Despite previous rumors marking the BlackBerry Curve 8530 as the "Curve2," it appears that Verizon opted to keep it as-is. A welcome addition to the carrier's hoiday lineup, the 8530 was announced this morning, and is slated to replace the aging Curve 8330. The 8530 contains a 320 x 240 display, EVDO, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 2.0-megapixel camera, and RIM's new trackpad solution. Launching in "Black" and "Smoky Violet," the Curve 8530 will land on November 20th for $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and new two-year customer agreement.
VERIZON WIRELESS INTRODUCES THE BLACKBERRY CURVE 8530 SMARTPHONE
New Smartphone Features 3G Connectivity, Built-In Wi-Fi and GPS, Touch-Sensitive Trackpad and Dedicated Media Keys
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and WATERLOO, Ontario – Verizon Wireless and Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today introduced the BlackBerry® Curve™ 8530 smartphone, an exciting new addition to the BlackBerry Curve series of smartphones. The slim BlackBerry Curve 8530 smartphone gives customers access to Verizon Wireless’ 3G network, built-in GPS and Wi-Fi capabilities, as well as easy access to music, games and other mobile apps for entertainment on the go.
Available colors: Black and Smoky Violet
Key features:
- Easy-to-use, highly tactile, full QWERTY keyboard and touch-sensitive trackpad for reliable, responsive typing and navigation
- 256 MB flash memory and 528 MHz next generation processor for enhanced performance
- Supports voice-activated dialing and Bluetooth® (version 2.1), with support for hands-free headsets, car kits, stereo headsets and other Bluetooth peripherals
- 3G-enabled (EV-DO)
- Built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
- GPS with support for location-based applications, including geotagging pictures and Verizon Wireless’ VZ NavigatorSM service
- 2.0 megapixel digital camera with zoom and video recording*
- Advanced media player for music, pictures and videos, with dedicated media keys and a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack, plus BlackBerry® Media Sync, which makes it easy to quickly sync music from your computer to the smartphone**
- Access to BlackBerry App World™, featuring a broad and growing catalog of third-party mobile applications developed specifically for BlackBerry® smartphones. Categories include games, entertainment, social networking and sharing, news and weather, productivity and much more
- Access to e-mail, messaging (IM, SMS, MMS) and popular social networking sites (including Facebook and MySpace)
- Rich multimedia capabilities, including dedicated media keys smoothly integrated along the top of the handset, giving customers an easy, convenient way to control their music and video
- Support for BlackBerry services with access to up to 10 supported e-mail accounts, including most popular ISP e-mail accounts such as Yahoo!®, Windows Live™ Hotmail®, AOL® and Gmail, and BlackBerry® Enterprise Server support, which provides advanced security and IT administration features for corporate deployments
- Expandable memory via hot swappable microSD™/SDHC memory card slot, supporting up to 16 GB cards today and expected to support next generation 32 GB cards when available
Pricing and availability:
- The BlackBerry Curve 8530 smartphone is expected to be available from Verizon Wireless beginning Nov. 20 for $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement on a voice plan with an Email and Web feature or an Email and Web for BlackBerry plan. Customers will receive the mail-in rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted. Data plans for the BlackBerry Curve 8530 smartphone begin at $29.99 when added to any Nationwide voice plan.
- For information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.
* Video recording requires microSD card, sold separately
** Certain music files may not be supported, including files that contain digital rights management technologies
