As the top-tier series in the brand of entry level smartphones by Research In Motion (RIM), the BlackBerry Curve 9380 is the first one in the line to incorporate a capacitive touchscreen display in addition to the optical track pad and touch-sensitive controls for user input. As the successor to the 9360, the 9380 is also powered by a mobile processor running at 800 MHz with 512 MB of RAM and 512 MB of onboard storage capacity expandable up to 32 GB using a microSD card. With a commendable processing power for an entry level smartphone, the 9380 surely packs in better user experience.
The all-touch display
Measured diagonally, the TFT LCD screen is 3.2 inches long with a resolution of 480 by 360 pixels featuring HVGA+ display technology. It has a pixel density comparable to leading smartphones in the market at 188 pixels per inch (ppi) with a color bit depth of 24 bits. In addition to the all-touch screen and the optical track pad for easier navigation, the 9380 also has the familiar send and menu keys positioned on the left part of the track pad; on the right, there are the escape and end function keys. For touchscreen input, an onscreen keyboard appears whenever needed using SureType with QWERTY arrangement available in portrait and landscape modes.
The mobile operating system
The 9380 runs the latest BlackBerry 7 OS, which made huge improvements on the user interface. With this seventh release, seamless scrolling and zooming especially in the native Internet browser is very responsive. All the touchscreen functions like typing, swiping, and tapping are implemented with much ease.
The camera
A 5-megapixel camera with flash extends the capabilities of the 9380. It features the standard attributes of a point and shoot camera right on the phone like face detection, image stabilization, and zooming function up to 4 times. Scene modes are also available to automatically pick the right settings for various scenarios. Since the RIM device also comes with GPS and BlackBerry maps, geo-tagging also comes in handy. Aside from taking stills, the camera also allows for VGA video recording up to 640 by 480 pixels.
The integrated apps
This BlackBerry series is known to integrate the latest apps that provide the interface with popular social media such as Facebook and Twitter that are already preinstalled. Of course, the proprietary Internet-based BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) still adds the same level of social functionality for the device. For more apps, users may visit the application download site in the App World.
Connectivity
The device comes with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities. The Bluetooth component uses v2.1 with enhanced data rate (EDR) technology. It also supports a number of profiles such as headset profile (HSP), hands-free profile (HFP), serial port profile (SPP), and SIM access profile (SAP) for comprehensive Bluetooth applications. Wi-Fi connectivity, on the other hand, uses the industry standard 802.11 b/g/n with bundled access to the Enterprise Server.
The BlackBerry Curve 9380 truly packs commendable features for an entry level. As the first one to strip off the actual keyboards, RIM is taking a bold step towards revolutionizing their products.