BlackBerry 9000 gets extended interface video tour

A few weeks ago we got a quick tour of the new BlackBerry 9000's UI, but now that the folks at CrackBerry have a unit we all benefit by getting a far deeper look at what's going on. One highlight: (limited) YouTube support! Videos of this thing after the break, check 'em out.

[Thanks Dave, via CrackBerry]

[Trax @ May 8th 2008 12:18PM]

Wow, beautiful interface!

[Julius Famadico @ May 12th 2008 6:02PM]

Yep this new look for BlackBerry is so deviantly different from the rest of their past phones. It amazes me how Blackberry can step out of the typical norm and be on a whole new level of its own. Nice! I'll give it 5 stars!

[Sean @ May 8th 2008 12:27PM]

omg that's insanely smooth, it just opens any app instantly.

[danny @ May 8th 2008 12:30PM]

sexy

[Matt @ May 8th 2008 12:30PM]

do people *really* care about youtube support on mobile devices?

[DP @ May 8th 2008 3:29PM]

Really, no.

[paul @ May 8th 2008 5:58PM]

Not only that, but they're not talking about the device playing FLASH, they're talking about using it to play videos on the much crippled YouTube Mobile site, which just uses the .3gp format to stream SOME videos that are available on the regular YouTube site. Not flash.

From http://www.3gp.com/
3GP is a multimedia container format defined by 3GPP for use on 3G mobile phones. It is a simplified version of MPEG-4 Part 14 (MP4). 3GP files have the filename extension .3gp or .3g2.

Wow, it plays mpegs, so does my toaster. BFD.

[MrOrange49 @ May 8th 2008 6:14PM]

Ummm, ever gotten waiting somewhere for something? Doctors office, car repair, whatev, might be nice if your bored. If it can support youtube you might can other web vids too, news, etc.

[thebear8me @ May 8th 2008 12:36PM]

Did he say Word to go? will you be able to actually edit word docs? that would be a real plus.

[Magnificen7 @ May 8th 2008 12:38PM]

Phbt. It's getting better, but it's still no iPhone. How will RIM keep up once Apple releases the iPhone 2 and is 5 more years ahead of the competition?

[helloUser @ May 8th 2008 1:18PM]

excuse me? RIM playing catch up to apple? LOL.....whatever it is youre on, I want some of it.

[Austin @ May 8th 2008 1:52PM]

You have to be kidding me, I'm a giant fan of the iPhone, but you have to give this thing credit, it's just as or almost as good as the iPhone. There's no guarantee that the iPhone 2.0 will be 5 years ahead.

[w00t @ May 8th 2008 2:57PM]

The truth is they are both fantastic phones, and they both have quite unique strong points.

If you want a phone primarily for media and internet access get the iPhone, if you want a phone to keep on top of your emails and keep organised get the Blackberry, but these direct comparisons are nonsense...

[JCA @ May 8th 2008 10:03PM]

Anyone with even a modicum of technical knowledge knows that Apple HAS NEVER BEEN 5 years ahead of the competition on anything, whether its computers or mobile devices.

Apple has decent engineers, but overall...they aren't that great.

Apple has amazing industrial designers though.

Eye Candy is the only place they have ever innovated. The hardware and its quality is actually way BEHIND the competition.... by at least one generation.

[nikster @ May 12th 2008 9:47PM]

I happen to agree - this is no iPhone and has a ways to go.

Yet, it's very interesting what Blackberry has done: This is leaps and bounds better than anything Blackberry had before, and their ability to improve so quickly leaves me impressed.

I don't agree that this is "almost" as good as the iPhone OS / interface. It's totally different so there is not much to compare. But if I had to, I would say that it's obvious the iPhone was designed for the small screen and touch interaction - every last detail of it. Everything has been thought through, a great concept was applied uniformly over all apps.

Take the camera app that the reviewer seems to be very fond of. The iPhone can't do video. But the iPhone's camera/gallery is leaps and bounds ahead of the Blackberry in terms of usability. Things like how do you save images, how do you then review them, how do you share them - it's all a snap on the iPhone.

The Blackberry clearly comes from a desktop-OS angle with the tiny little pop-up menus. You have to ask yourself - why have a tiny pop-up menu? If they had given some thought to what their device is really for, how it's going to be used, they would have gotten rid of the popup. It's a leftover of desktop-OS thinking that just doesn't work very well on the small screen. It's crappy.

With the pace of improvement Blackberry shows I think they are now the most serious contender for the iPhone in the smartphone area. I mean this in terms of potential, I know BB still sells a heck of a lot more devices than Apple.

[waterwagen @ May 8th 2008 12:38PM]

I have never cared one bit for Blackberrys, but this one is intriguing. Beautiful screen and interface, and I like all the features built in, such as the still and video cameras.

[TMM @ May 8th 2008 12:43PM]

First of all: the interface is not beautiful, more like:
Point a gun on the head of your interm Web Designer and tell him to make something like those others with the fancy looks. You know the ones I means.
It looks hysterical ... and at best mediocre.

Second, it shows that there is absolutly still everything wrong you can do wrong with the user interface of a handheld device.
Micro trackball thingy: are you kidding?
Scrolling a cursor over a slow and badly rendered web page: hahaha.

Come on: if you don't stick it to RIM they will never make it better and you'll have to stay in the usability mid-ages. The dark mid-ages.

[Esat Dedezade @ May 8th 2008 12:53PM]

TMM welcome to low rank country.

Population: you

[t-dogg @ May 8th 2008 12:51PM]

lol, Unbelievable. This is some intense Black berry lov'n

[pito189 @ May 8th 2008 12:58PM]

What is that red light on the front that is always flashing?

[Karl @ May 8th 2008 2:04PM]

Flashing read light means there is an unread email waiting...

[BDizzleFizzle @ May 8th 2008 1:02PM]

TMM, not sure I agree. I think the UI is basically a reskin of what they have today, and wouldn't give too much credit there as it's been essentially the same UI since the first device came out way back when. That said, as a hard core user, I'd say there's good reason to leave it this way - it basically works. It is perfect? No. Is anything? No.

It is extremely smooth, though, and fast. I have an 8310, and it is painfully slow at times. It's great to see how snappy that OS is.

Also, if you haven't tried the little track ball, don't knock it. I mean really tried - like lived with it for a bit. It's excellent. I loved the scroll wheel, but this is superior.

And, before you hate, I have an iPod touch I use a lot, and love, and plan to get an iPhone, but that doesn't take away from BB at all. It's an excellent device.

[sashad @ May 8th 2008 1:05PM]

YouTube is nothing new. My Verizon Pearl can do it as well. Just point the browser to www.youtube.com.

[shutruk @ May 9th 2008 5:20AM]

How about the gps? exists? works?
How easy is the wi fi interface? changing between gprs-3g?

[TareX @ May 8th 2008 1:22PM]

That would be the first time a BB phone impresses me. Does it have GPS?

Too bad BB OS has no handheld emulators (gba, snes...etc)

Still waiting for the HTC Dream....

[Silver R. Wolfe @ May 8th 2008 1:38PM]

Yes, yes it does have GPS.

[Shane @ May 8th 2008 1:25PM]

So, what are the chances of Verizon getting this phone anytime in the next year?

[vdogg89 @ May 8th 2008 8:03PM]

hopefully never

[case @ May 8th 2008 1:31PM]

I'm in love (lol). But, does it support UMA??

[tekdroid @ May 8th 2008 1:31PM]

I couldn't care less about the product, but it's great to see enthusiast showing genuine enthusiasm about their toys.

Top stuff.

[No_RIM_for_You @ May 8th 2008 1:34PM]

So basically all you get is a lipstick over the previous O.S, eh. Even the dude in the video says same old same old, over and over.. So this is the revolution that is going to be the 9xxx series...so lame and tired.
I'll pass...

[JamesR @ May 8th 2008 1:56PM]

Improving functionality while maintaining look and feel is pretty important for a business oriented device. Joe/Jane Business person usually complains when a UI completely changes. Ask anyone that's used Office 2007.

[Silver R. Wolfe @ May 8th 2008 1:38PM]

Yes and quite a bit better than the Curve did.

[HeYo @ May 8th 2008 1:48PM]

TRACKBALL??? OMGWTFLAME

MULTITOUCH SCREEN FTW

[JamesR @ May 8th 2008 1:58PM]

Ever used it?

Didn't think so.

[helloUser @ May 8th 2008 2:26PM]

but ur iphones mutlitouch screen isnt very accurate. in fact, id go as far and say it sucks.

accuracy + speed > iphones multitouch

this also applies to tactile qwerty keyboards, another area where the iphone fails.

so no, the track is not lame, its actually *very* good.

[Eastman @ May 8th 2008 2:01PM]

I am the first to admit that i am an apple fanboi .. and i loooveeee my iPhone ..
But i can also admit that this BB9000 is one sweeeeet smartphone ..
well done on RIM ..
this is what i would get for my non iPhone T-Mobile contract with 02 so i have 2 pretty phones .. hehe ( including the iPhone 2 when its out, obviously lol )

[Gtownie @ May 8th 2008 2:04PM]

Any word on whether the current blackberrys will be able to run that OS as an update? (curve, pearl)

[Steffen Jobbs @ May 8th 2008 2:04PM]

Very nice demo. That's why I don't think RIM has to come up with an iPhone killer clone. They should just stick to what they do best. Keep the texters happy by improving the interface, keep it fast and keep their QWERTY. Nothing wrong with that 9000 if you use it within it's limits. Just don't think of it as flashy cutting edge computing device like the iPhone, think of this BB 9000 as a very good toaster. It's more than usable and if it doesn't crash every few minutes, they'll be ahead of the game.

[Abuzar @ May 9th 2008 1:25AM]

Hmm for a second there I thought you weren't going to be biased this time...


I was wrong.

[Phoenix @ May 8th 2008 2:11PM]

TouchFLO 3D > all

[DP @ May 8th 2008 3:39PM]

Good man.

[Abuzar @ May 9th 2008 12:13AM]

True, but now I'm gonna have to pick both this and the Diamond up! Wow, this is gonna be good for my wallet.

[ChrisM @ May 8th 2008 2:14PM]

Wow, a few futuristic looking icons with a PS3 background. Once you click the icon, your dumped into the same windows 3.11 looking mess of menus. My AOL mail looked and functioned like that back in '95.

I'm starting to think Apples "5 years ahead of everyone" comment is not as crazy as I originally thought.

[ScottL @ May 9th 2008 4:07PM]

ChrisM, I also noticed a very XMB-like interface. Simple, attractive, gets the job done.

[Mam00th @ May 8th 2008 2:50PM]

hmm the HTC might look sexier but a QWERTY keyboard is definitively a plus for this also-good-looking device

[Phoenix @ May 8th 2008 3:56PM]

Wait a little. get yourself a Raphael. basically a Diamond with a sliding QWERTY keyboard, MicroSD instead of the NAND and TV-out

[Adam Mc @ May 8th 2008 2:56PM]

Being a BB user and Iphone user (BB for work, Iphone for weekends) I have to say this is one sexy phone. I am going to run over a quick BB vs Iphone.

TrackBal/touch- track ball Rocks easy to use and moves about the same speed as a mouse. Iphone Touch screen is the best touch screen i have ever seen. To me this is a tie

Keyboard. Buttons will all was be better then touching a screen. (I do like the iphone keyboard dont get me wrong)

Email- Blackberry is faster on geting the emails. But Apple does a better job at looking at the email.

Speakers. Blackberrys have some of the best speakers. My 8800 kills the iphone on this.

Software. Both have great software and with appls SDK and Blackberry able to download apps off the internet this is a tie if u ask me.

Text- Blackberry has a very nice way to do texting and kepting up with them. Iphone does a great job also-tie

Cam/Video- iphone cam app sucks. Trying to take a pic by pressing a button on the screen is crap.

Music- Iphone kills everyone in this but blackberry does do a pretty good job with this.

Web- Iphone is the best here. But Blackberry isnt that bad or far behide

Crash's- I have to restart the iphone alot compair to the blackberry. Blackberry is the only phone i every own that didnt need a restart

Batt life. BB kills iphone on this . I have to chage my iphone every day or 2days. BB i can leave on for 3 to 4 days befor needing a chage.

Phone- Blackberry kills the iphone here. Sorry iphone phone sucks

Looks. Iphone is very very very sexy. I love the feel of the phone. I cant wait till the 3g iphone, Iphone i see as a more hip style phone. While the blackberry is more of a work/older style. Blackberry might not pull someones eyes like the iphone but it is not a bad looking phone at all.

Os- Iphone has very good OS, but with random crash's and hangs its not the best. Blackberry Os is very clean and runs great but might not look the the best.

Like i said I run both a Blackberry 8800 and a iphone. I cant wait till the 9000 comes out and the 3g iphone. i will be geting both.

To the people that talk about blackberrys. dont dis them bc they dont have a apple logo on them. They are great phones, and sorry to anyone with steve jobs penis is stuck in there eyes making u not able to see it

[Rileu @ May 8th 2008 3:22PM]

The iphone is almost one year old! In one year this is the best RIM can do?

I'm sure none of the posters on this board have put their own money down on RIM's expensive server software. May I ask what will happen to Rim when everyone else offers free push email? Oh I know look at the symbol PALM for a foreshadow.

The interface is ugly and cumbersome..plain and simple.

[Andrew @ May 8th 2008 3:47PM]

I'm pretty sure a lot of BlackBerry users on this forum are on a BlackBerry plan which provides you with push e-mail. Maybe I'm reading your post and interpreting it the wrong way, but I feel you're under the impression that you have to put down a lot of money to experience push e-mail with a BlackBerry but it isn't true.

I'm still unsure what you mean by "free" push e-mail. For BlackBerry's you need BIS (data plan through wireless carrier) or BES (through a company). If I am correct, WinMo devices currently don't have a service equivalent to BIS, in order to get push e-mail to a WinMo device, you would have to be part of a company's Exchange network. But if WinMo devices would come out with an equivalent to BIS, you would still need to pay for a data plan through your wireless carrier in order for it to work.

But even if WinMo devices get something like BIS, it's not likely everyone will jump off the BlackBerry bandwagon and go to WinMo.

As for your reference to Palm, Palm is what it is because they failed to provide improve what they had. Hands down, Palm was the PDA to get, but companies like RIM, Apple and Microsoft took what Palm had and made it better.