BlackBerry 8900 gets pre-release hands-on review

The codenamed BlackBerry Javelin has been spinning around the rumour mill for more than four months now, and plenty of info has made the rounds, revealing that it’ll be packing a 3.2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, quad-band EDGE, and a 480×360 screen akin to the BlackBerry Bold’s 480×320, although its processor is just a notch slower (512Mhz vs. 624 MHz). While it might be fitting into the same generation as the Bold, the Javelin is truly the spiritual successor to RIM’s BlackBerry Curve lineup, primarily by virtue of slim form factor and a nicely-spaced keypad. This is also RIM’s second device making the jump to a microUSB slot (after the Flip Pearl is released this fall), and a lot of the side keys jumped over to the right side. Quite a bit of rearranging could take some acclimatizing for long-time BlackBerry users.

In terms of impressions, the keypad seems to have borrowed more of its design from the old 8700 series than the newer 8300 series, and the external speaker is notably lacking when compared to the Bold. New features includes a lock button tucked away under the casing, a new batter door latch, and a Safe Mode built into OS 4.6.1 for when you’re having issues booting up your device. All-in-all, it looks like a fine successor to the BlackBerry Curve, but I’m left to wonder if the trusty ol’ 8300 series will suffer the same fate as the 8800 lineup did when the Bold came into town…

Can’t wait? We’re holding out for a BlackBerry 8900 release around November or December on Rogers and T-Mobile.

[via CB]