Mobile email is absolutely the killer smartphone data application. Email. Email. Email. Everything else is secondary and the phone makers should not be distracted.
As of this second, the BlackBerry has the best email application. I have used Palm, Windows Mobile, Sidekick and BlackBerry devices over the years. (I dearly miss many of my Palm apps.) And, I have not used the iPhone because it requires the expensive AT&T network. Also, it was not designed with a nice keyboard for email typing speed.
Unfortunately, based on the newspaper reports, the BlackBerry people are distracted and appear to be running scared of the iPhone. These reports keep talking about the need for a BlackBerry with better touchscreen and music integration.
But, BlackBerry has it wrong. I agree that the iPhone is a risk -- but, people don't like the iPhone for its touchscreen. If it was simply that, then we would all be using a Palm device today. As a matter of fact, Palm was so desperate that the Treo touchscreen from Palm vanished for one with a keyboard.
No, it is the software interface and the speed. I hate the BlackBerry calendar. (I miss Datebook6 from Pimlico Software for the Palm.) BlackBerry software requires too much connection to the Internet and the Internet access is slow. Why? Because Internet access goes through the BlackBerry servers. I have a wi-fi phone, which should have a blazing fast browser. But -- no -- it is like having a dial-up line again.
BlackBerry folks. Don't fiddle with the email interface and keyboards. Instead, improve the other apps. Give third party developers better access. And, fix the BlackBerry server bottleneck. Let Internet access be free.
A quick apology to Death By Email readers. You may have noticed that my blog writing has dropped off recently. The reason is that my eldest daughter is getting married this weekend. It has been time consuming and, frankly, a wee bit distracting from my Death By Email duties. 
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