BlackBerry 8800's lack of camera a plus

Michael Lazaridis expresses great confidence in his company's BlackBerry 8800 phone/personal digital assistant device -- almost as much for what it won't do as for what it will.
During the recent Federal Office Systems Expo at the D.C. Convention Center, Mr. Lazaridis, president and co-chief executive of Research in Motion, explained that the 8800 doesn't have a built-in camera because in many corporations, enterprises and government agencies -- think of the Defense Department -- having a camera at hand isn't always a good thing.
This device, available from Cingular Wireless for as little as $299 with a two-year service commitment, elevates hand-held communications to a new level.
I hate to say it, but I have to imagine that my trusty Treo smart phones, the Palm Inc. products I've loved for so long, may have finally met their match.
The 8800 is larger than the BlackBerry Pearl reviewed here a few weeks back. It has a full "Qwerty," or typewriter-style, keyboard, a color display, and the BlackBerry e-mail system, along with support for up to 10 different e-mail accounts.
The unit has 64 megabytes of memory but can be augmented with "micro" SecureDigital or SD, cards of up to 1 gigabyte of RAM. The device is a quad-band GSM/GPRS and EDGE-enabled phone which, as with the Pearl, means it can operate in most of the world, and with high-speed data as well. And there's a Bluetooth connectivity feature that lets you use wireless headsets and other devices.
This new phone also incorporates the TeleNav Track Global Positioning System service, which is promoted as "an affordable enterprise-grade application" including location tracking, mileage tracking, wireless time sheets, alerts and detailed location reporting to capture field data.
Cingular, in a statement, said a "premium" TeleNav Track product can also be had, offering "wireless forms, dispatching, bar code-scanning support and voice and on-screen turn-by-turn GPS directions." The service costs an extra $13 or $22 per month, on top of phone and data charges.
In short, the BlackBerry 8800 can not only tell you that you have an appointment, it can tell you how to get there.
For most of us, I suspect, the key elements will be phone, e-mail, and Web browsing. In these areas, the BlackBerry 8800 is one of the most amazing devices I've come across. As a phone, it's as good as any device out there.
There's an included corded headset, if you don't want to use Bluetooth, and the built-in speaker and microphone are excellent. Dialing is relatively easy, although I wish there were an onscreen dial pad with the traditional "ABC" arrangement found on phones.
Web browsing is easy, although the lack of Java capability renders some Web sites unreadable. Such would be a problem on other hand-held phones with Internet capabilities, so I won't fault BlackBerry here.

Sanyo M1

MobileBurn reviews the Sanyo M1 and writes, "The Sanyo M1's on-board 2 megapixel camera with auto focus produced some nice photos right from the get go. When taking photos outdoors, no messing around with any of the image controls was needed to get a good shot. But when we went indoors, we struggled a bit when it came to the camera's flash. The white balance always seemed a bit off kilter and needed adjustment. The M1 comes with lots of great options to help improve images though. A focus lock feature lets users center on a subject, set the focus, and recompose the picture while still keeping the original subject clearly in focus. We tested this feature over and over and it never failed us. The cameraphone is also able to take multiple photos in quick succession. The 2 megapixel camera can handle up to 9 continuous shots taken in sequence. Resolution will be lowered to QVGA (320x240 pixel), but this is still a great bonus. The M1's cameraphone can be activated from either the open or closed position. Either way, I had trouble keeping my fingers off the camera's lens, and at times the flash. My hand always seemed to want to block the camera. The M1's video recorder produces QVGA (320x240 pixel) resolution video clips that can be up to 120 minutes in length. Both pictures and videos can be uploaded to the Sprint website, or can be copied over directly to your computer via USB or Bluetooth."

T-Mobile Dash

PCWorld reviews the T-Mobile Dash and writes, "As an entertainment-oriented gadget, the Dash is a hit, offering a standout media player and a microSD expansion slot so you can add music to the device. But regrettably, someone at T-Mobile forgot that this device needs to work well as a phone, too. Though the Dash lasted a stellar 10 hours in our battery tests, it didn't fare well on other measures. Calls are loud and clear, but dialing them is difficult: Unlike every other smart phone, the Dash fails to supply an on-screen dialpad mode to let you dial digits by their letter alternatives."