Wireless Muse: Reiter's Wireless Internet Weblog

RIM's BlackBerry 8700g: The good and bad

Courtesy of Research in Motion (RIM), packet radio networks Ram Mobile Data and Ardis/Motient (networks from the past) and cellular networks, I’ve used virtually every device offered by RIM.  So when after almost three years of constant use the click wheel on my BlackBerry 7230 broke (I dropped it one too many times) I asked RIM if I could test the new quad-band 8700g (“g” is the T-Mobile unit). 

RIM was nice enough to quickly send me a unit (top left) and I’ve had it for a few days.  I previously read many reviews of the 8700 series and had a pretty good idea of what to expect before the unit arrived.

There’s good news and bad news about the 8700, but mostly good.  I like it and wouldn’t want to go back to the 7230, even though the older version has a few advantages.

The good news

* EDGE:  Instead of just GSM GPRS, the 8700 for T-Mobile (and Cingular) has GSM EDGE.  It’s not as fast as CDMA EV-DO, but it’s noticeably better than GPRS.  When downloading lots of e-mail and Web pages EDGE definitely makes a difference.

I assume the 8700 also is somewhat faster because it uses an Intel 312 MHz microprocessor.

*  Screen:  If you’ve been disappointed by the dull color and relatively dim backlighting of previous BlackBerries, you won’t be disappointed anymore.  The 8700 has a very bright QVGA LCD, and I like bright screens, like the Treo 650.  The screen also has an automatic lighting feature that increases or decreases the brightness depending upon the conditions.

I read not just a ton of e-mail but also eBooks on my portable devices.  I typically haven’t read much except e-mail on other BlackBerries, but the screen — and ability to change the font and style (bold, italic, etc.) means I’ll do more reading on the 8700.

The LCD also looks pretty good outdoors in the sun, especially if it’s kept at the brighter setting.  For the few days I’ve had it I’ve actually decreased the brightness to 30 percent of the highest setting and find that is just fine for me when I’m indoors.  The brighter the screen the worse the battery life, of course.

*  Speakerphone:  Until I began testing handsets with speakerphones I didn’t think it was that necessary.  I hate people who use speakerphones when they’re sitting at their desks.  I always get the feeling they aren’t paying complete attention and also the sound quality is inferior.  Pick up the damn receiver and hold it to your mouth!

But when I’m placed on hold — especially waiting to get connected to airline/hotel reservations — being able to put down the phone and use the speaker (until my party comes on the line) is indeed a plus.  Yes, I know, I can use a headset!

I've also used cellular speakerphones when I've listened to streaming radio programs, but that isn't possible with the 8700.

*  Bluetooth:  This is one characteristic that’s also in the “bad news” category.  But for the good news, you can pair a headset with the 8700.  For some electronic devices I don’t mind wires (a desktop keyboard), with some I prefer no wires (a mouse) and with some products I hate wires (cellular phones and digital music players). 

As with EDGE, the bright LCD and speakerphone, Bluetooth headsets make a positive difference.

*  Attachments:  I don’t know all the types of attachments that may be viewed out of the box, but being able to see pdf files, for example, is a big plus.  (Yes, there have been add-on programs for viewing attachments.)

*  USB charging:  The 8700 can be charged via a powered USB port on a desktop PC or laptop.  Good news if you don’t want to carry an AC cable, but you still have to carry the USB cable; there’s no “wireless charging”!

*  Modem:  According to the BlackBerry forums, the 8700 is supposed to be able to be used as a modem via T-Mobile if you (1) keep the RIM BlackBerry Desktop software running in the background, (2) change a connection string on your computer and (3) connect the handset via the USB cable.  My laptop (IBM/Lenovo X41 Tablet PC) successfully connected to the 8700g but it didn’t work. 

I need to contact RIM customer support to see whether I did something wrong.

*  Ringtones:  It might not be too big a deal for you, but being able to hear polyphonic and MP3 ringtones instead of the boring beeps and rings of previous BlackBerries is nice.  Ringtones also can be assigned to specific numbers.

*  Keyboard:  The keyboard is definitely a good news/bad news situation.  The good news is it’s better for phone functions because it has dedicated “talk” and “end” keys.

* Size and dimensions:  This also has good and bad aspects.  The 8700 is slightly narrower and lighter than many other BlackBerries so the good new is it’s slightly easier to hold.

The bad news

*  Bluetooth:  The profile only works with Bluetooth headsets, not for (OBEX) file transfers.  This is often because cellular operators adopt a user-hostile attitude.  They want subscribers to use — and pay for — their wireless networks to transfer information.  It stinks, but sometimes you’re screwed that way.

You are able to transfer PIM data — such as Microsoft Outlook addresses, phone book and notes — via the USB cable by using the bundled desktop software.

*  Keyboard:  I’m  a keyboard fanatic (that you probably realized if you read my first impressions of the X41).  One of the reasons I have been a big fan of BlackBerries is their great keyboards (within the constraints of a handheld device).  The keys are fairly widely spaced and fairly large.  The keyboards are significantly better than, for example, Treo 650 and 700, and I’m a fan (within limits) of the Treo.

The 8700g keyboard, however, is narrower and the rectangular keys (rather than BlackBerry typical oval) are closer together.  The feature that makes the 8700 easier to hold — being a bit narrower — also necessitates a narrower keyboard.

In addition, as some of the reviewers said, the keys seems more “slippery” than most other BlackBerries.  I agree, but I don’t find that to be a problem for me.  The keyboard, though, has a nice tactile feel and it’s backlit.

If you’re used to the wider BlackBerry keyboards you won’t like, at least initially, the 8700’s.  I’m still getting used to it.  I suspect I’ll get much more proficient in the next few weeks.

*  Ruggedness:  I’m not a design engineer, but it seems that the plastic case and screen are a bit less rugged than the other BlackBerries — not cheap, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the 8700 didn’t fare as well with “drop tests”….and I’ve dropped a lot of phones!

*  Multimedia:  Actually, it’s “lack of” multimedia.  The BlackBerries are e-mail-centric, business-oriented devices.  People/corporations get them because they offer superior “push” e-mail capabilities (yes, there are numerous competitors to RIM) and not because they are “fun” devices.  (Well, I find it fun to get e-mail!)

You won’t find a camera (businesses often hate them and won’t allow camera phones — boo on them) or an MP3 player or video recorder.  If you want multimedia features plus e-mail, there are a variety of devices that offer them. 

One of the reasons I like the BlackBerry is it’s very reliable unlike some of the multimedia phones — such as the Treo — that crash much too often.

*  Case:  This is really a nit-picking point, but….Unlike other BlackBerries, the 8700 doesn’t come with a plastic holster (at least mine didn’t) and belt clip.  It came with a vinyl case and clip.  The 8700 fits nicely into the case, and I prefer the vinyl to the plastic holster. The one nit I have, though, is the clip.

The clip doesn’t swivel (not a big deal) and doesn’t have a spring to open it wide.  That’s a problem when I’ve been wearing thicker leather belts, such as with jeans, because the clip is a pain to hook over the belt.  It’s too tight and you need two hands to open the clip wide and slip it over the belt — at least I did.

Because of that I might consider getting a third-party holder with a spring clip.  Perhaps some company makes a high end 8700g leather case and spring clip.

In summary

If I were a typical consumer — not a gadget-laden wireless data consultant — who didn’t spend too much time looking (and most importantly, entering) e-mail messages and who wanted a multimedia phone, I wouldn’t get a BlackBerry.

But I am an e-mail fanatic and a wireless data consultant, so I typically carry at least two cellular phones:  A BlackBerry for e-mail and a multimedia phone (or two or three).  I certainly like the 8700's faster EDGE data rate for e-mail downloads and browsing.  I wouldn’t go back to the earlier models because of all the “good news” I discussed.

The bottom line:  If reliability and sending e-mail is a very big reason for getting a cellular phone (as well as synchronizing with your enterprise PIM), I certainly recommend the 8700.

New York Times profiles wireless e-mail pioneer

It’s been a rather nostalgic couple of weeks as I have been reading about and touching base with pioneers in the wireless data field.  The New York Times recently profiled Geoffrey Goodfellow, who founded RadioMail, a pioneering wireless e-mail company.

John Markoff, the reporter who wrote the article, has written about Geoff a few times, and also has interviewed me a few times about wireless subjects.

The article reports how Geoff helped establish the wireless e-mail business, but didn’t patent his idea and, thus, hasn’t reaped millions of dollars that he might have obtained with a patent.

No regrets

“Geoff Goodfellow is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who came up with an idea that resulted in a $612.5 million payday,” the Times says.  “But he will never see a penny of it.

“He remains little known even in Silicon Valley and, perhaps most surprising, he doesn't really mind.”

That $612.5 million payday is the sum NTP will receive from the patent dispute agreement Research in Motion negotiated.

Patent issues

The article says, “For legal and technology experts, the tale of Mr. Goodfellow's pioneering work is evidence of the shortcomings of the nation's patent system, which was created to reward individual creativity but has increasingly become a club for giant corporations and aggressive law firms.”

Geoff isn’t particularly bothered by not having patented his ideas, the article says.  “’You don't patent the obvious,’ he said during a recent interview. 

“’The way you compete is to build something that is faster, better, cheaper.  You don't lock your ideas up in a patent and rest on your laurels.’”

Remembrance of things past

A couple of days ago I wrote a little bit about the early days of wireless data.  A Canadian author is writing a book about Research in Motion and I provided some information to him this morning.

I did not get involved in the RIM/NTP patent dispute, even though I was asked, and don’t intend to start now!

But I have been involved in wireless, including wireless e-mail, for almost 28 years.  Geoff truly was a pioneer in wireless e-mail.

E-mail postage

I wrote a fair number of articles about RadioMail and RIM in my Mobile Data Report newsletter in the late 1980s through mid 1990s.  I remember Geoff saying that e-mail should be charged like postage:  Something like $.25 per message, the way stamps were $.25 per letter.

Or, at least, I think that’s what Geoff used to say!

I believe Bill Frezza (whom I also mentioned in the previous weblog article) thought wireless e-mail wouldn’t take off until the cost was $.01 per kilobyte.

Perhaps Geoff and Bill were both wrong.  Wireless e-mail in the United States seems to have taken off with flat rate pricing, but it takes more than the right price to create wireless data industries.

Update (4-24-06):  Geoff discusses the early days of RadioMail and his philosophy in an audio file on The New York Times' Web site (see left).  I don't know if there's a direct link to the file, but so far you may find it on the "Technology" section of the site.  It runs somewhat over eight minutes and comprises six sections. 

It brings back lots of memories for me.

Award-winning Canadian author writing book about RIM

Rod McQueen, an award-winning Canadian author, is writing a book about Research in Motion and has established a weblog to, in part, chronicle his research for the book.

McQueen writes in his weblog, “At the moment, one of the happening times I’m focusing on is the pre-BlackBerry days of the mid-1990s, when Research in Motion (RIM) founder Mike Lazaridis was developing a two-way pager and looking for a market.

“RIM struck up a relationship with BellSouth Wireless, which had spent $300 million on building a network.  The two needed each other: BellSouth wanted products to sell to consumers; RIM required a network on which its pagers would operate.”

The Frezza, Reiter connection

Among the wireless data experts McQueen already has communicated with is Bill Frezza, now a general partner at the venture capital firm of Adams Capital Management, but previously the director of marketing and business development for Ericsson’s wireless data division.

I’ve known Bill for years — even before he joined Ericsson, and worked for Agilis (you have to be an old time wireless data person to remember that company).  Agilis wanted to create a drop-dead great wireless computer that included different wireless radio “slices.”

At Ericsson, Bill came up with the idea for the a wireless data “package” that included in a leather zip-up case:  The Ericsson one-pound wireless data “Mobidem” modem connected via a cable to a Hewlett-Packard LX95 palmtop computer that ran RadioMail’s wireless data application over Ram Mobile Data’s Mobitex network.

(More about RadioMail in another posting soon.)

Wireless geeks

If you were a wireless geek you carried the package and could be seen at conventions and elsewhere typing on the tiny — but usable — HP keyboard.  Everyone (or just about everyone) who used the package loved it.

It was a great packaging idea.  There was nothing like it for wireless e-mail.  Research in Motion originally created wireless data middleware but realized that hardware + service was where the money was, not middleware (a critical component of wireless data, but no one wanted to pay for it).

I started the world’s first wireless data newsletter, Mobile Data Report,” in 1988 (and the first wireless data conference in 1989).  Bill sent several years of the newsletter to McQueen.

In fact, McQueen writes in his weblog that, “For me, reading the newsletter by Executive Editor Alan A. Reiter, has been like traveling in a time machine complete with gossipy bits about the wireless world that was just a-borning.”

BlackBerry today

I’m going to speak with McQueen on Tuesday as part of the research for his book. 

I’ve been using RIM’s products since before they created the BlackBerry, including the “pre-BlackBerry” — a very large flip-top pager that was the first product before the slimmer BlackBerry pager that ran over Ram’s network.

I typically carry two cellular phones:  One is always a BlackBerry because of the superior keyboard and excellent push e-mail capabilities and another is a feature-rich multimedia handset that I’m testing. 

It’s not unusual for me to carry three and sometimes four handsets since I test them.  But when it comes to plain ol’ e-mail, the BlackBerry remains terrific.