The Hindu Business Line : A `pearl' of a device

The new BlackBerry Pearl introduced by RIM with AirTel is a pleasure to use. One of the first things you notice about it is its trackball navigation rather than a jog dial or a set of four navigation keys. The trackball lights up while in use and looks like a pearl, which is probably the reason for the phone's name.

Should I call it a phone? Or should I, perhaps, call it a device? While it does allow you to make and receive phone calls, you are missing the point if you call the Pearl a phone, but then BlackBerry devices till this point in time have never looked like phones - always like devices, saucer-like and heavy enough to double up as rather intimidating paperweights - that though the Pearl is a lot more than a phone, I am tempted to call it one.

So, how is the Pearl different? What makes it impressive? For non-BlackBerry users, the Pearl is a phone that is very good at email and chat services, with fairly good internet browsing capabilities. For users of earlier BlackBerry devices, the Pearl opens up a new side of the brand - of a trendy, consumer-focussed device - that somehow makes it less "business" and more "hip", although the moment you start using the Pearl you know you are handling a pedigree business device, and all its ancestors sort of line up in your mind's eye and you better get to work.

Well, on to the device: the Pearl has a nice, large screen with a bright and crisp display with vibrant colours. The phone is surprisingly thin and light and, in a first for a BlackBerry device, comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera and a media player. As a phone, it falls in the large-screen but light category, but as a communication device, it is surprisingly small and light.

The keypad is a surprise: the Pearl's looks like a typical mobile phone keypad but if you look closely (or the first time you try to use messaging), you will see that the keypad is not configured like the typical phone, but on a qwerty format with each key standing in for two characters.

If you have never used a BlackBerry before, the format will come as a fairly disagreeable surprise, but you will find that it is easy to get used to and will most likely wonder how you used the other system. If you have used any BlackBerry devices earlier, the new keypad will throw you off a little, but you should get up to your usual thumb-speed in quick time.

The messaging capabilities, e-mail particularly, of the phone is best in class. You can configure up to 10 e-mail addresses on your phone through a self-service Web site, or your company can do it for you if it has a BlackBerry enterprise server. Sending an e-mail using the predictive text capabilities was a breeze after the first few gaffes on spellings.

Apart from fairly good Internet browsing capabilities through its proprietary browser, the Pearl also offers you great chat capabilities. I tried the Google Talk client and found it a breeze to use after a few initial hiccups. It took some time and more than a little patience to get used to the keypad and predictive text, given that one chats in a hurry but is more composed about writing an e-mail.

As a plain phone, well, it is capable and competent, but be sure to carry the charger around with you even if you are just planning an overnight trip. But you really shouldn't complain about that given that you don't need to carry your laptop just so you can access your email. The camera and the media player are nothing to write home about, as these capabilities are only what one might call par for the course in a mainstream camera phone.

If you want your phone to have a decent camera, good multimedia capabilities to capture, store and play media files, you are looking up the wrong phone. But if you are a hardcore business user and email and messaging are as important (if not more) than voice calls, the BlackBerry Pearl should definitely fit the bill. Especially if the company is paying for it!

nagaraj@thehindu.co.in

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A `pearl' of a device