This being March, there must be a new BlackBerry out. The Gazette has been playing with the brand new 8800, which is a Qwerty-keyboard, GPS-equipped version of the nifty Pearl released last year, and it comes with several features completely new to BlackBerrys.


Most obvious is the combination of the Pearl's small white trackball with a 'full' Qwerty keyboard. The keys are more usable than those of last year's full-keyboard BlackBerry 8700, and the trackball seems now to be the next ubiquitous control device for RIM. It looks official: the thumbwheel is dead.



Inside, the 8800 is a different beast to the Pearl its looks are based on. In the main this is down to the built-in GPS navigation/location and maps. Built-in GPS is, or will be, the must-have mobile device hardware add-on for some time to come as it enables so many potential services for mobile users.



But GPS comes at a price: it makes the 8800 quite hefty (134g to the Pearl's 88g) and long (at 114mm the longest BlackBerry yet). And, sad to say, the functionality is not that great. Yes, it comes with built-in maps, but these are 'top-down', not the 'driver's perspective' view you get with other satnav devices. Overall, the Pearl's Google Maps application was better-looking and more usable, though admittedly you had to know where you were to use it.



On the GPS upside, it was very quick to grab a valid GPS signal compared to, for example, the new HTC P3300 GPS-enabled smartphone the Gazette is also testing. The 8800 had good signal in a minute or so, while the HTC says it sees satellites but, frankly, cannot be bothered to talk to them until it feels like it.



Another gripe is the inclusion on the left side of the 8800 of an external button programmed to activate voice dialling - it is too easy to press accidentally, so you will likely end up reprogramming it. It was annoying on the Pearl and it is still annoying now.



But this is a BlackBerry, so we are talking email, paging, browsing and more email. All is still market-leading for lawyers on this front, and there is the addition of paging functionality. Quite why this has been introduced is unclear, but more connectivity cannot, in theory, be bad. Other additions are noise-cancelling for voice calls and an instant messaging program. Like the Pearl, there is a microSD memory card slot and built-in media player, but there is no camera on the 8800 - which should stop it being confiscated by angry judges.



All in all, the 8800 looks as tasty as the Pearl, but feels twice as big. This is a good-looking package and the 8800 feels sturdy and solid. The big question is: does it need GPS? The answer is a qualified yes, but its implementation here feels like a prototype.



Rupert White