BlackBerry’s – Not Only Yummy But Useful For Moms

I am happy that my tech buddy Sarah Granger guest blogged on Techmamas about the iPhone. Last year when I first went shopping for a smartphone, the iPhone was not out yet. Which is lucky for me because I would have been very tempted.

To help decide which smartphone I was going to purchase, I talked to the most important experts of all – my mom friends who had smartphones. After shopping around, I decided on the BlackBerry. And recently I just upgraded to the BlackBerry Curve. Yippeee, mama is never offline. Our family is a two BlackBerry family (happens often in Silicon Valley), so hubby and I never have to say "Put that thing away". Well, maybe the kids do say that… 

I am still spending time getting to know the features of the BlackBerry Curve, but here are some of the my favorites. The start-up guide is helpful, and installation is quick and easy. I find the most important functions intuitive. Which is great for a busy mom who does not have time to read the full instruction manual. Not that I would read any instruction manual even if I did have time, I would rather read trashy magazines…  After my kids are all back at school and I have one moment to sit down, I will post with a more detailed review.

My current favorite features: 

• Wireless email: What can I say, other then getting your email
  on your phone is addicting. So far, all the messages and replies arrive
  real time. I can check my email while waiting in line at the grocery
  store, in line at the carpool lane and even while my kids play in the
  sand at the park (and don’t want mama digging with them). I have to remind myself not to check my BlackBerry too
  often when I am with my kids, so I won’t become one of "those" moms at
  the park not paying attention to their kids. I don’t feel that nervous
  rush to get home and check my email anymore. I answer important
  messages when they are sent and save the others for later when I log on
  to my computer. I email myself directions and even meeting notes so I
  don’t carry as much paper.
• Calender & Contacts that sync with
  Microsoft Outlook: I had all of my contacts and the family calender on
  Microsoft Outlook. Loading that information to my BlackBerry Curve was
  a synch. Better yet, we found an online calendering system called Cozi Central that also syncs with Outlook. We can’t wait to give it a try. Having my family calender on my phone along with my email has also been a big plus. When I get an Evite on my email, I can add that date to my calender right away.
• Phone with Bluetooth® capability – So far, the phone works just fine. I am looking forward to using my Bluetooth® earpiece as soon as I can remember to charge it the night before.
• Full QWERTY keyboard and Trackball navigation system- I find the trackball and full QWERTY keyboard easy to use. I became a power user of the Suretype keyboard from my earlier BlackBerry, but will not miss double clicking on letters.
• Speakerphone: Great for multi-tasking a business phone call while cooking dinner or for the family so sing happy birthday from the car.
• Maps & Directions: I have not played with the BlackBerry maps, but I did just load Yahoo Go 2.0 to my BlackBerry Curve and already used it to get directions to my local zoo (after I left directions at home). I just stopped the car, brought up the Yahoo Mobile application and searched for my local zoo. The application not only showed me a map but also provided me with driving directions.
• Camera: I never seemed to have a camera when I needed it. With the BlackBerry Curve’s 2 mega pixel snap and send camera, I always have a camera with me. The pictures also come out quite nice. And dad gets to see a picture of his kids favorite birds at the zoo while sitting at work.

I was thinking this could also be used to send Dad a picture of his
adorable boys wrestling as a way to say "Please leave work, now…".

More details on my BlackBerry curve’s favorite features will be posted in the next few weeks, after the kids are in school and mama has time to play with her new toy.