It’s been almost a month since I broke up with my iPhone and switched to the new T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve 8900 for what I like to call “unified communications.” And while I sometimes yearn for my iPhone’s awesome sleekness and its admirable browser, the new BlackBerry Curve is proving to be a worthy and admirable replacement.
Sure, it isn’t an iPhone, but the Curve 8900 is sleek, light and looks like a very polished business-oriented email device. It has an astonishingly bright, high quality screen, making reading a delight. Compared to the BlackBerry Bold, it is almost svelte. Instead of boring you with details about its OS or the innards of the device, let me stay focused on the stuff that matters most to typical BlackBerry owners: usability.
The Keyboard
Lets start with the keyboard. Just when you thought RIM really couldn’t improve upon the keyboard of the previous Curve model, it came up with the BlackBerry Bold’s keyboard. And now, it’s come up with the flatter keys that are comfortable enough for even the most awkward thumbs. The new keyboard buttons remind me of the now-forgotten black-and-white BlackBerry 6750 that was popular in the early 2000s.
