By Prince Osuagwu

WHEN Research In Motion, RIM, makers of the Blackberry smartphone, introduced the new Blackberry curve 9220 in Nigeria recently, I made inquiries and bought one. It was meant to be my back-up working tool due to its simplicity and the flexibility of the key pad.

On getting home my old mother who was on visit saw it and passed some comments which I clearly understood – “maybe, I am the only one who will not use the Blackberry”. I didn’t need to be told twice, I relinquished the device after setting it up for her. Few days after, she left my house and to my greatest shock, a beep came into my phone and it was a ping from my mum, “ar don reach o”.

It was a relief actually but at the same time a wonder how an almost 80 year old woman managed to ping.

I think the device made it easy for her due to some of the key features including , sleek design and the new dedicated BBM shortcut key. Besides these, the device spots FM Radio and offers a powerful social experience with everything the user needs to stay connected,  including Facebook for BlackBerry and Twitter for BlackBerry apps as well as social feeds.

It is supported by the BlackBerry 7.1 Operating System, OS.

Designed for easy usage, the new Curve models, including the 9320 model, offer outstanding combination of features and apps to help the user stay connected to the people and information that matter most to them.

The new Social Feeds 2.0 app, allows the user to post updates to multiple social networks simultaneously and capture updates from news sources (RSS), social apps and instant messaging  all in one consolidated view.

A built-in FM radio that does not use data services, allows the user to tune into favourite local stations while an integrated camera which supports video recording, takes pictures that can also be tagged with their location. This is with the aid of the smartphone’s built-in GPS.

For a smartphone meant to specifically break the barrier between the haves and the have-not entry level users, it has a long battery life with up to 7 hours of talk time or up to 28 hours of FM radio listening or music playback. With headphones, music playback is rated at up to 30 hours on the BlackBerry Curve 9320 built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. Without exaggeration, this device the market-leading BlackBerry messaging and social-centric features.

Waldi Wepener, Regional Director for East, West and Central Africa at Research In Motion  who introduced the device to journalist said that “BlackBerry Curve smartphones have been extremely popular in Nigeria, offering affordable access to BBM and other popular social networks.

The new compact and stylish BlackBerry Curve models offer improved battery life and a truly unique messaging and social networking experience that will appeal especially to Nigerian customers who want to upgrade to a smartphone for the first time, or existing BlackBerry Curve customers looking for a step up in speed and functionality.”