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Back when the new year turned, I had a few question for Research In Motion in 2008. Among them was the release of the BlackBerry Curve for CDMA providers. Friends, Romans, countrymen, that day is fast approaching. An inside gal at a CDMA provider tells me that not only is the device readying for release, but they’ve got the test model. So that means we’ve got a description of what’s to come. I’m working on getting the unit away for an evening so I can nab some pics for you. A description of the device’s functions after the jump.
Even though I have no complaints about the weight of my 8830, the Curve — the 8330 — is a bit lighter. That’s because it’s composed of plastic and rubber. So the trade off here is weight for durability. I’d suggest getting some kind of case if you’re going to tote it around in your pocket.
As far as appearance, it’s almost identical to the 8830. It’s slightly shorter top to bottom, and is black rather than silver, likely to differentiate the two. The keyboard on the Curve doesn’t light up, but that’s no big deal. It’s not like I can really read the keys on my 8830 when they’re lit up in the dark (the blue backlight on them kinda sucks).
Like with the 8830, there’s a light sensor which dims the screen when you’ve got ample light. Love that feature. The screen is also very readable in sunlight, a feature I’m sure more than a few enjoy.
It definitely runs on 1XEV, but my source isn’t sure what revision that’s going to be.
Battery life is rather impressive. With radio and Bluetooth off, she ran it for about three straight hours and only killed 10 percent of the battery. This is rather nice, since extended play with my 8830 usually means finding a charger ASAP.
And yes, there’s a camera, which is a big feature for a lot of users. It features 5x zoom, and introduces “viewfinder mode.” In this, you’ll be able to get rid of the user information under the viewfinder, so it’s full screen. Pics can be taken with resolutions of 1600 x 1200, 1024 x 768, and 640 x 480.
So yeah, I’m just a little pumped for this. A lot a little. There is no definite release date, nor is there a projected price. I would expect that we’d see this sometime in the second quarter, though. And, as I said, pictures will be coming as soon as humanly possible.
Update: As always, the comments pick up on something I missed. Talked to my source, and yes, it will include GPS.
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Filed under : BlackBerry Scoops 22 Comments
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22 Comments ↓
GPS!?!?
Whoops! Left that one out. Post is updated. Thanks, Ben.
CDMA provider? Is this Sprint or Verizon?
@Brian:
If I had to guess… I’d say both. Typically (correct me if I’m wrong guys) Verizon get’s them first or about the same time as Sprint…
@ Ben,I hope so. Are we sure that the Curve will be Black, instead of the whitish-silver like the 8130 and 8830? I hope it won’t be whitish-silver.
Ant word on Qchat for the Sprint version??
Are we talking 1st or 2nd quarter??
The carrier will remain a mystery. But this should probably drop early 2nd quarter. This is just an estimate given the timing of the test model.
Sprint is supposedly releasing this on April 17th but they are pushing for a late March release, also in the third quarter, they’re releasing another Curve but with QChat and a 3 Megapixel Camera.
RBS, where did you see an actual release date for the Sprint Curve?
When will the curve be released for Verizon customers?
Does anyone know if Sprint will be taking pre-orders prior to their release date? I think people will be standing in line for this one!
You said it looks similar to the 8830, does that mean it will have the same crappy keyboard the 8830 has? If that’s the case I will be quite disappointed….
Sorry, Mike. I addressed this on another forum, and I’ll tackle it here, too. The keyboard is pretty much exactly like that of the GSM Curve. The buttons are more spaced out than on the 8830.
Question: Why does everyone hate the 8830’s keyboard. I upgraded to it two weeks ago, and after a day or so I’m fine with the keyboard.
Can you get a quick snapshot of the phone and post to your blog?
Will it be a worldphone?
[...] bookending the week with some new innovations by Research In Motion. On Monday, I spoke of the impending CDMA Curve. Oh, and don’t think that one is going away. You’ll see more on that one soon. Now [...]
[...] to our site. You may want to subscribe to the feed or follow us on Twitter.Well, I promised them a week ago. Finally, fellow geekers, I have brought you pictures of the impending CDMA Curve. I’ll start [...]
Do we have an ETA for Sprint?
I need a phone and well rubber bands are holding the existing one together.
sprint curve- April 17th is the tentative launch but they are pushing for late March.
3rd quarter will be the release of the q chat curve with 3 Meg camera also.
[...] We seem to have the same rumors being repeated here that the folks at BBGeeks are repeating. BlackBerry Curve, coming soon to CDMA | BB Geeks Does this mean the rumor has gone full circle now and we’re citing each other as the source? I [...]
is a bb curve coming for verizon wireless.
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