Everyone’s reporting on the new BlackJack2 (Engadget Mobile, regular Engadget, CrunchGear, Gizmodo, and Gizmodo again), so I’m going to save you the trouble of reading all those reviews and summarize it here.

As you might have imagined already, this phone is at&t’s follow up to their very successful original BlackJack. What makes this one different? First of all, it runs WM6 (by the way…didn’t at&t promise a WM6 update for the original BlackJack?), which isn’t much of an upgrade, in my opinion. WM5 on the original BlackJack and on the 3125 runs awesome. I basically think of WM6 as Vista for phone…lots of hype and eyecandy but nothing revolutionary.

Now, some of you might recall this article about what was thought to be the new BlackJack. Well, whoever reported that was really wrong. No touchscreen, or navigational d-pad. So, here’s a list of improvements over the original BJ:

• “Improved” keyboard
• It will come in an additional color and feel; wine and leathery
• Slightly better 2.0 mp camera (as opposed to a 1.3)
• Built-in GPS
• A Jog Dial (instead of the nav-pad, which kinda-sorta feels smallish)
• Improved battery life.

Is this something to get exited about? Well, I’ll probably get it, now that I gave the Tilt a spin felt disappointed (but that’s another story). I’m due for an upgrade and the extended battery life + GPS is something that might make it worth the upgrade.

Jason Chen from Gizmodo says:

The things we noticed: it’s thin like the original, and small enough to feel the same in your pocket as non-smartphones. The OS is Windows Mobile 6, which improves greatly on the original’s WM5, and is definitely speedy.

And he concludes with

“So far the BlackJack II is a decent, if similar, follow-up to the original.”

More pictures? Sure!

Chris from Engadget Mobile says:

From our brief impression, the new keyboard seems like a key improvement over the BlackJack’s testy pad, there’s a larger battery in store (no more high capacity kit needed for a full day of use), and the jog wheel, glossy shell, and choice of colors all give it a softer, more consumer-friendly look.

Whenever I get my dirty paws on this device, I’ll report on it. Rumor has it that it’ll come out sometime at the end of the year, for around $150 (but we all now at&t like to drag out launches for eternities, so don’t hold your breath).

(picture source: Engadget Mobile)

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