I’ve always embraced new technology, which is probably why after an initial phase of silence, i took to twitter like a fish takes to water… over the past few months, i’ve not only made friends, but also built quite a base for work !! 


Thanks to twitter i bought my new phone- Blackberry curve 8520... 
Thanks to twitter i have won a few items- iPod shuffle, Tshirt, etc…
Thanks to twitter i have created a network of writers
Thanks to twitter i have been able to keep abreast with news from across the world… 


Recently, i saw a tweet cc’d to me which was related to Blackberry phones.. thinking it was a usual “i want to know if the BB is worth it or not” kinda tweet, i waited to see what the person [@nkumar_] would respond. Instead, to my surprise, he sent a mail asking if i want to participate in a survey for his blog… ‘


It did take me a few days to get around to it, but it was a fun experience… decided to share the same with my Blog readers… 

Fifth interview-Aarti stands by side of her Blackberry [Nitish kumar’s blog]

When I wished to find one Blackberry user for the series, then unlike Samsung or Apple, it really was not that hard to spot some user with a blackberry in hands. It was all justifiable when stats says that Blackberry has a strong presence in Business market. But honestly speaking, it was hard to spot one, who could talk about freely and love it for means other than messaging or riding on some of my experiences, I was away from Blackberry world.
One of the friend from twitter came to rescue and suggested me the name of Aarti, I contacted her and it was a go. Let’s see, what the first female ‘common’ voice has to say about her Blackberry and her.
Aarti, Can you tell us something about you? like your profession,background etc..blogging social life
A HR professional by education, i worked in Recruitments and other HR functions for nearly 6yrs before switching gears and moving into Training and Writing. Today, I am part of a content outfit called The Content Shop, which i run with a partner. Based in Chennai, I enjoy travelling, capturing photographs of places I visit and other interesting things that catch my eye and not to forget, love books, music, movies and making friends. An avid blogger, I maintain 4 personal blogs, each on a different genre.
Me: Really looking for the rest part of the interview as here is one BlackBerry users who likes to take many photographs, a teritory forbidden to Blackberry in common knowledge.
A neat and clean blog you have that covers variety of topics and so many other websites too, but unable to see you writing much for Gizmos though people know you as Gizmo junky. Why so?
Yes, I am crazy about gizmos and gadgets, but more about learning, exploring and playing rather than writing. But I have written a few posts, most of which have been about the phones I have used and the experience of playing with an iPad before it was launched here. Since I also write for a living, it becomes tiring to sit and pen reviews on blog as well, but this is something I want to rectify.
Me: We will sure welcome you as a tech blogger as well.
Black Berry.. Some call it B for business and B for bore phones .. Is it really so? Why you are with Black Berry and since when? Which model you have right now?
I call it the Black beauty that has made my life so much easier, and fun. I contradict all those who say the Blackberry is all work and no fun, i enjoy listening to music, taking pictures and chatting with friends. I bought my 1st Blackberry in march 2010- The Curve 8520, the beauty is all of 9months old.
When did you plan for your first Black Berry and was it planned or just a chance? What was the main reasons behind the purpose? Honestly, i didn’t plan for a Blackberry. I had been using Nokia N95 8GB for over years, and was extremely happy with it. But then, one day suddenly the backlight started flickering, and it died. Even then, i didn’t plan on going for a Blackberry, i wanted to get my Nokia fixed, and so i bought a basic Nokia phone as a stop gap. Alas, after replacing the slider cable, the backlight problem persisted, and i was in Bangalore on work, and realized that its about time I should switch phones. That is when I had become quite active on Twitter, and we were a gang of 5-6, almost all of whom were on the Blackberry.. and thanks to their guidance, i went in for the Blackberry curve, basic model, not very expensive, and one that will serve the purpose of keeping track of mails, and making it possible to Facebook and Twitter as well.
QWERTY were designed keeping business persons in mind and so were other BB Services. There was BB messenger, but it didn’t looked much social except Facebook Web App etc. Not even a decent twitter client other than web based www.dabr.co.uk. What are the reasons that a normal fun loving user should roam around Black Berry?
Fyi, Dabr was something i wasn’t even keen on when i picked up the Blackberry for i knew there were various Twitter apps and other apps that would be helpful for work and otherwise. On my Nokia, i had Snaptu where i accessed Fb and Twitter from. Any person using a Blackberry will tell you how high it is on fun factor – we can chat on the go, browse the net, play games, listen to music, take good pictures [albeit my curve does not have flash], download game apps, we also have other apps to chat with non Blackberry users. What more does one need?
You don’t feel old fashioned with Black Berry now in the world of touch phones? How come thats possible? There is no such thing as being old fashioned when it comes to devices, we pick up what we do only because we want functional, smart and one that fits in our budget. For me it was a conscious decision to buy a Blackberry which was not touch.. The Storm 1 and 2 were in the market, but since i had an iPod touch, i knew i dint want another touch device. When am home, i use my iPod touch more than my Blackberry, but for the BBM and phone facilities, I have to use Blackberry. 
My Blackberry has been a saving grace in many occasions. I love to travel, and many a trip I do on my own and without much planning. So, when we landed at the destination, I have used the Google maps app to figure my way around. The browser enables me to search for other sights to see around there, or even to check on train tickets and so on.
For a recent event, I was the live tweeter and blogger, and this was made easy thanks to my Blackberry. I dint have to lug around my heavy Sony vaio laptop, fight with a poor net connection on Reliance, or look for a seat near a power point. I could simply do all this through my Blackberry, and all it needed was a full battery charge.
In other circumstances, I use the BBM to exchange information with friends and even a few clients; have managed to take pictures of certain aspects, and share them with my friends or target audience instantly, thereby not wasting time and earning enough coverage for the same.
Me: Definitely, we have got a strong voice in support of Blackberry here. Looking more of it.
You use Black Berry for accomplishing which thing most… calls, browsing, navigation, movies, twitter.. which one? I use the Blackberry for Mails, Phone[call and text], BBM, Navigation, Twitter , Facebook and linkedin.
Have you tried Nokia Messaging and E72 like Nokia Business category phones? What’s difference of mailing performance between them and your BB? I have used a N95 8Gb, and have also tried E63, E72. Back then the Nokia phones did not have push email, but yes, they have almost all features of a Blackberry. I am a Nokia loyalist, but i do say they have gone down in their devices and performance, so am happy with my move to Blackberry.
Me: Well! the Nokia inside me, could have argued a little, but its her show.. isn’t it?
We hear many things about Black Berry Enterprise services. What are they? Do you use any of them? How good they are? BES basically is a integrated service that offers emails, messaging, desktop tools, and so much more All of them are very good, no 2nd thoughts on that! I use the following ,-
  • Email
  • Instant Messaging
  • Calendar and task list
  • Address Book
  • Memo Pad – to note down important details, etc
  • Messaging (MMS & SMS)- BBM included
QWERTY was great, when it started with Blackberry but now many other vendors out in market with similar QWERTY and Nokia E71 been heart throb for many. I have seen Black Berry old models trouble with Track Ball issues a lot. Where they do cut it now? Blackberry was smart enough to understand the Trackball issue and have now replaced it with the Trackpad, which is what i have on my Curve 8520, it is absolutely smooth for surfing and no issues whatsoever.
Nokia Business phones have made their places for insane battery lives and yet an experience at par with normal fun phones. How is the battery performance of Black Berry in comparison to that? Agreed that Blackberry’s battery performance is not as high as Nokia, but then i guess there are more apps running here, and there are ways of maximizing battery life.
Like in one of the last interview, Deep said, if someone really need a great camera then digital cameras are already there and for people highly concerned on quality there are DSLRs. Is camera really important to be a part of smartphone to be treated as deal breaker as this is something Black Berry phones sure lack big on? Well, for most people I’ve met, camera in phone is not so important. But I like having a camera, probably because i am interested in photography. So, if I am generally around the city or travelling and something catches my eye, I like to take a shot of it. I might share it with others, I might simply use it as a background on my phone, so a basic camera would do. Enjoyed the 5MP camera on my N95, but the 2 MP on Blackberry Curve is good enough. The camera is however, not a deciding factor while buying phones!
Me: Well… I will say  Nokia N8 owners or admirers will argue.
Durability and tank like built are some of the qualities, people might be looking in hard core performers like Black Berry. How much well built you find your black berry? What about the weight etc. The Blackberry is super sturdy, i can vouch for it. I have dropped it a few times and not a single scratch on it.. My Blackberry curve is quite light, weighs about 106gms.
Me: Wow!! that’s definitely some lighter one in comparison with other models I have seen yet.
As Pankaj said last day “A fanboy is the one, who says it wasn’t needed if his phone doesn’t support something“. There are areas like Maps, Games, Music, camera, social aspects etc, where Black Berry is not a big name. What you say on it? Defend it or criticize them? Quite contrary, the Blackberry supports almost everything you can think of .. There are applications available in the Blackberry App world for – Maps, scheduling calls/emails for a later date/time, Chat, games, news, social networking, music, media, and so much more.!!
Others are bringing new features to smart phones like HDMI, USB OTG that will change the way we use smart phones, where you find Black Berry on that? I am sure RIM is not going to sit back and let the others come up with new features. They will also add whatever they see deem fit for the Blackberry users. Blackberry has been way ahead of its times, in fact they were the 1st to bring in push email, and so on. So, lets wait and see.
We hear about apps crashing and UI issues on Symbian, Android sometimes, what about Black Berry OS? How smooth and simple operations are here? Do you find yourself stuck in menus and icon sometimes when trying to change some settings or its always clear and simple? The OS on my Blackberry curve has been mighty smooth, my phone has not crashed ever [touch wood]. In fact neither has my Nokia N95. Either am lucky, or the phones are good!! The Blackberry does hang at times, and i noticed it is when i try doing too many things within a matter of seconds, it is not as fast as my brain ;)
How is GPS there? I found the A-GPS part better than earlier, locking instantly sometimes based on cell tower even if not precise. Whats your experience with  it? Any place you visited with this only? Do you prefer to keep Google Maps installed on your N8 also? I have not used N8 extensively to comment on this. But i have used navigation on N95, and found it quite good. But ever since I started using Google Maps, i must say i prefer the same on any phone I am on. Be it on my Nokia or now the Blackberry curve 8520. Its the same good everywhere.
Now days China phones are making big in India and things which are concentrating big on are Texting and social messaging via QWERTY. May be their QWERTY solutions might not be perfect like BB, but how much worth you think they have for people, who are not much into Smartphone thing? This actually depends on the person buying the phone. If they are happy with the QWERTY on the China manufactured phones and if it satisfies their needs, good for them! And many people don’t need emails on the go, or be able to browse on their phone. They are happy with a basic phone that might allow calls, texting and yes, today social networking has become the way of life.
Do you like to hear music a lot? FM Radio etc? How much your Black Berry Helps? Yes, I need music all the time. NO matter what am dong, there has to be music. This is why i have about 30 songs on my Blackberry which i listen to at times. But mostly, when travelling within and outside the city, i carry my iPod touch for music. I listen to radio at home, never on the phone, so don’t miss it on the Blackberry.
The web is buzzing a lot about App store thingy..How is Black Berry App store? Are there enough worthy apps? How many apps you have installed on your phone? Can you name a few? The Blackberry App world is a boon to us Blackberry users. It has apps that are more than worthy and almost all are free for download .. There are apps for gaming, chatting, texting, news, media, music, videos, maps, F1, travel, fitness, managing work, and so much more that am yet to explore. 
Do you think Black Berry can act as a full time phone in your hands or you need some backup phone too .. considering fun factor limitations in mind? I have been using my Blackberry for the past 9 months, and don’t have a backup phone, in fact never thought of this at all. It serves all my needs and work well.
If you have to show off your Black Berry to someone new, then how you go with that? Which features you list and in which order? If the person has many friends, i would start with BBM and then talk about how cool it is to be able to read mails, and do other functions on the go.
If the person is into business and travels extensively, then the push email and calendar and maps are what will appeal.
What about Cloud Services? May vendors started following the model that start a new phone, give your cloud login and your phone is all setup with your earlier contacts etc. Is there something in Black Berry too? Yep, I know Blackberry has that facility too, though i haven’t explored it much.
As we know Black Berry is primarily focused on Mails only, so is it worth for people, who don’t have a data package from their service provider? What about No GPRS availability conditions? Is BlackBerry any worth if come without a data plan?
People who don’t have a data package are those who don’t need email updates who therefore wont have a Blackberry, so this is a moot point in the discussion.. Blackberry is meant for those who are keen on keeping up with work, while having a good time on the side. If a person does not have GPRS, nor data package, he deserves to use a basic phone from Nokia or other makers!
Be honest, if your younger bro ask you for some phone, then which one you will suggest to him, same as yours or some other? Which one? I will suggest Blackberry to anyone ONLY if i feel they have a need for it. Since I am into gadgets, i would suggest a phone that suits their needs and budget. I am not going to recommend everyone around me buy a Blackberry just because i have one. :)
What you don’t like about Black Berry? And what things stand a chance for improvement with some new kind of Black Berry phones coming in now days? The only thing i have a complaint about is the poor battery life, it lasts for just about 24hours. And maybe have an external extendable memory card option. Everything else is perfect!
Your score points to the Black Berry (rating if any..) I would rate the Blackberry Curve 8520 a 9/10
So, this was the journey to the world of Blackberry with a user, who seems so loyal to it and I also know that it might not be making that high buzz on twitter etc, but when we look out then there are really too many loving their blackberry.
Want all of you to come here and share yourself as well.

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