GOING OUT OF THE BOX

Real-time mailing has always been RIMs USP and the primary reason why people like Amith Prabhu,Associate Director,Corporate Communications of Starcom MediaVest group,switched from a Sony Ericsson Walkman phone to BlackBerry Pearl 8120. “I was looking at changing my phone and BlackBerry has some clear benefits for someone like me who is constantly on the move,” says Prabhu who uses the phone for voice as well as data services. However,he says the inability to business cards is a major drawback on his phone.

Malini,RJ at 94.3 Radio One and avid blogger,is already addicted to her BlackBerry Curve 8900 though she bought it just a few months back. “I was always a Nokia person,but now I don’t think I will ever be able to switch back. It takes a while to get used to the keyboard and the much softer SMS alert tones,but once you do,everything is set,” says Malini. What makes a Blackberry different from other smartphones is its ability to simplify the process of keeping track of conversations over SMS,messenger and UberTwitter,she adds.

Mumbai-based celebrity publicist Divya Tejuja has to travel a lot for work and noticed that this had started delaying her,primarily email-based,work. “Now,my BlackBerry 8520 has made all the difference.” She finds it easier since most of her clients are also using BlackBerry and available on messenger all the time. “Thus,there is no delay in responses and everything happens on time,” she adds.

Siddharth Sah,who is preparing for GMAT,is a self-confessed BlackBerry addict. A BlackBerry Bold user,Sah has already convinced a bunch of his friends to use a BlackBerry so that they can keep in touch through the messenger. “A year ago,I had two contacts on my messenger list. Today,I have 101. The number of BlackBerry users in my immediate circle has grown constantly.”
But the younger consumers are also more demanding. Sah,too,is not all that happy. “The phone seems to hang a lot and I have to pull out the battery at least once in two days. And this isn’t a just my problem,” says Sah. “Internet browsing is extremely tedious. Having used the iPhone,I can safely say that browsing is much easier on the iPhone. On the BlackBerry,the screen does not resize properly and it is much slower while loading,” he complains.

Prabhu and Malini,meanwhile,are disappointed by the battery life. “The battery tends to die out pretty fast as I use the camera and Twitter quite a lot. Also the Facebook application is pretty shabby and I find it a little difficult to surf the Web; you have to constantly zoom in and out to be able to read something.”
But it seems BlackBerry is aware of the aspirations of its growing iPhone generation clientele,as RIM recently launched its own App Store featuring a lot of youth and India-specific applications. “Consumers in India can now easily discover and download a wide variety of applications,including a range of ‘made for India’ apps,directly from their BlackBerry smartphone,” says Frenny Bawa,Research In Motion’s Vice-President,India.
“With the introduction of a wide range of sleek and stylish smartphones with a compelling mix of features and services,BlackBerrys are used today by youth and young professionals,” explains Satchit Gayakwad,PR Manager,RIM India.

“We are seeing the younger generation move towards their first BlackBerry experience. The BlackBerry Curve 8520 and now BlackBerry App World for India are two exciting propositions for youth in India. With a range of applications for social networking,music,video,entertainment and messaging we are constantly seeing the young consumer upgrade from regular mobile phones to a BlackBerry smartphone,” he adds.

The RIM line-up
Curve 8520,Rs 14,990
If the high prices of the BlackBerry put you off,then you should check out the Curve 8520. With dedicated media keys,RIM seems to be targeting college-goers and young professionals. It is also an instant messaging and social networking powerhouse,with easy access GTalk,MSN,Yahoo messenger,Facebook and MySpace.
Storm 9500,Rs 20,500
The most striking of all BlackBerrys,the Storm has a 3.25-inch touchscreen with SurePress which allows you to click the screen down. The high-quality 3.2 megapixel camera takes rich,sharp images with the built-in auto-focus and auto-flash features. It comes with an on-board 1GB memory and 128 MB flash memory.
Curve 8900,Rs 24,990
The Curve rings in several improvements,including a sleeker design which is bolstered by a more solid construction and an amazingly sharp display,a faster processor,a full HTML Web browser,and a 3.2-megapixel camera. The slew of features has made it among the most popular BlackBerry phones now.
Bold 9000,Rs 31,990
The Bold is the first BlackBerry smartphone to support tri-band HSDPA high-speed networks around the world,providing superior functionality and performance for business professionals and power users. It integrates Wi-Fi and GPS and allows users to work on Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. Plus,it is a 3G device.