BlackBerry's mobile Web site gets a refresh
BlackBerry's cleaner, better-organized mobile Web site.
(Credit: RIM)On Tuesday, Toronto-based RIM relaunched its mobile-optimized Web site, mobile.blackberry.com. The result is a crisper, livelier look that has an accelerated loading time and rearranged categories of information.
Top of the list is a search box (BlackBerry Answers), followed by links, the Help menu, and categories that promote several BlackBerry applications. Previously, category headings included applications and mobile sites, which you had to click on to find news, sports, weather, and so on. The new layout should cut down on clicks.
BlackBerry's optimized mobile site loads faster thanks to a, adjusted back-end solution that loads graphics optimized for the resolution of your phone model's screen. Also, while the new site contains more graphics, each is smaller and consequently faster to load.
BlackBerry's re-engineered mobile site fits into RIM's current drive to make the company and its smartphones sleeker, hipper, and more appealing to casual users. Yet it's still less convenient than a native help center application or marketplace, like the forthcoming BlackBerry Application Storefront set to launch in March 2009.
See also: MySpace application for BlackBerry: Is RIM getting hip?
Jessica Dolcourt reviews the latest and greatest smartphone apps, in addition to a healthy dose of Windows software. E-mail Jessica and follow her on Twitter. 
