MOBILESNEWS: BlackBerry Curve 8520 Lands In India, Thanks To Airtel

Airtel and Research In Motion (RIM) have announced the launch of the BlackBerry Curve 8520 in India. The new smartphone is a slim, new addition to the BlackBerry Curve series of smartphones that brings ease-of-use to email, messaging, social networking, music and entertainment for people on the go. The BlackBerry Curve 8520 is being launched with a new prepaid service plan from Airtel, at a monthly rate of Rs 299
Airtel plans to tap 90 per cent of prepaid users in India with its new BlackBerry service plan. Airtel's consumer research and analysis indicates that there is a large untapped segment of people in India who would like to stay connected using wireless e-mail. Earlier, wireless e-mail was only available to postpaid BlackBerry users in India. The combination of a new prepaid BlackBerry service plan with the handset's user-friendly design and approachable price point at Rs 15,990, represents an aggressive move to reach that untapped segment.

On the launch, Raghunath Mandava, chief marketing officer, mobile services, Airtel, said, “We believe that the BlackBerry Curve 8520 will appeal to young professionals, students and a broad spectrum of retail customers who want the exceptional mobile experience for messaging, social networking, e-mail, music and entertainment that you get from a BlackBerry smartphone.”

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 introduces a touch-sensitive trackpad, which makes scrolling and selection smooth and easy. It is also the first BlackBerry smartphone to feature dedicated media keys, which are smoothly integrated along the top of the handset giving customers an easy, convenient way to control their music and videos.

In addition to providing a mobile solution for e-mail, messaging (IM, SMS, MMS) and social networking and an easy-to-use, full-QWERTY keyboard, the BlackBerry Curve 8520 comes with powerful multimedia features, useful applications to help users stay organised and productive, full HTML browsing and Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) support.

“RIM is delighted to introduce the new BlackBerry Curve 8520 in India with Airtel. With its combination of industry-leading messaging capabilities, consumer-friendly features and Airtel's aggressive marketing support, we are confident that the new BlackBerry Curve 8520 will help appeal to a much wider audience of customers in India,” said Frenny Bawa, vice president, India, RIM.

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone measures 109mm x 60mm x 13.90mm and weighs 106 grams (including battery). It comes packed: 256MB Flash memory and a 512Mhz next generation processor for enhanced performance; expandable memory via hot swappable microSD/SDHC memory card slot, supporting cards of up to 16 GB today and expected to support next generation 32GB cards when available; easy mobile access to instant messaging and social networking services like Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Windows Live Messenger and BlackBerry Messenger; and 2.46-inch high resolution colour display (supports over 65,000 colours).

The new smartphone also features digital camera with zoom and video recording; Quad-band EDGE for global connectivity; voice activated dialling and Bluetooth (2.0) support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits, stereo headsets and other Bluetooth peripherals; BlackBerry Internet Service support; BlackBerry Enterprise Server support; and rechargeable/removable 1150 mAhr battery for up to 4.5 hours of talk time and 17 days of standby time.

Offered at Rs 15,990, the new BlackBerry Curve 8520 will be available nationally from Airtel's authorised outlets through Bharti Teletech Limited across India on 7 August 2009.

Airtel customers can SMS ‘BB’ to 543210 to register to purchase the BlackBerry Curve 8520 and to get more information about the plans offered with the smartphone.