BlackBerry

BlackBerry is the product name of a host of mobile devices manufactured and developed by Research in Motion (RIM) in Canada. The BlackBerry is best known for making smartphones popular, with the ability to stay connected to the internet and send email and access websites via a wireless network regardless of your location. As of 2009, BlackBerry devices made up approximately 20.8% market share of all smartphones.http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9140761/Windows_Mobile_smartphone_sales_plunge_20_in_Q3 They are immensely popular for business, used in corporations worldwide.

The first BlackBerry product was released in 1999 (the 5000 series), and was not a smartphone - it was a two-way pager. The first BlackBerry smartphone did not release until 2002, and it supported push email, the standard phone calling features, faxing, internet browsing, and text messaging.

Almost all BlackBerry smartphones feature a standard QWERTY keyboard, allowing the ability to easily compose email and text messaging. There are two models that have a touch screen with no keyboard. BlackBerry phones have a scrollball or trackball that allows navigation of the phone's features. Some phones feature a push-to-talk two way radio ability as well. While the original BlackBerry had a monochrome screen, all current BlackBerry smartphones have a full color display.

BlackBerry Devices

There have been many models of BlackBerry over the years. Here is the full list of BlackBerry devices since 1989.http://na.blackberry.com/eng/legal/product_names.jsp

• Two-way pagers: 850, 857, 950 and 957
• First monochrome phones: Blackberry 5000 Series, Blackberry 6000 Series
• Color models: 7200 series, 7500 series, 7700 series.
• SureType models: 7100 series
• Modern BlackBerry: BlackBerry 8800/8830, BlackBerry Pearl, Pearl Flip and BlackBerry Curve
• GPS WiFi models: BlackBerry Bold (9000), BlackBerry Curve 8900, BlackBerry Tour (9630), BlackBerry Storm (9500/9530)