What The Android Can Learn From The Blackberry

18.1.12 The Reporter 0 Comments

The Blackberry used to be the gold standard of smartphones. And still, its engineering and construction are still a gulf above the competition, considering its level of encryption and unparalleled data management. And you have to admit that the Android is nowhere near the Blackberry. Not yet, anyway. Thus, it is still worth saying that the Android QWERTY still has a lot to learn from the Blackberry.

Here are my thoughts on why the Blackberry still reigns:


Standard Keys, Across Models

Ever notice that an entry-level model of Nokia QWERTY will differ from the high-end model's keypad orientation? It seems to me like they're still figuring out the kind of QWERTY layout they'll keep. The same is true for the Android QWERTYs. Good luck syncing your keyboard tapping between a Samsung Galaxy Y Pro, an HTC Chacha and a Cherry Mobile Candy Chat.


Military-Grade Encryption

Did you know that the Blackberry got banned in different countries, because it handles data encryption so well, it bypasses these countries' firewalls?

Makes you feel like a spy, if you tote one of those beautiful Blackberry babies, right?

And yet, it gives a user a better night's rest when he knows that no hacker will be able to intercept his work, and even personal mail, thanks to Blackberry's encryption and self-hosted email servers.


Efficient Data Management

Ever wonder how the Blackberry could handle email after email, message after message, then diary entry after another, on its sometimes-jeered internal storage space? Me too. I wonder how it can fit all of that in internal storage sizes ranging from only 64MB on its early mature models (on the Blackberry 8800, still available on the market) to 512 MB storage/512 MB RAM for its latest Blackberry Curve 9380 or even up to 8GB storage/768MB RAM for its Bold Touch 9900, Bold 9790, Porsche Design P'9981 models.

This is what the Android should do. Given that the HTC Chacha has only 512 MB ROM/512 MB RAM to its name, and given how the Android's user-available Internal Storage just fills up so easily, I'd have to sneer at how it should do better than that.


Efficient And Effective Battery Management/Long Battery Life

I may be an Android advocate of sorts, but this is another area that I, along with a good number of disgruntled users, am picking on.

The Android, I guess, is much like Windows in this respect. Unlike the Mac, which has both the hardware AND the proprietary OS with its products, Windows computers have been notorious for battery or power management malfunctions, because the hardware/software interaction was less than seamless. Maybe it's the same for the Android. Since it has been only last year that Google bought out Motorola and will thus be working more closely in developing the "Android Standard," no company has yet perfected the Android's seamless interoperability with their hardware.

It's not sad, it's just that it's a work in progress, for now.

By contrast, Blackberry models have batteries that last for DAYS. Thus, Blackberry users enjoy days of not needing to charge their phones.


Standard Quality Across Models

Because the Android is an Open Source system, allowing OEM's to use the system as they please, there may be differences between brands and models, making the quality different from brand to brand. This is why some Android users who choose less sturdy brands end up dissatisfied or leaving the Android as an ecosystem altogether and switching back to the iPhone or the Blackberry.

While the devs at Android Inc. are working on creating a standard for the OEM's, the user who is particular about the phone's quality will be better off either choosing from the Android's best brands and models, or, sad to say, choose the iPhone or the Blackberry, or even a Nokia or Windows Smartphone instead.


Even though tech pundits are saying that the Blackberry is losing ground in significance, one thing is clear, it is still top-notch in quality, and unparalleled in these areas I outlined.