Waterloo, Ontario – Research In
Motion is bringing its new BlackBerry 7 OS to its Curve series following
on the step-up Bold and Torch series, but the company is
not bringing 1GHz processors and touchscreens to the new Curves as it did with
the Bold and Torch phones.
Curve is positioned as an
affordable series targeted to consumers who want to step up from a feature
phone or their current Curve. All three new models feature processor upgraded
to 800MHz, more memory, and better displays compared to their predecessors.
Three new Curve phones, all
banded for U.S. 3G networks and all with hard QWERTY keyboard, include the
Curve 9350, which will be available in dual-band (800/900MHz) and tri-band
(800/1900/AWS) versions for CDMA EV-DO Rev. A networks. The 9360 will be
available for U.S. GSM/W-CDMA/HSPA networks. And the 9370 is destined for a
U.S. 800/1900MHz CDMA Rev. A carrier but will operate internationally in
overseas markets because of its quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE radio.
RIM didn’t mention which U.S.
carriers would offer the phones, but Sprint announced Sept. 9 availability of
the Curve 9350 at $79.99 with included 2GB memory card on top of the embedded
512MB memory capacity.
RIM said the trio would be
available in Canada this month and from other carriers around the world
beginning in September.
Other than the cellular
technologies and bands they support, all three phones carry most of the same
specifications, including 2.44-inch HVGA display, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, assisted
GPS, optical trackpad, 5-megapixel camera, flash, image stabilization, face
detection, digital zoom, and VGA video recording. The 9370 features 1GB of
onboard memory, and the other two feature 512MB of onboard memory. All three
feature microSD/SDHC slot supporting 32GB cards. The 9350 and 9370 also support
Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology to place cellular calls over Wi-Fi.
The trio’s
delivers faster, more fluid web browsing compared to previous
BlackBerry OSs and adds voice-activated universal search, HTML5 for gaming and
video, a pre-loaded premium version of Documents To Go, the latest version of
BlackBerry Messenger, and built-in support for NFC (Near Field Communications),
which enables users to swipe their phone to pay for purchases or read SmartPoster tags.
