We’re likely only a month or two away from Apple announcing iPhone 5 but RIM is already launching their 2011 BlackBerry lineup, including the first BlackBerry Bold with a touch screen, and not one but two BlackBerry Torches — an update to the original slider and new, Storm-replacing, touch screen only slab.

They’ve got higher resolution screens, NFC options, voice, search, GPU-enhanced Liquid Graphics fluidity, BBM 6, and BlackBerry OS 7. But are they enough to hold off the coming iPhone 5 onslaught?

Jump over to our sibling site, CrackBerry.com, for complete coverage and join us tomorrow for some round-table discussion, Mobile Nations-style!

[CrackBerry.com]

Summer 2011 BlackBerry Bold 9900/9970 pictured on top of the summer 2010 iPhone 4.

Fitting, given that when the original BlackBerry Bold 9000 launched, the design was widely seen as having been inspired by the original 2007 iPhone.

[Engadget]

RIM has one of the oldest OS platforms in the 2009 Smartphone Round Robin, but unlike Nokia’s S60 (reviewed here last week), and Microsoft which is busy rebuilding, CrackBerry.com‘s signature BlackBerry Bold 9700 and BlackBerry Storm2 enjoy huge popularity in North America, a seemingly unbreakable hold on the Enterprise market, and an ever-increasing focus on consumers.

Last year, Dieter likened the previous BlackBerry Bold 9000 to the Treo 650 — perhaps the ultimate representation of a platform at its peek of perfection… yet raising the question of where that platform had left to go. On the other hand, the original Storm1 never failed to disappoint, a hit in numbers but not hearts of BlackBerry lovers. Now it’s a year later. Does the BlackBerry Bold 9700 take the roll of Treo 680, a slimmer, more polished perfection, still not hinting at platform futures to come? And does the Storm2 get right what the Storm2 done so wrong?

To try and answer that, the SPE editors did a Round Table with Mickey for the Cell Phone Junkie podcast, and I got plenty of help from CrackBerry Kevin and a stupefying amount of information from the CrackBerry Forums. Huge thanks to everyone — I needed it!

(And just a reminder, every day you post on my CrackBerry.com thread, or any of the official Round Robin threads, is another day you’re entered to win one of six (6!) new smartphones!)

Okay, time to bring the BlackBerry rain… after the break!

Back in BlackBerry

If you haven’t watched it already, check out my BlackBerry 9700 and Storm 2 walkthrough with Kevin. It’ll help with the context.

[YouTube Video link]

Here are some other helpful links:

• CrackBerry Kevin and Rene on iPhone Live! Podcast
• CrackBerry.com BlackBerry Bold 9700 Review
• CrackBerry.com BlackBerry Storm2 Review
• 2008 TiPb Smartphone Round Robin BlackBlerry Bold 9000 Video
• 2008 TiPb Smartphone Round Robin BlackBerry Bold 9000 Review
• 2008 TiPb Unofficial BlackBerry Storm1 Hands-on

Got it? Good.

Hardware Design

BlackBerry 9700 — Bold but not Bolder

RIM typically makes great hardware and the BlackBerry Bold 9700 is no exception. If last year’s BlackBerry Bold 9000 was the full-sized Cadillac limo of front-facing-QWERTY, this is the new Caddy coupe. It’s everything that was great about the device made slicker and faster. The most notable change is the width. Gone is the epic expanse of the Bold1, repackaged now in Curve-like proportions. And I kinda miss the luxurious size of the Bold 1, to be frank. It better fit the Bold name and the sheer audacity of the form factor screamed flagship. This new Bold2 is like the recession era remake. Still premium, but trying not to be all overt about it.

What I don’t regret is the trackball has been replaced by the new, sexy trackpad. Just like the Mighty Mouse became the Magic Mouse, RIM has eschewed mechanical, misfiring parts for optical, touchable technology. Bravo. BlackBerry users will never be gunked-up again.

Storm 2 — the Mulligan

Remember when I said RIM typically makes great hardware? I said typically because, given Kevin’s gripes about the design-decisions behind the Storm1, I can’t say always. Happily, the Storm2 seems to fix each and every one of those gripes. No more leaking light from around the edges, no more wobbly little feet on the back, and no more giant honking button for a screen. Now there are four medium non-honking buttons — or button-like things. The amazing of it is, when the power is off the BlackBerry Storm 2′s screen isn’t a button at all. You can’t press. It’s as un-pressable as an iPhone. Turn the power on, however, and suddenly you can press away, and due to the 4 actuators (or whatever they are) you can do so far better than you ever could with the Storm1. See, with that old bag of hurt, you pressed, waited for the whole thing to come back again, then could do a second press. Click. Pause. Click. Pause. Click. Pause. Roll eyes. Click. A huge drag for typing.

Now, with Storm2 it’s almost like multitouch. You can press and only that “button” goes down, which means you can immediately press somewhere else and almost always get a different “button” to recognize the input. Click. Click. Clicketyclickclick. Click. Much improved.

It’s still 2 steps — navigate to/select what you want via touch, confirm/execute what you want via press. For example, touch “A” to highlight it, press “A” to write it in. This is RIM’s trademark input paradigm, after all. But with Storm2 you can press right through, essentially selecting and confirming in one shot. (Yeah, you could do that with Storm1, but the “wait for the one button” schtick effectively ruined it).

In other words, you can either go the sure and safe way, carefully selecting then confirming, or the fast and loose way, just typing away. It’s nice to have the option — and to have it workable and so much less frustrating this time around.

Software Experience

Like Apple, RIM makes incredible hardware flawlessly integrated with fantastic software. Unlike Apple, however, who have kept almost identical device-types over the last 2 years, RIM has embraced a wide variety of form-factors, and hasn’t developed a unified, carrier-interference-free, method of keeping even the last couple years of all those devices updated to the same OS. (Witness a list of BlackBerrys that will, and by omission will not be getting 5.0).

Storm2 and Bold2 definitely have the latest and greatest, so that’s what I’m looking at. But here’s the thing — due to RIM’s enterprise footprint, a lot of the new features they have been adding over the last year aren’t obviously consumer facing (some seem to require an enterprise server on the back end). That makes it hard for an iPhone guy like me, who doesn’t really know his BIS from his BES, to just pick up and point out how RIM’s latest OS, 5.0, is different from last year’s 4.x offering.

(Maybe that’s a criticism of Apple, where things as absurd as cut and paste and MMS make for easy generational demos.)

Luckily, CrackBerry.com has a full list of BlackBerry OS 5.0′s incremental features as well.

JavaScript being turned on by default in the web browser is huge, however, though not as huge as their getting a WebKit browser will be — hopefully by next year.

App World! Application Time! Excellent!

As opposed to 5.0, RIM’s new BlackBerry App World is easily pointed out. Following the success of Apple’s iTunes App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch in 2008, every other platform raced to launch one in 2009. Of course, almost all of them already had 3rd party apps and had them for years, but the centralized, on-every-device and all-in-one-place model was, well, revolutionary.

RIM has kinda, sorta done that with App World, though there are a few exceptions. Since places like the CrackBerry.com App Store have been serving up software for years, there wasn’t the exclusivity or desperation for it like there was on the iPhone. Also, in RIM’s incredibly partner friendly manner, there’s some weird arrangement of App Worlds and carrier-specific (and other) storefronts that are or will be available.

That means, however, they can avoid the “rejected apps” controversy that still plagues Apple, and since they’ve made price-points fixed — for example, you can have free apps, but the next step up is $2.99 — they’re hoping to avoid the “race to the bottom” that many believe also plagues the App Store.

Needful Hierarchies and Business as Unusual

If you haven’t yet read Kevin’s Hierarchy of Smartphone Needs, go do it now. I’ll play games on my iPhone while I wait.

Back, okay. Brilliant stuff there and important to keep in mind because devices like the iPhone and the BlackBerry can both be best-in-class when we’re talking about different classes. And different businesses. That’s a point I come back to over and over again when we reach BlackBerry week in the Round Robin. I understand and deeply appreciate how perfect the BlackBerry is when it comes to super-quick, keyboard-driven messaging that can go for days. For many users, and for many types of classical business (finance, sales), that’s what matters most.

The iPhone’s strengths aren’t in messaging (unless we’re talking Twitter — I’ll put iPhone’s top Twitter apps against any other platforms). I’ve even joked that when I’m using my iPhone and a phone call or message comes in, I get mad at the interruption. (Yes, joking. Kinda.)

For internet anywhere, for work that involves creativity, design, or requires complex apps, the iPhone becomes decidedly the professional choice.

It’s that duality between iPhone and BlackBerry that I think explains why we see so many users dual-wielding both. That BlackBerry is getting better about browsers is great. If they would dump their app size limits and JavaME abstractions, it would be fantastic. But then Apple would have to figure out a unified email client, release a Mobile iChat, and figure out better enterprise management. What Bizarro universe that would be, it would be hard to imagine…

BlackBerry to the Future

…Which doesn’t mean I won’t try.

A couple of years ago — last year even — the general concern in the Round Robin was that RIM had hit the end of the line with the BlackBerry OS, that they would need to “spend their time in the desert” the way Palm had to transition from PalmOS to webOS, and Microsoft is now doing to grow from Windows Mobile 5/6/6.5 to Windows Mobile 7.

RIM has done a lot since to mitigate those concerns. The BlackBerry Developers Conferences have been a huge part of that. New APIs, the aforementioned WebKit browser, support for widgets and localized WebApps, OpenGL for gaming, etc. will certainly modernize the BlackBerry OS.

But they won’t make it a modern OS.

Now sure, that’s hypocritical coming from the guy who’s platform is based on BSD Unix, which is no spring chicken to say the least. But while the foundations of the iPhone OS are tried and true, the upper layers, especially Apple’s Core APIs (CoreAnimation, CoreData, etc.) and the Objective C-based Cocoa Touch frameworks give developers a huge advantage — especially the major developer, Apple.

The Bold 9700 is the no-compromise BlackBerry. If the 9000 was the Treo 650, this is the Treo 680. But like Palm faced with that device, the question becomes, what’s next? It’s possible RIM can continue their incremental evolution, keep the platform modernized and meaningful for many years to come. But it’s jut as possible BB OS is at its prime, and RIM, like Palm did with webOS, may need to — or may already be working on — the next generation ‘Berry.

Conclusion

This is where I try to bring it all together from an iPhone point of view. And from that point of view, I can say if you’re trying to choose between an iPhone and a BlackBerry Bold 9700, you’re… well it’s an easy choice. They’re Yin and Yang, day and night, and while there is some overlap their areas of excellence remain so opposite, so complementary, if you think for a moment about what you’re actual needs are, it’ll be immediately apparent which one you need — and the answer to that could actually be both. (Them dual-wielders we keep seeing).

Sure, AT&T can be a factor. Can’t use AT&T, can’t really use an iPhone in the US (though plenty of people in SF and NYC apparently keep trying, regardless). But if you need a glorified pager with the best messaging in the business, if you wear a suit and tie and all your VIPeeps are on BBM, if you just have to have a physical keyboard (and why not the best one), you’re a Bold.

If, on the other hand, you want a glorified iPod, if you need the web on the go, 116,000 apps for that (which sounds ridiculous until you can’t find the one of them you really need on another platform), access to high performance audio and video isn’t a nice-to-have but a must-have-it, and if Apple’s pushing-the-pace of smartphone innovation appeals to you now and into the future, you’re an iPhone.

And what about the Storm2? That Verizon threw it under the bus in favor of the Droid is kind of a shame, but only kind of — the Storm line is an attempt to adapt the BlackBerry experience for a touchscreen. It wasn’t designed for that form factor, and for many it might not be what the BlackBerry experience is about anyway (there’s just something so “right” about BB OS on Bold-style hardware). The Storm2 is a square peg better forced into a round hole, but unless your needs really demand some BlackBerry/iPhone hybrid, or you’re Verizon4Life, getting the best of either is probably better than settling for the okay of both.

• Our podcast feed
• Download Directly
• Subscribe via iTunes

Join Rene and Kevin Michaluk of CrackBerry.com for Round Robin BlackBerry Bold2 and Storm2 vs. iPhone, mega iTablet, iPhone HD, and iPhone 4.0 rumors, and all the week’s news and opinions. Listen in!

Credits

Thanks to the the iPhone Blog Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

Week 2 of the 2009 Smartphone Round Robin sees me take on TiPb’s Public Frenemy #1, the almost-diametrically opposed BlackBerry — or is it? This year in addition to the new flagship BlackBerry Bold 9700, we officially have an actual touch-screen ‘Berry in the ‘Robin — the Storm2. What’s an iPhone blogger to do? Well, first go on the Cell Phone Junkie podcast with Mickey and all the SPE editors to discuss RIM’s platform, that’s a given.

Next, of course, I hit up the world’s foremost BlackBerry lover , CrackBerry Kevin Michaluk himself, and as if that weren’t enough, I enlisted the million-strong CrackBerry Nation to help me out as well!

Remember, every day you post on my CrackBerry Forums thread, you’re entered for a chance to win the BlackBerry of your choice. (And there’s a total of 6 smartphones up for grabs — one per SPE site — so check them all out!)

Now grab your hotdogs, popcorn, and spicy drink, because after the break CrackBerry Kevin gives me a guided tour of the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and Storm 2, and everything new in hardware and BlackBerry OS 5.0.

[YouTube Video link]

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

Fair enough, the CrackBerry’s didn’t smack me around as badly as the WinManiac — those who bothered to read the context disclaimer and understand the point of the Round Robin at least! Ha! And along with the awesome CrackBerry.com forum members who tried to help a poor iPhone n00b out, the commenters added many useful insights and a tip or two to boot! Still some questions were asked and that means there are answers to be attempted… after the break!

Rey Says: Could you compare video quality on the two screens? Same resolution but does it look better on one than the other?

Better is subjective. Due to it’s much higher pixel density (217dpi vs. 160pi) the Bold looks sharper than the iPhone, but because of the much smaller physical size, you may or may not value that sharpness over the beefier screen on the iPhone. (Think iPod Nano experience). Again, it’s like a 1080p LCD TV at 37″ as opposed to 52″.

Jhauser3 Says: How does the browser compare? I have used the black berry browser in the past and it was not even close to safari. Has RIM made steps towards a better browser?

I haven’t used previous BlackBerries, so it may well be night and day better. It rendered regular pages well enough but had some problems with CSS elements, which may be due to some optimization it’s trying to make. JavaScript didn’t look to be very well supported, especially since RIM turns it off by default. So, steps have been made, yes, but not leaps or bounds yet. For an iPhone user, it’s not quite good enough.

Touch Me Says: How does the battery hold up with heavy internet use compared to the iPhone?

Battery life was excellent! RIM really balances this well. However, I didn’t enjoy the web browsing or media experience (never mind gaming) as much as the iPhone, so I didn’t do those things as much. When I did, it added considerably to battery drain as happens with pretty much every device.

Tk Says: another question i’ve had was, it looks kinda big, is it heavy? or in other words, is it small/light enough to fit in your pocket without feeling uncomfortable?

The Bold was much lighter than I thought it would be, and given it’s width, it’s still incredibly slim on the profile, so it’s very pocketable.

Bear Says: How do the speakers sound. Are they tinny sounding and are they loud enough?

The speakers sounded great! The Bold has one huge advantage over the iPhone 3G when it comes to speakers: they pump much more serious volume out of the ear speaker when playing media. On the iPhone 3G, the ear speaker is much lower than the bottom speaker. The Bold balances this better, for a nicer stereo experience. (You listening, Apple?!)

Steve Says: How many minutes does it take to figure out where things are? And does it come with a giant magnifying glass to read emails?

No UI is yet as intuitive as the iPhone’s, and frankly while the neon wireframes look neat, they’re not always immediately obvious. Add to that multiple email icons when you add accounts (I can hide them, I know, but they’re not hidden by default) and the lack of iPhone-style text labels beneath them, along with the trackball moving too little or too much, and it took some time and practice before I was speedy with it. And no magnifying glass, as the email was easy enough to read, though the app is Spartan to say the least.

mbiphonefan Says: i would like to know about the typing comfort. is it more comfortable to type on that device than on the iphone? is the wifi connection better than on the iphone?

I dislike physical keyboards as I find the repetitive pressure stressful and it burns out the small muscles in my forearms. I far, far, prefer typing on the iPhone, but other people will no doubt feel the opposite way. That said, the Bold had the nicest keyboard I’ve used so far. I did like the sticky feel of the Treo Pro, but the Bold’s width made a big difference.

Didn’t try WiFi as I get really decent 3G. I did see that there was a separate WiFi browser mode, which I found strange and off-putting. UI should be UI and pipe should be pipe, and never should a user be forced to watch the sausage being made.

Deathscaller Says: Hows the internet speed and battery life compared to the iphone.

Speed is probably a function of network, but I found the iPhone on 3G rendered pages faster and better than the Bold, especially with JavaScript enabled on the Bold. I think the Bold, however, manages battery life a tad better than the iPhone, as their push solution can handle a lot of lower-power interactions (I think?)

frog Says: Is there much/any lag in the menu system?

Nope. Menuing and UI systems were hecka snappy. However, once in a while the screen would flash pure white for a second then come back. Not sure what that was about?

The Reptile Says: 1) The BBB browser. How well does it work? Is it frustrating to have a good screen but no compelling interface? 2) Media capabilities. How do they compare to the iPhone? 3) Non-NOC email. Can you do this on the BlackBerry and if you can how well does it work? 4) Navigation. How long does it take to navigate to screens using the trackball? Are there other methods or is the track ball the only way? 5) If you don’t email or text much is there a compelling reason to own a BBB?

1) It works okay. The frustration was minimal, but the screen was sharp and small, and it takes a while to scroll. It’s hard to use other handset browsers after MobileSafari, however. 2) It seems like RIM is trying harder with media, and the built in players all worked well enough, but again anything would have trouble in comparison to the iPhone’s real strengths. 3) I tried the Gmail downloadable app, which worked well enough, but again I prefer having 1 email app to rule them all. 4) Keyboard shortcuts work, but the trackball is king. 5) Nope, other than fashion. Messaging the Bold’s forte.

Glenn Says: How does the app store and browers compare?And how does apps like aim and facebook compare

No App Store yet in the iPhone sense. CrackBerry.com offers so similar services, but Apple really nailed the mobile software delivery system. I didn’t try Facebook. Anyone tried them both and willing to share?

James Says: How was the Bold’s radio reception compared to the iPhones?

Good, but I’ve never had trouble with the iPhone’s radio. Not had a dropped call yet on either device. (Knock wood).

Charlotte Says: in terms of applications, which one has better selection and more powerful/useful apps? access, costs, etc??

App Store is unmatched as of this moment, but RIM is planning to iClone… er deploy their own version(s) soon.

Jonathan Kutz Says: How is the battery case cover in terms sturdiness? I always found myself playing with the cover on my palms, taking it on and off alot.

Good! Fix it in place and forget it!

Steve Says: I was listening to the Crackberry podcast, and something Kevin said made it sound like there is more than one type of Internet browser on the phone. Is there more than one? What’s up with that? Secondly, is it possible that having more buttons on the phone make games more enjoyable than on our beloved iPhone? Finally, just to get Kevin back, can we find some excuse to come up with a good name to call the BB in retort to his “Oh Frack-phone” label….???

Bla1ze was kind enough to answer the browser question, and I bow before his crackspertise! “the “Internet Browser” the “Hot Spot Browser” and whatever lame wap browser your carrier wants to install (ie: medianet for AT&T) but essentially all function in the same way you can read a better explanation that I posted @ http://forums.crackberry.com/f3/why-do-i-have-different-browsers-ie-wap-internet-wifi-85060/“

Maybe a real time strategy game would enjoy more buttons, the way they do on PCs vs. consoles. Dunno. We could come up with many names, how about it, commenters?

Steve Says: Could iPhone users find any practical use for the BlackBerry Bold… like for scraping ice off of their windshields?

It scraped a scratch in my iPhone 3G glass, which nothing else had thus far been able to do, so yeah, I think it would kill at ice scraping.

Dan Hinze Says: So, if this is exclusively for legitimate questions about the BlackBerry Bold from an “iPhone” perspective, why is an iPhone being given away? Shouldn’t a Bold be given away instead since most the questions will come from “iPhone” users inquiring about the Bold???? Anyway, here’s my “Bold” question. Do third party GPS apps such as Google Maps work with the Bold yet?

Er… I’ll just assume you finally read all about the Round Robin contest in the many, many links we’ve posted and skip on ahead… Yup, I believe the bold has Google Maps goodness.

bas.life Says: I know this is pretty much a subjective question, but I watch many movies on my iphone; knowing the screen size differences, do you or anyone find watching video/movies on the bold enjoyable? Another question, will my movies formatted for the iphone play natively on the bold or do I have to reconvert them into a compatiable format?

It was about the same as watching on the iPod Nano in my experience. Super high density in a tiny little package. I’m not sure about the movie format as I didn’t try moving anything over.

Cherryhead25 Says: I think I have a legitimate question. How’s the Bold sound as a phone, ya know like when placing a call? Is the sound quality good compared to the iPhone 3g, eh?

Sound was good. I’m not sure digital actually improved on analog, and everything sounds chopped off to me, but I’d say they’re pretty much good all around.

iAirmanshirk Says: Why is the blackberry track ball so hard to use, why is their user interface not been upgraded since the 90’s and how are they still selling phones?

Trackballs are mechanical and hence subject to mechanical failure. Think old school ball mouse. I don’t think anyone really understood mobile interfaces before Apple launched the iPhone, now RIM is struggling to adapt a last gen micro-OS to a next gen world. They’re still selling phones because they took a lesson from Microsoft and managed to get a huge install base of locked-in proprietary technology: BIS, BES, and NOC.

Patrick Says: Blackberries are famous for their email capabilities. However, I’ve heard the gmail experience on a BB is not that great (e.g. no push, haphazard 2-way imap synching, etc…). How does gmail on the Bold compare to on the iPhone? I’m looking at getting one of these devices, and the gmail experience is a huge factor for me. Thanks!

Google has really poor IMAP support on any and every platform, so there’s really no way to make a fair comparison. When Gmail is working, they both work.

msbaylor Says: What is the cost of the blackberry data plan? What color bit depth does use? What’s the picture resolution (talen from the camera) ?

Cost will vary by carrier, but I think it’s roughly the same as any data plan. I believe the Bold tops out a depressing 65K colors, which is a little out dated, but again at 217dpi, I’m not sure how noticeable it would be (I couldn’t see much if any dithering or distortion). 2 MP camera… but with flash!

lordzod01 Says: there are enough reviews to compare both the iPhone and bb indepth. Why do people keep blogging with stupid questions about browsers and battery life.

Anything unknown remains a question.

Kevin Nuckols Says: I would like compare the the fuze web browser and the bolds experience.

I couldn’t get Opera Mobile working on the FUZE, so no comparison for me. Maybe Dieter would know.

Amani Says: Whether I get an iphone or blackberry, I won’t be using the 3G Network(I don’t want to pay for a data plan) How does the wifi compare on each?

Sorry, didn’t try WiFi on the Bold, but the iPhone’s is awesome.

Garrett Says: Fantastic review. I am currently on a BB and looking forward to a Bold or an iPhone. I have used both and both are great fantastic devices. There are tons of keyboard shortcuts you can look into. I stumbled across a lot of them while using mine. Having and iPhone I am sure you have a mac. Have you found any solutions to the BB syncing to mac catastrophe? If so please let me know!

Kevin swears Mac support for the BlackBerry is improving. Pretty depressing that it took them this long!

December 21st, 2008 at 9:05 pm Are there any applications that you loved on the Bold? Either on the BB OS or third-party? Did you feel like you used the Bold “on-the-go”? Or was it a “stop & use” phone?

Bold was stop and use for me. It had to be. I don’t know how Kevin can handle really parsing, processing, and responding to all that push email and messaging without stopping. Then again, he’s much smarter and more productive than I am. (And those were the apps I liked most).

SomeAudioGuy Says: Really after your Spazz-out review of the Fuze, I’m really curious to see how you handle a non-touch screen phone. What do you think of the total messaging package? Being able to receive IM without being IN the IM app?

Well, since you were so gracious and classy in the asking, I really enjoyed the power of the messaging, but as I said in my review, the demand of it was terrifying.

talljason Says: How do the Bold and iPhone compare for consumers not dependent on getting and sending e-mails…is there a certain feature other than e-mail that makes the Bold better than the iPhone?

The keyboard if you prefer physical keyboards?

Jrock Says: Is the bold better than the iPhone? =O

Depends on your needs and preferences.

Scotty Says: How does it feel in the hand. Too wide?

Nope, felt fine!

cole Says: how is the reception compared to the iphone after all the iphone doesn’t get good reception at all

iPhone reception has been solid for me, get a better network!

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

I’ve just barely scratched the surface of the BlackBerry Bold (PIN PING! No, not literally Kevin!), as my initial preview video shows (MAIL PING! Thanks for the tips, Bla1ze!) and already have to figure out my full, final review (SMS PING! Will have it up Monday, Dieter!)

I’m figuring out the “fake buttons” (MMS PING! Ha! Funny Moran sign guys!) and the spellchecker (MESSENGER PING! Yeah, you can still out type me…)

Hang on… Holds down power button. There, now maybe I can finish this post!

So here’s the thing: TiPb’s main purpose is to service you, our readers. What if any questions might you you have about the Bold. What would you like to see better explored? Compared more directly with the iPhone?

Let me know in the comments and you’ll also get another chance to win our iPhone 3G prize pack.

(And remember to head on over to our sibling sites for more chances to win a Blackberry Bold, Palm Treo Pro, WinMo HTC FUZE, and Android G1!)

Note: Off-topic comments may be deleted. Post legit questions only please

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

Cursed I tell ya. Not “Steve Jobs’ isn’t keynoting Macworld cursed, (though Dieter clearly blames me for that anyway!) Cursed in that not only did UPS hold CrackBerry Kevin’s beloved BlackBerry Bold hostage for nearly a week (“it didn’t make it on the plane” — what, it decided to go bar hoping first?!), not only to BIS take days to start working (“oh, you wanted BlackBerry BIS — no, I wanted iPhone BIS?!), but then I — a rabid iPhone enthusiast — had to endure my first completely non-touch screen device! Cursed!

Did I survive? Could I even use the tic-tactile little BlackBerry beastie? Check the video above to find out, then drop a comment here for your chance to win an iPhone 3G, or post on my comment thread over in the CrackBerry.com forums and you may just win a BlackBerry Bold! Prize details after the jump…

Every day you comment here, you get one entry to win not only a supra-shiny iPhone 3G, but the Case-Mate Naked Case which allows full touch through access to the iPhone’s amazing screen. Smartphone Outlet is also kicking in the revolutionary Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset AND a runner-up prize, $50 coupon good at any SPE store, including the new Smartphone Outlet, where you can find refurb Smartphone Accessories at very (very!) low prices.

Check out our full contest rules!

Looks like Apple wasn’t the only one to release record-breaking iPhone revenue numbers this week!

Now I have a theory with this one… the iPhone is still doing big business for AT&T, who do you think has helped Apple’s cause? RIM! The BlackBerry Bold is finally about to be released on November 4th, should Apple be worried? Not at all. As far as I’m concerned the Bold is old news already and not a threat what so ever. Think the BlackBerry Storm will take customers away from AT&T like the iPhone did from all of the other carriers? No chance… [end rant]

So with that all out of the way, AT&T released it’s 3Q earnings today. Since July 11, there have been 2.4 million iPhone activations. And a astonishing 40% of those activations were new AT&T customers. (Let’s see the Storm do those numbers with Verizon!.)

AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson said:

“I am particularly pleased with the customer response to the iPhone 3G, the new customers we’re winning are high-value, with attractive revenue and churn profiles.”

iPhone 3G sales are currently flowing at a higher-than-expected rate, showing zero signs of slowdown. AT&T is now expecting the iPhone 3G will run higher than its previous estimates. Apple and AT&T are laughing all the way to the bank and will continue to do so.

Love it or hate it – there is no way to dispute which device is king of the cellular hill.

[Via macrumors]

After all the persistent questions about whether or not the BlackBerry Bold’s improved browser could compete with the iPhone, our friend CrackBerry Kevin decided to try to provide the definitive, final smackdown.

Go on and read the entire saga, but take heed, it’s not a pretty sight. Under ideal conditions, the Bold comes this close to competing with the iPhone on speed. Those idea conditions: 3G, Javascript off, strong signal, fresh reset, and WiFi off. Wait — WiFi off? That’s right, Kevin has two BlackBerry Bolds and both of them are five different kinds of screwed up — they fail with Javascript off, they fail with WiFi entirely. Now — not everybody is reporting the same hassles, but it’s starting to look like it’s a pretty serious problem.

The Javascript issue is very interesting, by the by. The iPhone defaults to leaving it on. One could argue that Javascript support helps make the iPhone able to browse the “Real Internet,” but one would be wrong about what makes up the “Real Internet”. The Bold, however, defaults to leaving Javascript off, and given Kevin’s results, it looks like a good thing they did.

What does this mean for iPhone users — besides bragging rights? Well, actually, bragging rights are enough for us. But there’s another tip you’re definitely going to be interested in, iPhone faithful. Can you guess it? Rene will let you know what it is very shortly.

Here’s the backstory to what you’re looking at, above: Mobile Computing posted up a video showing that the iPhone 3G obliterated the BlackBerry Bold in a download & render test of web browsers (We just covered this, oh, hours ago). Fun stuff, except as our friends at CrackBerry noted (and MC added too) – it wasn’t a fair fight. The Bold probably wasn’t actually using WiFi and also most of the Bolds out there have pre-release ROMS on them, so the finals might be a stitch faster.

So a loyal CB reader pitched in and posted a video of the Bold loading the same page again, but this time actually using WiFi, it came in a little bit faster.

At TiPb, though, we figured it still looked slow. But since the Bold probably had a pre-release OS on it, we figured we’d hobble the iPhone 3G as well. So above, Loyal Moderator Bad Ash pits the BlackBerry Bold on WiFi against the iPhone 3G on EDGE.

Yeah, it’s closer, but we’re still ahead by 4 seconds or so. Tie the iPhone 3G’s WiFi hand behind its back, fine. Tie it’s 3G hand back there too, fine. The iPhone 3G still seems to win out — and we look forward to being able to say that about the final Bold ROM too. Hey — you guys still have (slightly) more reliable push email, so there’s that.

The iPhone 3G and the Blackberry Bold will certainly be pitted against each other in the days to come, so when we saw a so-called Browser battle between the two, we promptly grabbed our popcorn and got ready to watch the rumble…

…Only to find out it was an original iPhone 2G vs. what looks like a pre-release, buggy-ROM’d, poorly connected Bold. Talk about going from showdown to letdown!

Fellas, it shouldn’t take Joe Silva to tell you what makes for good fights: top competitors in top shape. Take one or both, tranq them up, tie their arm (processors) behind their backs, and kidnap their girlfriends and you don’t have a real fight (though you could have yet another Nicolas Cage movie…)

The Bold debuts in North America this week on Rogers. Seems that very same provider already has the iPhone 3G. So here’s an idea: set them both up, in full release form, on the same network, under the same conditions, and then let’s get it on!

I thought AT&T and the iPhone were living happily ever after? I mean what with Apple making some concessions with the activation process and data plans plus selling a gazillion iPhone 3Gs (more like a million), AT&T should be happy right? Nope!

An AT&T Kiosk at the Moorestown Mall in New Jersey has decidedly gone anti-iPhone 3G. When a customer approached asking about iPhone insurance she was answered with evil laughter and was told by the employees to get a…hide the women and children…Blackberry! (gasp). I guess not AT&T stores don’t show a united front. To make matters worse, they gave her anti-iPhone 3G pamphlets using articles from Pocket PC Magazine and Crackberry.com.

You may or may not know, but Crackberry.com is like family to us at TiPb. It’s a little more than heartbreaking to see their articles being used against our. most. beautiful. and. fastest. gadget. ever. But hey, family squabbles happen, we get that, but it won’t stop us from fighting back!

Read on to see how we’ll defend our honor!

Read

We here at TiPb would like to take it to the next level and escalate this “fight” by giving future carrier stores who will carry the Bold (when’s that coming out anyways) a one stop shop for possible material in their anti-Blackberry Bold pamphlets. All in good fun, right?

10 Reasons to Ditch Your Blackberry for the iPhone

Why the iPhone is Incomparable

Why the Blackberry compares worse than EVER to the iPhone 3G

So Carrier Stores across the world, feel free to use these articles when customers ask about the iPhone 3G and Blackberry Bold, but don’t forget to credit us! One more thing, we ask you to please not mock customers, that’s just bad business. Thanks!

What happens when your Sister Site, CrackBerry.com, manages to score a BlackBerry Bold on eBay? What happens after they do their hands-on images, videos, and walkthroughs, that is? What happens is they start sending the beast around the the office. So here we have a full gallery comparing the iPhone and the BlackBerry Bold. Head to head images comparing size, UI, web browser (though that one’s not quite fair since the Bold’s web browser ain’t anywhere near complete yet), and of course media capabilities.

Also after the break, a video walkthrough of the two devices. We’ve made fun of RIM’s claim that the Bold isn’t an iClone and now that I’m looking at the two devices side by side on my desk, that fun-making is half-true. Yes, they’re different, but the metallic bezel around the edge of a glossy black face sure says “iPhone” to me.

More thoughts and comparisons after the break. What are you waiting for? Read on!

Of course, we’re tagging this post Wait-a-Thon, so any commenters (with a valid email address) are automatically entered for a chance to win a $100 iTunes Gift Card. On to the Multimedia Smackdown!

iPhone vs. BlackBerry Bold Video

Gallery

Spec Rundown

Here’s the spec rundown, with the advantages in bold (no pun intended)

…We could really go on and on with this chart, for every advantage we can think of for one, it seems to get cancelled out by an advantage by the other. Overall, though the BlackBerry Bold’s new look — both the iPhone-esque shell and the Sony-esque new skin on the UI — doesn’t change the fact that underneath it all this is still a BlackBerry. It’s still more corporate friendly than consumer friendly.

The Bold. The Storm. The Thunder. One iClonic product after another. How does Blackberry do it? Mole in Apple guru Jonathan Ive‘s ultra-secure design studio? Unlikely. Telephoto lens from Waterloo? Impractical. So, what is the secret to all of RIM’s post-iPhone Blackberry’s looking (and soon-to-be-functioning?) so much like Apple’s little pocket universe-dent’er? According to RIM CEO, and noted internet deadpan funnyman, Mike Lazaridis, it’s a simple combination of technology right out of Apple’s (and this blog’s!) back yard:

[W]e have a time machine somewhere, or some kind of magic crystal ball or something.

Apple Time Machine + TiPB Crystal Ball = Blackberry Bold?

To be fair, Lazaridis’s full context was that the Blackberry Bold DIDN’T copy Apple, but had been independently designed 3.5 years ago by RIM, and any similarities (such as the glossy black facade and chrome trim) to Apple’s iPhone were purely coincidental.

Of course, Apple has a long history of design, including the use of just these types of form factors and materials, leading up to, including, and past the iPhone (hello, iMac!), whereas RIM has… none. Nada. Zip. Zilch. So while it’s possible the Bold just happened to be independently conceived of prior to the iPhone going public (yet released nearly a full year after…), how likely is it?

Frankly, with the way Lazaridis seems to lust after talk about it, the iPhone very well could be RIM’s “precious”. And given the nearly obsessive amount of (disjointed and reactionary) response RIM’s displayed post-iPhone, my guess is “not very.”

What do you think?

Read Via

Not evil twin to Phone Different Week in Review, not an invasion by Fake Steve, This Week in Smart Phone Schadenfreude brings you all the feel-better news you need about the smartphone world outside Apple’s current media dominator. (Who knew there was such a world? We were just as surprised! Inelegant, interface challenged, keyboardy, crashy, single-touchy place — best not to linger…). Join us as we mock review the big news from last week at our sister sites. Everybody loves sibling rivalry!

WinMob on ur Blackberryz

No, Crackberrians, no need to have an OS attack. Ballmer isn’t threatening to unleash his BSOD’d “platform” on the Javaware that passes to power your little e-mail monster (yet). Our bad. Maybe we should have titled this “WMExperts on the Blackberry Bold”, or maybe just “Hawt or Not?” instead?

Anyway, seems WMExperts.com had this to title about the first-to-market iClone job from RIM:

Alright, the BlackBerry 9000 is Hawt

Think of It as an iPhone With a Broken Touchscreen

Blackberryz in ur iTunez

Sadly, this title is accurate. First RIM announces a $150 million development fund for “all mobile platforms” (read “iPhone”, since pretty much every other platform has had development going for years now and should already be a huge success, right?). Then, flabbergast-ingly enough, RIM — incapable of, you know, actually engineering their own way to effortlessly sync media to the Blackberry even with $150 million to throw at it — has decided to use Apple’s. So far there are no reports of RIM actually licensing iTunes connectivity from Apple, like… say… Apple just licensed Exchange ActiveSync connectivity from Microsoft.

Oksy, so let’s get this straight. First, RIM says they’ll give to the iPhone whether Apple likes it — or needs it — or not, and now they’ll take. Fiendishly clever, Lazaridis. Or it would be if you were a 12 year old 133t Hax0r in your parents’ basement, and not the CEO of the (technically) dominant smartphone maker in the world.

Hey RIM, how’d you like it if Ballmer monkey-boy danced his way into your NOC?

Epic kludge.

State of the WinMob — A Microsoft Mulligan?

Microsoft pundit and Apple-baiter extraordinaire, Paul Thurrott gave an(other) impromptu State of Windows Mobile speech on last week’s Windows Weekly:

You know, Windows Mobile is horrible. [...] It’s horrible. Horrible. [...] Don’t even get me started, we don’t have time. I… I… Windows Mobile is a disaster. [...]

[Is Windows 6.1 better?] Better than what? Yeah, it’s better than 5. But so what? This thing has the latest, 6.1 or whatever, the phone I’m using now. God, what a… it’s terrible. It’s terrible. They should be ashamed of themselves. They’ve had this thing… I don’t.. God, it’s embarrassing.

And, you know, I stuck around and I had the motorola Q for along time which I stuck with because of the high speed network and the fact that I could tether it to my laptop and use it as a high speed modem for my laptop. That’s great. I miss that. I’m going to tell you, though, the Windows Mobile stuff.. geez… It’s like going back.. Oh, god, it makes Windows 95 look futuristic by comparison.

[Is it challenging getting an OS onto mobiles?] Okay, Apple did something pretty impressive.

[The iPhone doesn't have cut and paste.] I hear ya, I’m just saying, you know, from a usability standpoint — night and day. [...] This thing is a piece of crap. They should completely start over. It’s horrible. It’s a complete waste of time. They should just pretend this never happened. This is.. it’s… it is the mulligan. They should just start over. Nobody uses the thing anyway. It’s just ridiculous.

[Treo 700w, HTC, and people love Sprint handsets...] I wouldn’t say love. Remember what they love about these devices are the form factors. The keyboards and, you know… You’re not going to find too many people who… I… I shouldn’t say that because, of course… [...]

You know what, look, I hear from Apple guys obviously. At least that I get. I mean, I could have my arguments with these people but at least Apple makes high quality stuff so we can arg–we can nitpick over whatever we want.

If someone is actually going to come to me and explain that Windows Mobile is not, in fact, a piece of crap, I’m sorry, I don’t entertain lunacy. This… This thing is ridiculous.

No, it’s terrible. No, it’s not even like a debate, it’s terrible. There’s no — you know what I’m saying — we can debate things. We can’t debate this.

[...] It’s terrible.

There’s nothing there. And this from a man who likes the Zune…

Yowza.

Palm’s 800th Verse — Same as the First!

Okay, even we have to admit it: the upcoming 800w is the Palm device we always wanted…

Back in 2005 when it should have shipped.

It takes until now to get WiFi? Now? Really? And still not on Palm OS “Granite”, but on Windows Mobile 6.1, which even HTC is desperately trying to hide like a Remond-headed stepchild?

Treocentral.com has the first “spy” pics, but honestly, who can tell if that’s even an 800w and not a 680 or even a 600 with a clever case and antenna mod?

And word to the “shadowmite”, how about obscuring the serial number on the proto and, hey, your reflection on the screen, so, you know, Colligan doesn’t have the hounds unleashed next time he spots you sneaking into the antiquities wing of Palm HQ, b’okay?

Definitions of Nova

nova |ˈnōvə|
noun ( pl. -vae |-vē; -ˌvī| or -vas ) Astronomy
a star showing a sudden large increase in brightness and then slowly returning to its original state over a few months.

Do they pick these code names just so these columns write themselves? Seriously. Nothing says next generation, second coming, return to dominance like something that explodes, kills all life, only to end up an infinitely sucking mass of dark matter.

On the other hand, since it won’t ship until first half 2009 at the earliest — by which time iPhone 3.0 will be on its way, and maybe a new, non-iClony Blackberry revolution (we dare to dream!) as well — perhaps Colligan and Co. really are code name picking geniuses?

And In No Other News…

We already covered how Sprint is spending wasting $150 million advertising dollars just to make the brand new Samsung Instinct pale in copy-catastrophe next to the last gen iPhone, but in an effort to be more helpful than hurtful, here’s some advice:

Just spend the money giving the devices away to your few remaining customers. You’ll move far more units than if you try and sell them, and maybe even engender a few more months of gratitude usage.

Wow, being nice really is its own reward…