The BlackBerry Curve 8980 was spotted briefly over the summer on its way to China Mobile, and today it’s gone official. It follows up on the 8910 by offering Wi-Fi, but keeping the HVGA display, 3.2 megapixel camera, and general looks.
There’s no 3G either, but that’ll change with another device coming out soon: the Bold 9788 (pictured above), RIM’s first TD-SCDMA BlackBerry. China has their own 3G standard over there, so requires a fair bit of specialized work. Aside from running on China Mobile’s TD-SCDMA network (which will work in Taiwan too), we only really know that it runs OS 6, like the 9780 elsewhere in the world. It’s probably safe to assume the rest of the specs, like 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, 2.4-inch HVGA display, 624 MHz processor and 512 MB of RAM are the same too.
RIM’s made it abundantly clear that they’re interested in selling internationally, and supporting China’s 3G standards is something of a necessity if they want in on the world’s biggest market. There’s also the issue of addressing governmental security concerns, but it seems like RIM has that pretty much under control.
For a closer look at the Curve 8980, head over to BlackBerry China’s information page.