• Technology

RIM has always been very clear in the way it goes about product segmentation with its BlackBerry range. There was a BlackBerry for everyone on the corporate ladder. In fact, you could guess by what BlackBerry a person carried his position in the hierarchy.

The top of the pops, as I call them, would carry the BlackBerry Bold, while the lower management would make do with the Curve and lower mortals would be seen with the Pearls and the like.

However, of late, BlackBerry has been trying to make its products more favorable across its segments and, as such, the lines of differentiation are blurring between the models. The BlackBerry 9700, also called the Bold 2, demonstrates ample evidence of this mindset.

When you first look at and feel this phone, your reaction will be—this is not the same Bold that almost looked liked the Captain’s cane in your boss’ hand. And yes, it is not. In fact, RIM had to etch Bold on the back cover just to ensure people got the drift. Once you get over the initial head scratching, you will see that the Bold 2 is still an improvement over its predecessors. The design is definitely better than previous models. And though the abundant use of plastic contributes to its relative less-posh feel, it also makes it very light.

The keyboard is definitely an improvement. On this one, unlike some other Berries, you can use your entire thumb to type—not just your thumb tips. However, the buttons do seem a little flimsy.

The trackpad, of course, is the shining new improvement over the previous Bold’s trackball, and it’s definitely more responsive. The display also sees an upgrade, with RIM going for the 480×360 resolution from the 8900 Curve, which is slightly higher than the original Bold’s 480×320.

The side volume buttons, however, are an issue. Although well integrated within the body, you will see some very disconcerting rippling on the screen. This isn’t cause for a major headache; it’s just one of those all-is-not-well things.
Basic calling functions are a breeze. Just start typing the letters and the probable contacts will show up. A side button activates the voice-dialing feature, but expect to see the rippling effect as well because of that.

The camera and multimedia options on the Bold 2 are strictly okay. One thing that still bugs me is the browser on the BlackBerry; no improvement is seen on that front. Videos and music, though, play efficiently enough for a Smartphone. But Facebook and other social networking plugs are archaic. Ditto for the maps.

Now, what makes a BlackBerry really groovy for professionals and entrepreneurs alike are the communications, a.k.a. messaging features. There’s no doubt that these features have seen an improvement. To begin with, text messages show as a conversation and not a string. Excellent. The IM Clients by
default are BlackBerry Mess-enger, AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Yahoo IM and MSN Messenger, which work as well as they do on other models.

And the crowning glory of the BlackBerry Range—the e-mail feature—remains a cracker as usual. It is one of the main reasons why even the Bold 2 tends to command such a large market share.

Combined with shortcuts, a good dictionary and the Office To Go application, I do not see any serious business user not taking to the Bold 2—as long as he gets over the fact that it does not look Bold enough!

©Entrepreneur April 2010

Tags:
9700, BlackBerry, Bold, phone, RIM