BlackBerry Curve 9320 Focuses On Social Media

BlackBerry maker RIM on 9 May introduced a new smartphone for sociable consumers, the BlackBerry Curve 9320, a week after its BlackBerry World 2012 show.

RIM showed off the phone to time with the CTIA Wireless 2012 event in New Orleans this week, which has focused on smartphones, tablets and other gadgets.

One-thumb operation

In a growing market of devices requiring all 10 fingers and oversized pockets, the Curve 9320 is relatively small and is designed for one-thumb operation. It measures 4.29 by 2.36 by 0.5 inches, weighs 3.6 ounces and pairs a backlit QWERTY RIM keyboard with an optical keypad and a 2.44-inch (on the diagonal) Colour Display.

It features a dedicated BlackBerry Messaging (BBM) shortcut key, comes with Twitter and Facebook preloaded, and builds BBM directly into these popular networking apps.

Additionally, it comes loaded with a new Social Feeds 2.0 app that lets users post updates to multiple feeds simultaneously. On the user’s end, it can also tie together multiple feeds into a single view.

There’s a built-in FM radio and what is said to be the longest-lasting of any Curve smartphone, providing seven hours of talk time, 18 days of standby time and 30 hours of FM radio listening or music playback.

The device includes a 2-megapixel camera with video, five-times zoom and geo-tagging – since GPS is also on board – plus support for more than two dozen audio, video and photo formats.

There’s 512MB of memory and a microSD slot for adding 32GB more. The Curve 9320 runs the BlackBerry 7.1 operating system, which means voice-activated universal search is included, as well as Wi-Fi Hotspot support, enabling up to five other devices to hop online.

BlackBerry 10 on the way

RIM’s newest platform, BlackBerry 10, won’t arrive until later this year, and until then, the company’s plan, new chief executive Thorsten Heins explained during RIM’s March 29 earnings call, is to move as many BB 7 devices as possible with offerings such as the Curve 9320.

In Orlando, Heins showed off an early version of the Dev Alpha, the newest BlackBerry handset, but more importantly, the BlackBerry 10 platform it runs on. Heins also worked to convey RIM’s tightened focus.

While in the past this topic has led to reports that RIM is getting out of the consumer game, Heins says that isn’t the case. RIM is simply becoming trimmer and more efficient, and trying to be better about using partners to address areas that aren’t part of its core business. When RIM talks to customers about what they love about their BlackBerry phones, said Heins, it comes down to the phone’s ability to help them succeed, whatever their definition of success.

While RIM’s market share is nose-diving, and the company’s fortune is in question, Heins told BlackBerry World attendees during his keynote, “I’m proud to be part of a company… that helps people to achieve success on a daily basis.”

Pricing and availability of the Curve 9320 will be determined by RIM’s carrier partners.

How much do you know about smartphones? Take our quiz.