PC Mag seeks buried treasure in the Blackberry Pearl
Not to be confused with a black-sailed pirate ship, RIM’s new Blackberry Pearl appears to have a treasure trove of fantastic features. PC Magazine has an actual hands-on review and even as a steadfast Windows Mobile phone user, I have to say, I’m feeling a little bit of gear lust. The Pearl is smaller than I expected; as thin as a closed RAZR and just two-inches wide. While it lacks a standard QWERTY keyboard, RIM’s SureType keyboard and predictive text software appear very usable for e-mail and short notes. How about a trackball for navigation? I can’t help but wonder if there’s a port of Centipede when I see this navigation tool, but I could see it being very effective if you can get used to it.
There’s plenty more to hear on the Pearl, me hearties: a 240 x 260 screen, voice dialing, Outlook synching, multimedia playback and (brace for impact) a camera….yes…a camera on a Blackberry. You don’t need to be a drunken sailor imitating Keith Richards to read the whole review; set your sails for PC Mag and go light on the rum, ‘k?
As Veruca Salt repeatedly said, “I want it now.” I assume it will include Yahoo mail sync and work as an EDGE modem (as TMo’s 8700 does).
I just got my Pearl a couple of days ago. It works great with Yahoo, Gmail and several personal POP accounts. All mail is pushed to the device immediately. I never thought I would go for a Blackberry, but this phone is great. I can leave the laptop at home when all I really want is to check my email.