BlackBerry comes of age

E-mail and text-messaging features are now built into virtually all cellular-equipped mobile devices. That reflects businesses’ need to provide employees with both synchronous and asynchronous methods of communication. The granddaddy of all mobile messaging devices is the Research In Motion (RIM) BlackBerry. The original hip-side messaging companion quickly became a status symbol — then became part of the lives of all who carried it.

Faced with competition from sleek and silvery Palm and Pocket PC PDAs, and messaging-equipped smart phones, RIM couldn’t stick with its staid design. The 7200 series was born to bring the BlackBerry into the modern age. The 7230, reviewed here, represents more of an aesthetic upgrade than a functional one, but there are a few new features worth noting, especially over-the-air synchronization with desktop mailboxes and the capability to view Office and PDF documents.

Getting Online

During a two-month period, I tested the 7230 and T-Mobile’s service in several cities. My primary desktop machine was an Apple PowerBook G4 with Windows XP running under Microsoft’s Virtual PC.

The process of setting up the 7230 varies depending on your company’s server configuration. RIM sells optional Enterprise Server plug-ins for Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino. I found RIM’s own Web client service more useful, partly because my personal IT infrastructure is powered entirely by Apple Xserve machines but also because the Web client is so easy to administer. The Web client still performs over-the-air reconciliation with your inbox, and it will also forward messages to you from other POP (Post Office Protocol) mail servers.

The 7230 is not a Web browsing device. It is limited to WAP (Wireless Access Protocol) and WML (Wireless Markup Language) sites, of which there are few. You can get news, weather, and maps through the 7230. Beyond that, you’ll do no surfing.

A BlackBerry in Hand

On the 7230, the position of the thumb-wheel and escape-button controls is more awkward than on previous BlackBerrys, and they both require more pressure to push. I found that I often had to use two hands to operate the wheel: one to press the wheel and one to steady the left side of the device. The 7230’s keyboard is excellent. Keys are brightly backlit and are set to a perfect pressure for quick typing with both thumbs. The numeric keys, once across the top, are now arranged in a phonelike array on the left side.

In bright artificial light and ordinary daylight, the color display is very easy to read. But I had a lot of trouble reading the screen in cars and in poorly lit rooms. The backlight is useful only in near-total darkness. Why did RIM do this? To extend battery life. With sporadic use of the back light and cell phone, I was able to go as long as a week between charges.

Features that one expects from a modern cell phone, especially voice dialing and speaker phone, are absent. As a result, you’ll still need to bring a cell phone along when you carry a BlackBerry.

At Your Desk

One significant new benefit extended to Exchange users is the ability to read Microsoft Office and Adobe PDF attachments. If you’re sent a rich document in a message, the BlackBerry Exchange plug-in will transparently convert it for viewing on your 7230. The 7230 has the unexploited potential to view all kinds of rich documents, thanks to the SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) viewer embedded in the 7230’s Java firmware. It’s a pity that RIM didn’t use its SVG renderer to make HTML sites viewable.

RIM’s desktop software is extremely basic. You can back up or restore the entire phone, and you can perform limited transfers of individual files. Although the 7230 has a built-in modem, you cannot use it to connect a PC to the Internet. In contrast, Nokia’s desktop software is far more capable.

Overall, the 7230 is a worthy messaging device done in the BlackBerry tradition. The only potential show-stopper for existing BlackBerry users is the dim color display. I got used to it pretty quickly, and I recommend testing a device for a while to see whether you like the screen. The new keyboard, smaller form factor, rich document viewing, and over-the-air inbox synchronization make the 7230 a great choice for users new to the BlackBerry.