Don't know which smartphone to get? Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, so read this guide to help you decide.
BlackBerry
BlackBerry devices from Canadian company RIM are the darlings of the mobile e-mail world as they offer a secure push e-mail service that's well-suited for business users.
Originally based on two-way paging technology, the early BlackBerry devices were the one of the first to offer an always-on push e-mail service.
Since Malaysia had largely dropped paging technology by the time the original BlackBerry were introduced, we didn't see any BlackBerrys till RIM switched to regular GSM, EDGE and eventually 3G technology in its later models.
The BlackBerry supports push e-mail by having the BlackBerry Enterprise Server installed and running on top of an organisation's existing e-mail system, which relays all e-mail from the company e-mail server to the device.
While early models did not have many applications beyond the default ones shipped with the device, new models now have the option to install consumer-friendly applications such as Facebook, Flickr and Window Live Messenger.
However, being essentially a business device, the number of installable applications for the BlackBerry is still not quite as varied as on other smartphones.
The second big advantage of the BlackBerry is that most models have a very usable Qwerty thumb-keyboard which the company pioneered - some users still swear by the BlackBerry because of its easy text input method.
