BlackBerry Bold 9000

BlackBerry Bold 9000 It means business

I've always been impressed when I've sent an e-mail to someone's BlackBerry and a reply has zipped back within nanoseconds. But until now I've never got to grips with one of Research in Motion's smartphones.

However, after testing the Bold 9000 for a couple of weeks I have to admit I'm completely, well, bowled over. A BlackBerry's functionality starts where that of an ordinary mobile ends.

Of course, all this will be old news to long-time BlackBerry fans, so we'll leave them to their on-the-go instant messaging, e-mailing and Facebooking. But anyone else who wonders what all the fuss is about should read on.

The killer app is the e-mail integration that enables BlackBerry users to fire replies back so quickly. Mail is sent automatically to your handset from all your accounts – up to 10 of them – so you can read it wherever you are. A flashing light and an on-screen alert tell you when you've got mail and which inbox it has arrived in, and it works with any type of e-mail account.

To use all the features you'll need a special BlackBerry account with either du or Etisalat.

Outstanding as the BlackBerry's e-mail handling is, it represents only a fraction of what the device can do. Another excellent feature is instant messaging – you can use either RIM's network to contact other BlackBerry subscribers or the likes of Windows Live Messenger to reach everyone else.

You can browse the internet either over the phone system or, if you're in range of a network, using Wi-Fi. The Bold comes with a link to Google.

You can open Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents attached to incoming e-mails and edit them... which brings me to the remarkable keyboard. The keys are small but their cunning curved shape makes them easy to use, even with your thumbs. And everything just seems to work. With other phones you get bugs – you'll find that, say, voice dialling or Bluetooth won't do what they're meant to. But in my experience this doesn't happen with the Bold.

It's remarkably intuitive to use – incredibly for a device with so many bells and whistles you don't need a manual. Each feature or application is represented by an icon on the screen, and you move between them using a little scroll ball. Whatever you're doing you can press a button and a menu will appear that lets you take whatever action you wish.

And though a BlackBerry is seen as a business tool it's not all work and no play. The Bold plays all kinds of music files, video looks great on the bright screen, there are games, you can download Facebook, MySpace and Flickr, it's perfect for Twitter... in fact it would probably be quicker to list what the remarkable Bold CAN'T do.

Oh, and did I mention that you can also use it as a mobile phone?

Price: Dh2,999 (Plus data charges)

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