RIM Blackberry 8820

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A lot of people were looking forward for RIM’s newest Blackberry handset. Well, finally, the 8820 was released and proved to be one of the best smartphone’s developed by RIM. This will be the first Blackberry to offer integrated Wi-fi. The 8820 supports 802.11a/b/g standards and is compliant with Wi-Fi security protocols, giving users another avenue to connect to the Web. However, RIM still hasn’t included 3G just yet, but it does continue to offer features that have been popular from its older siblings, like Bluetooth and GPS support.

The 8820 was built with business users in mind, so the phone may not be as popular as the BlackBerry Pearl or BlackBerry Curve that has been a big hit in the consumer market. Another thing that would limit its mass appeal is its lack of camera option. That is surprising even for me, as I would have expect a built-in camera in a smartphone as advanced as this.

The RIM Blackberry 8820 is designed similar, if not identical, to the Blackberry 8800. It has a sleek, all-black casing and measures 4.5 inches tall by 2.6 inches wide by 0.5 inch thick and weighs 4.7 ounces. It is not as compact as the Blackberry Curve and is a bit wide which makes it a bit uncomfortable to hold.

Its 2.5-inch screen displays 65,000 colors at a 320×240 pixel resolution. Text and images are clear and vibrant, and the screen also features light-sensing technology that automatically adjusts the backlighting of the screen, as well as the keyboard and trackball, depending on whether you’re indoors or outdoors. We found that this function works well, and we had no problems reading the display under harsh lighting. As with most BlackBerrys, you can adjust the menu style, background image, and theme of the home screen.

Its keyboard though is very good. The phone sports a full QWERTY keyboard, same with the Blackberry 8800. Below the display you have the Talk and End keys, Menu and Escape buttons, and a trackball navigator - which is very easy to use.

The BlackBerry 8820 features the same keyboard found on its older sibling, the BlackBerry 8800. Though the buttons are large, they’re a bit slippery and lack spacing in between.

There are volume up and down keys on the right spine, while on the left side, you will find a 2.5-millimeter headset jack, a mini USB port, and a convenience key which, by default, launches AT&T’s push-to-talk (PTT) services.

There is a microSD expansion slot, but unfortunately, it’s located behind the battery, so you’ll have to take off the back cover every time you want to access it. Finally, the power and mute buttons are on the top of the unit.

As mentioned, the 8820 is focused on business users, so the 8820 didn’t include a camera on the handset. As surprising as it might be, this is in fact useful especially to corporate workers who requires high security measures and who bans camera phones from their company. Imagine having to leave your phone behind just because it has a built-in camera on it. Now, you can take it with you.

Obviously, the biggest news here is the integrated Wi-Fi, as the RIM BlackBerry 8820 is the first BlackBerry to offer this option. It supports 802.11a/b/g, whether you’re using your home or corporate network or hopping onto a Wi-Fi hot spot. There are enterprise security features, including WEP, WPA, and VPN settings. Our review unit was able to detect our test access point immediately, and we had no problem connecting to it or the Web.

Other wireless options include Bluetooth 2.0 with support for wireless headsets, hands-free kits, dial-up networking, and A2DP for stereo Bluetooth headsets. Disappointingly, the BlackBerry 8820 doesn’t work on AT&T’s 3G network, so you’ll have to settle for EDGE speeds. For easy access, there’s a Manage Connections menu option where you can turn on and off all the various radios.

The smart phone also continues to offer integrated GPS like the BlackBerry 8800 does. With the built-in radio, you can use a location-based service, such as AT&T’s TeleNav GPS Navigator, and you can get color maps and text- and voice-guided driving directions, and points of interest right on the device.

As far as other voice features, the RIM BlackBerry 8820 offers a speakerphone, voice-activated dialing, smart dialing, conference calling, speed dial, and world roaming. The phone book is limited only by the available memory (the SIM card holds an additional 250 contacts), offering room in each entry for eight phone numbers, e-mail addresses, work and home address, job title, and more.

For caller ID purposes, you can assign a photo to a contact as well to a group category, business or personal.

Of course, we cannot forget what makes BlackBerrys famous in the first place: e-mail. The RIM BlackBerry 8820 offers the famed push technology and can sync with your company’s BlackBerry Enterprise server with support for Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, or Novell GroupWise to deliver corporate e-mail in real time.

All in all, the device can support up to 10 accounts, including POP3 or IMAP4 e-mail accounts, and there is an e-mail wizard on the device to guide you through the setup process. An attachment viewer is also onboard to open popular file formats, such as those from Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Corel WordPerfect, as well as PDFs, JPEGs, GIFs, and more.

Other messaging options include text, multimedia, and instant messaging, although the IMs are once again limited to the proprietary BlackBerry Messenger client. The BlackBerry 8820 includes a number of PIM tools for the business users, including a calendar, a tasks list, a memo pad, an alarm, and a calculator.

The 8820 is not all work and no play. RIM did incorporate a media player that works with MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, and MIDI music files and MPEG4, WMV, and H.263 video formats. The music player is pretty basic. Aside from standard stop and play functions, you can create playlists as “folders” and shuffle and repeat songs within a certain folder.

It also displays some track information, such as title, artist, and album art if available. You can continue to play music as you use the device’s other programs, and if you happen to get an incoming call, the BlackBerry 8820 will pause the music and pick up where you left off after you hang up.

The RIM BlackBerry 8820 is rated for 5 hours of talk time and up to 22 days of standby time. According to FCC radiation tests, the 8820 has a digital SAR rating of 1.16 watts per kilogram.

Sources:
http://www.laptopmag.com
http://www.brighthand.com
http://www.trustedreviews.com