hour.

NFC

Though we don’t have any way of testing Near Field Communications, or NFC, support at the moment, rest assured that most mobile payments a year from now will be using the technology. This just future-proofs a product for which you likely paid significantly less than, say, the Torch 9810, which does not support NFC.

Call Quality

We tested Bell’s version of the Curve 9360 which takes advantage of Bell’s mature and expanding 4G network. In the GTA we had no issues maintaining five bars of service, even in a basement. While the speakerphone leaves a lot to be desired in terms of fidelity, we are happy that the earpiece is loud and clear, and the device supports A2DP-enabled Bluetooth headsets.

Conclusions

We have to grade the BlackBerry Curve 9360 on, well, a curve. See, for $350 outright you’re getting a device that’s faster, thinner and arguably more attractive than any high-end Bold released in the last three years (not the 9900). You’re getting a relatively smooth smartphone experience with a capable browser, excellent media functionality and a decent camera.

See, the BlackBerry brand has suffered in the last three years at the hand of iPhone and high-end Android. But pound for pound they still beat the low- and mid-range competition, and this is where the platform shines. If you buy a BlackBerry today, even with BB7 onboard, you’re not getting Angry Birds or Infinity Blade. You’re not getting the latest apps, but third- and fourth-tier support from developers who are moving away from the platform at remarkable speeds. Yes, there are plenty of apps for BlackBerry, but they’re often expensive, ugly and do not meet the usability standards of their iPhone and Android equivalents. The exceptions are there — Foursquare, Rdio, Evernote, Dropbox, Sugarsync, TuneIn Radio, Slacker Radio, ScoreMobile, Poynt — but you’ll likely never see a Netflix app for BlackBerry, nor Instagram, nor an updated Tumblr app.

It’s hard to imagine, with BlackBerry OS being fazed out by QNX in mere months, that developers are going to create new, exciting apps for BlackBerry 7. So, know what you’re getting. Don’t yearn for apps you’ll never get; be happy instead with the multitudinous excellent functionality already available for the platform.

The Curve 9360 is one of the best Blackberrys we’ve used, and exactly the kind of send-off the OS needs. There is more to BlackBerry 7 than just BBM, but we’d imagine even if you’re purchasing the Curve 9360 for just that, you’ll more than likely be satisfied.

Rating: 8/10

Pros:

- Outstanding form factor
-  Vibrant, sharp screen
- Best Curve keyboard ever made
- BlackBerry 7 runs great, often better than on the more expensive Bold 9900
- Camera takes decent photos
- Awesome battery life for the size of the device
- Inexpensive

Cons:

- Plasticky feel may be a turn-off
- Battery cover is a flimsy fingerprint magnet
- Browsing performance lacklustre
- Keyboard not as comfortable as the Bold for lengthy typing sessions
- BlackBerry 7 does not quite meet the smartphone standards set by Apple and Google
- Video capture only VGA, no autofocus for camera

Follow me on Twitter @journeydan

Related posts:

1. Bell BlackBerry Curve 9360 will be $349.95 outright
2. OtterBox BlackBerry Curve 8350i Video Review
3. Bell BlackBerry Curve 9360 launching August 29th

We were lucky enough to be given access to the closed beta of BBM Music, the latest venture buy RIM to expand the reach of BBM6 and its third-party integration. At its core, BBM Music is a natural extension of the BBM social network. For $4.99US per month, you have access to 50 songs in a library of millions. But each friend of yours who also uses the service gives you access to their 50 songs. The more BBM friends you have using Music, the more songs you can listen to.

So, I have 30 BBM friends, which I think is on the low side, but let’s say it’s average. If every person in my list paid the $4.99/month for BBM Music, I could theoretically have access to (50×30) songs, or 1500 tracks. While that doesn’t seem like much, to the average music consumer who listens to a few songs a day, often the same ones, will find a lot to like about the service. “The 50 song profile is a way to describe oneself,” says Alistair Mitchell, RIM’s vice president of BBM platform and integrated services.

“It creates this distillation of what music really matters to that person, which is a benefit to the collective. Your friendship circle gets the benefit of everyone having put in their best effort to create their distilled favourite collection of music.”

The Service:
As I said, it’s a pretty simple service. You download the application (there is a one-month free trial for anyone in a supported country), connect it to your BBM6 (which you must have already installed) and begin searching. The interface is well organized with four tabs on the top: Home, You, Friends, and Search. Home is basically like your feed, where you will see your latest activity and the activity of your friends. When you download a song, add a tune to a playlist, or a friend does the same, it will show up on this feed.

The You column contains all the music you’ve downloaded. You have access, like in iTunes and most other services, to 30 seconds of any song, but once you’ve decided to “purchase” or “own” the song for the money it will show up in this column.

The music playing interface is very similar to the one found in the BlackBerry media player: currently sparse but functional. You can randomize or repeat, and you can choose to ignore a tune, which will skip it from the main rotation or any playlists that it’s in unless explicitly clicked on.

You can comment on a song, which your contacts will see, or share it via BBM, BBM Group, Email or PIN. The share will link back to the app, not an outside application like Amazon; RIM is trying to keep user interaction to within its own services, which is smart.

The Social:
Due to the heavy social aspect of BBM Music, if users don’t catch on the who entire service will become stagnent very quickly . It is very easy to add contacts, though at the time of testing I had only one person available to add. Presumably in the Sharing tab any songs shared by your contacts will appear under their name, as well as in a consolidated list under All Songs.

Comments are a very interesting aspect to the service, though I’m not sure how often they will be utilized. I can imagine a few interesting conversations coalescing around a group-beloved track, or a suggestion for tracks similar to the one being listened to. You can actually see all of your comments, and the comments of your friends, under their profile. This makes it easy to discover songs that they have taken time to tag.

Once there is more activity on the Home tab, and more comments on individual songs, I can see it being a lot of fun to scroll through my friends’ choices, picking out my favourites and starting conversations. Music says a lot about a person and it’s often an ice breaker when you’re just getting to know them. Much of the success of this feature will rest on how many people actually sign up for the service; a barren social network makes for some lonely sharing.

The Music:
Music, after all, is the main attraction, so I’d hope that the interface was easy to use and intuitive. Laid out much like the App World, I found that I had to do a lot of scrolling on my Bold 9900 due to the landscape-only nature of the screen. That there are six sections is great, and it’s nice to know there will be lots of curated content from RIM itself. At the moment the catalogue is a bit empty, RIM promised millions of songs when it officially launches, but there are some notable selections.

I was able to pick out some Beastie Boys, Bon Iver and Black Keys (perhaps I was in a B mood?). The selection process is fairly easy: just find an album you like, and next to the song under the album title is a Plus sign (+). Click on that and it starts downloading the song, syncing it to your device. Unfortunately you need a microSD card to actually download the song for offline playback: the internal storage on your device will not suffice. If you do have an SD card installed, you can manually Cache Song via the BlackBerry menu to store it for offline playback.

I found sound quality to be about average for one of these services, though maximum volume on my Bold 9900 is definitely above average for a smartphone, and I was able to enjoy the music through either headphones or the speaker.

From the time you download the song, depending on your 3G connection it takes very little time to start playing the full track. On average it took less than 10 seconds to fully cache song.

Some genres are underrepresented at the moment, but that’s in line with who RIM is aiming the service at. Lots of hip-hop and R&B from artists like Common and Flo Rida; tons of pop from Lady Gaga and Beyonce; plenty of alternative like Foo Fighters and Coldplay. At this time the genres are: Alternative; Dance & House; Pop; Rap; R&B; Rock.

Conclusions:
It’s hard to say from my initial interaction with the service whether it will be a success. For that you’ll have to ask me in a couple months, when more of my BBM contacts are using it. I’d imagine that once the service gets going users will begin seeking out other people, often randoms, to buttress their defences and add more songs. Your enjoyment of BBM Music is going to be directly linked to the people in your life, so there is incentive to seek out others who not only have similar tastes in music, but those who don’t, opening up new sonic doors. At least that’s what RIM wants it to be.

As long as the catalogue keeps growing along with the user base, I don’t think RIM will have any problems finding success.

A couple quibbles: though unconfirmed, it is believed that you will only be able to switch out 25 out of your 50 songs every month. Whether or not this is a licensing issue or a user experience issue remains to be seen, but it’s a strange limitation nonetheless. The inability to save songs to internal storage is also a bit of a pain, since new Blackberry’s like my Bold 9900 come with plenty of internal storage that isn’t being used.

When the service comes out of closed beta and everyone in Canada can try it free for a month, I’d recommend you give it a go. If nothing else, you’ll discover some new music, or be able to make fun of your friend for liking that really awful track. More than anything, remember like BBM, BBM Music is a social network first and a discovery engine second. Its success, and your enjoyment of it, will be directly linked to how much time you put into it.

Related posts:

1. RIM officially announces “BBM Music”
2. Telus creates “Summer of Music” Contest and lowers music prices
3. “BBM Music” app might give ability to share music between BlackBerry Messenger users

The official description of the BlackBerry Innovation Forum states that they “are designed to provide BlackBerry users, both new and old, with a one day technical seminar to educate users on the platform capabilities. The BlackBerry Innovation Forum is geared toward Technology Managers, BlackBerry Enterprise Administrators, and Mobility Architects. This event is open to all BlackBerry users with a BES and at least 500 BlackBerry smartphones“. Sounds like BlackBerry 101 for Business.

Check it out here at BlackBerry

Related posts:

1. Toronto Mayor proclaims September 12-16th, 2009 as “Mobile Innovation Week”
2. Nova Scotia Power wins innovation award for using BlackBerry Storms
3. BlackBerry Developer’s Group comes to Toronto

AESTHETICS
I started this review with low expectations since I am not a fan of “clamshell” smartphones, let alone a flip Blackberry. However, I quickly realized that this phone is not for me, or other loyal Blackberry users, but geared more towards potential new customers looking for a messaging-friendly phone. The Style has a somewhat square shape, due to the full QWERTY keyboard and is enclosed in a glossy exterior. At 131g, this device weighs slightly more than your typical Blackberry device, but surprisingly less that I first expected/anticipated.

The front of the Style 9670 houses a 2” color LCD external screen with 240 x 320 QVGA, as well as the classic small, LED notification light. This display summarizes the date, time, battery life, signal strength, and messaging notifications (can customize to show caller ID, message previews). This screen also helps eliminate the need to constantly flip open the device in order to check the time, new messages, etc. The left side of this device sports a microUSB port for charging/PC connectivity, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microSD slot for up to 32GB supported expandable memory (8GB microSD card included). The right side of this device reveals volume rockers, and RIM’s “convenience key”, which can be programed to act as a shortcut for any program/action. The backside of the Style reveals a 5.0MP camera with LED Flash (capable of auto-focus, face detection, image stabilization, scene modes, 2X zoom, video recording). Removing the back cover also reveals an 1150mAh lithium cell battery, which advertises 270 minutes of talk time, and/or 252 hours of standby time

Once you flip open this device, you will be greeted with a 2.7” color LCD internal screen with 360 x 400 QVGA. This screen is very similar to other Blackberry devices, as images and text appear very clear and sharp on this display. Located underneath this bright screen is a full, QWERTY keyboard, as well as navigation area. The top of the keyboard contains a flat navigation area with buttons for Send, Menu, Back, and End/Power, which is separated by a raised, optical trackpad in the middle.

SIDE NOTE: As with other Blackberry devices, the optical trackpad works quite well on this device, and also works well with OS6, which was thought to be more of a touchscreen friendly OS.

The keyboard on this device is very thin and flat (similar to Torch), but is also sloped and angled to allow for quick typing (similar to Bold). It should be noted that when you flip open the device, there is lots of noticeable room for moving fingers, resting thumbs etc.

SIDE NOTE: The hinge of this device is very critical to its design and seems very strong and durable. The glossy finish on the inside of this device allowed for many visible fingerprint/oil markings. The keyboard is also backlit for times of low visibility.

PERFORMANCE
The Blackberry Style is powered by a 624MHz processor, with 512MB internal flash memory, and comes preloaded with the newly released OS6. This device is Dual-Band 800/1900MHz for CDMA/EVDO Rev A networks. The phone is powered by an 1150mAh battery, with up to 270 minutes of talk time, and/or 252 hours of standby time. The Style supports GPS, +AGPS, and Bluetooth 2.1, while housing a WiFi 802.11 b/g/n card for WiFi support. The Music player supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, WAV, M4A, MP4, MIDI, while the Video player supports MPEG4, H.263, H.264, and WMV.

Making/receiving phone calls, text messages, and emails are very pleasant experiences on this device. Calls sounded loud and clear through the speaker on both ends of the line, with minimal complaints of background noise.

The newly designed WebKit-browser, which is now included and preloaded with OS6, is a large step in the right direction for RIM and Blackberry. This revamped browser provides a cleaner and more organized experience with the use of “tabs”, and also loads web pages much faster due to the increased HTML and JavaScript rendering.

SIDE NOTE: Flash support is still missing, and I would have liked to have seen it included, since it was the only flaw with the new WebKit-browser

RIM has also made large improvements to their multimedia experience with a “Cover Flow” music player, which supports a wide range of music files (see extensions above). Blackberry Desktop Software 6 allows the user to sync media libraries from Windows Media Player or iTunes, and also provides a Wi-Fi Sync feature, in order to sync music wirelessly over Wi-Fi.

Although the camera included is 5.0MP, and comes with many different features and modes, the resulting photo quality felt short of my initial expectations. Images seemed grainy and dull at times, and did not provide a sharp, clean image that many other 5.0MP cameras on the market produced.

SIDE NOTE: When trying to take a picture, you must hold the device from the bottom, or else you will block the camera on the back. This makes for an awkward grip and increases fears of dropping the phone. I wish the camera had been placed in a better location

The battery for this phone performed very well for its size, and I was able to use the phone for a just over two full days before recharging (light calls, text messaging/emails/BBM, browsing). Battery life is especially important with a Blackberry since you are always waiting for new emails, BBM messages, etc. and the performance I experienced seems typical of an average Blackberry.

SOFTWARE
The Blackberry Style comes preloaded with RIM’s recently designed OS6, which was initially seen on a touchscreen device, the Blackberry Torch. This OS seems to work very well on a non-touchscreen device, as the optical trackpad is well utilized.

The home screen has been redesigned and now includes a Quick Access area, navigation and notification bar. The Quick Access area provides instant information regarding the date, time, connections, etc. and can be expanded to change various settings. Underneath this area is a notification bar, which displays missed calls, messages, and appointments and can be expanded to reveal more details. At the bottom of the screen is a navigation bar, which contains shortcuts for various programs/apps. This bar can be slide across the screen horizontally, to present five separate navigation bars for All, Favourite, Media, Downloads, and Frequent.

Another welcomed addition to the new OS is the universal search. Once you start to type a word/phrase, the OS will immediately begin searching the device for relevant keywords from documents, messages, and programs (can also make universal search extend to Google, YouTube, App World, 3rd party apps, etc.).

As with all Blackberry devices, the Style handles emails and messages quite well. There is corporate support for BES, Microsoft Exchange, and BES Express, and personal support for up to 10 individual email accounts (either separate or combines inboxes). Text and multimedia messages can be viewed in a threaded conversation view, and collected in one inbox for easy sorting. In order to appeal to the average consumer, OS6 includes a “Social Feeds” function for quick and easy social networking access. This function has a built-in RSS news feed in order to provide up to the minute updates from your Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube accounts.

The Blackberry Style also comes preloaded with the following apps:
− Facebook
− MySpace
− Twitter
− YouTube
− DataViz Documents on the Go
− Memo Pad
− Calculator
− Password Keeper
− Voice Dialing
− Visual Voicemail

CONCLUSION
Overall, the Blackberry Style is a fresh and different expansion of RIM’s already strong Blackberry line of devices. With a larger focus on the business sector, it is nice to see that RIM is still aware of the generic consumer market, and looking to expand to the average messaging and smartphone user. This device will gain popularity with the middle-aged population looking for a new phone that is durable and user friendly, and easy to type on. The only complaints I have with the Style 9670 are the pricing structure (phone is expensive unless you sign agreement for 3 years), and the lack of support for GSM (CDMA device).

The Blackberry Style was recently released by Bell Mobility under the following pricing structure:
• $399.95 (no term contract)
• $374.95 (1 year contract)
• $349.95 (2 year contract)
• $49.95 (3 year contract)

The Blackberry Style is also available with TELUS Mobility under the following pricing structure:
• $399.99 (no term contract)
• $349.99 (1 year contract)
• $299.99 (2 year contract)
• $79.99 (3 year contract)

The Blackberry Style is also available with MTS under the following pricing structure:
• $424.99 (1 year contract)
• $199.99 (2 year contract)
• $99.99 (3 year contract)

Related posts:

1. MTS BlackBerry Style 9670 now available
2. MTS launching BlackBerry Style 9670 on Thursday
3. BlackBerry Style 9670 released by TELUS, $399.99 no-contract

- Record 14.2 BlackBerry smartphones shipped (up over 40% from the same quarter last year)
- Revenue breakdown for Q3: 82% for devices, 15% for service, and 3% for software & other revenue.
- Revenue grew 40% over the same quarter last year to $5.5 billion
- Revenue for the Q3 of fiscal 2011 was $5.49 billion up 19% from $4.62 billion in the previous quarter and up 40% from $3.92 billion in the same quarter of last year.

Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at Research In Motion stated “We are pleased to report another record quarter with strong growth in shipments of BlackBerry smartphones leading to record revenue, subscriber additions and earnings. RIM’s business continues to grow and diversify as BlackBerry adoption accelerates in markets around the world. With strong results and momentum from our recent product introductions, as well as growing excitement from our partners and customers around upcoming smartphone, tablet, software and service offerings, we are setting the stage for continuing success.”

Good numbers with all the manufacturer competition… bring on the PlayBook!

Source: MarketWire
Via: CrackBerry

Related posts:

1. RIM Q2 results: Revenue up up 3% and shipped 8.3 million devices
2. RIM shipped 37 million BlackBerry devices last year… revenue hit $15 billion
3. Bell Q3 results: “Record quarter” as subscriber base reaches 6,707,000

TELUS, Rogers, Bell and Virgin online and retail locations; SaskTel (now we’re hearing it’s delayed due to shipping), WirelessWave Wireless etc. and TBooth retail locations, Best Buy online and retail locations; Future Shop online and retail locations and The Source online and retail locations. Plus, there’s always eBay and Craigslist.

In addition, we’ve got a contest going on now that offers up the chance to win a BlackBerry Torch 9800. Check it out here

Related posts:

1. Virgin BlackBerry Torch 9800 priced $50 cheaper than the Big 3… $549 no-contract
2. TELUS puts up BlackBerry Torch 9800 “Coming Soon” page
3. BlackBerry Torch 9800 dummy phones arrive at Rogers and other retailers