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BlackBerry 8900 gets pre-release hands-on review

Categories: BlackBerry
By: , IntoMobile
Saturday, September 20th, 2008 at 12:11 PM

The codenamed BlackBerry Javelin has been spinning around the rumour mill for more than four months now, and plenty of info has made the rounds, revealing that it’ll be packing a 3.2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, quad-band EDGE, and a 480×360 screen akin to the BlackBerry Bold’s 480×320, although its processor is just a notch slower (512Mhz vs. 624 MHz). While it might be fitting into the same generation as the Bold, the Javelin is truly the spiritual successor to RIM’s BlackBerry Curve lineup, primarily by virtue of slim form factor and a nicely-spaced keypad. This is also RIM’s second device making the jump to a microUSB slot (after the Flip Pearl is released this fall), and a lot of the side keys jumped over to the right side. Quite a bit of rearranging could take some acclimatizing for long-time BlackBerry users.

In terms of impressions, the keypad seems to have borrowed more of its design from the old 8700 series than the newer 8300 series, and the external speaker is notably lacking when compared to the Bold. New features includes a lock button tucked away under the casing, a new batter door latch, and a Safe Mode built into OS 4.6.1 for when you’re having issues booting up your device. All-in-all, it looks like a fine successor to the BlackBerry Curve, but I’m left to wonder if the trusty ol’ 8300 series will suffer the same fate as the 8800 lineup did when the Bold came into town…

Can’t wait? We’re holding out for a BlackBerry 8900 release around November or December on Rogers and T-Mobile.

[via CB]

BlackBerry 8900 Javelin

BlackBerry 8900 Javelin


BlackBerry 8900 Javelin

BlackBerry 8900 Javelin


BlackBerry 8900 Javelin

BlackBerry 8900 Javelin


BlackBerry 8900 Javelin

BlackBerry 8900 Javelin


BlackBerry 8900 Javelin

BlackBerry 8900 Javelin

About The Author

Simon Sage

Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.

  • Vince

    the A and Q keys are in the wrong spots on the Javelin.

  • Jesse

    The A and Z keys are not in tge wrong spot. That’s a french AZERTY standard layout. As opposed to our QWERTY setup.
    I love my curve but I want a Javelin, now! I don’t even mind that it doesn’t have 3G. I don’t have 3G coverage in my area anyway.