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Telus Mobility recently launched the Curve 8530 in two colors red and silver, but really not to much hype around this launch from the public, probably because the launches from Rogers wireless and Bell Mobility were very recent.
There have been a few changes in this device over the Curve 8330 many of which make this device a nice addition to the BlackBerry family.
Specs and Features
- BlackBerry Push Technology
- Camera: 2.0MP for picture and video capture with 5X digital zoom
- 256MB Flash Memoy
- MicroSD Memory Card Slat: Supports cards up to 32GB
- Full QWERTY keyboard and optical trackpad navigation
- External multimedia controls
- Network: CDMA Dual Band 800/1900 MHz with Rev. 0 EVDO
- Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
- Internal GPS
- Display: 320 x 240 pixel display
- Bluetooth 2.1 profile
- Dimensions: 4.29″ x 2.36″ x 0.55″
Hardware
The BlackBerry Curve 8530 closely resembles the Curve 8330 is looks but also has a few hints to this generation of BlackBerry smart phones. On the curve we have the nice new trackpad with brings easy uninterrupted use of the pointing device, the trackpad is a nice addition over the trackball and if you have gotten a chance to try out a device that utilizes this new technology 1 suggest you get to your nearest cellular provider and give it a go. This device has the nice rubberized convenience keys found on many new BlackBerrys, There are 4 keys the 2 are application keys to launch things like voice dialing and the camera (which is a 2 mega pixel no flash camera) the other two are volume up and down. With more and more people using their BlackBerrys for more than just messaging its nice to see RIM including media convenience keys for things like play stop and rewind.
Rim has given you a nice allocation of application memory on 8530, on device memory has been jacked up to 256 mb of application memory. After the OS install you get about 114 mb of usable memory. So no more lags!
The screen on this phone is a lower resolution to the Tour or Bold but it is still sharp, with the rich colors that are produced by this display it looks like its big brother the tour, though you can still see a little pixilation on the text. With this devices screen there are still noticeable keys that show it is a lower end screen but it doesn’t look horrible.
Software
The Curve comes pre loaded with operating system 5.0 which brings nice things like threaded SMS and a new boot load screen. On this version of 5.0 the boot time was still about two minutes, though this is much faster than the Tour it still feels way to long for a device to boot.
On this OS you get the usual games like brick breaker and word mole, so not many games but with App World pre installed there are hundreds of games at your disposal.
In The Box
In the box there are the usually accessories like travel charger, USB cable manual, BlackBerry desktop manager software, also included is a two gig micro SD memory card.
Conclusion
I have been using the curve 8530 as my daily driver for about a week and I am impressed, through it is categorized as an entry level BlackBerry it sure has features that make it feel like a premium device. The OS that is pre loaded is a solid OS that brings you lag free operation with no memory leaks. So if your in the market for a new blackberry and don’t want to spend a few hundred on the latest and greatest device don’t fell bad for getting the Curve 8530, it is a welcome addition to the BlackBerry line up.
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