Wireless Muse: Reiter's Wireless Internet Weblog

RIM BlackBerry 8320 Curve WiFi works well at public hotspots

Ever since I received Research in Motion's new BlackBerry 8320 Curve at the company's Industry Analyst Summit in early September I've been playing around with its WiFi capabilities.

I've been using it more for consumer-type rather than business oriented environments.  For example, I've used the 8320 in homes using WiFi with DSL and a cable modem and have had no problem connecting quickly after the BlackBerry scanned for networks and I entered the security code (such as WEP).

I also connected at several public hotspots, including Panera.  At Panera, as with many public hotspots, you have to first open your browser that then should default to Panera's WiFi log-in page.

Necessary to turn off EDGE

Although the 8320's browser doesn't display the Panera page well, it does a good enough job so you can scroll down to the required check box and also the connect bar.  If I remember correctly, when the 8320 was set to access both GSM EDGE and WiFi, it did not default to the Panera page.  It connected via EDGE instead of WiFi and opened a Web page I selected from my bookmarks rather than Panera's.

However, when I turned off EDGE (and it's very easy to do with the "Manage Connections" menu), the browser defaulted to Panera's WiFi page, regardless of the Web page I opened.

I also tried connecting to a few free public hotspots, such as a hotel's, and I didn't have any problem.  I wasn't able to connect to a couple of free sites, such as at a bookstore, but it's possible the  WiFi service was down.

Faster than EDGE

I read a report on one weblog about WiFi not being significantly faster than EDGE.  Typically that hasn't been my experience.  I use different BlackBerrys to frequently browse the Web, and pages on the 8320 usually load faster via WiFi than EDGE.

I haven't yet used T-Mobile's UMA VoIP service at home.  The 8320 would use WiFi, rather than cellular,  for voice conversations and then switch automatically to cellular when out of range of WiFi.

RIM Industry Analyst Summit highlights WiFi, GPS

I recently attended Research in Motion's (RIM) Industry Analyst Summit at its headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario.  It was a valuable and fun time that combined plenary sessions and break-out panel discussions as well as good food, a Toronto harbor river boat cruise, a day of touring in downtown Toronto and a performance of "King Lear" at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

RIM displayed a variety of new handsets, that I can't discuss because they haven't been officially announced.

However, I can say that GPS and WiFi will be two of the most important new technologies for RIM.  Although RIM certainly is interested in capturing a share of the consumer market, especially with its Pearl (81xx) handsets, the company's focus remains the enterprise.

So, use your imagination about how GPS and WiFi could be incorporated into corporate applications.  Also, if you've been reading "BlackBerry Cool" or the "Boy Genius Report" you have a good idea of upcoming phones from various leaked reports and photos.

Update (9/24/07):  Today RIM and T-Mobile announced the new Curve 8320 that incorporates WiFi in addition to its two megapixel camera that was included on the first, 8300, Curve.  The 8320 was one of the phones on display at the RIM conference and I was fortunate to be able to get one to test.

I haven't written a detailed review of the 8320; I'm sure many others will do that.  But if you're interested in the camera aspects of the new BlackBerry, take a look at the article and photos I've posted on my camera phone weblog.

I also posted photos I took with the 8320 on a moblog (see above).