However, BBCool HQ doesn’t think either of these explanations are the case. It doesn’t stand to reason that the Black Curve is an older dev model of the 8300 simply due to timing and availability. The BlackBerry Curve is already out on Rogers and AT&T, so the appearance of pre-final devices at this time doesn’t make any sense. Also, if it were a pre-final version of the Curve, we would have seen it by now. This indicates that the Black Curve is likely a new device.
So how about a different colored variant of the original Curve, then? This is much more likely, but we’re still not biting. If it were simply a “re-skined” version of the Curve for a new carrier (like T-Mobile, for instance), neither RIM or that carrier would be sending that device around for testing, because it would not feature different specs than the original Curve — it would be a redundant and unnecessary act. Also, while there is a Black Pearl, it doesn’t seem likely that one of the colored variants to be released for the Curve would be black; they’re far more likely to be colors that endear themselves to the hearts of the average consumer – like the white and (shudder) red Pearls. It really only makes sense to release a dull, dreary, Black Curve if the device was being designed for the dull dreary enterprise world (sorry, guys). This would likely necessitate new functionality to make it worthwhile over the standard BlackBerry 8800.
Aha! Here we have it: an enterprise-focused Black Curve, with new functionality (like Wi-Fi or GPS perhaps?) and probably no camera — the perfect sister device to the BlackBerry 8800. This makes even more sense when you consider how much talk RIM has made about Wi-Fi’d devices by the end of the year, and their “3 surprises“. Also, the company in question that let slip about the Black Curve deals solely in enterprise-specific solutions, and would definitely need a Wi-Fi’d Curve sooner than most other Alliance members to make sure products can be delivered by the end of the year, which could explain why most other informants we’ve talked to at Alliance member companies knew nothing about the device.
Admittedly, we’ve jumped a long way from the original question that got us here: “have you seen the Black Curve?”, but our conjecture seems to fall nicely into place. Whether or not we’re right is another story. Hey, Boy Genius, can you help us out here?
Post a comment and let us know what you think about the Black Curve.
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