Curve Phone to Rival Blackberry

Research in Motion is planning to launch a new wireless device that will appeal specifically to those who find difficulty when attempting to control their Blackberry.

The Curve, named for its smooth edges and sleek design, will be the third model that Research in Motion has launched in less than a year.

The mid-sized device would provide consumers with an alternative to the BlackBerry, by offering a full keyboard to type text rather than the smaller key pad offered on most BlackBerry models.

The Curve will feature a small trackball below the screen to navigate through its menus with ease. Research in Motion introduced this feature last year in the BlackBerry Pearl, as a replacement for the previous side rotator. (Source: smartmoney.com)

Many experts believe that the new frontal trackball will be much more popular with consumers and the company is already expressing their desire to implement this feature in all future devices.

While the Pearl continues to experience a great deal of popularity among users, the company has consistently received complaints that the key pad is much too small when typing text on a regular basis. (Source: usatoday.com)

Also, the current key pad has two letters on each key and relies on predictive software to choose the correct letter. When the program selects an incorrect letter, the user must manually override the problem.

The Curve will offer one letter per key, so the device will be wider from side-to-side than the BlackBerry Pearl, but will still be considerably smaller when compared to many full-keyboard cellphones. It will also feature a 2 megapixel camera with flash and digital zoom, in addition to a 3.5 millimeter stereo headset jack as opposed to the smaller earphone port found on most cellphones. (Source: usatoday.com)

The Curve will initially be offered by AT&T, though no launch date or intended price has officially been announced.