BlackBerry Visor Mount Speakerphone VM-605 Review: Elegant and a Bit Expensive

CIO — Just a few years back, Research In Motion (RIM) produced just one product, albeit in many flavors: BlackBerry smartphones for businesspeople. Today, RIM has extended its reach into the consumer market with devices like the Pearl 81xx, Pearl Flip 82xx and the multimedia-oriented, touch screen BlackBerry Storm.

RIM BlackBerry Visor Mount Speakerphone

What's next for the BlackBerry-maker? It certainly won't stop pumping out handhelds anytime soon, but you can expect to see quite a few new offerings in the coming months and years in the form of BlackBerry accessories. The company already offers various charging cradles and "pods", skins, cases, Bluetooth headsets, headphones and even a "music gateway" that lets you play tunes on your BlackBerry through a stereo system.

At RIM's recent Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES), I sat down with the company's VP of Advanced Accessories, Antoine Boucher, to discuss the future of BlackBerry accessories and he was very excited about the new speakerphone. (He was also excited about an upcoming Bluetooth headset, but that one's still under wraps...)

The BlackBerry Visor Mount Speakerphone VM-605 is basically an evolution of the existing music gateway with a built-in speakerphone for in-vehicle use. RIM was nice enough to send along a review unit, and I've been using it for the last week or so. Overall, I'm impressed...but there's certainly room for improvement. Keep reading for specifics.

Continue Reading