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The BlackBerry 8700g is much more than a mobile.

In India now, the EDGE-enabled (that pushes data three times faster than GPRS) BlackBerry 8700g offers features like e-mail (read push mail), web browsing, corporate data applications and Internet faxing. It is also the lightest of all BlackBerrys "� weighing 4.7 oz, measuring 2.8 in x 0.8 in x 4.3 in. Despite its small size, the 8700g packs a punch.

Features It features a re-engineered device platform with an Intel 312 MHzXScale PXA901 processor, a 64-MB flash memory and 16 MB SDRAM. The quad-band (can be used all over the world) 8700g is enabled with Bluetooth 2.0 and a speakerphone. It has a high-resolution LCD display panel with a light-sensing technology and it adjusts light, depending on the environment. The increase in resolution makes reading e-mails swifter and simpler, while the 312-MHz processor handles documents with greater ease than earlier versions.

It also has a track wheel that helps in easy and faster access of the features embedded in the handset. RIM prefers to call it "scroll wheel". It functions much like an iPod's scroll wheel, but is not touch-sensitive. The wheel also has a click function and can be substituted as the 'enter' or 'return' key of a PC. Moreover, the device boasts of 6.5 hours of talktime and 15 days standby time, PDA applications (address book, calendar, calculator, task lists and an event calendar among others) and a QWERTY keyboard.

Other features include an attachment viewer that opens many formats like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Corel WordPerfect, and formats like GIF, JPEG, and PDF. The 8700g also has an instant-messaging client, while popular IM applications like AOL, MSN, ICQ, and Yahoo are also accessible.

The 8700g offers easy e-mail set up and support for popular instant-messaging clients. This is also makes the model a darling of corporate executives, who can communicate from any place that has some kind of wireless connectivity. The model has a landscape QVGA (320x240) LCD screen, which displays over 65,000 colours and delivers vivid graphics.

Not so good The 8700g does not have a touch screen or a stylus. This could be a deliberately done by RIM to enhance battery life (remember, 6.5 hours of talktime and 15 days standby time) as touch screen panels consume a lot of energy. However, smartphones like Nokia and Motorola that have lesser features have touch-sensitive panels and styluses. The scroll wheel is not touch-sensitive, but sturdy compared to that of an iPod. However, a touch-negotiable thumb wheel would have done wonders to the 8700g. Besides, the QWERTY keyboard is not a substitute for a stylus, especially for people who have been using a touch-screen panel.

The model does not have a camera. Maybe corporate clients prefe this since most companies do not admit camera phones on their premises due to security reasons.

BlackBerry devices still are not Wi-Fi compatible, unlike similar handheld devices. This means hot-spots that a laptop or palm-top can latch on and send mails or messages, would not be of any use to the 8700g.

Verdict The BlackBerry 8700g is more "responsive" than its earlier siblings and existing smartphones in the market. However, other smartphones like Nokia E61 have started offering push email too. But Blackberry, like the iPod, does have a following.