Blackberry8530
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Alltel launches BlackBerry Curve 8530
Alltel's also gotten on the BlackBerry Curve 8530 bandwagon, but unlike Sprint, Verizon, and Telus, the contract is shorter and the price is oh so much sweeter. The regional carrier's (well, more like micro carrier ever since Verizon swallowed most of it) version of the phone rings in at $499, but after $360 online discount and $100 mail-in rebate, you're only going to have to plonk down $39.99 -- with a qualifying plan, of course. And hey, the best part about it is being able to hate on all your T-Mobile-toting friends who are stuck with 2G on the 8520, right?
Telus launches BlackBerry Curve 8530
Canada's Telus gets a "me too" with its launch of the BlackBerry Curve 8530 on the heels of Sprint and Verizon. As a refresher, Telus' Curve features that cute little optical trackpad, a slimmer profile, a microSD slot to boost the devices memory up to 16GB, and will ship in red or silver. Pricing on the longest term basically matches both Sprint and Verizon at CAD $49 -- though the term is a year longer -- while a commitment-free purchase runs you $349, one-year at $299, and two years goes for a full $200 more than its US neighbors. Nice to have options, we suppose, even if they are a bit on the steep side.
Verizon's BlackBerry 8530 and LG Chocolate Touch go hands-on
Rounding out the flurry of interesting Verizon Wireless launches today are the BlackBerry Curve 8530 and LG Chocolate Touch (pictured). The 8530 is pretty much just the Verizon edition of T-Mobile's 8520, but the LG Chocolate Touch bears closer examination. Basically it's just a war on the eyeballs of anyone who's ever seen the BL40, with the front, back, materials and interface of the device all falling incredibly short of aesthetic pleasure. However, the $80 phone does have a relatively responsive and usable touchscreen interface for a "dumbphone," and we've used worse touchscreen keyboards on Windows Mobile. So it's not a complete tragedy, but we really feel sorry for someone who skips over the DROID ERIS for this just handset just to save $20.
