I probably saved at least 15 to 20 minutes this morning by not having to lookup and print the addresses and directions for my business meetings today, and just relying on the fact that my BlackBerry 8800 has all the information I need to get going. Even after parking downtown, I relied on the BlackBerry 8800 GPS to get the “pedestrian” route to my next destination.
There were a couple of areas however where the GPS could not get the data (I got this generic message indicating that the GSP is unable to get data and suggesting I move into an open area). This also happened once or twice over the weekend when I was driving on Skyline Drive. Another slight inconvenience with the GPS is that it is a little slow connecting the first time you try to retrieve the route (but then it operates nicely and smoothly). So don’t be too sure that the BlackBerry 8800 GPS is going to save you at all times, but it does its job most of the time and reasonably well.
The BlackBerry 8800 as a business tool
The BlackBerry 8800 proved to be a great business tool today as I went from meeting to meeting. It did the jobs that it does extremely well. While waiting in lobbies and conference rooms in between meetings, it kept me busy. I was able to take advantage of these precious minutes by getting updated on e-mail, handling some important and relatively urgent inquiries, browsing and searching for relevant information. I didn’t even have to pull my laptop out except when I wanted to work on some documents. And when I needed to schedule follow-up meetings, the Calendar shortcuts came in very handy (see yesterday’s entry).
The BlackBerry 8800 applications add multi-media capabilities
The BlackBerry 8800 comes with a whole suite of applications. In addition to the phone, e-mail, text and multi-media messaging, Internet browsing, address book, calendar, memo pad (for taking notes), and tasks, it includes voice dialing, voice notes, and pictures, music, videos, ringtones, and a number of utilities such as the famous BrickBreaker game, the alarm, and calculator. Cingular also offers the Push-To-Talk service which can transform your BlackBerry 8800 into a Walkie Talkie that you can use with other Cingular subscribers. And for those who want to stay up-to-date on news, sports, and entertainment among other topics, the Cingular Media-Net service can do the job.
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