A Curve above the rest

Research in Motion recently announced the newest in their entry-level line-up — the BlackBerry 9360. Succeeding the 9300 and the even more popular (and still widely visible) 8520, the BlackBerry 9360 brings improvements throughout the phone. The phone is now slimmer and lighter, and has sharper edges. Apart from that, the design remains standard BlackBerry with the usual elements on the front, the headphone port and lock button on top, micro-USB port on the left and volume rocker plus a dedicated camera button on the right. The camera is placed on the back and has a 5-megapixel sensor with an LED flash which is a considerable improvement from the 2-megapixel offered on the previous iteration. With that in mind, the camera won't serve for much more than a few quick pictures to be sent off via e-mail or BBM — nothing artistic — and the lack of autofocus isn't helping either. No HD video here either, you're limited to a resolution of 640x480 with the video camera. On the front is the standard Curve island-style keyboard and a screen that has seen a bump in resolution. Now showing 480x360 pixels, the display has improved considerably on this device. The rest of the internals have received an upgrade as well, with the processor being beefed up to 800 MHz and the RAM and ROM doubled to 512MB each. That, bundled with the inclusion of BlackBerry OS 7 (upgradable to 7.1) and there's a noticeable improvement in performance compared to the 9300. Perhaps the most surprising inclusion is that of NFC (near-field communication, which lets people swap information between devices when they're touched together) on this phone, especially given the fact that very few high-end phones have it, let alone the entry-level models. Of course, with "BlackBerry Tag" available in 7.1 — a feature that allows users to share data over NFC — one can expect most new BlackBerry devices to feature those capabilities. Perhaps one disappointment would be the reduction of battery size in the device, which has gone from 1150mAh to 1000mAh or about 13 per cent. However, the improvements in BlackBerry OS7 may have made up for that as the phone had no issues staying up with real world usage. RIM has taken the Curve, thrown in a healthy serving of style and power, and made this into a device which performs better than the entry-level tag that may be given to it. For those still using the Blackberry 8520, an upgrade to this is warranted. For those looking to get a BlackBerry on a budget, the 9360 makes for a great purchase as its value far exceeds the price it demands. The Blackberry 9360 is available at all major electronics retailers for Dh1,399. Bhavishya Kanjhan is a digital marketing professional and an early adopter of all things digital. Follow his tweets on @bhavishya