iPhone vs Blackberry Curve
Recently, I got a chance to live with a Blackberry Curve cellphone. Normally I use an iPhone so I was eager to put the Blackberry through its paces.
Blackberry’s thrive in large corporate environments where they integrate well with business Microsoft based servers. They use a push email system owned by Blackberry to push emails to each handset rather than wait for the cellphone to pull the email off the server. This speeds delivery of mail and quick communications is key in these fast paced environments.
The Blackberry Curve has a 2” x 1 ¾ inch colour screen. The iPhone’s screen is 3” x 2”. The Blackberry is thicker too but has a solid robust feel to it.
The Curve has a keyboard with small keys for each letter or number you wish to push. Many people prefer this typing style as there is a tactile, firm feel that the key has been depressed as opposed to the iPhone's virtual keyboard where touching a location on the screen does not.
The applications you get with this Blackberry include email, web browser, address book, messenger, calendar, maps, media centre (music, video, ringtones, camera, and voice notes), memo pad, tasks, camera, video camera, alarm, voice dialing, calculator, a game and a password vault. All integrate seamlessly with your PC using Bluetooth.
In general, using these apps is more complicated on the Blackberry than the iPhone. To turn off the sound and activate the vibrate feature as an example you toggle a switch on the side of the iPhone. On the Blackberry you must activate the phone by pushing any key then unlock the keyboard by pushing the “asterisks” key and “send” keys at the same time. You then scroll to the “sounds” icon push the “select” button scroll to “vibrate” and push the “select” button. As this is one the most commonly used functions it serves to illustrate the difference between the brands.
Using the Blackberry does become second nature relatively quickly and the sound quality on voice calls is very good. It seems to be able to stay connected to a cell tower a bit better than my iPhone that sometimes loses its signal in basements or elevators.
The biggest advantage of the Blackberry in Manitoba is that it runs on the MTS network which has much better coverage across the province than any of its competitors (Rogers, Telus or Fido). This is a huge consideration for those of you who travel, as there is nothing more useless than a cellphone that will not connect when you need it most.
There is an apps store for both brands of cellphone with the Blackberry version still playing catch-up to the iPhones extensive selection.
Web browsing on the iPhone is like sitting in front of your computer, Web pages look like they should and load quickly and easily. The ability to enlarge any section of the page on the iPhone is perfect for those of us who need a bit of help seeing the small type. Surfing on the Blackberry is awful, pages don’t look like they should and just not worth the effort.
Where the iPhone excels is in the way it handles media. Watching a movie, movie trailer, music video, or YouTube video on an iPhone is fun. The Blackberry Curve is a chore. Music delivery is another clear win for the iPhone as it marries with iTunes so seamlessly that buying, moving, and playing music is easy and foolproof. With the Blackberry I had to purchase a separate SD card, install it under the battery and transfer the tunes I wanted manually. Not fun and actually quite a pain.
So, if what you need is a quality cellphone that integrates with your large corporate structure, gives you push email, is robust and works almost anywhere in the province then a Blackberry will more than do the job.
If you want to surf the web, look at photos, watch video, listen to music, play games, read a book, as well as answer the phone, get your email, and text message I think the iPhone wins hands down.
Blackberry’s thrive in large corporate environments where they integrate well with business Microsoft based servers. They use a push email system owned by Blackberry to push emails to each handset rather than wait for the cellphone to pull the email off the server. This speeds delivery of mail and quick communications is key in these fast paced environments.
The Blackberry Curve has a 2” x 1 ¾ inch colour screen. The iPhone’s screen is 3” x 2”. The Blackberry is thicker too but has a solid robust feel to it.
The Curve has a keyboard with small keys for each letter or number you wish to push. Many people prefer this typing style as there is a tactile, firm feel that the key has been depressed as opposed to the iPhone's virtual keyboard where touching a location on the screen does not.
The applications you get with this Blackberry include email, web browser, address book, messenger, calendar, maps, media centre (music, video, ringtones, camera, and voice notes), memo pad, tasks, camera, video camera, alarm, voice dialing, calculator, a game and a password vault. All integrate seamlessly with your PC using Bluetooth.
In general, using these apps is more complicated on the Blackberry than the iPhone. To turn off the sound and activate the vibrate feature as an example you toggle a switch on the side of the iPhone. On the Blackberry you must activate the phone by pushing any key then unlock the keyboard by pushing the “asterisks” key and “send” keys at the same time. You then scroll to the “sounds” icon push the “select” button scroll to “vibrate” and push the “select” button. As this is one the most commonly used functions it serves to illustrate the difference between the brands.
Using the Blackberry does become second nature relatively quickly and the sound quality on voice calls is very good. It seems to be able to stay connected to a cell tower a bit better than my iPhone that sometimes loses its signal in basements or elevators.
The biggest advantage of the Blackberry in Manitoba is that it runs on the MTS network which has much better coverage across the province than any of its competitors (Rogers, Telus or Fido). This is a huge consideration for those of you who travel, as there is nothing more useless than a cellphone that will not connect when you need it most.
There is an apps store for both brands of cellphone with the Blackberry version still playing catch-up to the iPhones extensive selection.
Web browsing on the iPhone is like sitting in front of your computer, Web pages look like they should and load quickly and easily. The ability to enlarge any section of the page on the iPhone is perfect for those of us who need a bit of help seeing the small type. Surfing on the Blackberry is awful, pages don’t look like they should and just not worth the effort.
Where the iPhone excels is in the way it handles media. Watching a movie, movie trailer, music video, or YouTube video on an iPhone is fun. The Blackberry Curve is a chore. Music delivery is another clear win for the iPhone as it marries with iTunes so seamlessly that buying, moving, and playing music is easy and foolproof. With the Blackberry I had to purchase a separate SD card, install it under the battery and transfer the tunes I wanted manually. Not fun and actually quite a pain.
So, if what you need is a quality cellphone that integrates with your large corporate structure, gives you push email, is robust and works almost anywhere in the province then a Blackberry will more than do the job.
If you want to surf the web, look at photos, watch video, listen to music, play games, read a book, as well as answer the phone, get your email, and text message I think the iPhone wins hands down.
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