Sprint Makes BlackBerry Curve 8350i Chirp

Sprint is calling the BlackBerry Curve 8350i, which it announced during the fall at the CTIA Wireless show, "the most advanced push-to-talk BlackBerry smartphone ever." It uses IDEN technology on the Nextel National Network and offers Nextel Direct Connect, its national push-to-talk service that offers sub-second call set-up, meaning BlackBerry users can now get a hold of contacts instantly with a chirp, the sound Nextel devices make during a new push-to-talk conversation.

The push-to-talk Curve measures a slim 4.4 by 2.4 by 0.7 inches and weighs in at 4.7 ounces. According to Sprint, it is available for order today starting at $149.99 with a two-year contract, $80 instant savings credit and a $100 mail-in rebate. The Curve 8350i will be in Sprint stores nationwide on January 11.

While Sprint is heralding the push-to-talk functionality of the BlackBerry Curve 8350i as its key feature, the smartphone adds a host of additional features like Wi-Fi connectivity and Group Connect, which enables users to set up group conversations of up to 20 participants.

Additionally, the Curve 8350i ties in a host of business solutions, including several GPS-enabled solutions and access to thousands of third-party mobile applications. Other additions are International Direct Connect, which gives users instant communications between the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru; and Talkgroup, which can connect groups of up to 200 users at once within the same market or fleet.

The handheld offers a sleek black exterior, a full QWERTY keyboard, a trackball for navigation and an internal antenna. The BlackBerry Curve 8350i also ties in BlackBerry Devices Software v4.6, which offers an updated interface, new shortcuts and an enhanced HTML Web browser, along with support for free/busy calendar lookups and other functions.

And, like all BlackBerrys, the device offers BlackBerry's push e-mail for delivery of most corporate and personal e-mail services; support for a host of messaging capabilities like popular consumer instant messaging services, multimedia messaging and text messaging. It also comes loaded with DataViz Documents To Go, which lets users view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the device.

The integrated GPS offers step-by-step directions, navigation and local search along with support for other location-based applications.

As with the majority of new BlackBerry models, Sprint and Research In Motion (RIM) also give a nod to the consumer with the BlackBerry Curve 8350i, tying in an advanced media player for music, video and photos; a 2-megapixel digital camera with zoom, flash and video recording; and expandable memory of up to 16 GB through a microSD/SDHC memory card slot for media and document storage.

Last but not least, the 8350i offers speakerphone, Bluetooth 2.0 support, a stereo headset jack and a removable 1400-mAH battery.

The Curve 8350i from Sprint comes after a whirlwind year for BlackBerry-maker RIM, which over the past few months has released a host of devices, including the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 for T-Mobile, the BlackBerry Bold 9000 for AT&T and the BlackBerry Storm, its first-ever touch-screen smartphone, which finally pits BlackBerry head to head against other touch-screen titans like the Apple iPhone 3G and the Google Android-based T-Mobile G1.

BlackBerry is also putting the finishing touches on another updated Curve, the BlackBerry Curve 8900, also known as the Javelin, which is already available overseas and in Canada and was expected in the U.S. this year through T-Mobile, but will likely hit stores in early 2009.