The new BlackBerry 9360: It's got sex appeal

The new BlackBerry Curve 9360 is the first BlackBerry that lives up to the Curve brand. Truly curvy, if there’s one USP of this smartphone, it’s brilliant design that makes it perhaps the sexiest BlackBerry on the market. Every marketing team uses words like sleek and lightweight (am sure they did this back in the 90s too when phones looked and weighed as much as bricks), but the BlackBerry Curve 9360 being described as sleek and lightweight isn’t marketing spiel but quite close to Gospel truth. Design It’s the way the back curves and fuses seamlessly into the face of the smartphone — it’s an optical illusion, but it certainly looks like the 9360 is razor thin and the lack of weight completes the illusion. An elegant, grey metal rim is at the back and despite the smooth rear battery cover (Near Field Communication antenna on the underside), grip is excellent because of a thin rubberised strip between the cover and the metal rim. Weighing just 99 gms, the Curve 9360 has an appealing figure, with dimension of 109 mm x 60 mm x 11 mm. [caption id=“attachment_93846” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The new BlackBerry curve 9360. AFP”]  [/caption] There are contoured rubberised fins that are part of the rubber casing, which now act as buttons, and which fit in well with the design mantra behind this smartphone. Another welcome change is a 3.5 mm audio out slot on top — this smartphone fits easier in the pocket and come to think of it, doesn’t really require a holster. No more ugly bulges in front trouser pockets. The keypad is standard BlackBerry stuff-great to use. The microSD card is hot swappable. The 9360 Curve comes with a 2.44-inch, 480 x 360 pixel transmissible TFT LCD that is quite sharp thanks to BlackBerry 7 OS’ Liquid Graphics technology. Pretty good for a mid-range smartphone. Features At the heart of the 9360 is a new 800 MHz processor. To put things in perspective, remember that the Bold 9780, which was released less than a year ago, was powered by a 624 MHz Marvell processor. The Curve comes with 512 MB of RAM and 512 MB ROM — the lack of onboard memory is not a good thing. You have to depend on microSD/SDHC and the Curve 9360 supports up to 32 GB memory cards for additional media storage. I used the 9360 with BES enabled on a 3G network and found it quite quick and responsive. GPS and Wi-Fi support are included on the 9360. I’m not going to dwell on OS 7 and you can read up on my take on OS 7 here. Many older OS 6 apps still don’t work on OS 7 though. And for those who think you can upgrade an older BlackBerry to OS 7, you can’t. So, even if you got the Bold 9780 a few months ago, you’re stuck with OS 6. BlackBerry OS 7 also includes the Premium version of Documents To Go free of charge, which offers document editing features as well as a native PDF document viewer. BlackBerry Protect, which as the name suggests helps non-enterprise users protect their data and their smartphone is also included and so is BlackBerry Balance which ensures your work and personal BlackBerry usage is kept separate, thus helping CIOs in their constant quest for improved security and IT controls. Media, Camera & Battery Media playback is impeccable, in true BlackBerry style. Audio sounds great and the smartphone will play back most video formats that you can throw at it. The camera though is the same 5 MP one with an LED used on the Bold 9780, Bold 9900, the Torch 9810 and the Torch 9860. While it’s a shame that the Bold 9900 and the new Torch devices have the same old camera, on this mid-range smartphone it’s not such a bad thing. The camera features VGA video recording (640x480), face detection, image stabilization, scene modes, geo-tagging and 4X digital zoom. In tune with recent offerings, the battery on the 1000 mAh battery that powers the 9360 has 100 mAh lesser capacity as compared to the battery on the older Curve 8520 and Curve 9300. Despite using the 9360 with BES enabled on a 3G network, I got most of my work day covered, with the battery going dead around the time I was leaving for home. If you’re not on 3G and on BIS, you should get a full-day’s worth of juice. Or almost. Wouldn’t hurt investing in an extra charger though. The Curve 9360 also features NFC capabilities. NFC or Near Field Communication makes possible transactions, data exchange, and connections with a mere touch. It’s nice to see RIM go the whole hog on NFC and not just restrict it to high-end smartphones. Should you buy it? In the end, it all comes down to the price. At Rs 19990, the Curve 9360 is actually cheaper than the Bold 9780, which is not even a year old. Come to think of it, the Curve 9360 has a better processor and OS 7, while all the Bold 9780 has is a bit more of onboard memory and a better keypad. The camera is the same, the display specs are the same. Personally, I think it’s a bit overpriced, but with compelling design, a faster processor, a new OS, an improved keyboard and a decent camera, besides awesome media capabilities, the Curve 9360 has a lot going for it. I think this is going to be the BlackBerry that a lot of the cool, hip crowd is going to aspire to, and mid-level corporate types are going to love too, while CEOs stuck with the high-end Bolds look on in envy at the design. If you’re planning to move to BlackBerry or looking for a mid-range smartphone, take a good hard look at the Curve 9360. If you’re planning to upgrade your old BlackBerry, this beautiful smartphone may be right in the sweet spot.