MANILA – Research in Motion (RIM) and Globe Telecom announced last May 22 announced the launch of RIM’s “latest and most affordable” Blackberry smartphones in the Philippines, the Curve 9220 and the 9320.
Both phones run the Blackberry 7.1 OS and feature social-centric apps that allow users in the country to stay connected to their favorite social networking services such as Twitter and Facebook.
According to Hastings Singh, RIM’s Managing Director for South Asia, “These new Blackberry Curve smartphones are a great choice for customers who are upgrading to a smartphone for the first time as well as existing Curve customers who are looking for a step up in speed and functionality.”
For his part, Peter Bithos, Senior Advisor for Consumer Business at Globe said the telecommunications giant is “very excited” to partner with RIM as the first telco to bring both phones to the country.
He assured postpaid subscribers of the company of a “worry-free experience with the Globe Guarantee of no billshock, 24/7 exclusive access to customer service channels, and a stronger and more reliable network nationwide.”
Features and specs
The new Curve models feature a new, dedicated BBM key, a handy button for addicts of RIM’s popular social network.
Included in both phones are the Facebook and Twitter apps for Blackberry, as well as Social Feeds 2.0, which allow users to post updates to multiple social applications simultaneously and capture updates from various news sources via RSS.
Both phones share the following specs:
Dimensions: 109 x 60 x 12.7 mm
Keyboard: Narrow QWERTY
Display: 2.44 inches, 320 x 240 pixels (164 ppi piexel density)
External Memory: microSD, up to 32GB
Internal Memory: 521MB ROM, 512 MB RAM
WLAN: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth: v2.1 with A2DP
USB: microUSB v2.0
Audio Formats: MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAC/Flac
Video Formats: MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV
Battery: 432 h on standby, up to 7h talk time
Meanwhile, the 9220 runs only on 2G data networks (not 3G), has only a 2.0MP camera that takes 1600x1200 pixel photos, has 5x digital zoom, runs for 28 hours during music playback, and weighs 102 g.
On the other hand, the 9320 supports 3G, has a 3.15MP camera that takes 2048x1536 pixel photos, has a LED flash, allows only 4x of digital zoom, has GPS allowing geo-tagging of photos, runs for 30 hours during music playback, and weighs 103 g.
The latter model also comes with a Mobile Hotspot feature that allows customers to share their data connection with up to 5 Wi-Fi enabled devices such as as laptops and tablets.
Pricing and availability
Both smartphones launched were made available starting May 23, a day after they were launched, from Globe under its My Super Plan that allows users to design their own postpaid subscription based on their choice of consumable monthly amount, freebies, add-ons and devices.
Among the freebies that can be chosen under the said plan are:
- Free 10 minutes of calls and 200 SMS to Globe and and TM;
- Free 5 minutes of calls and 25 SMS to other networks;
- Free International Calls and Text to 10 destinations;
- Free 3 hours of mobile surfing; and
- Unlimited calls and Text to one Globe or TM number
The Curve 9220 is available with Globe My Super Plan 499 plus an additional P99 BB Chat subscription. The P499 is consumable, includes unlimited use of the popular Blackberry Messenger (BBM), and allows subscribers to choose two of the freebies listed above from A to D.
Meanwhile, the Curve 9320 is free with Plan 999. The said plan includes unlimited internet surfing, BBM, Twitter, Facebook and e-mail, has P400 consumable credits and a choice of one freebie from A to C and E.
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