The Samsung BlackJack II is an update of Samsung's extremely popular BlackJack smartphone. The BlackJack II, which was released in late 2007, retains many of the same features as the original BlackJack--including a slim design, excellent messaging options, and support for high-speed, 3G networks--while adding a few new features, such as built-in GPS and an upgraded Windows Mobile 6 operating system.
Price and Availability
The BlackJack II is available from AT&T. If you don't want to sign a contract, you'll pay $330 for the phone; signing a two-year service agreement brings that price down to $180. AT&T is offering a mail-in rebate that will get you a $100 AT&T promotion card. Keep in mind that this promotion card is not a cash rebate: You get a card that you can use at any retailers that accept Visa cards--and you can use it to pay your wireless bills--but you cannot redeem it for cash.
Design
The BlackJack II measures 4.4 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide by .4 inches thick; that's not svelte when compared to many of today's smartphones, but it's a reasonable size. You also get a 2.4-inch (diagonal) screen a full QWERTY keyboard.
AT&T is offering the BlackJack II in four colors: black, dark red, pink, and blue.
Voice and Data Access
The BlackJack II is a quad-band GSM phone; AT&T calls it a "world phone" because you can use it to make calls in many countries outside the U.S. It supports both the high-speed HSDPA network and the slower EDGE network for data access, but lacks support for Wi-Fi networks. That means you'll have to rely on the availability of the 3G cellular networks for high-speed access to Web pages and e-mail.
Software
This Windows Mobile 6-based phone comes with the mobile version of Microsoft Office, which allows you to view and edit documents, but not create new ones. Additional software includes a PDF viewer and an RSS reader.
Messaging
The BlackJack II comes with support for Microsoft Direct Push, so you can have your e-mail delivered in real time and you can sync your Outlook calendar, contacts, and tasks. It also supports AT&T's Xpress Mail application, which lets you access business and personal e-mail accounts, including Outlook, Lotus Notes, and most Web-based e-mail accounts, like Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail. The phone also comes with AOL's AIM, Yahoo Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger instant messaging clients.
Camera
The included camera is a 2-megapixel model; that's fairly low-resolution by today's standards. It includes a 2X zoom and can capture video clips, but lacks a flash.
Music and More
You can access AT&T's music and video services from the BlackJack II, but you cannot purchase songs as over-the-air downloads directly to the device; you'll have to transfer music from your computer to the phone. The BlackJack II also does not have a standard headset connector--it uses a proprietary connector, so you'll need a dongle to connect your own headphones to it.
The phone does include built-in GPS, so you can use it as a navigation device. You'll need to download an application like AT&T Navigator (which costs $10 per month) to get turn-by-turn directions, though.