Normally I wouldn’t get really excited about a new cell phone. That was until yesterday. Over the past couple of months I have often wished I had email when I was in meetings or on client visits. I finally took the plunge yesterday and upgraded my phone to a new Blackberry Pearl!
I was hoping to get one of the Windows Mobile based devices so that I could sync the device with my SBS 2003 server, but the poor battery life of these devices available through Rogers kept me away. Enter the Pearl.
Rim released this phone in Sept 06, and it didn’t have the typical Blackberry look. It was sleek, didn’t have the standard keyboard and the track wheel was gone, replaced by a white trackball that lights up (the pearl)!. The form factor is like a chocolate bar. This phone is very light and the display on it is nice and bright. Reviews I read on the Internet all raved about the phone.
So I broke down yesterday, added the email plan and purchased the phone from Rogers (did you know you can now upgrade your Rogers hardware every 12 months). With the plans comes the Blackberry Internet Service which allows me to add up to 10 email accounts to the phone. One of the nice surprises is that I can add an exchange server account that has access to Outlook Web Access. I liked this because I can keep the email server from having to run as a pop3 mail server. Unfortunately without the BES (Blackbery Enterprise) server I cannot update contacts or calendar items using this method like Activesync does. Hower I can connect the phone to my PC and sync it.
Voice Dialing is a cool feature that I think I will use a lot as well. I can give the phone a command and then say a name or a number and the phone will dial.
IT also features a 1.3 MP camera with 5X zoom and Flash and the ability to play Mp3. There is a slot under the battery for a Micro SD card.
I still have to try to connect my laptop using the phone as a Bluetooth wireless device to the internet, but it should be possible.
So far after a day and a half of playing with it I have been impressed. If I find other thigs about it (good and bad) I will post them here.
Stephen
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