AT&T Launches Wi-Fi-Enabled BlackBerry Curve 8320

As BlackBerry users grapple with their holiday smartphone wish lists, AT&T and Research In Motion (RIM) have added another BlackBerry to the mix in the Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry Curve 8320.

While it may not be the BlackBerry Curve 8900, also known as the BlackBerry Javelin, that the world is eagerly awaiting, the Curve 8320 gives AT&T subscribers free access to more than 17,000 AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots in the U.S., like those at Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, airports and a host of other locations. The free hot spot access requires an unlimited corporate or personal BlackBerry service plan.

The smartphone, which comes in sapphire blue, enables users to use the cellular network for a telephone conversation while simultaneously accessing data over 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi networks.

While Wi-Fi access is the key feature, the BlackBerry Curve 8320 also packs in a host of other features, including an HTML browser that supports Web browsing with desktop-style depiction; a trackball that acts like a mouse to scroll, zoom and click on links; and an improved user interface with support for HTML e-mail, which lets users download attachments and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on the device using DataViz Documents To Go software.

The BlackBerry Curve 8320 also tackles all the tasks required of a BlackBerry, like e-mail and messaging, a built-in spell checker and a full QWERTY keyboard. It offers a comprehensive organizer and a large 320 x 240 display with support for 65,000 colors, light-sensing technology that automatically adjusts the backlight.

Additionally, the 8230 offers Bluetooth 2.0 support; a 2-megapixel camera with zoom, flash and video recording; a media player with desktop media management software; and expandable memory of up to 16 GB via a microSD/SDHC memory card slot. Along with the multimedia functions, the Curve 8329 includes AT&T Music subscription services, integrated push to talk, AT&T Navigator and Yellowpages.com mobile services.

According to AT&T, the BlackBerry Curve 8320 with built-in Wi-Fi is available now online and through AT&T's direct business-to-business sales organizations starting at $149.99 with a two-year contract and mail in rebate.

The device will hit AT&T stores and national retailers early next year.

The Curve 8320 comes just a day after Sprint and RIM unveiled the BlackBerry Curve 8350i, a push-to-talk Curve that runs on Sprint's Nextel Direct Connect network. It also follows a strong year for BlackBerry, which released a host of new devices in 2008, 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 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.