AT&T snags BlackBerry Curve 3G, Pearl 3G

AT&T announced today that it will start offering the BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 and BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9100, with the added benefit that app purchases will automatically be included on AT&T customers' bills. Carrier billing was one of the features highlighted in the Payment Service SDK announced this week at BlackBerry DevCon 2010.

The Curve 3G is similar to the Curve 3G we reviewed for T-Mobile. It has the full QWERTY keyboard, of course, in addition to the optical trackpad, GPS, dedicated media keys, a 2-megapixel camera, microSD/SDHC slot with support for 32GB cards, and 3G support. AT&T will also make the U-Verse Mobile app available if you happen to be a U-Verse TV customer. The U-Verse Mobile app lets you manage your DVR recordings. As with the other Curve 3Gs, the one for AT&T is also BlackBerry OS 6-ready, and is expected to be coming to the handset "in the coming months."

The Pearl 3G has almost the same specifications as the Curve 3G, except that it's much smaller. It features the optical trackpad as well, but instead of a full keyboard, it has the smaller SureType keyboard. It also has 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, and dedicated media keys. Interestingly, it has a better camera with a 3.2-megapixel lens, as well as flash.

Both phones will be able to tap AT&T's national Wi-Fi network as part of their data plan. The Curve 3G is $99.99 with a new contract, and the Pearl 3G is $149.99 with a new contract. The Pearl 3G will be available starting October 17, while the Curve 3G's availability date is slated to be "in time for the holidays." As for data plans, you may choose between $15 for 200MB of wireless data, or $25 for 2GB.