New BlackBerry Curve 9310 lands on Verizon for $49.99

RIM hopes its budget-price BlackBerry proves a sweet Verizon deal.

July 10, 2012 9:46 AM PDT Follow @boliverbennett

(Credit: Verizon Wireless)

The technology vultures may be eagerly circling RIM but that hasn't stopped the ailing company from coughing up one more handset. Verizon just announced the $49.99 BlackBerry Curve 9310, which goes on sale July 12.

If you've seen BlackBerry Curves before, the 9310 won't prove a shocker. The handset sports the iconic curved keyboard arrangement that has graced Curves for years. It also has a tiny 2.44-inch screen (320 x 240 pixels) and compact size (4.29 inches by 2.36 inch by 0.5 inch, 3.67 ounces) made for easy sliding into pockets.

Unfortunately though, the BlackBerry Curve 9310 runs the limited BlackBerry 7.1 OS, which lacks the breadth, depth, and software capabilities of Android, iOS, or even Windows Phone. The device's low resolution 3.2-megapixel camera surely won't impress shutterbugs either. Data connectivity appears to be only 3G as well.

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