New Blackberry Devices Not Enough for RIM
I thought I would post a quick update on the testing I’ve done on the new Blackberry’s being released over the next month or so (9810, 9900/9930, 9300/9330, 9850/9860). I’m really disappointed. If RIM, in my opinion, does not change something, and fast, they are at risk of losing even more market share. Here’s why:
- Blackberry OS 7 should have been named Blackberry 6.5. There aren’t significant enough changes to the OS, the UI, the functionality or the apps to make an OS change. View it similar to Microsoft going from Windows Mobile 6.1 to 6.5. It’s NOT OS 7, even though they named it that. I call it somewhat enhanced from a few years ago, certainly not a major upgrade.
- Lack of apps. Most Blackberry users I know (me included) are asking for more apps. Blackberry OS 7 took a bad turn and most apps that I use just won’t install. So, not only was I limited before with what the phone can do, I’m more limited now. The App Store won’t let the apps install on OS 7 so I’m left with a device that has even less it can do. Let’s hope they fix that quickly.
- The apps that do work are poor compared to their iPhone or Android counterparts. Poor design, poor functionality, poor UI (and most much slower).
- Devices are still sluggish, which leads me to believe it’s an OS issue. The devices have more RAM and storage and faster processor, but the devices still lag when pressing icons. Some of the delays are very noticeable.
- Top-notch security? I keep hearing this over and over again but quite frankly, I don’t get it. Yes, it provides secure corporate email and policies can be enforced. No question on that at all. It’s probably the most secure corporate email platform. But, and this is a big one, we’ve all heard about the consumerization of IT. There’s a blend today between corp and personal. And here’s the rub. OS 7 makes it VERY easy to get all of your data back after a remote or local wipe. After a hard reset, as soon as the device sees the carrier network, all your personal stuff comes back. If you’ve set up personal email accounts on your device in addition to corp email, that all comes back after the wipe without doing anything else. Personal email accounts, sounds, settings, wallpaper, etc. Why doesn’t the device stay dead? A wipe should be a wipe and I should be required to provide some additional authentication before service books get pushed back to my phone. Users actually have to take the additional step of killing personal data online or it will all come back. They call this top-notch security? No, it isn’t and RIM needs to fix it. Thankfully I’ve never lost a Blackberry to have to worry.
- The display is incredible, and the camera is good (both pictures and video) but again, not good enough. I was certainly hoping for more “wow” and in my opinion, it’s not there.
Yes, for you diehard Blackberry fans out there, these are definitely the best Blackberry devices made by RIM, but it’s not good enough to be the best PDA, and certainly not enough to oust Apple or Google. If they don’t come out with new, modern phones quickly, they are in trouble. From what I see, existing Blackberry users are upgrading, but I’m not seeing Android or iPhone users giving up those devices moving to a Blackberry.