BlackBerry Curve 8900 Hits AT&T

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Curve 8900

BlackBerry fans with AT&T now have another option, as the carrier is officially selling the BlackBerry Curve 8900.

The smartphone was launched on T-Mobile in January, and Research In Motion said it's the thinnest BlackBerry that has a full QWERTY keyboard. The handset has the familiar BlackBerry form factor, but it has some chrome highlights around the frame.

With a 512-MHz processor, the handset should be able to handle multiple tasks smoothly. As with most BlackBerry smartphones, the Curve 8900 can receive corporate e-mails on the go with Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Domino, as well as personal e-mail from the likes of Gmail or Yahoo Mail.

Some may be disappointed that the Curve 8900 lacks a 3G connection, but users can get their e-mails and surf the Web via the EDGE network or with the integrated Wi-Fi. The handset comes with a GPS chipset that can be used for navigation and location-based searches.

The Curve 8900 also has a 3.2-megapixel camera, can play multiple types of audio and video files, and the memory can be expanded up to 16 GB via the microSD slot. The smartphone can be had for $199 with a new two-year contract.

For AT&T, the Curve 8900 is just the latest offering in its growing portfolio of smartphones. Led by the massive success of Apple's iPhone, AT&T has become the leading U.S. smartphone provider, and it has more than double the number of smartphone users as its nearest competitor. Smartphone users represent a lucrative type of subscriber for mobile operators because their mobile data plans create a higher average revenue per user.

Part of the growth in the smartphone market will be for enterprise use, and this can quickly bring up multiple questions about security and mobility policies. InformationWeek analyzed how businesses can lock down data when it's on the move, and the report can be downloaded here (registration required).