by Al Sacco

RIM BlackBerry Style 9670: The Seven Most Notable Features

News
Oct 20, 2010
MobileSmall and Medium BusinessSmartphones

RIM's latest BlackBerry is a "clamshell" flip-phone running the company's new BlackBerry 6 mobile OS. Check out Al Sacco's list of the Style 9670's most notable features to see if the device should be your next handheld.

BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) last week unveiled a brand new smartphone: the BlackBerry Style 9670 clamshell, which is aimed mostly at consumer users due to its multimedia focus. But it also packs all the enterprise-oriented security- and messaging-features business users have come to rely on. Keep moving for a list of the seven most notable BlackBerry Style 9670 features. (And check out a list of high-level BlackBerry Style technical specifications here.)

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First CDMA “BlackBerry 6” Smartphone

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The BlackBerry Style 9670 is a Sprint exclusive in the United States, and it’s the very first officially-available CDMA BlackBerry to run RIM’s latest mobile OS, BlackBerry 6. (Check out my breakdown of seven new multimedia features within BlackBerry 6 here.) The device goes on sale through Sprint on October 31 for $100 with new two-year service agreement and after a mail-in rebate.

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First BlackBerry Clamshell/Flip Phone with Full QWERTY Keyboard

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The BlackBerry Style isn’t the first BlackBerry clamshell, or flip phone—the BlackBerry Pearl 8220 takes that title. But it is the first BlackBerry flip smartphone with a full QWERTY keypad. (SureType be damned!)

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External Display for Alerts and Notifications

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The BlackBerry Style 9670 sports two displays: one larger 360×400 “internal” display for use when the device is open and you have access to the Style keypad; and another, smaller 240×320 screen on its front face meant for quick access to notifications and messages while the device is closed. Style users can receive alerts related to e-mail, SMS text, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) and other services via the external display.

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BlackBerry Style 9670 Sports Best Camera Available on BlackBerry

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The BlackBerry Style’s 5MP digital camera with auto-focus, flash, image-stabilization technology and VGA (640×480) video capture is the best digital shooter available on any BlackBerry smartphone. And it’s the same camera that’s found in the high-end touchscreen BlackBerry Torch 9800.

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Style Comes with 8GB Media Card, Supports Cards up to 32GB

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An 8GB microSD media card ships along with the BlackBerry Style 9670 smartphone, and the device supports media cards up to 32GB. The Style also has 512MB of internal, or “on-board,” memory.

Get Your BlackBerry Black Belt with CIO.com’s BlackBerry Bible: Everything You Need to Know About Your RIM Smartphone

BlackBerry Style Supports Latest Wi-Fi Standard, 802.11n

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RIM’s newest BlackBerry supports the most common Wi-Fi technology standards, 802.11 b and g, but it also supports the newer 802.11n Wi-Fi, which can offer faster, more reliable wireless connectivity. The Style isn’t the first BlackBerry to support 802.11n—the BlackBerry Pearl 9100 was first to get 802.11n. But Style users with 802.11n routers are sure to appreciate the new support.

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BlackBerry Style 9670 and GPS

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Almost all mid- to high-end modern smartphones pack GPS, so the feature on its own isn’t particularly noteworthy. But given the recent rise in popularity of location-based services like Foursquare and Facebook Connect, you probably don’t want to end up with a device that uses mere cell-phone-triangulation or some other less-than-accurate location technologies. The Style packs full GPS along with RIM’s own BlackBerry Maps application.

Get Your BlackBerry Black Belt with CIO.com’s BlackBerry Bible: Everything You Need to Know About Your RIM Smartphone