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First look: BlackBerry Curve 9300 images!

by Kevin Michaluk on 2 Jun 2010 11:53 AM
159
 

First look at the next generation of low-cost BlackBerry Curve, the 9300...

** images removed per request ** 

Back on April 8th we outted a new BlackBerry device model by finding it's UAProf xml document up on BlackBerry's website, and now we've got the first solid photos of it here for you to enjoy. What you're looking at (more images below) is the next-generation of the BlackBerry Curve 8520/8530, the BlackBerry Curve 9300 (and we're sure a Curve 9330 CDMA variation is in the works too).

As you can tell from the photos and from what we gathered previously from the UAProf doc, the BlackBerry Curve 9300 is really a refresh to the 8500 series, adding 3G and the WiFi n standard on top of the existing 8500's specs (9300 retains the lower res 320x240 display). While we just received the photos today on the 'ole CrackBerry tip line, we're not totally sure on how new/old the hardware/software being displayed actually is. This unit is showing off OS 5.0 (while leaked photos of the 9800 and 9670 have been running BlackBerry 6) and only 256MB of memory vs. the 512MB newer devices are getting. I would **hope** by the time the Curve 9300s hit the market that they'd be running BlackBerry 6 and 512MB of memory, though it is possible that in a plan to further differentiate the lower end of the BlackBerry lineup from the higher end that RIM would keep the Curve platform on BlackBerry 5.0 and the 256MB of memory for the time being. You can just taste this one coming to AT&T and being promoted with their new $15/mo. data plans (especially if they leave WebKit off of it which will make it that much easier to stay under 200MB of data usage). We'll just have to wait and see how this one pans out. More photos below!  

Filed Under: News & Rumors, Devices; Tags: BlackBerry Curve 9300, exclusive, kepler, prerelease hardware
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159 Comments

Posted by KurtisBertolami Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

I'm an 8900 user from the very beginning, and I think this Curve is definitely looking more womanly than ever. I'd be very disappointed to see this released without 6

 
 
Posted by SeeBeeBerry Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

I'm a guy
Interesting you should say that. I'm a BB newbie and wanted to trade my Tour for a Curve 8530 for the WiFi that's missing from the Tour. The guy at the Sprint store talk me out of it without saying the Curve is womanly.

 
 
Posted by jetman1287 Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

This is BARELY different from the 8500 series out today. RIM is clearly not listening and stuck in the past. We don't need another iteration of every phone. We need better SOFTWARE. ALL of their focus should be on improving the OS. Get 6.0 out as fast as possible and work on the damaged relationship with app developers.

Is anyone else as disgusted as I am to see this? Android looking better and better each day...

 
 
Posted by google123 Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

once again, RIM has raided their parts bins to create a "new" device made of old lame parts.

 
 
Posted by shankeith Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

this is geared as a low cost solution for bulk buy for companies

 
 
Posted by jetman1287 Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

And the 85XX series is not???

 
 
Posted by garment69 Thursday, Jun 03, 2010 615 days ago

That seems to be thier corporate direction. Low end data plans and low end phones. Im sure they will sell a ton of them, until they have destroyed the brand.

 
 
Posted by 312 Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

I wonder if this is what Verizon Wireless will be offering soon on PrePay.............................

 
 
Posted by bizzario Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Is the screen still 320x240?

I love the front top of the phone..

 
 
Posted by bighap Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Always good to see new devices. Great pics too.

 
 
Posted by mi_canuck Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

True Curve successor... 85XX series is a joke in comparison!

 
 
Posted by rayman21186 Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

How is my 8530 a joke when it looks and specs almost identical to this new one??? The only new things are wireless N and 3g??? Sounds like a stupid decision to me. If they don't up the memory to 512mb, and change the screen resolution, there would be ZERO reason for me or anyone else with an 8530 to upgrade...

 
 
Posted by codemaker Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

This is basically a qwerty version of the pearl 3g. I bet these are super cheap for RIM to build making them a very high margin device for RIM and the carriers. Thus the carriers will push them more and RIM will sell more. It's just like Nintendo did with the Wii, it's not about the graphics, it's about the games and how much it costs to build the device. For RIM, it's not about the specs, it's about the blackberry experience.

 
 
Posted by graphicspro Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Doesn't the 9100 have the same specs as the 9700 minus screen and battery? At least if you compare them on www.blackberry.com they look nearly equivalent. A lot closer than between the 9100 and 9300 as you state.

 
 
Posted by codemaker Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Well the tour and the 9700 have the same specs minus wifi and the trackpad by that reasoning, but that isn't saying a lot. The pearl 3G is a high volume, low priced device and this 9300 will fall in the same category. Spec-wise the pearl 3g is a better device (higher dpi screen, better camera), but as far as market positioning goes, these two devices will serve similar market segments.

 
 
Posted by glinc Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Exactly. RIM's way of doing business is a joke lately. They keep on releasing new phones which add very little new features just to rip people's money.

I predict RIM will sink within the upcoming years.

 
 
Posted by codemaker Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

What features does RIM need to add? They have all the features a phone is supposed to have. Camera? got that, browser? got that, wifi? got that, apps? got those, facebook? got that, email? got that, twitter? got that, instant messaging? got that, oh and it makes phones calls to.

Sure it doesn't have a front facing camera, a high resolution display, or HDMI out, which would be cool, but is there significant demand for those features in the market segment this device is supposed to serve? Probably not.

You or me would love to see a blackberry with 4G, a front facing camera for video calling, and the new webkit browser (with tabbed browsing), but we only form a small sliver of the larger mobile phone market. That larger market is where RIM sees its profits coming from.

 
 
Posted by jroelofs Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Looks slick.. although not much different than any other Blackberry that has came out in the last year...

 
 
Posted by WillieLee Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

RIM has three distinct form factors with a fourth on the way. How many are they supposed to have? Apple has one and most Android manufacturers stop at two.

 
 
Posted by oldforum Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Never had a curve but this one is sexy!

 
 
Posted by micahrodriguez7 Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

The phone looks nice and are those touchscreen like buttons? Blackberry is doing a good job with Curves and low end BB's what's up with us high end BB users ehh ehh

 
 
Posted by robnhl Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Those buttons are the first thing I noticed. Could this be a touch screen hybrid?

 
 
Posted by shabbs Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Touch screen buttons? What the hell are you guys looking at? Those icons on the bottom are the stock theme.

*mind has been boggled*

 
 
Posted by mi_canuck Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

It's even got the original 83XX series' chin plate! cool!

 
 
Posted by 364ll Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Any ideas ?
& is that a silver chrome ?

And what is the difference between the 8500 series ?! Apart from the 3G & chrome ?!

 
 
Posted by ericsmcdonald Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

the CDMA version comes with GSM capabilities. I love love love the Curve keypad, best keypad out of all the berries IMO, but I need the GSM capabilities.

 
 
Posted by GoldBerryRocker Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

but the back look like the other curve, well it's a sexy upgrade and I know alot of people who wants a 3g curve cause they love the curve's keyboard(I do also, but has a 9700 and fell in LOVE) and even if it don't get 6.0, they should keep pushing 5.0, making it the better. I don't mind 5.0, 5.0 could be for business and 6.0 could be for consumers, more media friendly.Either way, BlackBerry just has more class then the other phones(iPhone does also :)

 
 
Posted by aris20 Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

i dont really see much visual difference, between this one and 8500 series, and correct me if im wrong but what MOST ppl like are the visual changes, and THENNNN the other changes like 3G, or better camera and things like that

 
 
Posted by nolan.b Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Having been an ower of the 83XX "back in the day", this is quite the refreshing look to it for sure. Something about the 85XX series never really excited me, this 9300 seems to be a more appropriate next generation 83XX.

3g and wifi...slick. Nice front bezel action too. Sounds like a decent deal for an expected "lower-end" priced RIM job.

 
 
Posted by shacknews Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

This looks damn ugly because of the keyboard layout and the over sized chrome bezzel.

You crack smokers hahaha

 
 
Posted by Pearl9100 Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

looks like garbage to me. ill stick with the pearl or bold or an android phone

 
 
Posted by rayman21186 Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Headed to Android myself next time I upgrade!

 
 
Posted by tdot122 Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

i think i am losing my crackberry addiction... might be headed to android

 
 
Posted by WillieLee Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

It's a phone manufacturer, not a girlfriend. You don't have to announce the break-up.

 
 
Posted by sweetlittlehugs Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Lol, agreed!

 
 
Posted by vabbgeek Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Lol for real!!

 
 
Posted by optimus Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

I'll stick with my EVO 4G..

No Thanks RIM ;)

 
 
Posted by Pearl9100 Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

in the same boat as you

 
 
Posted by 312 Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Why are you losers still here then??

 
 
Posted by ath20wj Thursday, Jun 03, 2010 615 days ago

yeah... why r u still here?

 
 
Posted by MarketRide Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

How's that battery life working out?

 
 
Posted by BerryGuy25 Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Looks like RIM hasn't learned anything. Ignorance truly is bliss...

 
 
Posted by MsRandall Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

RIM needs to stop cookie cutting model releases and improve on apps and customer integration stuff. Truly the 9300 looks like a more expensive chrome added 8530...Oh well if we buy it why be CREATIVE???

 
 
Posted by shacknews Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

LOL haha yeah, they keep releasing the same garbage all the time with different numbers attached.

WTF is this?

Ive never seen such lazzyness to improve from a company before.

They keep making it worse and worse. 9800 Slider aswell, so damn ugly.

Seriously?

 
 
Posted by jennberton Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

I knw a lot of ppl that aren't to happy that the 8500 series don't have flash which is very important, so I hope since this is an upgrade to the 8500 series, it @ least comes with flash!!

 
 
Posted by webmastir Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

it doesn't. no flash.

 
 
Posted by XWolf Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

As far as I can tell from info on Crackberry and other reputable sites Adobe will release flash for 5.0 in the near future. I suspect that initially they will release it as a stand alone plugin - as per how they do with PCs. This would make most sense for the quickest distribution, which is what they need to counter Apple's statement that the world doesn't need Flash.

 
 
Posted by CeluGeek Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

I think they ment a flash for the camera.

 
 
Posted by denaro_2001 Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

u right dude :))

 
 
Posted by jmhphr Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010 616 days ago

Why is that everytime RIM adds wifi and/or 3g to a phone they think they've really done something? It's getting old...why don't they just say hey, we're RIM and we make portable email writers?

 
 
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