BlackBerry Curve (RIM BlackBerry 8300)

Discontinued
7th May 2007

At first glance the BlackBerry Curve (also called the BlackBerry 8300) looks very much like the new BlackBerry 8800, but the Curve is a device aimed more at consumers and in many ways is more like the BlackBerry Pearl.

The BlackBerry Curve is a quad-band GSM device with GPRS and EDGE data (but no 3G). On the front on the 8300 is a large and very bright 320x240 pixel display, QWERTY keyboard and a mini trackball. Flip the Curve over and you can see a 2 megapixel digital camera. The BlackBerry Curve also has 64MB of internal memory (expandable via microSD cards) and a multimedia player, web browser, .

It is primarily a messaging phone, and the BlackBerry 8300 supports standard Internet protocols, can support a corporate BlackBerry server or may be used with a carrier-based "push email" solution where available.

At just 111 grams in weight, the BlackBerry Curve 8300 is pretty light for a messaging smartphone of this type. It's also quite a bit more compact that the 8800 model.

There's no GPS on the Curve (unlike the 8800) but that's still a pretty unusual feature to find in a handset these days. It can be used with a Bluetooth-enabled GPS receiver though, and in that case you can use the BlackBerry Maps application found on the 8800.

Talktime is four hours, which isn't a huge amount but then the large screen and relative lightweight of the 8300 come at a price. Standby time is 17 days - and this is closer to the sort of figure you'll see if you use the BlackBerry Curve only for sending email messages.

Most BlackBerry purists will balk at the inclusion of a camera - but BlackBerry hope to make inroads into the consumer market with this device.. although it must be pointed out that the Pearl is widely used in corporate customers and also features a camera.

The BlackBerry Curve 8300 will be available from May 2007 on Vodafone and O2 in the UK, and later on other carriers around the world.

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