The UK Mobile Report

Spot the Crackberry heads

The Inquirer has done a whimsical piece about BlackBerry addiction. I have been listening to a US podcast all about mobile etiquette (mostly pretty predictable) but it did get me thinking that there is a growing backlash against anti-social use of gadgets. The race is now on to invent a language with which to berate these rude types. My current nominations are:
Crackberrytosis - The twitch that BlackBerry users get when they haven't checked mail for five mintues.
Mobilehead - Someone who is always showing you their new phone/smartphone/gadget.
M.E. Syndrome - Mobile Envy Syndrome. A typical sign is the look on a BlackBerry users face when they see someone using the new BlackBerry Pearl which they are not eligable for.
Windows Wanger - Someone who repeatedly tells you that Windows Mobile is so superior.
BlackBerry Juicer - Someone who works their email to theoretical limits, pumping hundreds of emails through the wee thing every hour.

Who's got the BlackBerries?

I've just been speaking with James Hart, Marketing Director, EMEA, RIM, to get an update on availability of the BlackBerry Pearl. He confirmed the following:

- RIM has deals in place with O2, Orange, Vodafone, T-Mobile, but NOT with 3. All of them have signed up to sell the Pearl 8100 and are currently also selling twor or more of the 8700v, the 8707v, and the 7130v. Strangely Vodafone have not listed the 8707v in their current brochure. Meanwhile the popular 7290g (the blue one with the colour screen) is being phased out because it did not meet the terms of the new Restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive as of July 2006.

- RIM also sells these devices through BT Mobile, which is classed as a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) since it sold O2 (then MMO2).

- You are unlikely to see the Pearl in any stores apart from O2 at the moment due to distribution issues. Lack of availability is not down to manufacturing but more likely held up at ports and carrier distribution centres.

- RIM does not do deals on window space in stores but points out that some manufacturers  and OEMs do. This may be a factor behind why the Pearl is not visible in some locations.

- RIM acknowledges that Vodafone sells its own brand of mobile email at a cheaper price than the BlackBerry solution, but stresses that the BlackBerry solution is superior because of 1) its security technology; 2) its use of push email as opposed to polled email; 3) It is highly scaleable and manageable.

Editor's Sidenote: Could it be that being a relative minnow compared to the likes of Nokia, Motorola et al , that RIM is having trouble getting the carriers to sell its devices on a level playing field with these incumbents? Floor/Window space is pretty limited in most stores and even where it is plentiful there is a hierarchy of better locations in which to show a phone. On a recent visit to Maidenhead I dropped into a T-Mobile store. The salesman said "yes we are selling the Pearl," but when quizzed he confirmed that it would not be put on display any time soon.

So the question is: What kind of deals do the suppliers do with the carriers or with the independents (Carphone Warehouse, Phones4U etc.) over sales location and how does it impact on buying behaviour?

BlackBerry 8800?

The Web is a terrible thing. Sites like The Register are suggesting that RIM's upcoming launch is already half out of the bag. I must say it looks very nice though.

BlackBerry Pearl

It's review time.

As you may have gathered, I have been the willing victim of a RIM PR offensive. They took me to Toronto to meet Canada's answer to Bill Gates (RIM President and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis) and they have bestowed on me a shiny 'Pearl' (less glamorously known as the 8100), the funky new BlackBerry that is the firm's first smartphone.

I have played around with it for a few days now and though I am impressed it must be said there have been two major problems. The first device I received wouldn't synch properly so another one was despatched, and now this new one works fine but didn't work in the Canada, despite me being told that it would do. It just didn't seem to want to be recognised by Rogers Wireless, the carrier out there.

This clearly goes something against RIM's image of having simplified mobile email so that dummies like me can use it from the get-go. But those gripes aside, it is clearly a must-have phone.

Man-in-the-pub verdict

The Pearl looks sexy, something that is incredibly important to upwardly mobile or fashionista mobile users. It's pretty easy to use and has a load of functions. As a smartphone it makes a stab at photography (basic) and multimedia (bit of a fiddle) but the most impressive thing is its weight - about half that of the average mobile - and its battery life, which on average use is easily 4-5 days.

It's small enough to fit in your pocket, but without any cover you do worry that you will sooner or later scratch the screen or the black fascia. At heart this phone is a BlackBerry - so no prizes for guessing what it does best.

The new new thing about this phone is the use of a 'pearl' trackball instead of the 'trackwheel' beloved of the normal BlackBerry. I'm not mad about the trackball, which is over-sensitive at times, but then despite the fact that RIM laugh it off as conjecture, I was beginning to suffer from BlackBerry thumb through the repetive strain you get on using the trackwheel as a send key - so I am more than happy to be won over into the world of happy trackballers.

But if you are a music-lover wanting to pack it with MP3s, watch out - it uses a 2.5mm headset jack so your iPod or other standard earphones won't work.

Reasons to be cheerful. It gives great mobile email. It's light and sexy and hooray, its a BlackBerry that can take pictures and play music and video.

Reasons to be fearful. You will love the mobile email but the multimedia features are likely to leave you wanting what only more expensive smartphones can give you. Get used to it or pay more for something else.

Final Verdict: Breakthrough for a BlackBerry, a good contender in the sexy-but-basic smartphone niche, but sadly lacking in Wi-Fi or 3G as yet.

And here's the science....

The Pearl 8100 is a quad-band GSM/GPRS reception smarphone with mobile email functionality at its core. It has a 1.3 megapixel camera which takes stills using a basic 5x zoom. It has Bluetooth and, of course, push email.

It cannot take movies. It offers music and video playback via flash memory or removeable microD card.

In size it's 4 by 2 by 0.5 inches, weighing just over 3 ounces. It has a 2.25 inch TFT screen which looks superb when playing video at 240 x 260 pixel resolution and (apparently) 65,000 colours.

Navigation is primarly by means of the centrally mounted pealy trackball which toggles through the options. The bottom right keyboard key can also be used as an 'enter' key in addtion to just pressing the pearl. There's also a drop down menu available within any application.

The most striking difference from the standard BlackBerry is the narrow keyboard which is qwerty in essence but with most keys having double or triple funcions. To get round this trickiness RIM has applied its SureType software which intelligently guesses what words you are trying to type even if the key has three options.

SureType is fiddly to get used to but, with practice, it wins you over. Well almost.

The Pearl uses light sensing technology to adjust the screen depending on the environment but the screen is somewhat irritatingly switched off if you leave the keypad alone for any more than about 30 seconds. Any key re-activates it. Naturally this saves on battery juices but I have found myself often looking at a blank screen as I ponder the many options.

Prices should be free to £120 with a new contract. You will have to pay an extra £9-£20 for the email service which can be provided through BlackBerry Internet Service (for SMEs basically) and BlackBerry Enterprise Server (for corporates who have installed it on their mail server). T-Mobile look likely to be the first to ship, but no sign of that as I write. Vodafone is taking pre-orders on its web site.

Out and about with Research In Motion

Research In Motion, better known as RIM, is the Canadian firm behind the iconic BlackBerry device, much loved by mobile execs and hyperactive small business people.

As part of a European press charm offensive by RIM, The UK Mobile Report was the only UK title to visit the RIM HQ in Waterloo, Ontario to look behind the scenes of the company’s seemingly unstoppable success story.

RIM laid on a walking tour of its main production facility which is responsible for manufacturing 50,000 devices per year; a visit to the Perimeter Institute, an academic hothouse for theoretical physicists that has received a $100m grant from RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis.  And finally, interviews with Lazardis, who incidentally owns 6 percent of this $15bn company.

But first the context

As I flew to Canada RIM was briefing analysts on its latest quarter results. By the time I had got to my hotel, the analysts' verdict was buzzing round the airwaves and RIM’s share price had shot up an incredible 20 per cent. 

The main cause of this rise appears to be the overall upbeat verdict on RIM’s new smartphone, the Pearl 8100. The launch of the Pearl may be seen as firing the starting gun on a whole new chapter in the company’s history.

The tech press have broadly given the thumbs up to the new device which brings BlackBerry-like facilities to higher-spending consumers, or as some hacks call them ‘prosumers’

I shall do a full review of the Pearl in a day or so. But my own verdict so far is that it looks good, is impressively light, and has a good battery life. It’s also nice to have a camera and the ability to listen to music on a Blackberry device.

The downside. I’m not yet convinced by SureType, RIM’s untuitive typing software, and like many other existing BB users I prefer the old trackwheel and larger keyboard. But, hey, you can’t have it all.

The Pearl is expected to cost  from free to £119 in the UK if you are signing a new contract, so it won’t break the bank. Mobile email will cost an extra £15 or so.

Will the Pearl matter?

Most certainly yes. It takes RIM out of the limited mobile email PDA market (700,000 units worldwide per quarter) into the smartphone market (70m units per quarter). Clearly it is up against big hitters like Nokia and Motorola with scores of phones available, but it doesn’t appear to be phased when it is coming from huge strength in its own niche of mobile email.

But mobile users are fussy folk, and RIM will have to satisfy some pretty demanding corporate customers if it wants the Pearlto fly.

Top gripes from businesses are currently lack of integrated Wi-Fi and 3G, and an inconveniently placed microSD slot. Gripes from presumes meanwhile are slow loading multimedia, lack of media controls on the phone, no video record facility, and lack of trackwheel.

For the moment we will have to see how well it sells. RIM is hinting that it is already selling well in the US but that is more likely to be optimism than hard data due to the fact it has only just become available there in a few locations.

But RIM remains something of a curious beast in the mobile jungle. It makes phones, it provides software for the mobile email service (notably its BlackBerry Enterprise Server); it licenses its platform under its Connect Service. Over the years it must have got tired of listening to analysts telling it to focus on one part of the business and outsource the rest.

But it is stoically sticking to its strategy which remains largely unchanged for ten years – to be the leaders of mobile email with fingers in most parts of the business and working closely with operators to make BB and BES the gold standard.

It steadfastly rejects any claims that it should be more ‘open’ or that it should manufacture in Asia, or that it will be annihilated in the smartphone market.

How huge will this mobile  email thing be?

And it is hard not to feel positive about the outlook for the company. Depending on which crystal ball gazer you believe, the mobile email market is either growing fast or very, very fast. IDC predicts that subscribers will grow from 7.3m units last year to 63m by 2010. Even if RIM loses a bit of market share it could well achieve 50m subscribers if it remains the solution of choice.

Perhaps most concerning is that RIM became a success by ignoring its critics, now that it is much larger, it has less critics, and is less radical.

“In the early days, we were embarrassed to use our BlackBerries because very few people believed in it as an idea,” says Mark Guibert, VP, Corporate Marketing, “but we never lost confidence.”

Guibert refers to the fact that when it was launched in 1984 no-one thought email was that time sensitive or that it was needed ‘on the move’. How things change. RIM now identifies different types of hard core users. There are the ‘inbox detoxers’ who use their BBs to spend time deleting mail in spare moments; and the ‘email skimmers’ who use their devices to manage email and send urgent mail onto other addresses for later action.

There is little doubt that there are thousands if not millions of BB addicts, who swear by the benefits of being able to check email almost every minute of the day. The big question now is whether RIM and the operators can persuade the mass market to get the executive habit.

Side note: RIM has to do this while ensuring that their executive users don’t feel miffed to see Joe Public becoming BB lovers – to date it has been something of a status symbol to have a BlackBerry. Presumably the new look

Pearl will help differentiate the old school from the new school. But if the Pearlgets a ‘sexy’ ‘must have’ tag it won’t be long before execs want one too.

OK enough for now. I am  off to interview Mike Lazaradis, so more on that later.

Tourist notes: Go see the Mennonites

And finally some travel notes on this part ofCanada:

Waterloo is twinned with and two miles from Kitchener where we are staying. The highlight of the Kitchener year is the Octoberfest, Canada’s answer to the Munich Beer Fest, which kicks off this Friday.

Kitchener was formerly called Berlin as a result of the high number of German immigrants. But these days interest in retaining a sense of German-ness is waning among 2^nd and 3^rd generation germans is waning due to ambivalence over being identified as German.

One exception is perhaps the Mennonite community, Kithener's answer to the Amish community. Like the Amish they shun technology, travel in horse-drawn carriages, and generally dress in variations of turn-of-the-centrury rural chic. The Mennonites survive largely on farming and sell their produce weekly at their own market in Kitchener. Didn't they have a hit record in the 1960s though?