QWERTY all the (Canadian) way

Apr 12, 2008 10:54 GMT  ·  By

Bell Mobility has prepared new QWERTY goodies for its subscribers, and recently launched two handsets that come with full QWERTY keyboards: LG Rumour (also known as LG Rumor) and BlackBerry Curve 8330.

The first handset, Rumour (available as of the 9th of April), is a device specially created by the South Koreans from LG for those who use Instant Messaging and send lots of emails / text messages while on the go. The phone comes with a full QWERTY keyboard that slides vertically, an 176 x 220 pixels TFT display with 262K colors, GPS navigation, an 1.3 Megapixel camera, Facebook access, Media player, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, and microSD card support to extend the internal memory up to 4GB.

Bell offers the LG Rumour (in black or white) for prices starting from $74.95, with a 3-year contract agreement. Free of contract, the handset will cost you more, obviously, and that is $299.95.

BlackBerry Curve 8330, available from Bell as of yesterday (the 11th of April), is a device more evolved than LG Rumour. One of the latest smartphones unveiled by RIM, Curve 8330 features a 320 x 240 pixels display, a QWERTY keyboard with trackball navigation, push-email and Web browser, built-in GPS, BlackBerry maps, a 2.0 Megapixel camera with flash and video, Music and Video players, 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, stereo Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, 96MB of internal memory and microSD card slot. The smartphone also comes with access to Full Track Music, the largest mobile music library from Canada, which offers almost 2 million tracks, plus artist biographies.

Free of contract, BlackBerry Curve 8330 can be bought for $549.95, while with a 3-year agreement with Bell, the smartphone only costs $249.95.

Mark Guibert, Vice President of Corporate Marketing at Research In Motion, said in a press release issued yesterday: "Together with built-in GPS and an optimized keyboard, the BlackBerry Curve 8330 is an attractive choice for people looking for a great new phone that can take advantage of Bell's advanced mobile services."

Both LG Rumour and BlackBerry Curve 8330 are welcomed additions to Bell's line-up of handsets, as the carrier's customers (more than 6 million) have from now on more mobile choices.

Photo Gallery (2 Images)

Black LG Rumour
BlackBerry Curve 8330
Open gallery