BlackBerry Curve, coming soon to CDMA

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.

About the Author

Joe Pawlikowski is the Senior Editor at MobileMoo.com and has been covering the mobile industry full time since 2007. When he's not writing about the tech scene, he can be found discussing his personal love - baseball (and more specifically the New York Yankees) as well as writing on his personal blog.