The BlackBerry Needs to Handle HTML Based Email Better

I have been noticing lately that forward quite a few emails that I get on my BlackBerry to one of my web based email accounts that I can read it in the BlackBerry browser or Opera Mini for the BlackBerry. This is because the BlackBerry is pretty horrible when it comes to handling HTML based or rich text based emails.

If someone puts a hyperlink in the text of a email they send you, the BlackBerry will actually spell the URL out for you and make it clickable, however, if there a lot of links or even just a few deep linked URLs, messages become difficult to read pretty quickly.

I understand that HTML based emails are larger, but, with the speed that mobile devices are connecting now-a-days, a few more bits per message isn’t a huge deal.

Every email editor made in the last 4 or 5 years, including web based programs like !Yahoo Mail and Gmail are HTML or Rich Text based by default. It is time for the BlackBerry to catch up with the times.

If carriers want to send the text only messages like they currently do, just give me an option to convert the message to HTML after it is received. If am am honest, most messages look just fine text-based, however, the ones that don’t are virtually unreadable. Give me the option to convert to HTML and even display images in the drop down menu if I want to. I have an unlimited data plan. Let me get my moneys worth.

Written by Robb Dunewood on December 19th, 2006 with 1 comment.
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Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com Amit
#1. December 19th, 2006, at 11:52 AM.

Even though I have my GMail account coming into my BlackBerry vis BIS, I installed GMail for Mobile becasue it formats message so much nicer than the the BlackBerry does. The problem with GMail is that it completely ignores hyperlinks.

Someone should come out with a cross between displaying the link like the BlackBerry does and the clean formating of GMail Mobile.

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