Blackberry Curve 8350 Smartphone

Blackberry Curve 8350 Review

RIM released a new version of Blackberry Curve 8350 into market with push-to-talk services and the power of Blackberry Smartphones. Particularly this is good news for the users who have not seen a push-to-talk smartphone since RIM Blackberry 7100i, which was introduced to market in June 2006. The Blackberry Curve 8350 is the latest blackberry smartphone to employ iDEN Technology and is the only smartphone that offers push-to-talk service in the industry to provide sub-second call set up and connects to largest push-to-talk community which comprises of millions of users and business solutions, including GPS-enabled solutions one of the largest selections.

Design:

Dimensions of Curve 8350:
Blackberry Curve 8350 retains the same shape and design of the earlier curve models, but as the new model is packed with a load of features, the size is somewhat bigger. The dimensions of the smartphone are as follows: 4.4 inches high, 2.4 inches wide and 0.7 inches thick with a weight of 4.7 ounces. It is a bit bigger compared with RIM Blackberry curve 8330, which measures 4.2 inches high, 2.4 inches wide and 0.6 inch thick and weighs 4.2 ounces. Unlike the Nextel phones, for instance, the Motorolai365 which has the rugged casing, the new model is a solid handset carrying a soft touch finish along the outer edges to make it easy to grip.

Sharp-looking Screen:
A 2.4-inch, QVGA, non-touch display with 65, 536-colour output and 320X240-pixel resolution is sported by Curve 8350. The screen has got a sharp-look which is complemented by the updated user interface of Blackberry OS 4.6.1. The only small issue about the design is that all of the icons look similar, although there is description when we scroll over the icon it is very difficult to use on the fly. Similar to the earlier models, RIM Blackberry Curve 8350 is also incorporated with light-sensing technology which adjusts the display’s brightness depending on the natural light or environment. RIM also allows you to customise your home screen with different themes and background images.

QWERTY Keypad:
A group of traditional navigation layout of Talk and End keys, a Menu short cut, a Back button and a trackball navigator can be found beneath the display. As the trackball is placed a little deeper than earlier models, it is not very easy to move it side to side and pressing-in, to select an item also requires a little more exertion. Some acclimation should be taken for the users who are upgrading from the Blackberry Curve 7100i, which bears a side jog wheel. The Blackberry Curve 8350 Smartphone is incorporated with QWERTY keypad which is more attractable than SureType keypad of Curve 7100i. The new model’s keypad sports small buttons but as there is a fair amount of space between the keys, many may find it easy to use.

Connections:

A 2.5 mm headset jack, a mini USB-port and a Direct Connect button are present on the left side of the Smartphone, where as the right side bears a volume rocker and a user-programmable short-cut key that is set to camera by default. On the top of the device a mute button is present and on the rear side is a camera, flash and a self-portrait mirror. Last but not the least, under the battery you will find microSD/SDHC expansion slot and SIM card slot. Again, the memory cards have got the inconvenient place.

Features:

Key Features of Blackberry Curve 8350:
With a two years gap between RIM Blackberry Curve 7100i and RIM Blackberry Curve 8350, finally the new model has brought the its customers with a number of betterments and additional features.
Some of the key features of Blackberry Curve 8350 from Blackberry Curve Series includes incorporated GPS functionalities, 2 Megapixel digital camera with 5x digital zoom, flash and video, DataViz Documents to Go to edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint docs, Internal Antenna improves the design appeal and durability, Speakerphone optimized for great sound quality with Direct Connect, Advanced Media Player - for music, videos and pictures, Removable or Rechargeable 1400 mAH Battery, microSD memory card slot allows for plenty of storage, Bluetooth version 2.0 with support for (A2DP) stereo Bluetooth and more, Additional Messaging Capabilities - support for instant messaging and multimedia messaging including audio, pictures and text to email addresses and capable phones.

Direct Connect:
With the new Blackberry curve 8350’s Nationwide and International Direct Connect, its customers will be capable to instantly connect within UK and also to users in other eligible countries. The Blackberry Curve 8350 is also the first smartphone to offer Group Connect, permitting its customers to set-up group conversations with up to 20 other users. In addition to this, there is also something called as Talkgroup which connects you to groups of up to 200 people within same local market.

A real Smartphone:
Principal Analyst with analyst firm In-Stat, David Chamberlain said that “Smartphones in general and Blackberry products in particular have become more important to both business people and consumers”. The Blackberry curve 8350 with its PTT capability filled the communication needs of many industries particularly for those in the blue-collar segment of construction, field services, transportation and manufacturing.

Multimedia Features:
The Blackberry Curve 8350 offers rich multimedia, organiser, internet browsing capabilities and access to thousands of other mobile applications along with its capability of delivering unmatched push email and messaging feature of Blackberry Solution. The latest design includes a built-in media player which supports files like MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB and MIDI music files, and MPEG4, WMV and H.263 video clips. The new model allows the customers to browse the Internet and download email attachments quickly and easily with its newly included built-in Wi-Fi. The customers can easily send and receive emails or surf Internet even while talking on phone when it is connected to Wi-Fi network.
The other multimedia features comprise of a search function, playlist creation, shuffle and repeat, and you also get a full screen mode for video playback. A software CD included bears Roxio Easy Media Creator, which allows you to create MP3 from CDs and add audio tags. The device carries a 128MB flash memory but if we load multimedia files on microSD/SDHC card the memory space will be conserved. The expansion slot can take up to 16GB cards.

Blackberry 8350 RIM Smartphone:

Vice President of corporate marketing at RIM said that “The new Blackberry Curve 8350 smartphone offers customers an exceptional communications and multimedia experience along with the power and convenience.”

2-mega pixel Camera:

A 2-mega pixel camera with digital zoom and video recording capabilities is sported by Blackberry Curve 8350 smartphone. It provides three size options and three quality selections for still images. Along with flash you can also fine tune white balance and add colour effects. The smartphone also offers geo-tagging photos with its in-built GPS. First microSD card must be installed in the device to use video recording otherwise it will not allow you to start recording a clip. However video options are limited for Curve 8350. You can only get two formats (normal and MMS mode) and colours-that is it.

The picture quality in particular is really not exhorting. Though the objects are clear, colours are flat-looking and gray. As the clips are very blur the recorded videos are also not of a great quality.

Bluetooth 2.0:

Bluetooth 2.0 incorporated in the new model is also on-board for use with mono and stereo headsets, hands free kits and Bluetooth peripherals. As the Curve 8350 has built-in GPS, a Bluetooth GPS receiver would not be necessary. The Built-in GPS can be called as both autonomous and assisted, which uses satellites and cellular triangulation to find your location. Through the apps like BlackBerry Maps and Google Maps for Mobile you can get maps and text based, turn-by-turn driving directions, but you will have to use a location based service like TeleNav GPS Navigator for real-time tracking and voice guided instructions.

BlackBerry Internet:

Voice is not the only means of communication for BlackBerry Curve 8350. Multiple email solutions are provided. To deliver corporate emails, this smartphone can synchronise with the company’s Blackberry Enterprise server, with support for Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, or Novell Groupwise. You can access up to ten personal or business POP3 or IMAP4 email accounts with Blackberry Internet Service. You can also open Microsoft word, Powerpoint, Excel, Corel WordPerfect, PDF, JPEG, GIF and many more by using the attachment viewer which is incorporated in it. Many popular instant messaging clients like Yahoo Messenger, AIM, Google talk and Blackberry messenger are also included in Curve 8350.

Blackberry OS 4.6.1:

Due to the updation of Blackberry OS 4.6.1, more advanced productivity tools and multimedia capabilities are brought by Curve 8350. Now you can edit word, excel and powerpoint files as smartphone first transports with Dataviz documents To Go Standard Edition. You will have to upgrade to Premium edition, to get an ability to create new documents. Some other PIM applications can be listed as a calendar, a task list, a memo pad, a voice recorder, a password keeper and many more. You can also always download applications to a great extent into the smartphone.

HTML Web Browser:

We should thank Curve 8350 for providing an ameliorated, full HTML web browser. Still it is not very easy or advanced as compared to its competitors, but it is better than earlier models. You have two options to view, such as Column view or Page view. There is an on-screen cursor which can be moved around in any direction and can be placed at any part of the page where you can click a link, along with zoom-in and zoom-out functions. As there is the integrated Wi-Fi you can browse at some speed. You can manually add a network or the smartphone automatically can search for the available network. Some Wi-Fi tools also exists such as diagnostics, DNS lookup and site survey.

Miscellaneous features of Curve 8350:

Some other phone features includes a speakerphone, a voice-activated dialing, speed dial, text messaging and lastly multimedia messaging. Limitation is applied on the address book with available memory only, with plenty of room in each entry for multiple phone numbers that include direct connect numbers, email addresses, work and home addresses, job title and many more. You can assign photo to a contact as well as to a group category-business or personal or you can add one of the 45 polyphonic ring tones for the call identification.

Performance:

Call Quality:
Though the audio quality is clear, sometimes the calls sound hollow as if the callers are talking in an empty room. Though there was plenty of volume, same problem was encountered the speakerphone was activated. Still they were able to continue conversation with an airline voice automated response system without dropping any calls during the testing period. The tests also proved that we can pair the Curve 8350 smartphone with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth Headset and Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones.

GPS Navigation Performance:
Though most part of the Curve 8350 is found responsive, it was also found that you will experience some lag with even simple chores like menu navigation. You may also find some instances in which the device may get stuck for few seconds on the main menu page, making it difficult to scroll to other items or launch apps, after exiting out of the video player. Coming to video, let us say multimedia experience will sound good. As most of the smartphones, we cannot watch the full length movies on Curve 8350, but as the playback is smooth it would be fine if you watch short video clips. If you try listening to MP3 files, you will experience it hollow on speakerphone. As you expect the sound quality is much better on head phones. As the new model is not fitted with 3.5 mm headphone jack, you will need to connect an audio adapter to use ear buds or headphones.

Internet Service:
If you try use Blackberry Internet Service to assemble your Yahoo email account with the device, the process will be done without any arrest and can successfully receive and check mails in the inbox. Nevertheless, the Curve 8350 got trouble sending emails. It should be resend many times in order to be send to the recipient. The promising thing is that smartphone did not have any problem connecting to a Wi-Fi network.

Battery Life:
The RIM Blackberry Curve 8350 comes along with a 1,400mAH Lithium ion battery with a talk time of up to 4 hours. In battery drain tests performed, it was found that one can speak continuously for 8.5 hours on single charge. It was found that the device has a digital-SAR rating of 0.88 watt per kilogram, according to FCC Radiation tests.

Package Particulars:

The pack of RIM Blackberry Curve 8350 comprises of the RIM Blackberry Curve 8350 smartphone, a travel charger, a USB charging/sync cable, a wired stereo headset, a SIM card, a 1GB microSD card, a swivel belt holster, a software CD and reference material.

Warranty:

RIM offers Blackberry Curve 8350 one year standard warranty.

Verdict:

With Customers looking for a fully features smartphone with Direct Connect push-to-talk capability, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS can be served by the new RIM Blackberry Curve 8350. It also provides an updated OS, advanced multimedia capabilities and a full HTML browser. Sometimes Blackberry Curve 8350 made get struck in between of the operations but that would not necessarily stop anyone from buying it. It is the first smartphone without an external antenna. For the user who is waiting to switch to a new smartphone with many advanced features the new model will be the best suit for them.

Blackberry Curve 8350 Smartphone - Technical Specifications, Features

Manufacturer	Research In Motion Ltd.
Model Number	Curve 8350
Series	Curve Series
Product type	Blackberry with digital camera
Dimensions (H x W x D)	4.4 x 2.4 x 0.7 in
Weight	0.3 lbs
Technology	iDEN
Band	iDEN 800/900 (dual band)
Phone Design	Candy Bar
Vibrating Alert	Yes
Phone Navigation Method	Track ball
Wireless Interface	IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, Bluetooth 2.0
OS	Blackberry Handheld Software
Camera Quality	With a resolution of 2-mega pixels, this phone will give higher quality images than other phones.
Sensor Resolution	2 mega pixels
Digital Zoom	5
Light source of Camera	Flash
Features of camera	Video recording, self-portrait mirror
Display type	LCD
Technology	TFT
Resolution	320×240 pixels
Colour Depth	16-bit (65000 colours)
Connector Type	1xheadset jack, 1xUSB
Slot Provided	1
Power Type	Power Adapter
Mobile Email	Yes
Internet Browser	Yes
Battery Type	Rechargeable Lithium Ion
Capacity	1400 mAH
Talktime	Up to 240 min
Package Details	The RIM Black Berry Curve 8350, a travel charger, a USB cable, a wired stereo headset, a SIM card, a 1GB microSD card, a swivel belt holster, a software CD and reference material.
Warranty	One year