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!