RIM officially unveils Javelin

Bold beater?

Research In Motion has officially announced its latest BlackBerry handset, the unveiling no doubt timed to stir up demand before the phone’s impending UK release.

RIM's BlackBerry 'Javelin' Curve 8900: up yours, Bold

As previously reported, the Curve 8900 - codenamed 'Javelin' - looks very similar to RIM’s Bold 9000. However, the 8900 has an ever-so-slightly smaller 109 x 60 x 13.5mm frame, lighter 110g body and 2.4in, 480 x 330 display.

But what else will you like about the 8900? Well, for starters, it has a 3.2-megapixel camera – Bold only has a two-megapixel snapper – and a Micro SD memory card slot that supports cards of up to 16GB in capacity. Bluetooth 2.0 and Micro USB also provide alternative ways of moving files.

The Curve 8900 is well connected. In addition to quad-band GSM capabilities, it’ll also connect you to the web over 802.11g Wi-Fi. But the talker doesn’t support 3G, as the Bold does.

Javelin sports a better camera than Bold, but no 3G

The Curve 8900’s entertainment features may help you take your mind off the web access speed, thanks to the aforementioned camera’s ability to shoot video and the device’s support for a range of audio formats, including MP3. A 3.5mm headphone jack’s built in.

But let’s not forget what BlackBerrys are all about: working on the go. So, to that end, the Curve 8900 supports Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, in addition to PDF documents.

RIM’s BlackBerry 8900 will be available around 20 December for an estimated handset only price of £420 ($620/€480).

Don't forget to read Register Hardware's BlackBerry Bold review.