Review: BlackBerry Curve

By Stuart Fagg, ninemsn Money
March 2008

Launched in 2007, the BlackBerry Curve is one of the newer additions to BlackBerry's ubiquitous stable of PDAs.

With an increasingly crowded market for mobile Internet/phones that do everything, the line between work and play is becoming more and more blurred. The Curve acknowledges this, with plenty of tools to keep the workaholics happy and plenty of applications to help while away those long flights/boring meetings.

Useability

I have to admit to being a BlackBerry virgin prior to this test, so it took a little while to get comfortable with typing e-mails on the mini-keyboard. However, after a bit of practice, I was firing off lengthy missives with no problem at all.

The Curve has a comfortably large screen and navigation is simple using the trackball and desktop-style interface. However, in the early parts of the test, due to the trackball's sensitivity I accidentally chose the wrong option on a number of occasions. However, the trackball's sensitivity can be set to suit the individual user.

All the usual suspects you'd expect on a desktop are there: synched address book, calendar, media player, 2.0 megapixel camera and more and the device is GPS equipped, which is a godsend if, like me, you get lost on the way to meetings with alarming frequency.

Usefulness

In a corporate environment, the Curve is a very handy tool. Whether you're a small business person using it as your primary communications device or a busy exec constantly travelling, you'll find plenty of uses for it.

The Curve supports multiple e-mail accounts, wireless synchronisation with organisers like Outlook and desktop synchronisation with pretty much every package out there.

You can also instant-message other users via the handset and integrate your personal and work e-mail accounts.

It also comes ''enterprise ready'' and is able to provide wireless access to corporate applications, advanced security and wireless synchronisation with corporate tools. IT departments can also manage applications centrally, rather than on individual devices.

However, browsing the Web on the Curve can quickly become frustrating. Loading times are lengthy and pages appear as a list of text links with some images. While this is clearly not to do with the functionality of the device, it can grate somewhat and illustrates one of the major issues with mobile Internet rollout.

The GPS functionality, on the other hand, is very useful. I tested it around Sydney's CBD, where it performed well despite some line-of-sight issues, and in the Blue Mountains, where it ensured I didn't end up going bush permanently.

Envy factor

Blackberries have become relatively omnipotent in the corporate world, so it may be hard to impress your PDA-fatigued colleagues with the latest model. However, like travelling salesmen jealous of their colleague's company car upgrade, having the latest BlackBerry model will give you heightened status. And with the ability to integrate with Facebook and other cool stuff, the Curve will elicit some admiring glances.

Stay tuned for more business tool reviews, updated regularly in Business Class.