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Business Usage: iPhone 3G or BlackBerry Bold?

by Luca Filigheddu on November 13, 2008



Friend or Foe :-D

Image by Quang Minh (YILKA) via Flickr

Since the death of my faithful Nokia N95, I was wondering whether an iPhone 3G could be both a replacement and a good companion when it comes to use it for business.

When I say for business, I mean full access to email everywhere and a deep usage of voice calls. At the same time, the BlackBerry Bold is a smartphone I saw the first time in the US thanks to Jim Courtney who showed it to me during one of the famous wine dinners organized by pal Andy Abramson.

My experience with the iPhone is limited to the 2G version I gave to my wife a couple of months ago, bought in Cupertino. That model is not bad, battery duration is enough and overall experience is not bad. On the contrary, feedbacks I got from iPhone 3G users are not that great, aside from Dan York who seems much satisfied about that (his company, Voxeo, replaced Blackberries with iPhones).

The question is: what’s a better choice for business usage? Honestly, I never had a Blackberry myself but the feedbacks I’m getting everywhere is that those are solid and fully functional devices which make your business day really effective, regardless the location you are staying in. The new Bold seems to be a major upgrade of previous models and with a high definition display, 3G and Wifi included it offers you a wide range of possibilities when it comes to manage your business life on the go.

The new Storm, at a higher price, offers you an iPhone-like experience too, with a touch screen in place of the standard qwerty keyboard. Jim Courtney pointed out that a BlackBerry App Store will be available in March ‘09, making the gap between RIM smartphones and the iPhone even smaller.

What do you think? For business, BlackBerry Bold/Storm or iPhone3G? 

 

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Tagged as: App Store, BlackBerry App Store, BlackBerry Bold, iphone, luca filigheddu, Nokia N95, Smartphone, Storm

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  • Luca, thanks for the acknowledgements.

    As I said in our Twitter exchange:
    1. Bold is a full two-way real time communications device -- especially when it comes to handling Instant Messaging (in background) and editing of Office documents. And, as Andrew has expressed, I have tried and tried to get used to the iPhone touchpad but my error rate is way too high for any serious typing.

    2. The three major features of the Bold for Business: (i) the display is stunning - it grows on you; (ii) the keyboard and (iii) the ability to do full background processing - important for having IM sessions running while performing other activities such as email or web browsing.

    3. In practice it has become a "laptop for the hip" (or purse). When traveling I have lost the feeling that I have to run to my laptop to keep current with all real time activity such as email, IM, Twitter, reading blogs and websites - the Bold handles all these activities very well (I'll still use my laptop for creating documents of any size and for writing blog posts amongst other entry intensive applications.

    4. Pending the arrival of the BlackBerry App Store both Crackberry.com and Handango have stores that run on the BlackBerry. There are already several thousand useful apps available through them.
  • IMHO the Blackberry is the business device of choice. It does a few things exceedingly well, and in those areas the iPhone just can't compete. Email or any form of text is far superior on the BB, the new Bold and Storm (as well as the Curve, no 3G on the curve) are really fast, they have great processors and the screens blow the iPhone away. I am very text centric, and having tried and tried to get used to the iPhone touchpad I just can't get used to it, it is good - but not great.

    Second huge point for business - battery life. I can go away for 3 day business trips (sans 3G) and not take my charger. With moderate use I can get 3-4 days! out of a Blackberry. The iPhone is a recharge daily, sometimes twice device.

    Things to check - if you use a Mac make sure you check that there is a current synching tool for the model of Blackberry you get. That can be an issue, and one that RIM is working on diligently apparently.

    The iPhone is fantastic, but out of 10 people that tried one in my business circle over the last 1.5 years, all but one has gone back to a Blackberry. They all loved the iPhone, but did as you - and ended up giving it to their wives.
  • Very Good points Jim - I think it comes down to this observation. If the iPhone is your first smartphone/PDA you will be blown away and probably never use anything else. However, if you've ever owned a BB - the iPhone's shortcomings will be too apparent to get over for serious business use.
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