The BlackBerry Curve 9380 is RIM’s first ever-released Curve with a touchscreen. The Curve lineup is usually an expression of RIM’s understanding for a budget phone and this one supposedly, doesn’t make a difference. It should attract customers with a lower entry price while offering the full BB OS 7 experience.
The Curve brand has been hugely successful for RIM, especially the 8520 mega-hit; these were the first BlackBerries that appealed to the masses on a budget, allowing the everyman a taste of BBM and the famed BlackBerry keyboard. Alongside the Curve 9360, this is RIM's take on a modern budget smartphone. As you've probably noticed, the 9380 doesn't have a keyboard, perhaps the biggest BlackBerry selling point. That doesn't spell doom for RIM though, as full touch phones are obviously the way the market is heading. RIM are no strangers to full touch phones, and the ones preceding, such as the Storm, haven't been popular to say the least.
But now with the arrival of BlackBerry OS 7 and its user friendly tweaks on this budget touchscreen phone with the Curve branding behind it, could the Curve 9380 be the first touchscreen-only hit for RIM. BlackBerry became a household name thanks to their super efficient messaging skills and their stellar keyboards. However, the market evolves at a blistering pace, and it seems that button-less is the way forward. To keep up, RIM have recognised that full touchscreen phones are now the most popular, so, quite reluctantly I suspect, there are a few BlackBerry handsets that have ditched the keyboard. The 9380 is the first from BlackBerry that targets the budget end of the smartphone spectrum, currently floating around for £200 or so. Has RIM been able to build a smartphone that is good enough without the qwerty keyboard, that is also competitive in this fiercely competitive section of the mobile market? Read on to find out. Taruh Widget disini (kiri)
