Announcing that the company is looking at strategic options that could include a sale isn’t stopping BlackBerry from announcing new smartphones. After months of leaks, BlackBerry today officially took the veils off the 9720, which is the first smartphone not to run on BB10 to be launched this year. We are hearing that BlackBerry would launch this device in India towards the end of August or early September.
The BlackBerry 9720 looks like a mix of the company’s Bold and Curve smartphones from last year. It seems BlackBerry has abandoned both the brand names. Like the Curve 9220 and Curve 9320, which were launched last year, the 9720 too features a dedicated BBM key and will be available in multiple colors. It also features a 2.8-inch 480×360 pixels touchscreen, 512MB of internal storage and a 5-megapixel EDoF camera with flash.BlackBerry claims its 1,450mAh battery is good for up to 7 hours of talk time and 18 days of standby time. It will be available in black, blue, pink, purple and white colors. BlackBerry will also launch colorful plastic back covers for the phone.
BlackBerry 9720 specifications
Size: 114 x 66 x 12 mm
Weight: 120g / 4.23 oz
Navigation: Touch screen, optical trackpad and QWERTY keypad
Keyboard: 35-key, backlit, narrow QWERTY keyboard
Dedicated keys: Send, End (Power), Menu, Escape, Camera (user customizable, convenience key), Volume Up/Down/Mute (Fwd/Rwd for media, Zoom for camera), BBM™ (user customizable, convenience key), Lock/Unlock
Display: 480 x 360 resolution (HVGA), at 214 ppi, 2.8″ diagonal, 4:3 aspect ratio
Operating system: BlackBerry 7 OS version 7.1
Processor: 806 MHz Tavor MG1
Memory: 512 MB eMMC / 512 MB RAM
Expandable memory: Removable microSD memory card–slot under battery door (up to 32 GB)
USB ports: USB 2.0 high speed port–allows charging and data synchronisation of the device with a USB cable
Battery: 1450mAH removable battery
Battery life: Up to 7 hours talk time, Up to 18 days standby time
Camera: 5-megapixel EDOF (Extended Depth of Field), Flash continuous, Image stabilisation, 4X digital zoom
Network bands: Quad band EDGE 2, 3, 5/6, 8 (1900/1800/850/900 MHz)
Quad band HSPA 1, 2, 5/6, 8 (2100/1900/850/900 MHz)
UMTS/HSDPA 7.2 Mbps (Category 8), HSUPA 5.76 Mbps (Category 6)
Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz
Mobile Hotspot: 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR
GPS: Assisted, Autonomous GPS
Sensors: Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor
