w@ a 9ice Topic,I oly lik BB just because of d pin tn n nothn else.my BB peeps will lik 2 say I ping wit it,but dey ar a lot of application use 4 pingn dis days. Though BB seems 2 be a new trend 2 Nigerians but over ther in US n some other countries:is outdated,Iphones,Ipad,Nokia,Htc etc ar d tn in vogue. My Nokia E5 can match up wit any BB xcept 4 d new BB torch which I seem not 2 know d features in it,I ping wit my phone wit w@app,a unique shape,qwerty buttons,wlan,auto focus camera,flashlight,5 mega pix,Radio,d OS u cant match it wit urs,a symbian fone,easy access 2 instant messages,ur mail account on a go,support 3.5g,uploadn photos 2 ur fb,easy access 2 ur maps,shud I continue. No, let mi wait 4 a BB user 2 tel mi thrs. Oh oh 1 more tn,I can update my status via anytn:Nokia,Ipad,calculator,Iphones,ur mama yanch, lol

ambyzown:

@all4naija: Finally one mature and informed response from a bb fan. Undeniably, blackberry was created for the business-centric mobile subscriber who wanted secure access to his company's server. So tell me why Nigerians believe it is the best thing that ever happened to yahoo mail. Bb was designed as a messaging device several decades ago. Its OS is currently outdated when compared to its competitors. You mentioned 4g being the next logical step. Samsung already has 4g phones out in the market, but no current bb os supports 4g. That's why I say bb is a sinking ship.
Lest we get carried away, the OP asked for a non business phone, which essentially knocks the bb out.

Hmmmm, you need to follow the trends to be able to appreciate strides made in the technology space.
4g is definitely the way to go, but for now, 4g is only available to less than 5% of the mobile phone users worldwide. Even in US, the 4g network coverage is still less than 20% of the country.

And Blackberry has 4g phones in the market already, you can check their website to confirm.

The OS is definitely not outdated, except you can tell me one thing that an iphome or an Android device can do that the Torch 9800 running BBOS 6 cannot do. And by the way, you call an OS that can do securely what other OSes cannot do outdated? Well, maybe if you are analysing their bling-bling capabilities.

Why do Nigerians love the BB, simple it offers communication and socialising at the best cost possible. To correct you, the OP asked about a smartphone, though not necessarily for business, which was definitely pioneered by the BB.

[quote author=Akainzo

And Blackberry has 4g phones in the market already, you can check their website to confirm.

The OS is definitely not outdated, except you can tell me one thing that an iphome or an Android device can do that the Torch 9800 running BBOS 6 cannot do.
[quote][/quote]

Blackberry has a 4g phone out in the market Pls do tell, what is the model number? FYI the playbook is not a phone, its a tablet. You can't even do BBM on it without a proper BB phone.

Things ur precious bb cannot do.
HD video recording or video out reproduction.
Skype video calls
Can you use your bb as an OBD II scanner to diagnose faults in your car? My Samsung GT P1000 can.
I don't believe you have the luxury or liberty to install alternative browsers for ur bb (I may be wrong here. Not too sure)

RIM is playing catch up with Android and IOS but they never will be able to. The yet to be released bb torch and bold touches though sporting a 1.2ghz qualcom processor is still single core compared to some android phones out there that already sport dual core processors. You can't possibly do HD 3D video playback smoothly on anything less than dual core.

^^^^
BB can do those things you made mentioned of - all you need do is to look for the apps and install them. I have used BB and Samsung best mobile phones. Take this from me as a fact that BB is a very good mobile phones comparing it to Samsung. There is nothing wrong in the comparison - I think when it comes to innovation Samsung have some edge over BB, they copy anything trending and incorporate it into their phones. Research In Motions is careful with it OS and sometime it is hard for it to be released on time and it usually late when released to the market because it come late. And, another thing is that it is hard to find compatibility with older handsets - for example like the OS 6.

Opera mini and Bolt browser work perfectly well with BB.

Recent Samsung phones are considered SMARTPHONES due to the incorporation of a full web browser, ultra fast processors( dual core), sufficient storage capacity(1gig ram and 1gig rom) and modest apps for enhanced functionality( microsoft office 2010 and hardcore games).the blackberry does not fall in this category for it's lack of ingenuity in these areas, therefore defining the blackberry as a SMARTPHONE or better than a samsung would be an overstatement.

@Akainzo
According to Gartner BlackberryOS has not crossed 20% market share since 2007 and is currently less than 10%(and falling am sure) while Android has captured almost 50%of the market (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_operating_system) with handset activation of 600,000 per day. Besides RIM is having financial troubles so when say blackberry is a sinking ship I have proof.

That said lets look at utility. Galaxy S II has an 8mp camera which bb has that? Not even iphone has it. Galaxy can dislay 1080p hd which bb can do that? BB doesn't support flash in the browser Android does. Galaxy sports a dual core processor with quad core due to be released next year at the latest while bb is still releasing single cores. A host of other comparisons where bb lags are there so when are they gonna catch up? I just pray RIM releases bbm for android soon and then we'll see if they can survive the market.

Dudes listen up, am not a fan of any mobile production company cos i pay to get their products, is just that i devoted my time studing mobile phones nd it producing company. Let me state these way when smart phones came into existance Nokia, Samsung, Motorola nd Sony Ericsson where leaders in mobile production company nd they where only producing pda phones that can read your pdf,doc,card scaner, beter internet facility etc. So when Research In Motion (RIM) came they discovered that most people used their smart phones only to read their mails nd they introduce bb with built in messenger that can synchronize your mail nd bring you with updates of your mails without you going to the internet. Nd that was when BB become popular to the world of mobile but to our greatest despair you most subscribe to your network operator monthly to get this service which is very costly in some country nd that is where BB get 0%/100. But now Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, HTC has their own messenger that can deliver your mail strait to your phone just like BB at a very cheep data rat without any monthly subscribtion nd that gave them 99%

But before you buy a phone they are things considered such as;
1. Your purpose of buying the phone that is when you choose the os that best suit your need between; Windows phone, iphone, Android, Symbian, BB, Palm
2. User friendly (easy to operate) Nokia is best
3. Hardware: i. The best Android os hadware is HTC, 2nd Sony Ericsson, 3rd Samsung
ii. Best Windows phone os hardware, HTC, Samsung
ii. Best Symbian os hardware is Nokia
4. Camera phone: the best camera experience in mobile is Sony Ericsson

Phone os and thier primary objectives
1. Iphone: designed for people that love games, in mobile world today iphone is the best mobile phone gaming system.
2. Android: Combines gaming, internet, nd multimedia so the best internet experience in mobile phone today is on Android os
3. Symbian: Nokia symbian tries to combines all together to a medium level but the gaming system is not as good as the iphone or Android but it's manageable but nokia is equal to every task you need it for.
4. BB: what ever a bb can do other os will do it even more beter except the bb enterpise of your mails without you going to the internet. Nd that was when BB become popular to the world of mobile but to our greatest despair you most subscribe to your network operator monthly to get this service which is very costly in some country nd that is where BB get 0%/100. But now Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, HTC has their own messenger that can deliver your mail strait to your phone just like BB at a very cheep data rat without any monthly subscribtion nd that gave them 99%

But before you buy a phone they are things considered such as;
1. Your purpose of buying the phone that is when you choose the os that best suit your need between; Windows phone, iphone, Android, Symbian, BB, Palm
2. User friendly (easy to operate) Nokia is best
3. Hardware: i. The best Android os hadware is HTC, 2nd Sony Ericsson, 3rd Samsung
ii. Best Windows phone os hardware, HTC, Samsung
ii. Best Symbian os hardware is Nokia
4. Camera phone: the best camera experience in mobile is Sony Ericsson

Phone os and thier function
1. For best gaming go for Iphone or Android os. in mobile world today iphone is the best mobile phone gaming system.
2. For Internet nd multimedia go fo Android os. The best internet experience in mobile phone today is on Android os
3. If u want them all in 1 go for Nokia symbian but the gaming system in symbian is not as good as it is on iphone/Android
4. And for BB, bb is not a smart phone to compare with iphone,android even symbian and what ever you think a bb can do other os will do it even more beter except the bb enterpiset you going to the internet. Nd that was when BB become popular to the world of mobile but to our greatest despair you most subscribe to your network operator monthly to get this service which is very costly in some country nd that is where BB get 0%/100. But now Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, HTC has their own messenger that can deliver your mail strait to your phone just like BB at a very cheep data rat without any monthly subscribtion nd that gave them 99%

But before you buy a phone they are things considered such as;
1. Your purpose of buying the phone that is when you choose the os that best suit your need between; Windows phone, iphone, Android, Symbian, BB, Palm
2. User friendly (easy to operate) Nokia is best
3. Hardware: i. The best Android os hadware is HTC, 2nd Sony Ericsson, 3rd Samsung
ii. Best Windows phone os hardware, HTC, Samsung
ii. Best Symbian os hardware is Nokia
4. Camera phone: the best camera experience in mobile is Sony Ericsson

Phone os and thier primary objectives
1. Iphone: designed for people that love games, in mobile world today iphone is the best mobile phone gaming system.
2. Android: Combines gaming, internet, nd multimedia so the best internet experience in mobile phone today is on Android os
3. Symbian: Nokia symbian tries to combines all together to a medium level but the gaming system is not as good as the iphone or Android but it's manageable but nokia is equal to every task you need it for.
4. BB: what ever a bb can do other os will do it even more beter except the bb enterpise of your mails without you going to the internet. Nd that was when BB become popular to the world of mobile but to our greatest despair you most subscribe to your network operator monthly to get this service which is very costly in some country nd that is where BB get 0%/100. But now Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, HTC has their own messenger that can deliver your mail strait to your phone just like BB at a very cheep data rat without any monthly subscribtion nd that gave them 99%

But before you buy a phone they are things considered such as;
1. Your purpose of buying the phone that is when you choose the os that best suit your need between; Windows phone, iphone, Android, Symbian, BB, Palm
2. User friendly (easy to operate) Nokia is best
3. Hardware: i. The best Android os hadware is HTC, 2nd Sony Ericsson, 3rd Samsung
ii. Best Windows phone os hardware, HTC, Samsung
ii. Best Symbian os hardware is Nokia
4. Camera phone: the best camera experience in mobile is Sony Ericsson

Phone os and thier function
1. For best gaming go for Iphone or Android os. in mobile world today iphone is the best mobile phone gaming system.
2. For Internet nd multimedia go fo Android os. The best internet experience in mobile phone today is on Android os
3. If u want them all in 1 go for Nokia symbian but the gaming system in symbian is not as good as it is on iphone/Android
4. And for BB, bb is not a smart phone to compare with iphone,android even symbian and what ever you think a bb can do other os will do it even more beter except the bb enterpise

Is blackberry status symbol? What will you say of Nokia E7 communicator? Blackberry sets are for the boys and girls. The real men and women use telephone set one will comfortably called machine. Please, please BB has no status to symbolise.

VUVUZELA10:

Is blackberry status symbol? What will you say of Nokia E7 communicator? Blackberry sets are for the boys and girls. The real men and women use telephone set one will comfortably called machine. Please, please BB has no status to symbolise.

BB dominate nigeria market for now. I even heard is the best selling commodity in Nigeria market now, but i feel the end is near.

Anyone who says iphones are crap,well, errm, The person probably can't afford one.Although,truthfully,if it aint a droid or ios device,i am not interested.


Samsung galaxy s2 is light years ahead of any blackberry device and the first real android phone that matches the power of the iphone.Lets face it,the iphone might have less specs than other phones out there but it just works.It's the only truly liquid type touch screen that works seamlessly without whahala.

Besides,if you don't have an iphone,You don't have an iphone.

ambyzown:

Blackberry has a 4g phone out in the market Pls do tell, what is the model number? FYI the playbook is not a phone, its a tablet. You can't even do BBM on it without a proper BB phone.

Things your precious bb cannot do.
HD video recording or video out reproduction.
Skype video calls
Can you use your bb as an OBD II scanner to diagnose faults in your car? My Samsung GT P1000 can.
I don't believe you have the luxury or liberty to install alternative browsers for your bb (I may be wrong here. Not too sure)

RIM is playing catch up with Android and IOS but they never will be able to. The yet to be released bb torch and bold touches though sporting a 1.2ghz qualcom processor is still single core compared to some android phones out there that already sport dual core processors. You can't possibly do HD 3D video playback smoothly on anything less than dual core.

My guy the 4g models of Blackberry phones were recently released, find here from AT&T : http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phone-details/?device=BlackBerry%C2%AE+Torch+(TM)+9810+Zinc+Grey&q_sku=sku5320279#fbid=e5XNDRl3S_r
So do some research or follow the market before you make assertions.

HD video recording? The Torch 9800 has been doing that for more than 2 years now.
Skype: Has been available for such a long time it is amazing you didn't know about it. And whats more, it costs less on BB as you've paid a bundle for the internet traffic than it cost on the other platforms.
OBD II Scanner? Once you have the application installed then you can use it, it is like me asking if you can use your iPhone to access company intranet sites?

There are many browsers to install on the BB just like on other platforms. BB is definitely playing catch up in the areas of apps and available effects & games, but for serious minded use, it is way ahead of the others.

Can anyone post what other phones are doing which BB cannot do ?

Lets put beefing aside, we know Nigerians hate BB because of these BB girls madness, but seriously, what does BB lack.

Be brave, to post it here.

(Before you post, kindly read the documentation or simulation of the latest BB 9900, make your argument relevant).

We cant just be running BB down with mouth. Lets substantiate with reasons. Who is the first ?

Lord_Reed:

@Akainzo
According to Gartner BlackberryOS has not crossed 20% market share since 2007 and is currently less than 10%(and falling am sure) while Android has captured almost 50%of the market (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_operating_system) with handset activation of 600,000 per day. Besides RIM is having financial troubles so when say blackberry is a sinking ship I have proof.

That said lets look at utility. Galaxy S II has an 8mp camera which bb has that? Not even iphone has it. Galaxy can dislay 1080p hd which bb can do that? BB doesn't support flash in the browser Android does. Galaxy sports a dual core processor with quad core due to be released next year at the latest while bb is still releasing single cores. A host of other comparisons where bb lags are there so when are they gonna catch up? I just pray RIM releases bbm for android soon and then we'll see if they can survive the market.

Hmmm, I do not fault the Gartner results, however you are comparing apples to oranges. What Gartner compares is the OS share of the market and NOT the share of the smartphone market!
Symbian OSs drive both smartphones and dumbphones just like Android, only iOS, BBOS and WP drive specifically smartphones market. Thus when you lump ALL the phones together, Symbian would have an edge, but when you analyze only the smartphone market, that is a different story all together.

8MP camera, hmmm, if you are an avid photographer, you'd know that on your phone screen, 8MP would be an interesting and very good camera, but, and a big but, what is the optical zoom capabilities?
It is when you see its optics capabilities you would realise that a 5MP with better optics is far more desirable to a 8MP with mediocre optics.

Flash, all BB browsers support flash. From your statement about dual cores vs single core, I can deduce that you are not that much inot technologies. Which would be faster, a single core 1.5Ghz processor or a dual core 1Ghz processor? Trying to find the answer would help a lot.

You have proof that RIM is sinking because Android is gaining market share? No problems, that RIM is losing market share does not imply that their products are not of better quality, just that consumers are not buying.
You can recollect that Betamax was a better standard than VHS, but VHS succeeded far more than it. The lack of success did not change the fact that Betamax was a superior standard.

NOKIA 3310 IS THE BEST JORRRRRRR

The future is between the Open Source Android and the Apple Iphone, you'll be soon left behind in terms of available applications if you're not on one of those platforms.

@ rep s nig, Pls how much is nokia E7?

i believe BB has a negative craving only in 9ja but in uk,us in particular check out the new dell smartphone DVP pple r getting rid of their bb in 9ja its just that lousy word"pinging" thats making pple crazy over here

Kachinom:

@ rep s nig, Pls how much is nokia E7?

a hundred grand should hook you up with a solid E7 nokia

BB totally sucks, newer Samsung android fones r just it,
want a real fone??gt an htc/nokia/iphone, newer generations though,

In real life, almost everyone I know and have met owns a bb including 80percent of my peops in Europe.

People claim it's outdated but I can tell you that it's still stands as the fastest selling product in computer village up till this moment.

Sometimes I wonder they are being purchased by ghost. Go for whatever rocks your world, It's only on nairaland everybody owns an android!    

hmmm

Sum sung is a distance away from a blackberry may be those having them have not mastered their usage try to read the user Manuel properly you will see the difference.

Plz nobody should compare Nokia and BB, Nokia accept all applications,bigger memory,higher camera mp,load faster after switching it on.while the reverse is the case with BB,and takes many years to load after switching it on, Nokia can do anything BB can do,but BB can't,   Plz Nokia fans,Nokia has lunched new operating system(OS), MeeGoo Harmatan N9 ,and will soon lunch Nokia Window7, To HELL with BB, If you'r not in the world of Nokia,then go hung transformer cos Nokia has the best smart phone in the world,

@Akainzo: I guess I was wrong about some of my assertions of the bb os.
Yes the recently announced Torch 9810 supports 4g
Yes it also supports HD video recording (@720p which SE achieved three years ago on their mid range Vivaz phone)
Yes it does Skype (but how do u make video calls without a forward facing camera?)
However I couldn't find any application that's does automobile fault scanning on the bb platform.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate bbs but simply prefer Android becos of the open source platform. I'm currently overclocking my 1ghz processor at 1.3ghz which makes my ageing Samsung GT already faster than the yet to released bold touch.
Blackberries are built with quality in mind, so they are good, but so are samsungs and htc.
Bottom line, its all about individual preferences. For now I'm sold on Android, having used the following.
Blackberry Storm (BBOS)
Nokia N97mini (Symbian)
SonyEricsson Xperia X1 (Winmo 6.1)
iphone 3gs (IOS)
Samsung GT P1000 (Android 2.3)

slimchimex:

Plz nobody should compare Nokia and BB, Nokia accept all applications,bigger memory,higher camera mp,load faster after switching it on.while the reverse is the case with BB,and takes many years to load after switching it on, Nokia can do anything BB can do,but BB can't,   Plz Nokia fans,Nokia has lunched new operating system(OS), MeeGoo Harmatan N9 ,and will soon lunch Nokia Window7, To HELL with BB, If you'r not in the world of Nokia,then go hung transformer cos Nokia has the best smart phone in the world,

That is It,

@Akainso, There is nothing worse than a person that has little knowledge or information about things. You claim to be knowledgeable in phones and have been dropping technical terms up and down this post ever since without pausing to verify the authenticity of your sources.

Email integration: While the others would poll your mails, BLackberry would push it to your phone. This means your mails would arrive on your phone faster on the BB than any other phone. Also, due to its push and use of NOC the total cost of delivering mails to you are cheaper.

I think I have been enjoying this feature without knowing it ever since I had a Nokia N70 (Nokia Messaging Email, Lotus Traveller Mail, Nokia mail for Exchange), whats more google, yahoo and a lot of other email providers have apps on symbian, ios, and android platforms that basically do the same. And I can tell you that, I receive it just as fast as you would if it was on a bb. And just so you should know, there are other great, if not better push email providers out there like Seven and Emoze.

Document handling: Almost all smartphones can enable you view documents, with some rudimentary edits, only the Blackberry brings the full office experience to you. This means almost all the Excel functions are available for you on your phone plus it allows you to create presentation slides.

I wonder what you have to say about quickoffice that comes pre-installed on Nokia E series (have it on my E71). It even have support for docx, xlsx, pptx almost the same time microsoft released those formats and I don't need to pay an arm and leg to get it.

Instant Messaging: The Blackberry Messenger is the de-facto IM standard that all the other smartphone makers are trying to recreate. It enables you to share, socialise and have instant communication with fellow BB users. Note however that except on the iphone, there exist cross-platform apps that would allow you to communicate with others just like the BBM but like I said they are all trying to emulate the BBM.

Can you take a moment and listen to yourself. When did blackberry start making IMs? 1999. And what feature does the bbm have that other IMs don't? None. What feature do other IMs have that BBM don't have? Voice chat aka voip and video chat (Skype and nimbuzz comes to mind) Now what would I stand to gain from an IM that can only communicate with bb users only when I have the rest of the world to chat with on other messengers? As for sending files and all. I can send large files on ebuddy, nimbuzz, skype, etc.

Internet: All smartphones allow you to browse the internet. The beef here is all about which is faster, but truly the difference in speed are in seconds rather than minutes. However you might want to know that the Blackberry browser is till the most secure as it implements the full https spectrum, which is why for now, its still the only platform.supporting the Verisign secure payment standard.

You are joking right? Seriously? Blackberry having the fastest mobile browser, Puullleeeezzze. And what happened to safari on iphone? I am not a fan of the iphone but you've got to hand it to it that it is by far the best and fastest out there. And the stuff you said about verisign secure payment is a biggest load of crap I've ever seen. I dare you to pick up any phone that has a browser, even going as far back as 2004, checkout the phones certificates and see if you find any that is SSl signed. That is owned by Verisign and has been on almost all phones I've ever come in contact with. Please show me prove by going to a site that accepts the verisign secure payment and make a purchase and try doing the same with ANY other phone and let me know your result.

Build: When it comes to build quality the Blackberry phones are definitely rugged and with polish. They are in my opinion followed by the Nokia E-series phones in quality. The Samsung and HTC  are generally of lower quality but right now, HTC is rebuilding its brand and this is reflecting in the quality of its newer models. You can also count on the build quality of the iPhone. You might want to know that that Blackberry is however the only maker to make so called smartphones for the.lower class, hitherto smartphones are seen as 'bigger boys' toys but Blackberry still makes some affordable ones at lower cost but with all the smartphone functionalities.

HAHAHAHA. Seriously you must be a real fanboi of bb. Do you know about the isssues that storm 9530 aka storm1 went thru? Or the wack battery life of almost all of the bb range of phones. The worst part is that the phones are so highly susceptible to moisture that even the makes are advising not to use it in places that have high humidity rates (moist air), cos it messes it up. Even inside the battery compartment is an indicator that warns you about moisture, look for a small square white sticker on the phone. Usually it is located underneath the battery, near the SIM card. Some have multiple water damage stickers, and you should check in the upper right hand corner beneath the battery door, and near the media card as well. If they are all white, your phone is in the clear. If it has been exposed to moisture, it will turn pink or red, depending on the severity of the damage. The battery also has an indicator. It is a rectangular white sticker that will turn pink or red. And God forbids that it ever does get wet, you have to disassemble it and dry for at least 2-5 days depending on the severity of the damage. My nokia N70 has fallen into a bucket of water twice and I dried it for just 2days and had no other issues till date. Try that on a bb. The same nokia has fallen from a story building and other high rise areas a couple of times with no screen damage. Try that with any random bb.

Ok!