In today's mobile environment the term Smartphone has become an overused term in my humble opinion. Just because a device has email, a web browser, SMS, a camera and you can watch TV or listen to music does not make it a "Smart" phone. These are table stakes, and a truly "Smart" device should have some built in intelligence that makes it intuitive and easier to use.
I been fortunate in my job functions to have access to multiple devices, and I have tried everything from a Treo to Windows Phone to Windows Mobile. Even though I am not a big fan of "list posts", the following is a short list of what I consider the most relevant intelligent design aspects of the BlackBerry (there are many more not covered here). These are what set it apart quite as quite possibly the only device that can be legitimately classified as a Smartphone:
Keyboard Shortcuts
This has too much to list in one post, but let's just say that the keyboard shortcuts leave any touch screen device in the dust. Quite possibly one of the single biggest productivity gains is the use of keyboard shortcuts. Follow the link above for a more in-depth review.
In/Out of Holster Sensing
The BlackBerry has a magnetic sensor in the device, and a magnetic contact in the holster. The device actually knows when it is In and when it is Out (not quite Heidi Klum). This means you can set your ringer setting for in or out of the holster. Your BlackBerry knows when to be quiet and when to make some noise.
Auto Text
Some people call this the poor man's spell-check, but Auto Text is much more powerful. It was initially developed to automatically fix spelling errors. For instance if you type 'teh', it will "auto text" or correct it and type 'the'. How else can you use this feature? I have several email templates, signatures, and common lists set on my BlackBerry as Auto Text entries. To add an Auto Text entry, just go to Options>Auto Text and choose "new" from the drop down menu. When I type 'sigb' my BlackBerry populates my business email signature; when I type 'sigp' it populates my personal signature.
Extension Dialing
Please, please, please. . . if you learn nothing else from reading this post, please use this tip. The BlackBerry gives you the option to dial extensions automatically or to dial via a pop-up. If you enter in a comma into your dialing string, the BlackBerry will pause for 2 seconds then dial the next string after the pause. If you place an 'x' after the first string, your BlackBerry will give you a pop-up window that looks like this:
So, when you schedule a Conference Call, use the following dial string to make dialing into the bridge easier for your BlackBerry users:
- 10-digit phone number,'X'extension (ex: 1-800-555-1212,X123456)
- If the Conference Call requires you to push the '#' key after entering in the extension, add the '#' character to the end of the extension dialing string (ex: 1-800-555-1212,X123456#)
Embedded dialing/messaging
The BlackBerry recognizes a phone number or email address regardless of which application you're using (calendar, web browser, address book, task, email, etc.) and allows you to click on it to dial/compose. Kinda makes sense for a "Smart" device, but a majority of other "Smart" devices fall short of this basic intelligence.
Choice (unified messaging or separate mailboxes)
The BlackBerry gives you the ability to choose whether you want all of your various email addresses delivering messages to a single unified Inbox, or having separate Inboxes for each email account (you can even have a separate Inbox for your SMS messages). You can also customize the appearance of the messages from each account, so you will see which email account a message is from even if they are in the unified message Inbox.
Java-based OS and development environment (More Open)
Although the OS for BlackBerry is proprietary, it is Java-based. Anyone can develop an application for the BlackBerry device, and there are literally Thousands of applications commercially available (for Free and for $). BlackBerry Developer has a software developer's kit if you're into that sort of thing. Plazmic has a unique software developer's kit that allows you to create your own customized themes. This is a WYSIWYG program is easy to use even for the novice (the acronym above means What You See Is What You Get).
Field Logic
The BlackBerry makes it difficult to screw things up. It knows whether you're in a number field or a text field, avoiding the need to Shift/Alt in certain applications. It even learns more about you as you use it. For example, if you use an email account to send an email to your mother, your BlackBerry will default to that email account the next time you compose an email to her.
When you're in an email field and you press the Space key, the BlackBerry will automatically place an '@' or period where appropriate. When entering in a web address into the browser, pressing the Space key enters in a period (aka "dot", in other words it puts the dot in .com) where appropriate.
True Push Email
This one should probably be at the top of the list. No other provider (with the exception of Good Technology. . .acquired by Motorola and subsequently seems to have faded into oblivion) has a true "Push" email regardless of what the handset manufacturer or platform developer tells you. All other email services try to fake push by having the device "check" for email in the background periodically. Yes, even Microsoft's Active Sync and yes the email platform that the iPhone has. . .all technically pull. If you set your device to mimic real-time push, the device does all of the heavy lifting by checking in the background (a lot) which will have a very noticeable impact on your battery life. With BlackBerry, the server does all of the heavy lifting (BIS or BES) by checking your mail and pushing whatever is new to your device.
So, how "Smart" is your Smartphone. If you're not using a BlackBerry, let's face it: your phone is just not the sharpest crayon in the box.
Next time we will discuss the 4th ZABB Principle: Just Because You Can, Doesn't Mean You Should.
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