Why You Want the BlackBerry 8800

In the modern business world, falling behind even one day can mean doom for a company. That one day turns into one week, which turns into one month…pretty soon, the company is a year behind the competition, and they’re blown out of the water. Keeping up is essential — but it’s not exactly easy.
One way to stay at least even with the competition is to take advantage of every new technological advance. Companies that started using PDAs en masse were the ones getting more done, at least until the rest of the world caught up. But since they were already so far ahead, they were at a position of advantage. So why should this make you want a BlackBerry 8800? Because you want to get ahead. To work faster and more efficiently. To get things done on the road. To stay connected. The reasons can be endless. But you can do all of those with just any Smartphone, right? Not necessarily. The BlackBerry 8800 represents the latest advancement in PDA and SmartPhone technology. It combines all of the traditional SmartPhone features — e-mail, instant messaging, web browsing, organizers — with innovations that make it stand out from the rest of the crowd. Just take a look at all that BlackBerry has done for its users with the 8800: Un-lose yourself — anywhere in the world Can you even count the number of times you’ve had to drive somewhere unfamiliar? Or, worse yet, when you were stuck with a rental car over 1,000 miles from home and have no clue where your destination is? Google Maps might help give you an idea, but they won’t help you with unmarked roads, construction detours, or unlit roads at nighttime. If you need to be somewhere on time — and can’t afford to leave an extra 30 minutes early — a GPS navigation system is critical. And what do you know? The BlackBerry 8800 comes with one built in. You can use the BlackBerry Maps program to view the road ahead, or you can install a simple application, like e-Mobil GPS Traffic, and get voice-guided directions to your destination. You’ll never get lost — and never be late — again. No need to lug around your BlackBerry AND your iPod iPods are great for music and video, but when you’re always on the go, they just amount to one more thing to lug around — and potentially misplace. And when you lose one, you don’t just lose a $300 machine…you lose all the time and effort it took to get just the way you like it. And that’s not even to mention all the songs you lost! This time around, the BlackBerry comes with a multimedia player. On the road? You can access video news clips and sports highlights (bet your iPod can’t do that!). Have a ton of unread messages and need to reply to them? Rock out to Van Halen while you tap out those responses. All with just your BlackBerry. If someone calls while you’re watching or listening, the multimedia player will pause while you talk. Once you finish the call, your video or music will pick up right where you left off — so you don’t have to miss a beat. It redefines the term “Smartphone.” Store all the information you need and want So, now that you have this nifty multimedia player, you decide to stat downloading your favorite songs. One of them is just about done, but — d’oh! — you’ve run out of space on the device’s flash memory. What good is a multimedia player if you only have 64 MB to fill? That’s what, 16 songs? Hardly enough to make it through a plane ride across state lines, let alone the whole country! Of course, this isn’t a problem with the BlackBerry 8800. You’ll always have enough disk space because it uses a removable microSD card, which is now available in up to 8 gigabytes. If you want your BlackBerry to double as an MP3 player, that’s 2,000 songs! Because it is removable, you can store even more information. You can keep 1,000 songs on one card, and 1,000 spreadsheets on another. Plus, the way technology is evolving, the capacity of these cards is only going to increase. Soon, you’ll be wondering why you even need an iPod in the first place. Cut down on the thumb workout Have you ever noticed a soreness in your thumbs after typing on your PDA for a while? If you haven’t, you’re certainly in the minority. Business people across the country are complaining of soreness after heavy use of their PDAs. Some of them are forced to tap out messages with a pencil eraser. Did you know that constant, repetitive thumb movements can result in not only soreness, but tendon damage, or even arthritis? Video gamers have known this for decades, calling it “Gamer’s Thumb.” Of course, with the widespread use of PDAs, the term has been modified to “BlackBerry Thumb.” Thankfully, the 8800 has introduced voice dialing. It may not save your thumbs the agony of typing a 1,000-word manifesto in reply to your boss — but hey, every little bit helps. It’s only a matter of time before they implement an accurate voice typing system. Your thumbs will be thanking you. Don’t worry about forgetting your charger It’s happen to all of us: you’re on your way somewhere, and you’re struck by a sudden feeling that you’ve forgotten something. You have your wallet, your keys, your phone — oh, no! You forgot the charger! Most times, you’re left with two options. Either you buy another charger when you arrive at your destination, unnecessarily blowing money because of your forgetfulness, or you lay off the talking and e-mailing in order to conserve battery life. Anyone who owns a BlackBerry, though, knows that it’s not really an option, so most of the time, you’re stuck paying for another charger. Not so with the 8800. Surveys are reporting that its battery can last for two or three days — and that’s with heavy usage. Just think: if you’re carrying an extra battery (and if you’re a heavy user, that’s basically mandatory), it can last you all week. If you’re not a heavy user, the one battery might last you all week, anyway. Save time getting started When you open an exciting new toy like a PDA, you want to start using it right away, right? Oh, but there are so many settings to play with and programs to configure. It’s like the company wants you to waste time getting it set up. Not so with the BlackBerry 8800. When you power it up for the first time, it runs you through a quick and simple setup wizard that gets you started in no time. That’s a lot of time and frustration saved. What’s more, it also runs you through all of the settings, demonstrating what each does and how you can change it. This way, you can personalize your BlackBerry with little hassle — and without the agony of trial and error. Total time saved: at least a couple of hours. Time better spent downloading your favorite songs! Navigate with ease What if your computer only had up and down scroll arrows? Big pain, right? You’d have to hold down another button to move the cursor left and right. And who wants to go through all that trouble? But, if that was the only way a keyboard had ever worked, it wouldn’t be a problem at all — since it would have been the only way, you’d have been used to it. You might even express frustration once keyboards started implementing all four directional keys. Imagine that. The same goes for BlackBerry’s new trackball navigation. Users might be used to the click-wheel on the side, and complain of having a new navigation system. But soon enough, after you get used to it, you’ll wonder how you ever survived without it. Plus, all of the features you’ve come to know and love from BlackBerry The best part about the BlackBerry 8800 is that it has all the features of previous models, along with the new ones. Together, they make the most comprehensive Smartphone on the market. E-mail – Same easy interface. You can juggle up to 10 accounts, business and personal, so you’ll always be in the know. Instant Messaging – When a message needs to be delivered with more immediacy than e-mail, you can instant message it to other BlackBerry users. Talk about instant gratification! If you would like to Instant Message someone other than another BlackBerry owner, try the IM+ software for the BlackBerry from the BBGeeks Store. Browser – Internet on the go. The 8800′s trackball makes the Internet even easier to use than previous models. And it’s designed for high-speed networks, like EDGE, so you can move just as quickly as your computer at home. Organizer – The days of address books and planners are over. The BlackBerry can act as both without taking up any extra room. Set up your entire calendar with alerts so you won’t miss a meeting. There isn’t a PDA or Smartphone on the market that has this wide range of features. The best part is that BlackBerry doesn’t waste any precious space: every feature directly benefits you, the user. It saves you time and frustration, and allows you to do things you couldn’t if you just worked from your stuffy office. After you experience the BlackBerry 8800, you might just be wondering how other PDAs and Smartphones can compete. And you may even wonder if they’re falling behind a day or two.

About the Author

Joe Pawlikowski is the Senior Editor at MobileMoo.com and has been covering the mobile industry full time since 2007. When he's not writing about the tech scene, he can be found discussing his personal love - baseball (and more specifically the New York Yankees) as well as writing on his personal blog.