Priced at $299.99

Aug 6, 2010 15:12 GMT  ·  By

Today, mobile phone carrier Cricket Communications Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leap Wireless International, Inc., announced the launch of a new device on its airwaves, the BlackBerry Curve 8530 smartphone from Research In Motion (RIM). According to the company, the new device comes to its customers with full HTML Web browsing capabilities, along with access to the BlackBerry App World, on addition to the low-priced 3G BlackBerry plan.

“By offering industry-leading Smartphones, like the BlackBerry Curve 8530, Cricket is delivering the products people want at the prices they can afford,” stated Al Moschner, Cricket’s chief operating officer. “Add that to our new all-inclusive, true rate BlackBerry Plan that offers 3G service at nearly half the cost of other 3G Smartphone plans in the market, and Cricket is solidifying its position as the cost-conscious provider, respecting the budgets and real-life needs of our customers every step of the way.”

Starting today, the new BlackBerry Curve 8530 device is available for purchase on Cricket's airwaves for $299.99. The new device is being put on sale via all Cricket branded retail stores, as well as via the carrier's website, and through dealers nationwide. The handset is being launched on the operator's $60 BlackBerry Plan, which includes unlimited nationwide talk, text, email, web browsing, picture mail, and international text capabilities.

The specifications list of the new device includes a full-QWERTY keyboard, complemented by a high-resolution 320 x 240 pixel color display, a 2-megapixel photo snapper with video recording capabilities, built-in GPS, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) and Bluetooth support, dedicated media keys, a powerful media player, support for additional storage space via microSD memory cards, and fast access to the thousands of applications available in the BlackBerry App World. All of these are complemented by the unlimited talk, text, video and picture messaging capabilities Cricket’s BlackBerry service plan includes. The phone can be seen at Cricket here.