Three years ago when I started blogging about BlackBerrys the big argument against them was that all they did was email. They didn’t have Wi-Fi, or digital cameras. They had no memory expansion, seemed under powered and not capable of running really cool applications, and were big and clunky and not all that great as cell phones.
What a difference 3 years makes. We know have BlackBerry devices with Wi-Fi and memory expansion. There are two models of CameraBerrys out there. The latest line of devices are sleek and attractive compared to the finest mobile phones, let alone PDA / Smartphone devices. It won’t be long before we see a BlackBerry With Wi-Fi, GPS, memory expansion, and a digital camera all in the same device.
The question, however, is… What will be the next big thing when it comes to BlackBerry features?
RIM will undoubtedly make improvements in the BlackBerry Browser, call quality, battery life, the display screen, and things of that sort, but, what will the next “big” feature be?
In my opinion the digital camera was the last big thing. You only have to go back 18 months or so when some of the most die-hard BlackBerry addicts couldn’t even imagine a digital camera in a BlackBerry, yet, the BlackBerry Pearl is the fastest selling BlackBerry to date.
What will the next “digital camera” like BlackBerry feature be?
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Robb,
That’s a good question but to answer it, you may have to take a broader look at the wireless industry as a whole.
What will be the next big mobile phone feature?
FIRST, it better be a faster network than EDGE.
SECOND, there should be an optional touch screen feature – scrolling with the pearl track ball leaves a lot to be desired sometimes.
The mundane – a stopwatch and a countdown timer (with alarm) so you can set it for the 1 hour of your parking meter.
The cool – a “read out loud” feature where the BB will read your e-mails to you. Could dramatically decrease car accidents.
Video conferencing software. Increased bandwidth and data speed will make it possible with the addition of a small camera facing the user.
Blackberrys are still under powered.
From a corporate standpoint, better document handling and file storage. Most users at my company want a Windows Mobile version of the BlackBerry.
Personally the concept of WiFi with VoIP unlimited calling and data is what I’d like to see developed further in the short term. While being not the next revolutionary “blackberry” only feature, I feel it will significantly alter mobile phone usage, as more and more hotspots open up, we (whose with WiFi phones) can rely less on GSM tower voice and data, and more on local 802.11g (let’s hope soon “n”) unlimited faster voice and data. Will we one day see a WiFi blanket overtake GSM as the primary transmitter for mobile phones?
Dave said exactly what I was thinking: better document handling. That is one thing I can say about my (brief) ownership of an iPhone is that attachments opened very nicely on it.
well, while it may not be earth shattering, I thing a touch screen blackberry will surface sometime in the near future. Along with a much improved Camera (3 megapix)
as well as faster processor’s
for browsing the web! I mean with all this stuff and maybe some improvement in call quality and battery life, you’ll have yourself a super berry! And while like I said, not earth shattering, just all the stuff us berry users would like added to an already great device.
An sixteen way nav track ball
Higher bandwith
Camera on front
Better media
Html email
New OS
A step forward for BB would be to at least catch up to the level the iPhone is at.
They need to have a better way to interact with documents, like work and excel. Maybe a special office sutie for blackberrys.
1. Memory card encryption
2. ability to connect to a projector for presentations
3. streaming video support
My guess would be video telephony. Which I can’t wait for…
I believe the HTC TyTN has an “all-in-one” phone including video telephony.
sia
HSDPA
Bluetooth 2.1 is going to change everything.
1) More CPU power, this is my first BB and it feels like it’s nearly at it’s limits.
2) More internal bandwidth to handle the faster connections to come in the next few years. It’s all well and good to have wireless broadband, but if there is a bottleneck within the device itself it’s all for naught. We saw this issue with PCs a few years back with the front side bus, etc.
3) Better doc handling, I can already see this will be an issue.
4) Touch screens. I only say this as it may be the only way to go to get a larger, more user friendly screen / viewing experince. Then again, would die hard BB users stick with them if they had a touch screen keyboard like the iPhone? I suspect we’d lose a few folks…