Box Content

The device is supplied with a user manual, CDROM with connection software, a USB cable, 3.5mm headphones and a protective case.

Spec

• Memory: 64MB (Flash memory)
• CPU: Intel PXA901 Hermon 312 MHz
• Display: 2.4" - 320 x 240 res
• Dimensions: 107 x 60 x 15.5mm
• Weight: 111g
• Camera: 2MP
• Bluetooth: 2.0
• Approximate Battery Life: 1100 mAhr - Up to 408 hours or 17 days (Standby time) and Up to 240 minutes or 4 hours (Talk time).
• Band: Quad Band GSM/GPRS/Edge (850 MHz,1900MHz,1800MHz,900MHZ)
• Expansion: microSD card

Design

As it shares the same shell as the 8300 it certainly looks the part and would definitely impress your business colleagues.

It’s also light to carry at 111g and alongside its bright and vibrant 2.4" display you have a Qwerty keyboard underneath, which was responsive and we could quickly type in emails/ memos without breaking a sweat.

To the left of the device is a 3.5mm headphone socket and a mini USB port, to the right is some volume controls and to the back you will find a 2MP camera. If you want to take advantage of the microSD card slot (which can except 4GB cards) you will have to take the back battery cover off.

In the centre of the Curve you have a trackball (as first seen in the Pearl). Essentially it’s like having a mouse on your Smartphone and once you get the hang of this you will find navigating around the menu options an absolute doddle.

Interface/Software

The front menu interface is graphical in nature - with the icons being customisable by the user - and it’s very simple to navigate around and utilise.

A lot of the software has a text based nature to it, but the style works extremely well. This hints at its business nature, but most business users will not mind the lack of a consumer gloss finish.

You do get some multimedia software programs installed so you can playback MP3's, view images and watch videos.

And with our supplied 8310 (from Vodaphone) you get its own SatNav software - as well as Google Maps - to take advantage of the GPS (more on this later).

Other applications pre-installed consist of PIM style, notes, calendar and task software, you also get a web browser, Blackberry Messenger and the rather addictive Brick Breaker game.

Of course the curve has Enterprise Server compatibility support for Exchange, Lotus Domino and Novell GroupWise. Meaning you can get emails, contacts, scheduling and calendar info pushed to your device. So instead of collecting your email by initiating a connection you are always connected and receive your emails in real time.

For our tests we used the Internet Solution service, which allows you to configure up to 10 supported email accounts and is ideal for smaller businesses to get your email pushed to your device.

We found that any emails we sent from our desktop PC to our Curve were received pretty quickly, it’s only when you have attachments that it takes a bit longer.

On the subject of attachments the benefit of the Blackberry devices comes into play, as even though you don’t have any Word, PDF or Excel viewers installed (Documents To Go will soon be available mind) you don’t need them, because when you receive an attachment its contents can still be viewed using its own API.

We would recommend getting this device on-contract rather than sim-free, otherwise there will be a bit of setting up to do to get the email to work (plus it would end up costing you a lot of money if you don't have a proper data plan in place - due to its push system).

You also have Blackberry’s desktop software which is pretty good and with it you can install applications, send media to your device (uses Roxio software), backup/restore your Blackberry and synchronisation files between your PC's address book, memo pad, calendar and tasks.

Connectivity

Granted the device does not include 3G support, but we feel the reason why Blackberry have not added this yet, is simply because it does not need it. We found browsing the web and getting emails perfectly satisfactory and from a business point of view if it does the job then that’s fine.

Saying that Wi-Fi is also missing, so you will need to get an 8800 series device for this connectivity option.

You still get EDGE/GPRS data support and of course Bluetooth 2.0 to bring up the rear.

Performance

The blackberry has limited storage, but it can now accept 4GB microSD cards. Its general performance was great, with no problems running any of the supplied software.

Videos played back fine on the 2.4" screen, documents opened up in reasonable time and the web browsing experience was great.

Its supplied 2MP camera with built in flash could take some decent images, but there is no video recording mode (which shows its true business nature).

The phone calls (Quad-Band) were clear and precise during our test calls, so no problems to report here.

As for its GPS receiver we were really impressed with this (but bear in mind the supplied software uses the GPRS data connection). It could pick up our location in seconds, rather than minutes and with the supplied Vodaphone SatNav software we could plot destinations without any problems and it was handy for pedestrian navigation, due to its size and weight.

Finally the battery life from 1100 mAh battery has been optimised to good effect, with 17 days standby and up to 4 hours talk time, though GPS usage will zap the battery quicker.