Product Reviews

Interest in 'the BlackBerry device' has been steadily growing since it arrived in the US in 1999. Around 12,000 companies are now using BlackBerries in North America, according to RIM.

In its first iterations, the BlackBerry looked like a slightly portly pager, but more recently it has grown in size to incorporate greater functionality for the enterprise. Initially, it was envisaged primarily as an always-on, take anywhere email device to hook on your belt, but before it arrived in Europe it developed into a well-rounded PDA solution, although email functionality is still its killer app.

The BlackBerry 5820 is the same size and shape as a PDA in the Palm or Pocket PC genre, and comes supplied with a sturdy belt-clip holster. The biggest difference between it and a Palm or iPAQ, for example, is that it isn't stylus operated. Instead, a miniature keyboard takes up the bottom third of the device. At first glance, the diminutive keys look like they'll be a nightmare to type on, but pecking out a quick email is surprisingly easy. You wouldn't want to write the next Harry Potter on it, but for short bursts of text it's fine, and the larger keys are easier to use than those on Handspring's Treo 180 (see p135).

A Sony-esque scroll wheel is used to navigate menus. Pressing the wheel chooses the currently highlighted option, plus a separate button acts as an Escape key and takes you back one level in the menu structure. This simple system is remarkably intuitive, so much so that the BlackBerry has virtually no learning curve whatsoever.

Out of the box, the BlackBerry 5820 is loaded with an email/SMS app, address book, calendar, task list, memo pad, calculator and alarm clock. The apps feel basic, partly because the screen is only 160 x 160 pixels in monochrome, but they offer most of what you want in a basic PDA. That said, the screen itself is actually superb, possessing crystal clarity and superb contrast - exactly what you need for a predominantly text-based device.

The BlackBerry's functionality is, of course, greatly enhanced by the ability to use the docking cradle to synchronise with a desktop PC, and to take advantage of the latter's better ergonomics when entering data. The address book, calendar, tasks and memos can be synced with a wide selection of desktop PC PIMs, with the notable exception of Outlook Express, but that's not so surprising for a corporate-oriented product.

Despite the fact that the BlackBerry uses a serial cable for connectivity, syncing didn't take that long even for the first time - a couple of minutes for more than 600 new addresses is perfectly acceptable. USB would have been preferable, though, as notebooks are forgoing legacy standards in favour of USB these days. Most impressive is the complete integration between the address book and the email application. For example, within the address book, if a record just has a mobile phone number and no email address entered, you're only given the option to send an SMS and not an email, or vice versa if only an email address and landline phone are provided.

The BlackBerry's chief selling point, however, is wireless email, which becomes truly usable for the first time here. Both 900MHz and 1,800MHz GPRS are used for connectivity. Currently, the BlackBerry is supported over GPRS by BT Cellnet in the UK, Telfort in the Netherlands,

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Digifone in Ireland, VIAG Interkom in Germany and Telecom Italia in Italy. Other European countries are expected shortly, according to RIM, but there's no US coverage, as this would require 800MHz or 1,900MHz support. This is potentially one of the biggest issues with this particular model.

As GPRS is an always-on technology, emails are delivered via push rather than pull, so they arrive without user intervention. The BlackBerry can be set up to ring, vibrate or do nothing when an email or SMS arrives, in a similar way to a mobile phone. Unlike most other integrated wireless data PDAs, however, the BlackBerry isn't just a diary device with mobile phone functionality bolted on. In fact, the device itself is only half the story. While in the US there are versions that can be used standalone by a desktop user, with RIM managing the email, in Europe it's currently only available in tandem with BlackBerry's own back-end software.

The latest BlackBerry Enterprise Server 2.1 integrates with Lotus Domino 4.6 or 5 and Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 SP 4 or 2000. This essentially makes the BlackBerry an extension of your corporate desktop email. Copies of all email correspondence are kept both on the desktop and on the BlackBerry, and any mail from the latter is as if sent from the desktop. RIM has also considered the issue of security, and Triple DES encryption ensures mail is kept secure as it travels from desktop to handheld.

While the 5820 is already a powerful business tool just as an emailer, more capabilities are available via software upgrades. A phone jack is installed for a hands-free telephony upgrade, implementation of which depends on the cellular carrier. An Internet browser is in the works, too, although this is likely to be limited in functionality by the low screen resolution and low-level backlight. An over-the-air calendar comes as standard with the Enterprise Server setup and promises to be another killer app, making it much simpler to manage appointments while out of the office. Our test setup didn't have this feature, though, as our BlackBerry wasn't tied in with a local corporate mail server, so we couldn't try out its capabilities. In theory, the over-the-air calendar behaves in a similar fashion to BlackBerry email, with calendar entries pushed automatically between desktop and mobile device, so both diaries are permanently in sync. And if these features aren't sufficient, it's possible to program your own. The OS is Java-based and third-party apps are already available from companies like Hewlett-Packard.

Unlike the latest Pocket PC 2002 devices, which mainly use third-party add-ins for wireless connectivity, the BlackBerry isn't a gadget you'll need to struggle with to get wireless applications working properly. That said, it's not a toy but a serious business tool. The device itself exudes functional design rather than brushed metallic chic. For example, a hidden sensor turns the screen off automatically when the BlackBerry is slotted into its clip-on holster - a simple battery saver that doesn't rely on an easily broken micro switch. The only annoyances I came across were the lack of US network support and that the underscore isn't directly available on a key, but instead requires the invocation of a menu containing additional symbols. Seeing as many email addresses use this key, it would have made sense to have made it more readily accessible.

Other than this, the BlackBerry delivers completely on its promise. If it's as successful in Europe as it has been in the US, it will make email an even more ubiquitous and essential business tool. Any company whose employees spend a large amount of time away from the office should seriously consider the BlackBerry. At least where email and diary are concerned, it brings the mobile worker that bit closer to the office.

PRICE: £359-£399; £2,500 inc 20 user + £300 per ten; £29-£39 per user per month (all prices exc VAT)