[Caymancroc]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/te...ref=technology


Research in Motion just unveiled a new smartphone, the BlackBerry Bold 9900.

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 has a stainless steel rim, an upgraded operating system, a comfortable physical keyboard and a half-height touch screen.
The competitive landscape looks absolutely brutal. There�s the iPhone, whose 29 percent of the app phone market is the result of 110 million slavering fans and a bottomless app store. Rumor has it that Apple is readying a new iPhone for release this fall. Nobody will ask, �Does anybody care?� about that one.

Then there�s Google. Its Android phone operating system now has 52 percent of the market. About the only thing that could make Google more powerful now is a book of Hogwarts spells.

Is RIM up to this battle?

It�s not looking good. Its market share is sinking because it is giving up customers to Apple and Google. The company is laying off 11 percent of its work force (2,000 people). Its shares recently hit their lowest point since 2006. A series of anonymous letters posted at bgr.com report chaos and flagging morale among the workers. One product after another is delayed. In April, one of RIM�s two chief executives, clearly stressed out, stormed out of a BBC television interview.

That was just about the same time that RIM released its iPad clone, called the PlayBook � filled with bugs and enormous feature holes (for example, no built-in e-mail program or calendar).

But listen: for the sake of argument, let�s pretend that nobody knew any of that. Let�s pretend that the new BlackBerry Bold 9900 existed in a vacuum.

How is it?

Gorgeous, for one thing. Stainless steel makes its first appearance on a BlackBerry � a classy rim around the sides, making a nice complement to the shiny front and holographic-patterned back. The keys, buttons and tiny trackpad glow white, which is handy in both dim and bright lighting.

It�s also the thinnest BlackBerry ever. It�s substantially wider than the iPhone, but at only 0.41 inches thick, it�s nearly iPhone thin (0.37 inches). And it�s fast, thanks to a high-octane processor inside. Yet its battery can still get you easily through a day, maybe even two, on a single charge.

The 9900 has a spectacularly comfortable physical keyboard, with exactly the right amount of clickiness. The iPhone approach � typing on glass � is more efficient when you want to type accent marks or change languages. But the rest of the time, no question: the BlackBerry keyboard rules. Especially this one.

Yet, for the first time on a slab-style BlackBerry, the keyboard is accompanied by a beautiful, responsive touch screen. It�s only half height, like BlackBerry Bolds of yore, which gets claustrophobic when you�re trying to use the GPS or the Web browser. But it�s sharp and bright and fluid.

Two other new BlackBerry models are also appearing this month: one all-touch screen model, and one with a slide-out keyboard. Along with the 9900, they�re the first phones to come with the BlackBerry 7 operating system.

It�s not a huge leap ahead of BlackBerry 6, and it�s certainly not the complete overhaul (based on something called QNX) that the company promises on new phones next year. But it�s perfectly lovely, modern and efficient. And, apart from the baffling Apps screen (which displays only the icons but no text or labels for your apps), it�s easy to figure out.

The scrolling strip of app icons just above the keyboard is especially useful. With each swipe of your thumb, you bring another set of six icons into view: Frequent, Favorites, Downloads and Media, for example, which greatly reduces the number of steps you need to get to the stuff you�re most likely to want.

A tap at the top of the screen gives you instant access to your settings for cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the alarm clock; a tap on the strip just below that opens up the summary of notifications, like new e-mail messages and text messages.

BlackBerry 7 also offers much faster Web browsing (you can pinch and zoom with two fingers to zoom in and out, as on the iPhone) and a digital compass.

There�s a dedicated shutter button for the five-megapixel camera, which can also capture 720p high-definition video. It has a flash, but no autofocus. The pictures and videos look very good, and it�s easy to send them to your friends. But here�s another spot where that half-height screen really feels confining if you�re used to a full-face iPhone or Android screen.

There are eight gigabytes of built-in storage, and a memory-card slot that can give you up to 32 more gigabytes.

The phone supposedly has a built-in N.F.C. transmitter, too. That stands for near-field communications, which refers to the convenience of paying for your things simply by passing your phone over a tag at the cash register, or grabbing more information from a poster by waving your phone over it.

Sounds great. Unfortunately, N.F.C. has been one of those �coming next year� technologies for several years in a row now. Show me an American store chain that lets you pay with a swipe of your cellphone, and I�ll call to thank you from my video wristwatch.

The phone is available in two versions: model 9900 from T-Mobile (AT&T will offer it soon, too), and model 9930 from Sprint and Verizon.

The T-Mobile version is priced at a nose-bleeding $350 with a two-year contract, more than even the top-of-the-line iPhone (although a $50 mail-in T-Mobile rebate helps). It�s supposedly a 4G phone, which means that you get superfast Internet connections in cities where T-Mobile has installed 4G towers. Unfortunately, there are only 194 of those cities so far, so � well, good luck.

The 9930 (without 4G) is $250 from Verizon and only $200 from Sprint.

Calls sound good to both caller and the called; one of my calling partners could detect �zero difference� in audio quality between the BlackBerry and the iPhone. The BlackBerry�s speakerphone was a little louder and more muffled.

Despite its virtues, the 9900 still can�t compete with iPhone and Android. There�s no front-facing camera, so you can�t do video chats. You can�t turn the phone into a personal hot spot that lets nearby laptops get online.

And the sparse, unimpressive BlackBerry app store is but a whisper of a shadow of an echo of a silhouette of the iPhone and Android app stores.

You know what? The number of players in the smartphone game shrank suddenly, and it�s a shame.

In just the last two weeks, Hewlett-Packard killed the TouchPad tablet and Palm Pre phones. Then Google bought Motorola�s cellphone division �*creator of the Razr, Droid and Atrix � for $12.5 billion. Innovation is good; competition is better. A world with nothing but Apple and Google phones would be a less exciting place.

It�s sad to see RIM struggle for a future. Yes, the company has made some gigantic mistakes: it sat smugly on its business phones for far too long, ignoring the public�s obvious love of touch, multimedia and beautiful design. It spent too much time and diverted too many resources trying to come up with its disastrous PlayBook tablet.

But the stellar 9900 shows that when its back is against the wall, RIM can produce winners. This phone is the best BlackBerry RIM has ever produced, but against the gigantic technological and marketing forces of iPhone and Android, it�s a whisper in the wind. Let�s hope that there are enough BlackBerry fans left to support their favorite phone and that the company completes its reboot in time to prevent the 2013 headline, �RIM R.I.P.�

[southlander]

Hmmm. David Pogue. I am surprised. Lol.

[chuckh0308]

Coming from David Pogue, those are really nice things to say...lol!

[UnknownError507]

I was reading some comments on the site and look like some ppl really like BB and they put BB on the SKY beside the Iphone4 but most are w8ing for the I5 to see what is up to , but for me and my experience with Iphone is DONE. i started with BB i felt/slip for Iphone in the middle, but when TORCH came out im back to Business. Especially with this new Torch 9810 aww this device is a MONSTER.

[JasW]

It is a fair review, particularly coming from Pogue, who has become an unapologetic Apple fanboi over the past few years.

It's his first review of a BlackBerry smartphone since the 9000 (he did review the PlayBook). It will be read by many, many more people than have even heard of BGR.

He's wrong about the 9900 not having wifi hotspot, though, no? It just hasn't been offered by whatever carrier he was using.

[grover5]

Yes he was wrong. He often is.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Crucial_Xtreme]

I think it was a good fair review. I mean he did say it was a stellar device, beautiful. I think he hit the nail on the head. I also don't see where he got any facts wrong. His opinion is his opinion and anyone can disagree with opinions, but as for the facts, I didn't see any that were wrong. Anywho, as I said, this is a fair review IMHO.

[StaticFX]

very tired of reviewers/writers/etc having the mentality that once someone has left BB they will never come back. lol. total joke... The review is fine, just why start out saying the google/apple own the market now... thats now.. not next year. etc.. i refuse to listen to analysts about future sales becuase NO ONE KNOWS THE FUTURE! lol

[JasW]

I think it was a good fair review. I mean he did say it was a stellar device, beautiful. I think he hit the nail on the head. I also don't see where he got any facts wrong. His opinion is his opinion and anyone can disagree with opinions, but as for the facts, I didn't see any that were wrong. Anywho, as I said, this is a fair review IMHO.

So the 9900/30 really doesn't have wifi hotspot capability?

[Mr Bigs]

So the 9900/30 really doesn't have wifi hotspot capability?

Supposedly the hardware is capable of it but controlled by the carrier.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

So the 9900/30 really doesn't have wifi hotspot capability?

Yes it has the capability, but it's not enabled. So he was absolutely correct in saying that "You can�t turn the phone into a personal hot spot that lets nearby laptops get online."

When/if this is enabled is completely up to the carrier.

[grover5]

Yes it has the capability, but it's not enabled. So he was absolutely correct in saying that "You can�t turn the phone into a personal hot spot that lets nearby laptops get online."

When/if this is enabled is completely up to the carrier.

In my opinion the accurate statement in a review would be the phone has the capability but the carriers have not enabled it. I feel his statement was misleading and inaccurate. Just my opinion though and perhaps tainted by a long standing dislike of the writer.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[JasW]

Yes it has the capability, but it's not enabled. So he was absolutely correct in saying that "You can�t turn the phone into a personal hot spot that lets nearby laptops get online."

When/if this is enabled is completely up to the carrier.

I can't agree that he was correct -- you can turn the phone into a hotspot if the carrier supports that feature. His clear implication was that the 9900 was in itself incapable of being used as a wifi hotspot.

It's as if he reviewed the phone in Bootlick, Idaho, or some place that has only 3G at best, and simply said that "you can't get 4G/H+ on the phone."

[mahen915]

I think it was a good fair review. I mean he did say it was a stellar device, beautiful. I think he hit the nail on the head. I also don't see where he got any facts wrong. His opinion is his opinion and anyone can disagree with opinions, but as for the facts, I didn't see any that were wrong. Anywho, as I said, this is a fair review IMHO.

I agree with the review of the actual device 100%. The only thing I did not like is him prefacing the review with the same, tired, re-hashed sentiment of RIM's past. It's done and over with, let's move on...we get it; RIM did not have the best year.

[sosumi11]

NO ONE KNOWS THE FUTURE! lol

Except Balsille:

"The launch of the PlayBook may well be the most important development for RIM since the launch of the first BlackBerry smartphone in 1999 - it is a future proof technology"
Jim Balsillie, 24 Mar 2011

[Crucial_Xtreme]

I can't agree that he was correct -- you can turn the phone into a hotspot if the carrier supports that feature. His clear implication was that the 9900 was in itself incapable of being used as a wifi hotspot.

It's as if he reviewed the phone in Bootlick, Idaho, or some place that has only 3G at best, and simply said that "you can't get 4G/H+ on the phone."

Look at what the man says, he says you can't turn it into a hotspot. And you can't. No 9900 or 9930 is hotspot capable. The purpose of a review is to tell a potential buyer what the phone can and cannot do. Not what it MIGHT be able to do 6 months down the road if the carrier chooses so. It's not wrong to say the 9900/9930 can't be a hotspot because it can't. You cannot go and buy one and use it at a hotspot.

I agree with the review of the actual device 100%. The only thing I did not like is him prefacing the review with the same, tired, re-hashed sentiment of RIM's past. It's done and over with, let's move on...we get it; RIM did not have the best year.

Agreed 110%. It was pointless and is not surprising considering the author.

[avt123]

If carriers are blocking a feature, then the device can't do it. Seems accurate.

[TheMimic]

If carriers are blocking a feature, then the device can't do it. Seems accurate.

Then why address it at all except to put down the company? It's like saying the iphone 5 has a continuum transfunctioner, a mysterious and powerful device who's mystery is only exceeded by it's power...BUT you can't use it unless the carrier lets you. And the carrier won't so essentially, it's useless.

Useless in mentioning this unless to simply insert negativity in your review....

[avt123]

Then why address it at all except to put down the company?

Why even mention it? Because every Android device and the iPhone 4 can do it. He is stating that devices of the same price range can do it while the BB can not. I doubt it was for the sole purpose of just inserting negativity. It's called a comparison.

Blame the carriers for blocking it, not for him mentioning it. He is informing consumers. If someone wants WiFi hotspot and are looking for a new device, guess what? He just informed them that the Bold does not have it. It is one of the more talked about features now. It is mentioned in almost every single device review. Of course he is going to say something about it.

[TheMimic]

Why even mention it? Because every Android device and the iPhone 4 can do it. He is stating that devices of the same price range can do it while the BB can not. I doubt it was for the sole purpose of just inserting negativity. It's called a comparison.

Blame the carriers for blocking it, not for him mentioning it. He is informing consumers. If someone wants WiFi hotspot and are looking for a new device, guess what? He just informed them that the Bold does not have it. It is one of the more talked about features now. It is mentioned in almost every single device review. Of course he is going to say something about it.

I'm confused, is this feature simply blocked on BBs through carriers and not other devices?

[avt123]

I'm confused, is this feature simply blocked on BBs through carriers and not other devices?

I believe that is what CX said. I haven't really looked. I heard the device has the capability though.

Either way, if it is blocked or doesn't even have it, he is just informing people that this device does not come with a feature that all other high end smartphones have (WP7 devices don't offer this as well either. I think that comes with the Mango update.).

[TheMimic]

I believe that is what CX said. I haven't really looked. I heard the device has the capability though.

Either way, if it is blocked or doesn't even have it, he is just informing people that this device does not come with a feature that all other high end smartphones have (WP7 devices don't offer this as well either. I think that comes with the Mango update.).

Ok, just so we're clear. Other high end phones have this feature and carriers allow them to use it BUT they discriminate solely against the BBs and block this feature? That doesn't sound like it makes any sense.

My understanding was the BB has the feature like many other high end devices and the carriers choose to block the feature or not on all devices on their network. Which is why I was asking why bother mentioning it besides trying to put a negative spin on it. Either mention the device has the capability but is carrier dependant or don't mention it all is what I'm saying.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Ok, just so we're clear. Other high end phones have this feature and carriers allow them to use it BUT they discriminate solely against the BBs and block this feature? That doesn't sound like it makes any sense.

My understanding was the BB has the feature like many other high end devices and the carriers choose to block the feature or not on all devices on their network. Which is why I was asking why bother mentioning it besides trying to put a negative spin on it. Either mention the device has the capability but is carrier dependant or don't mention it all is what I'm saying.

Both the BlackBerry 9900 & 9930 do NOT have the HotSpot feature. This is due partly to the carrier & mostly to RIM. As you mentioned, all other high end smartphones have the hotspot feature yet the new Flagship BlackBerry Bold Touch does NOT.
Yes it has the capability, but it's not enabled. So as of now, no hotspot feature. One feature that is seriously lacking in a flagship phone that costs more than other top tier smartphones.

[avt123]

There you go.

[TheMimic]

Both the BlackBerry 9900 & 9930 do NOT have the HotSpot feature. This is due partly to the carrier & mostly to RIM. As you mentioned, all other high end smartphones have the hotspot feature yet the new Flagship BlackBerry Bold Touch does NOT.
Yes it has the capability, but it's not enabled. So as of now, no hotspot feature. One feature that is seriously lacking in a flagship phone that costs more than other top tier smartphones.

Thanks for clearing it up. Reading through the other posts, I understood that it was enabled but carrier dependent.