Apple iPhone Vs. BlackBerry Curve

It's time to upgrade my crummy old refurbished Moto cell phone to a snappy smartphone. (Yes, I will recycle the relic.) I've narrowed down my choices, and I'm either going to hold out for a next-gen iPhone, or go for the BlackBerry Curve.My needs are simple: I want a keypad that's easier and faster than my current dumbphone, and I want to check e-mail and my calendar without logging on to my computer. Call quality has to be good, too, because when I work from home, it will be my business line. (My home is in the 30% of households that do not have a landline.)

My partner is trying to steer me toward an iPhone. He's been holding out for the next-gen version, and thinks I should, too. I have an iPod Touch for photos, music, videos, and light browsing, and I like it a lot. But I'm not sure I want an iPhone. For one thing, I don't want to wait until summer.

And then there's the litany of the iPhone's shortcomings -- bad service from the thuggish AT&T, a hard-to-use virtual keyboard, no Flash support, inferior e-mail handling -- that keeps ringing in my left ear (that's my phone ear).

The BlackBerry Curve, on the other hand, and in particular the 8330, which Verizon finally started offering last week, has a devoted and enthusiastic following.

Full reviews are hard to come by, but initial reports are glowing. It's not just the stereotypical corporate types, either. Lindsay Lohan, Elle McPherson, Reese Witherspoon, and Geri Haliwell (Ginger Spice!) -- have all been spotted with their BlackBerry Curves.

Why not? It's got a full alphabet keyboard, handles e-mail like a champ. Should the day come that I need to brandish my phone as an assault weapon on a surly underling, as supermodel Naomi Campbell recently did, I'd like my phone to have a bit more gravitas than the slim number I'm currently packing.

For the record, Campbell has apologized for the incident and has told Extra that she is engaged in daily therapy and "partaking in the healing powers of crystals."

I don't know what kind of phone Campbell owns, but I'm leaning toward the BlackBerry Curve. If you'd like to weigh in, leave a comment below.