BlackBerry brings some style to the smartphone market

Vodacom and Research In Motion (RIM) have announced the availability of the BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone in a new red finish. Available for a limited time period, the BlackBerry Curve 8520 in red is built for smartphone lovers with a sense of style.

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone in red is loaded with features to help you remain social and communicate from almost anywhere life takes you. With email and text messaging, along with BlackBerry Messenger and social networking apps like Facebook for BlackBerry smartphones, MySpace for BlackBerry smartphones, and Twitter you can stay in touch with your different contact groups while on-the-go.

You can also share your life’s best moments with friends and family by capturing pictures and uploading them to photo-sharing websites like Flickr. These social networking and instant messaging SuperApps ‚deeply integrate with a BlackBerry smartphone’s native software and hardware, are always-on to provide a truly real-time experience and are highly engaging and relevant, meaning that you won’t miss a beat.

Its large, colourful screen, full QWERTY keyboard, and its innovative touch sensitive trackpad allows quick access to the things that are important to you, while the slim, straightforward design means you can take your life with you almost everywhere you go without sacrificing your sense of style. Wi-Fi support can give you fast browsing speeds while the BlackBerry App World storefront gives you access to the apps you need to personalise your BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone.

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone in red is also a great multimedia player, so you can enjoy your favourite tunes, the latest videos and more right on your smartphone. With dedicated media keys on the top of your BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone, you can easily control your multimedia experience and have more fun.

Step up to the new BlackBerry Curve 8520 in red and discover what life is like on a BlackBerry smartphone.

Key features of the BlackBerry Curve 8520 in red include:

· Full-QWERTY keyboard and touch-sensitive trackpad for reliable, responsive typing and navigation

· 256MB Flash memory and a 512Mhz next generation processor for enhanced performance

· Premium phone features including voice activated dialing, and Bluetooth (2.0) support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits, stereo headsets and other Bluetooth peripherals

· 2 MP digital camera with zoom and video recording

· Advanced media player for music, pictures and videos, with dedicated media keys and a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack, plus BlackBerry Media Sync, which makes it easy to quickly sync music from iTunes or Windows Media Player with the smartphone

· BlackBerry Internet Bundle support for access to up to 10 supported email accounts, including most popular ISP email accounts such as MWEB, Yahoo!, Windows Live Hotmail and Gmail: and BlackBerry Enterprise Server support, which provides advanced security and IT administration features for corporate deployments

· Expandable memory via hot swappable microSD/SDHC memory card slot, supporting cards of up to 16 GB today and expected to support next generation 32GB cards when available: a 2GB card is included

· Built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)

· Quad-band world phone: EGDE/GPRS/GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone will be available to both Vodacom’s Prepaid and Contract customers.

Starting as low as R59.00 per month for the BlackBerry Internet Bundle (Prepaid and Contract) and R99.00 for BlackBerry Enterprise Server (excluding device), you get unlimited email, Internet browsing, social networking and access to other mobile data applications on the device.

For further information, Vodacom customers can call 082 155.