Research In Motion (RIM) today announced the BlackBerry Curve 9320, an entry-level smartphone coming packed with social features. The BlackBerry Curve 9320 features a dedicated BBM key, bringing RIM's mobile social network up in an instant, as well as a keyboard for quick typing. It includes a built-in FM radio and has been designed to allow both 3G connectivity and long battery life. According to RIM, users can get up to 7 hours of talk time or up to 30 hours of FM radio listening or music playback with headphones.



Preloaded apps for Facebook and Twitter offer one-click communications. The new Social Feeds 2.0 app is also allowing users to post updates to multiple social networks simultaneously and capture updates from news sources (RSS), social apps and instant messaging apps all in one consolidated view. The integrated camera includes a flash and supports video recording, and pictures can be tagged with their location thanks to the smartphone's built-in GPS.

The BlackBerry Curve 9320 comes with the new BlackBerry 7.1 OS, which supports features such as Mobile Hotspot and Wi-Fi calling where available. Parental Controls is a new, on-device feature that provides parents and guardians with simple options to help protect children by restricting access to specific functions, features and applications.

RIM hasn't provided a detailed timeline for availability and expected pricing. If it lands at AT&T and T-Mobile, it will probably cost around $50 with a service plan.

Specifiations

- qVGA 320x240 resolution
- 164 ppi
- Transmissive TFT LCD
- 2.44" (measured diagonally)

- Height 4.29 in / 109 mm
- Width 2.36 in / 60 mm
- Depth 0.5 in / 12.7 mm
- Weight 3.63 oz / 103 g

- Bluetooth headset capable
- Integrated hands-free speakerphone
- 3.5 mm stereo headset capable

- 802.11 b/g/n enabled
- WPA/WPA2 Personal and Enterprise
- Cisco CCX certification
- Wi-Fi access to BlackBerry Enterprise Server
- Wi-Fi access to BlackBerry Internet Bundle
- Direct IP web browsing over Wi-Fi

- 1450 mAh removable/rechargeable lithium-ion battery (J-S1)
- Talk time: up to 7 hours
- Standby time: up to 18 days
Music playback time: up to 30 hours (with headset usage)

- 3.2 MP camera
- Flash
- Video recording
- 4X digital zoom
- Image stabilization
- Extended depth of field
- Geotagging