Yesterday, RIM officially announced the next batch of handsets that will make up the next generation of BlackBerry smartphones which will run on the much revamped BB7 OS. Expected to roll out within the next couple of months will be the Bold 99xx, Torch 2 slider 9810 and the all touch Torch 9860/9850. One specific device however was absent from the official announcement, the popular selling BlackBerry Curve. Why the big deal? Well, having the largest global launch of BlackBerry smartphones without their best selling consumer device listed certainly raises questions. While searching for answers for about a day, I finally found a little something. Continue reading for more
The Uk site T3, sister site of TechRadar, caught up with Stephen Bates, RIM’s UK chief. In their discussion Bates hinted that Curve lovers and RIM’s budget smartphone demographics will see a product announcement shortly.
“We’re learning a lot about the market we’ve exploited with Curve; that range helped us open up new price points as well as services such as BBM and email,” Bates said.
“What’s interesting is the feedback we’re getting is once those people have become used to those services is they want to do more, and we see that group of customers as a great base for BlackBerry. So we intend to serve them very well at a future point.
Breaking it down, it seems as if RIM is still analyzing all of the data that the Curve line has allocated them with. Why so much data? This all comes back to the Curve being a global success in part to RIM’s pricing and service strategy. Moving forward, RIM will most likely take this data and somehow make the BlackBerry Curve experience even better while in the midst of their mobile transition.
This could mean that future Curves could be more advanced, better built, and better subsided – In turn, giving you more bang for your buck.
Evidence out there shows us that the newest Curve should appear as model 9360/9350 in part to RIM adding OS7 device compatibility into the App World. Leaked slides over recent months suggests that the new Curve is set to carry the code name “Apollo” which will NOT be touch screen but will be packed with Os7, a much updated processor and more. Beyond that, we also saw a different model hit the web modeled at 9370 with not much info other than Verizon has added it to its 4G LTE network, making it the first 4G enabled BlackBerry Curve. Also, rumor has it that RIM is in transition of developing an ALL touch Curve (malibu). This makes sense due to touch screen being high in market demand and the Curve being a consumer seller for RIM.
Whatever the case my be, RIM has plans otherwise for its popular selling Curve. Whether its in the form of upgraded hardware/software or a differentiated pricing plan, you can bet it won’t take long for the Curve to catch up with sales and distribution to the rest of the BlackBerry family – The Bold and newly expanded Torch line.