[ArgonNJ]

What still drives me crazy with the iphone, even 2.0 is the piss-poor sound that Apple uses for incoming mail. You can barely hear it and there is no way to change the sound. That and no indicator light means you have to pick up the phone and awaken it to see if any new mail came in.

[Mark Rejhon]

Originally Posted by Alex Alexzander

All things considered, I see the iPhone as an evolutionary product. I think the Google Android devices, the iPhone, and perhaps even Windows Mobile, will start to take a serious toll on RIM. I'm sure few of you will agree, but that's my opinion none the less.

iPhone and its amazing user friendly AppStore, is great and RIM needs to match this to compete eventually. The great thing is that RIM is doing exactly that with their new $150M BlackBerry development fund, as well as already introducing quite a few things already in the list.

Some comments:
OmniFocus (better than ToDoMatrix in my opinion) - Various third party now available; improving rapidly
AIM (SMS mostly still)
Splash ID - not familiar
Safari - BlackBerry Bold AJAX browser is not as good, but it does support AJAX which means the goodies such as Google
Photo Album - works great, though need improvement to make sync convenient as iPhone
FaceBook - already here
Loopt - Not familiar
iTrans BART - BlackBerry Bold AJAX browser (Web 2.0 Support Soon)
Ultralingua (dictionary and thesaurus) -
Bejeweled 2 - Fun! May not be till 2009 when RIM adds 3D
Monkey Ball - Fun! May not be till 2009 when RIM adds 3D
MotoRacer - There's a similiar racing game available at Bplay: BlackBerry Games - BlackBerry Themes - BlackBerry Entertainment
SplashMoney - Clones of
Ms. PackMan - Genuine Namco version now available for BlackBerry at namco.com
Tetris - Available for BlackBerry, various variants
Quick Voice Record - Third party app
AppleTV / iTunes Remote - Third party app
Google Reader - BlackBerry Bold AJAX browser (Web 2.0 Support Soon)
PayPal - Works already
Ebay - Works already
Band of America - BlackBerry Bold AJAX browser (Web 2.0 Support Soon), though I got my online banking working fine in Opera Mini
Mail - already here
Calendar - already here
Address Book - already here
GoogleMaps - already here
Weather - already here
Stocks - already here, see http://www.etrade.com/mobile

Other examples - there are some third party superior PDF viewer software already for the BlackBerry with page layout that looks exactly like the PDF viewer on the iPhone (although it doesn't have the great pinch-zoom capability of iPhone). I am expecting that by 2009, genuine Adobe Acrobat Reader and other native stuff will be available for BlackBerry -- so you can approve that PDF.

You are right, RIM gets a F grade (flunk) for user-friendly availability of software. Most people don't know you can do Excel Macros in a specific BlackBerry spreadsheet from Handango, to things like getting perfect PDF viewing using a third party program that replaces the crappy PDF viewer built into BlackBerry, etc. But as BlackBerry brings their own Application Store by 2009 (this is a guesstimate date, I'm speculating, but there are many rumors of an Application Store of some kind).

By 2009, there should be a much better online application store by RIM, once the new $150 million development fund gradually works its way to tangible public benefit. They are reacting already, with all guns blazing.

Also, the new toushcreen BlackBerry is multitouch (Yes! Pinch zoom on BlackBerry! Yes!) with haptic capability, RIM is planning to make it touchscreen thumb keyboard better than iPhone. RIM concedes that they won't be able to beat Safari (yet), but they are rapidly working on adding AJAX (Web 2.0 support), so you can access all the fancy sites on a BlackBerry Bold eventually!

And did you know, you can get iTunes synchronization (non-DRM only) and album flipping in a iPod knockoff player called FlipSide MP3 player (third party). This is yet another example of the F grade that Research in Motion gets for user-friendly availability of consumer software to consumers, but RIM is already working at fixing this problem.

iPhone is great competition for RIM, and it has woken up the sleeping giant within RIM. Keep an eye on them! They don't intend to slip away.

My year 2005 "predictions" ended up actually pretty accurate:
Circa 2005: Mark Rejhon's Top 7 Most Important BlackBerry Requests for RIM's Growth Success Out of the 7, six of them actually improved massively. The only real "flunk" I give RIM out of my 2005 list, is "More Organized Software Catalogs", while others get a resounding passing or need-improvement grade.

Based on my research and precedent, my Year 2008 and Year 2009 Predictions:

- BlackBerry's own equivalent of AppStore (late '08, early '09)
- Web 2.0 AJAX capability (late '08)
- Touchscreen BlackBerry, with multi-touch and haptic capability (late '08, early '09)
- 3D hardware graphics (sometime '09)
- Better RIM developer API (sometime '09)
- Free development, no signing fee (late '08, early '09); expect a massive development boom.

These are predictions, I have no inside knowledge, but my past predictions about RIM has seemed to be remarkably accurate as you can see in the year 2005 thread. (Consider that cameras and memory card slots in a BlackBerry was a pipe dream in 2005). Considering the accuracy of my past BlackBerry predictions, I guess I should become a BlackBerry analyst -- LOL -- but I'm just a multiplatform mobile devices developer (Windows Mobile C++/C#, BlackBerry Java, and soon iPhone C++)

Also, BlackBerry has some time. Apple will be copying other features. I predict:
- Copy and paste in upcoming iPhone software upgarde;
- Tethering with laptop for Internet. iPhone doesn't do this yet.
- More expanded Bluetooth. iPhone doesn't support Bluetooth keyboards, etc.
- Better administration support, ala BES. iPhone is chasing this.
Apple will catch up, but while Apple's catching up, RIM has time to catch up to iPhone. See my 2008 and 2009 predictions above. Leapfrog mania.

Even if the guesstimate dates I said were incorrect, all the above is almost guaranteed to happen, eventually -- market forces is pushing RIM in that direction, and RIM appears to be following the moving target much better than it used to be. BlackBerry will never be an iPhone, but they aren't going to lose marketshare very easily. If at all, iPhone made BlackBerry far more popular at the local high school and university, especially with television commercials and the aggressive marketing of BlackBerry to consumers with cheap BlackBerry plans and stuff liike that: More people have suddenly discovered BlackBerries, and some of them prefer them over iPhone. It's PC versus Mac in some communities already. Tons of churn happening. BlackBerry users switching to iPhone. Other iPhone users switching to BlackBerry. But RIM isn't yielding; the SmartPhone pie is growing bigger very quickly and RIM intends to be the Next Nokia. They have less than 2% of the world's cellphone market and iPhone still has less than 1%. BlackBerry Curve is already boring 2-year-old technology, please don't compare a Curve to iPhone 3G. It is true that Apple marketshare is growing much faster than RIM's marketshare, but RIM's marketshare growth has suddenly accelerated thanks to iPhone, and RIM shareholders are very happy about iPhone right now: The CEO of RIM, Lazardis has said iPhone has been the best thing happening to RIM lately.

[sabesh]

Bought an iPhone 3G/8GB/Black on Friday and sold it within 4 hours. The browser is very cool with 3G, but I found it quite boring as it wasn't jailbroken and didn't have Installer on it. Will come back to it once 3rd party apps are in full swing.

[TiaMarie]

Why would anyone want an iPhone once they've had a Blackberry?

[Alex Alexzander]

Originally Posted by TiaMarie

Why would anyone want an iPhone once they've had a Blackberry?

I'd reply, use your imagination, but....

[sabesh]

Originally Posted by TiaMarie

Why would anyone want an iPhone once they've had a Blackberry?

I like to use multiple phones. I get bored with using one O/S for more than 3 months. I plan to get the Bold and the Nokia E71 and maybe the HTC Diamond once it's available in the 850-HSDPA flavour ;)

[aek0004]

The bb is a much more capable phone.

[mDRagON-]

I would rather have the Bold, it all depends on the price they set.

[greggebhardt]

After reading the HoFo iPhone forums this last few days, it would never be a consideration. Bold all the way!

[ArgonNJ]

Originally Posted by aek0004

The bb is a much more capable phone.

Not really, its just fits the bill better for some people.

[numetheus]

Originally Posted by aek0004

The bb is a much more capable phone.

More capable at email communication ... thats about it. Aside from the lack of keyboard (which you can type very fast on), what is BB more capable in exactly? It certainly can't be in Internet browsing. It certainly can't be in multimedia. It certainly can't be in over the air software installations (apps store rips it to shreds). It certainly can't be in office document viewing (iPhone views office documents much better than BB). So what exactly is it more capable in? SURE you can say instant messaging, but that will change as soon as more software comes out. If the AIM software is any indication of the IM software coming out, it will kill what is available on the BB.

[knottyrope]

Originally Posted by TiaMarie

Why would anyone want an iPhone once they've had a Blackberry?

Dunno, but my boss is getting one.
He thinks it will be the coolest gadget.

[richard371]

Bold and 3g Iphone for me. Nice thing is with the new Iphones you can put your BB sim in it and everything works. It is not married to the 1 sim like the 2g iphone.

[TheBigNewt]

Originally Posted by numetheus

More capable at email communication ... thats about it. Aside from the lack of keyboard (which you can type very fast on), what is BB more capable in exactly? It certainly can't be in Internet browsing. It certainly can't be in multimedia. It certainly can't be in over the air software installations (apps store rips it to shreds). It certainly can't be in office document viewing (iPhone views office documents much better than BB). So what exactly is it more capable in? SURE you can say instant messaging, but that will change as soon as more software comes out. If the AIM software is any indication of the IM software coming out, it will kill what is available on the BB.

Most of the stuff the iPhone is better at (multimedia, viewing documents, browsing) is a direct result of <drumroll> the big cool screen. And one of the things that tends to bring it down is the lack of a good keyboard. There's nothing very good about typing by touching a flat screen, but you can't hve it both ways, there's no slider version of the iphone coming. You have to be able to have the various IM clients running on the iPhone (tell me you can, please). I'm interested in the iPhone, but with no AIM I dunno. The pinchy photo zoom is cute, the iPod stuff I already have covered, video is rarely used, mostly to show off to folks.

[gixxer]

It still dont have MMS! I want MMS!

[Dawg]

how about cut and paste is that working now too?

[TheBigNewt]

Originally Posted by gixxer

It still dont have MMS! I want MMS!

Sure you have it with your BB, we all do.
how about cut and paste is that working now too?
Works for me, should work for you too.

[test54]

Originally Posted by TheBigNewt

Most of the stuff the iPhone is better at (multimedia, viewing documents, browsing) is a direct result of <drumroll> the big cool screen. And one of the things that tends to bring it down is the lack of a good keyboard. There's nothing very good about typing by touching a flat screen, but you can't hve it both ways, there's no slider version of the iphone coming. You have to be able to have the various IM clients running on the iPhone (tell me you can, please). I'm interested in the iPhone, but with no AIM I dunno. The pinchy photo zoom is cute, the iPod stuff I already have covered, video is rarely used, mostly to show off to folks.

IT has AIM and typing is completely up to the user, many have no problem2 and some are faster on it than on BB.
Your statement about the screen being the reason for it being better at browsing, viewing docs and multimedia is crap in my opinion. Its the OS that makes it better in those areas, Apple's experience in the multimedia dept. makes them better in that area. Safari is close to a full fledged browser and the touchscreen navigation I think helps that be a better browser. As for doc viewing the screen is a bigger factor there.

[richard371]

This article sums it up perfectly.

BlackBerry Bold vs. iPhone 3G: yeah, we definitely went there : Boy Genius Report

[Ward]

Just as much as I don't ever see myself moving from Mac computers or ipods to any other brand, that is how I feel about Blackberry. I can honestly say I'd rather pay $500 for a Berry Bold than be given $100 to use a free iphone 3G. I won't bash on it because I have not really played with an iPhone beyond watching the address book scroll through in that cool fluid way, but I know what's important to me and I stick with what works well. I've been using this 1st generation Pearl on AT&T since the first half of last year and I can honestly say that aside from that damn hour glass that shows up now and then, the berry is phenomenal in every aspect. Phone works so well, browser is slow but 3g and wifi should be a huge improvement, and then the bberry messenger is probably my favorite thing ever to be featured on a phone. So many of my friends are on bbm and so many more are getting blackberries that I don't want to lose that extra communication channel which I happen to like way better than text msgng or actual talking. The Bold will probably address every possible improvement over my old Pearl, aside from being a bit bigger. Now if AT&T would release the thing already because Bold funds are seriously burning a hole through my pockets.
I also love how you can sign a new 2 yr contract 13+ months into your current 2 yr contract. So great.