Software
The BlackBerry 8900 Curve runs OS 4.6.1, a slight notch over the Bold, but still borrows from the Storm’s OS 4.7, namely by way of camera application improvements. The rest of the software didn’t see any major changes after the Storm, and felt nearly identical to the Bold. One small thing I noticed were some new ringtones by RIM poster-boy John Mayer, whose folksy acoustics are much more welcome than the wacked-out Stewart Copeland ones bundled with the Bold. Despite everything being roughly samey, the fresh 512 Mhz processor provides noticeably faster performance than the Bold, although a part of me blames jam-packing the 9000’s memory with apps to the point of suffocation. (Speaking of memory, the lack of internal storage on the Curve is a little sucky). It’s a harder to tell when comparing processor speeds to the Storm, as smoother transitions are likely gobbling up a lot of horsepower.
Being my first Curve, the ultra-clicky keypad took some getting used to, and I still find the keys a bit too small compared to my usual, the BlackBerry Bold. Each key is distinctly separated and raised, making contact with key extremely minimal. On the whole, it makes for very accurate typing after you get used to the feel. E-mail itself is the same ol’ thing you’re used to on most BlackBerrys. Because e-mail is such a big part of the BlackBerry experience, I haven’t found myself missing 3G that much at all – EDGE is good enough. Wi-Fi can cover many of the situations when you might need faster wireless speeds, but in the end 3G isn’t there, so you’ll have to keep shopping if it’s a deal-breaker.
Multimedia
Though the aforementioned screen is still razor-sharp, video playback of larger files remains an issue. There are multiple video podcasts that I enjoyed easily enough on the iPod Touch (Diggnation in AVI, 1UP show in WMV, TED Talks in MP4) that still remain totally inaccessible on the Storm, Bold, and even the new Curve – the video and audio falls completely out of sync given time, creating a jarring, unwatchable mess as the two try to figure out what the other is doing. Sure, there are plenty of converters that will suck up larger videos and spit them back out in a low-quality, mobile-friendly versions, but that really just puts the RIM’s shiny new screens to waste. Until the BlackBerry’s processor can handle videos in their native formats without compromising quality or adding onerous extra sideloading steps, it will be hard to take it seriously as a multimedia device. This is more of a BlackBerry thing rather than a Curve thing, and besides, they’ve got the music playing down pat – the 8900 manages to be my primary MP3 player just as well as the Bold.
Phone
There’s a new UMA indicator on the home screen, letting you know that your phone calls are going over the Wi-Fi rather than cell towers. It’s worth noting that I could do this even though I’m not subscribed to Rogers’ Talkspot service; maybe it’s just a perk of the review unit, and something tells me T-Mobile isn’t going to let folks cruise Hotspot@Home for free, but with a little bit of shady tweaking, it might be possible… The phone quality is just as good as I’ve experienced on my other BlackBerrys, and the UMA calling is just as good as cell.