Verizon unveils RIM BlackBerry Curve 8530 messaging phone at a bargain price

RIM BlackBerry Curve 8530

Today Verizon Wireless announced that it is going to offer the new RIM BlackBerry Curve 8530 to its customers. The Curve 8530 is the CDMA version of the Curve 8520, and the latest addition to the low-cost Curve family of smartphones.

The affordable Curve 8530 features a built-in GPS receiver than can be used for geo-tagging photos recorded with the phone's 2.0 megapixel camera. Up to 10 email accounts can be configured on the 8530, and messages and images alike can be uploaded quickly over Verizon's 3G EV-DO network or with local WiFi networks. A built-in microSDHC^(INFO) memory card slot supports today's 16GB cards as well as future 32GB cards for gobs of storage space for music files that can be played with the phone's media player. You can use your favorite headphones, too, thanks to a convenient 3.5mm stereo headphone jack.

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 has support for the BlackBerry App World, where you can download all kinds of applications, including Facebook and MySpace clients for keeping up to date with your favorite social networks. Other features of note include a speedy 528MHz processor and speaker independent voice dialing capabilities. And like other recent BlackBerry phones, the 8530 features an optical "trackpad" controller for navigation that sits above the full QWERTY keyboard.

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 for Verizon will be available on November 20, 2009 in either a black or a smoky violet color scheme. The phone retails for US$99.99 with a two year agreement, after a $100 rebate that comes in the form of a debit card. Data plans for the Curve 8530 start at $29.99 per month.