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Curved
Posted by rod@drury.net.nz in Communications, Technolust at 9:13 pm on Wednesday, 19 September 2007

When I arrived back at my desk yesterday I was delighted to find a courier box with my much anticipated BlackBerry Curve (8310).

It’s been a long wait but at least Vodafone NZ delivered the very latest model. The 8310 has only just come out in Europe and includes a GPS. The 8310 also has a camera. It differs from the 8800 which has wifi, 3G and no camera.

The 8310 is much thinner than the 8700. The keys are smaller but seem to work OK.

The updated software and nipple (a change from the excellent scroll wheel) feels a bit fiddly. There are more buttons which means you have to think a bit more.

Bottom line, it’s an amazing device especially with the GPS but does feel a bit gimmicky. If you already have an 8700 I wouldn’t rush to upgrade. The 8700 is a good, solid, enterprise grade, phone/email combo with the best keyboard yet and is definitely easier to use.

There is more to learn on the 8310. It doesn’t feel as pure and simple as earlier BlackBerry devices. I’m not sure it’s the ideal first BlackBerry.

If you feel physically ill at not having the absolute latest device (as I do) then there are plenty more things to play with but I don’t think it’s necessarily a must buy.

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Comments(5)

    Comment by Tukimp at 9:49 pm on 19 September 2007

    Oh Guru,
    Did the GPS tip you towards the camera model over the wi-fi model? I would have thought you would have gone for the wi-fi?




    Comment by Rod at 6:12 am on 20 September 2007

    Actually it was the bad reports of the 8800 keyboard.

    With the iPod Touch coming with Safari that will be my pocket wifi device. With the poor BlackBerry browser and small screen I didn’t see the need for wifi on my phone.




    Comment by Ben Kepes at 6:47 am on 20 September 2007

    so you’ll carry two devices Rod? A phone and a WiFi device. Why not roll the two together and go iPhone?




    Comment by Mike Cranna at 9:23 am on 20 September 2007

    To be honest, the device I have been waiting the last ten years for is the Blackberry Pearl. Email, calendar, phone, SMS, camera, music and browser, running fine on GPRS. The nipple makes menu navigation ridiculously simple, and the whole thing is squeezed into the form factor of a light, elegant phone (as opposed to a PDA).

    With this in my pocket, I am at one with the Universe. :-)




    Comment by Jos Ruffell at 11:26 am on 20 September 2007

    I just installed the Navizon Faux GPS hack and it works in NZ - it pinpointed my location to right outside our studio on Victoria St. (while I was inside, something even GPS cant do!)

    It uses cell tower triangulation and you must have a wifi connection to relay the information to Google maps.

    If you could get a fully cached Google maps on the iphone, it would be great.

    http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/apple/iphone-gps-hack-works-301459.php