Supporting what we had heard earlier this week, Rogers has just formally announced that the BlackBerry Curve 8520 is now available for purchase. In addition to what we’ve already known about it since it was first leaked, this latest BlackBerry smartphone from Rogers will also come with a urMusic app which allows users to sideload music to their Curve 8520 completely free of charge. It also provides access to Live Nation concerts via Wireless Box Office, a mobile ticketing service wherein Rogers pays for the service charges. This is a nice added feature for the BlackBerry Curve 8520, the most music-centric device from RIM to date with its dedicated multimedia keys and a 3.5mm headphone jack to boot.
As far as pricing goes, no surprises. $99.99 on a 3-year contract. It was mentioned, however, that a minimum combined $45/month plan is required to take advantage of this promo price. The Curve 8520 will initially be available only in Black, but a violet version will also be released within the next couple of weeks. It's been two months now since T-Mobile released this smartphone in the US, so it's nice that it's now finally available in Canada as well.
Rogers and RIM Launch the New BlackBerry Curve 8520 Smartphone in Canada
New smartphone features innovative trackpad for smooth navigation and dedicated media keys for controlling music and videos
TORONTO and WATERLOO, ON, Oct. 8 /CNW/ - Rogers Wireless (TSX: RCI; NYSE: RCI) and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today launched the BlackBerry(R) Curve(TM) 8520 smartphone. It's the latest addition to the BlackBerry Curve series of smartphones and it provides a highly intuitive and efficient mobile experience for users with easy mobile access to email, messaging (IM, SMS, MMS) and popular social networking sites including Facebook(R) and MySpace, as well as rich multimedia capabilities.
The BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone will be available from Rogers Wireless in two colours - black and violet. In addition to providing the industry's leading mobile email and messaging solution, the smartphone features a new touch-sensitive trackpad for navigation and dedicated media keys that are integrated into the top of the handset for quick and convenient control of music and videos. It also comes with built-in Wi-Fi(R) (802.11 b/g) and support for Rogers TalkSpot(TM) service, allowing customers to make unlimited Canada-wide calls over Wi-Fi for only $15 per month.
"Rogers and RIM have a proud history, dating back over ten years, of bringing Canadians the best in smartphone hardware and technology," said John Boynton, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Rogers Communications. "Rogers is thrilled to offer this latest BlackBerry Curve to our customers looking for a stylish and cutting edge smartphone at an attractive price."
"BlackBerry is already the top-selling smartphone brand in North America and this latest addition to our line-up is designed to expand its appeal even further," said Carlo Chiarello, Vice President, Product Management, Research In Motion. "The new BlackBerry Curve 8520 is an incredibly approachable smartphone with easy-to-use messaging, social networking and multimedia features that will undoubtedly help more Canadians decide to make the switch from a traditional cell phone to a BlackBerry smartphone."
Other key features of the BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone from Rogers Wireless include:
- Highly tactile, full-QWERTY keyboard for fast, accurate typing
- 2 MP digital camera with zoom and video recording*
- High-resolution, light sensing 320 x 240 display that automatically adjusts backlighting
- 512 Mhz next generation processor and 256 MB Flash memory
- Instant messaging with BlackBerry(R) Messenger, Google(R) Talk, Windows Live Messenger(TM) and Yahoo! (R) Messenger
- Advanced media player for music, pictures and videos, and a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack, plus BlackBerry(R) MediaSync, which makes it easy to sync iTunes(R) and Windows Media(R) Player playlists with the smartphone(xx)
- The urMusic application provided by Rogers allows you to sideload your music for FREE and discover, browse and download songs from all your favourite artists. urMusic also gives you access to the best Live Nation(R) concerts with Wireless Box Office(TM), a mobile ticketing service where Rogers pays the service charges
- Enhanced web browser that displays full HTML for a desktop-style browsing experience on the go
- Access to BlackBerry(R) App World(TM), featuring a broad and growing catalog of third-party mobile applications developed specifically for BlackBerry smartphones. Categories include games, entertainment, IM and social networking, news, weather, productivity and more
- Expandable memory via a microSD/SDHC memory card slot, supporting up to 16 GB cards today and expected to support next generation 32GB cards when available
- Premium phone features including voice activated dialing and Bluetooth(R) (2.0) support for hands-free headsets, car kits, stereo headsets and other Bluetooth peripherals
- BlackBerry(R) Internet Service support that allows access to up to 10 supported personal and corporate email accounts, including most popular ISP email accounts such as Yahoo!(R), Windows Live(TM) Hotmail(R), AOL(R) and Gmail(TM)
- BlackBerry(R) Enterprise Server support for enterprise deployments with advanced security and IT controlsPRICING AND AVAILABILITY
Beginning today, the BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone is available in black from Rogers from $99.99 with activation on any combination of a 3 year voice and data plan with minimum combined monthly service fee of $45 per month from Rogers. Some conditions apply. The BlackBerry Curve 8250 will be available in violet from Rogers in the coming weeks.
For more information please visit: www.rogers.com or www.blackberry.com/curve8520
* video recording requires microSD memory card (sold separately)
(xx) Certain music files may not be supported, including files that contain digital rights management technologies.