Phew, that was a close call. For a second we were all worried RIM was about to dive straight into the deep end without any hope of floating back up to the surface, am I right? Well fear not because RIM’s saving day has arrived. The company is announcing the BlackBerry Curve 9310 for Verizon Wireless. It has the same notorious design as most BlackBerrys before it and most of the same specs too. Innovating is for jerks anyway.
The Curve 9310 has the same QWERTY keyboard that loyal BlackBerry users have cherished for years now and it runs on BlackBerry OS 7.1. There’s a 3.2MP camera on the back and a microSD card slot on the side to expand the built-in storage with up to an extra 32GB. The device comes with VZ Navigator, Parental Controls, dedicated Facebook and Twitter apps, and a Social Feeds app which ties in both social networks. RIM is a bit shy giving out the rest of the specifications.
To be fair, RIM obviously was not aiming for a complete turnaround with this phone. The vendor describes it as a user-friendly handset “ready to help customers make the move from a basic phone to a smartphone.” The problem is at this point, everything RIM ships should be with the attempt to get back on track and the Curve 9310 is just another all-too familiar BlackBerry.
If however you’re still a BlackBerry advocate, pricing isn’t too bad for the handset. It’s exclusive to Verizon Wireless for $49.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a two-year contract and it goes on sale July 12th.