RIM's BlackBerry Curve 8900 gets hands-on treatment, looks mighty good

Oh RIM, why must you torture us? Just when we'd moved beyond our nightly dreams of the Javelin and had our sights set on a Bold, here you go reminding us of just how luscious the next-generation Curve looks to be. Sure, the omission of 3G makes us none too happy, but it's hard to kvetch about the design. The Boy Genius managed to get his paws around one of the forthcoming BlackBerry Curve 8900s, and his initial impressions are almost universally positive. He's totally digging the size, the screen, the keyboard and even the bezel. That's right, the bezel. Check the read link to see what the fuss is all about.

[Flashpoint @ Nov 1st 2008 12:36AM]

So on one hand we'll have PDA's that are half screen and half keyboard. On the the other: phones that are entirely screen.

Is there no in-between?

[austin @ Nov 1st 2008 12:49AM]

does the G1 not have the 75% screen thing going on?

[JohnTitor @ Nov 1st 2008 2:44AM]

it's not half a screen, that would kinda be odd, its just a smaller one

[Level 5 @ Nov 1st 2008 12:09PM]

The HTC Touch Pro, T-Mobile G1, and the Sidekick come to mind. Mostly screen, and have a flipout or slideout keyboard.

[azthetik @ Nov 1st 2008 12:37AM]

ccccccoooooooooooooooooooooooooooll

[edward @ Nov 1st 2008 1:00AM]

I SWEAR I HAVE BEEN DYING for this phone and got discouraged about its release date... and i just recently got over it and decided i want the Bold.. but man i think i want that JAVELIN again!

[digitallysick @ Nov 1st 2008 1:11AM]

no 3g no sale

[Canoo @ Nov 2nd 2008 3:52PM]

yeah whats with the no 3G?

I have the 8330 which has 3G CDMA and i was kinda shocked to find out the 8310 & 8320 both dont have HSPA. now im even MORE shocked the redesigned curve STILL doesn't have it...

glad im with a CDMA carrier :)

[Bob-o @ Nov 1st 2008 1:15AM]

Hmm. . . it looks almost identical to a Treo 680. . . it doesn't have 3G, just like the 680. . . but this Curve is "luscious" and "next-generation". . . but the Treo is "outdated", "ancient". Huh??

http://tech2.in.com/media/images/img_5631_treo680_450x360.jpg

What makes this Curve so "luscious"?

[Miguel @ Nov 1st 2008 1:34AM]

The fact that it doesn't look a thing like the Treo you posted?

[Bob-o @ Nov 1st 2008 2:08AM]

> The fact that it doesn't look a thing like the Treo you posted?

Uhh, let's see:

top of the face is covered by a screen? Check.

bottom of the face is covered by a QWERTY keyboard? Check.

in between the 2 are a few control buttons? Check.

above the screen is a little area for a speaker and LED? Check.

and gee, I want an app that shows a background image, and at the bottom some icons
to choose common apps. And at the top why don't you show me the time, battery life,
and some other tidbits? Check.

Yeah, I guess you're right, it's nothing like the Treo, what was I thinking?

Duh. What are you fixated on the colors of the plastic?

Well, there are some differences - the BB doesn't have a touchscreen or as many pixels as the Treo.

[Miguel @ Nov 1st 2008 5:17AM]

The BB's keyboard is pushed to the bezel, with large buttons for plenty of typing space without losing your tactile feel, as compared to the Treo's tiny buttons not reaching the edge of the phone and so spaced out that it's easy to lose your place on the keyboard.

That center control console on the Treo has six buttons, plus the the D-pad with center clicker--so that's 11. Talk about busy! Especially compared to this BB's 4+clickable trackball. Moreover, the buttons on the BB continue to use the available real estate--unlike the Treo! They are flush to the bottom of the screen, unlike the Treo.

The Treo's screen is square, the BB's is not. The BB's screen goes right to the bezel and is flush with the phone surface, unlike the Treo's inset screen, touch capability be damned.

The Treo's bottom edge tapers at the corners, giving it a weird, curved, trapezoidal silhouette. The BB is squared. The Treo has enough real estate around the speaker to add a few more buttons (if it didn't have enough already!); the BB does not.

Oh, and the BB has a modern OS. The Treo does not.

[holycow @ Nov 1st 2008 1:41AM]

I want the half touchscreen/half real keyboard blackberry that was rumored a while ago.

[Daniel Saul Zeff @ Nov 1st 2008 7:35AM]

I've had the bold for a few weeks and it is very flaky. In fact Orange have withdrawn it because it's so unreliable.

My one has taken to randomly shutting down mid way through calls. Not ideal.

Daniel

[cydonia @ Nov 1st 2008 8:41AM]

no one cares about your blog.

[hbot @ Nov 1st 2008 9:46AM]

So any word on the release date? Seeing this thing next to the Bold, the bold looks like a such a brick! This looks beautiful...

[Tubalcain @ Nov 1st 2008 10:21AM]

Don't the let the pics fool you. My sister just got the Bold and I thought it would be big but its just right and I have big hands. To each his own, though.

[ben @ Nov 1st 2008 10:42AM]

I just love Canada! Now if only my dad would get around to convincing his workplace to get a plan for his Rogers Bold he won back in August... The case and how it feels in your hand is wonderful! The keyboard is very nice too.

[tom @ Nov 1st 2008 12:09PM]

3 reasons for you not to come to Canada

1. 3 year contract
2. rip off data prices
3. ridiculously high taxes
4. snow in the winter
5. CFL sucks sh!t

[Andrew T. @ Nov 1st 2008 12:16PM]

1. 3 years, yeah kind of sucks; you get that feeling you're really locked in to that carrier forever, though unless you keep switching back and forth, you're most likely going to stay with that carrier anyway

2. They are getting better, but still crappy; with Bell so really can't complain about $30/unlimited but if you're a Rogers customer, way different story

3. Taxes are taxes, what can we do...

4. Some places already snowed 5 cm and in October! (Damn you mother nature!!!)

5. Allows all receivers to run up to the line of scrimmage/in motion? 12 defensive players? What kind of BS is THAT?! LOL

[ben @ Nov 1st 2008 12:45PM]

Canada isn't that bad, though the cell and internet companies are crap.
Example: http://www.persona.ca/index.php?casual , Check out the prices for the packages. If people complain about Comcast or AT&T, I laugh VERY hard. 250 GB limit? HAHAHA! We are lucky if we can get a decently priced package that can download 250 GB if left downloading for a month.

[computer.dude.28 @ Nov 8th 2008 4:12PM]

I live in Canada and I live for the winter. Skiing and sledding (snowmobiling, that is) is the most fun of the year! I drive my sled to school every day in the winter.

[Andrew T. @ Nov 1st 2008 11:08AM]

I might just pass on the Storm and just wait for the 8930 (Niagra). Never did have any problems with my 8830 (though it could obviously be better in many ways) but the 8900 series models looks like a good replacement.

Would be perfect if this thing dropped in mid-spring/early-summer, would qualify for some hardware upgrade credit.

[happy_penguin @ Nov 1st 2008 12:36PM]

So this has been up for like 12 hours and hasn't gotten past the first page of comments? Come on, where are the fans? Either fill this up to a couple pages of comments or don't bitch when *ehem* certain other phones get posted and the comments fill up three or four pages in a couple of hours.

[CJ @ Nov 1st 2008 1:55PM]

huh?

so you're judging the phones by the number of comments they get?

That's brilliant. Wait, let me see if I can put that in perspective:

WAYS TO JUDGE THE NEW BOLD:

1. Screen colors / brightness / sharpness
2. Tactility of the keyboard / key placement
3. Size / heft
4. Inclusion / Exclusion of 3G
5. Number of comments left by Engadget readers

Yep, seems like a no-brainer to me too...

[happy_penguin @ Nov 1st 2008 5:39PM]

Where did I judge the phone? I'm talking about response to the phone and how much coverage engadget gives it.


Talk about brilliant. Read and comprehend what I said.

[jpic @ Nov 1st 2008 10:15PM]

Is this coming to t mob or att?

[Greg @ Nov 2nd 2008 1:19AM]

It's no iPhone but not bad.

[Dan @ Nov 18th 2008 7:59AM]

I've heard mutterings that it's going to available here in the UK shortly after Christmas, no word on carriers/ networks as of yet though. Hope it's more reliable than the storm, i really struggled with that thing. Shame as it sure was a looker!

[Nawaz @ Jan 1st 2009 2:28AM]

OK, since you ask for it here is the specs for Blackberry 8900 and Treo 680

BB: BB OS 4.5
Treo:Palm OS 5.4.9

BB: Memory 256MB
Treo: Memory 64MB

BB: Screen 480x360 TFT
Treo: Screen 320 x 320 TFT touchscreen

BB: Wireless GSM/GPRS/EDGE, Bluetooth 2.0, WIFI 802.11b/g enabled
Treo: Wireless GSM/GPRS/EDGE, Bluetooth 1.2

BB: Camera VGA, 3.2MP, 2x digital zoom, Video capture 480x352
Treo: Camera VGA, 2x digital zoom, Video capture with 352 x 288

BB: Micro SD card
Treo:Expansion Slot Support for MultiMediaCard, SD & SDIO

BB: Battery Talk Time: 5.5 hours, Standby Time: 356 hours
Treo: Battery Talk time: up to 4 hours, Standby time: up to 300 hours

BB: Size 4.29" H x 2.36" W x 0.53" D, 109 mm H x 60 mm W x 13.5 mm D
Treo: Size 4.4" H x 2.3" W x 0.8" D, 113mm H x 59mm W x 21mm D

BB: Weight 3.87 ounces
Treo: Weight 5.5 ounces

BB: GPS
Treo: Not sure (sorry)

So well this is why its different :) hope this helps