Are these two new OS 7-running BlackBerrys enough to dig RIM out of its recent troubles? In a word, no. But the kids will love the new all-touchscreen body of the Curve 9380, and suits will love (read: tolerate) the virtually unchanged Bold 9790.
In short, they’re the mediocre updates to two existing product lines that you expected from RIM… which makes us really sad, as we know it’s capable of so much more. Just look at the PlayBook — sure, it had some flaws, but it was an exciting glimpse behind the curtain to what RIM can achieve when its mind is set to the task at hand.
The Bold 9790 and Curve 9380 don’t appear to have been given the same thought. Sure, the Curve 9380 might be the first Curve with an entirely-touchscreen display, but isn’t that just the ill-fated Storm? Whatever it is, it has a 3.2-inch display (no word on the rez yet) and 5MP flash.
Meanwhile, the Bold 9790’s touchscreen + keyboard combo is hardly new — we first saw it in the form of the 9900 back in May. As the model number suggests, this new Bold is somewhat scaled-down, with only a 1GHz processor (compared to 1.2GHz). It does include the 8GB of built-in storage however, along with the microSD card slot that can handle a further 32GB.
Both phones are NFC compatible thanks to the new-ish BlackBerry 7 OS, and also make use of the faster browser, which supports HTML5. Voice-activatedsearching is another “feature” in the seventh iteration of BlackBerry’s OS, along with “Balance”, which lets you search your phone for either work or personal stuff — if you’re that way inclined.
The Curve 9380 will be on sale in the UK before Christmas, with the Bold 9790 sometime early next year, with international launch details not known yet. [via Gizmodo UK]