Skip to main content

RIM unveils BlackBerry Bold 9790 and Curve 9380

BlackBerry-Bold-9790-Curve-9380
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Research In Motion has officially revealed the latest handsets to its struggling lineup: the BlackBerry Bold 9790 and BlackBerry Curve 9380.

Recommended Videos

First up is the Bold 9790, which looks basically the same as the Bold 9780, with a full physical QWERTY keyboard. The screen is slightly larger, at 2.44-inches, with a 360 x 480 resolution. Inside, you’ll find a 1GHz single-core processor and 8GB of internal storage. A microSD card slot supports up to 32GB of expanded storage. Finally, you’ll find a 5MP camera on the back.

The lower-end Curve 9380 offers more of a deviation in design from previous Curve devices in that it scraps the physical keyboard for a 3.2-inch display with a 480 x 360 resolution. Oddly, RIM hasn’t unveiled the guts of this device, but we hear it will have 1GB of internal storage and a 800MHz processor. It too has a 5MP camera capable of shooting video. And RIM touts its social media features, which include pre-installed Facebook and Twitter apps — something available on a range of previously-released BlackBerry handsets.

Both the Bold 9790 and Curve 9380 run on RIM’s BlackBerry 7 operating system, which is an improvement over BlackBerry 7 OS, but still feels antiquated and overly complicated compared to iOS and Android. RIM has not yet revealed a release date for either device, but says both will be available from “various carriers in the coming weeks.”

If you know BlackBerry, then you know neither of these devices are going to make much of a splash in the smartphone market. Our guess is that they are simply holdovers until RIM release its first BBX device — which could be just around the corner.

Late Monday, we got a glimpse of the BlackBerry London — an unconfirmed handset, which is rumored to be the first BBX device from RIM. If authentic, the BlackBerry London is a sharp departure from any previous BlackBerry handsets, with a larger touchscreen, hard edges and greatly improved internal components, which are said to include a dual-core 1.5GHz TI OMAP processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, an 8MP rear camera and a 2MP front-facing camera.

At this point, RIM needs to stray as far away as it can from its current path — and the BlackBerry London (or whatever it will be called) could very well be the vehicle to carry them towards the smartphone promised land.

Andrew Couts
Features Editor for Digital Trends, Andrew Couts covers a wide swath of consumer technology topics, with particular focus on…
T-Mobile home internet plans have changed, here’s what you should know
how to unlock your iphone use with another carrier t mobile hq sign feat 720x720

*Updated 6/12/2025 to include new plans, promotions and fiber internet service details

While Verizon was the first to deploy 5G home internet, users complained about their network being small at the time with intermittent connections. T-Mobile, while trailing Verizon with their 5G home internet service, at least launched with "nationwide" service that reached a lot more homes on the initial launch.

Read more
These three iOS 26 beta features are my favorite so far
The Liquid Design lock screen on the iOS 26 developer beta 1 running on the iPhone 16 Pro

For fans of the Apple ecosystem, it’s been an incredible week. Apple’s annual WWDC 2025 keynote revealed a whole new Liquid Glass design that’s unified across all its platforms. Also unified across all platforms is the numbering scheme, with iOS 26 designed to represent the year of release… plus one. 

The new platform doesn’t deliver one of the key things I asked for — multitasking, which is available on iPadOS 26 — but it does bring several new features that make the iPhone far more usable. 

Read more
Anker recalls a million power banks over fire risk — here’s what to do
Anker's PowerCore 10000 power bank.

Anker is recalling more than a million of its PowerCore 10000 power banks due to a risk of overheating that could lead to fire and burns.

The tech company has received 19 reports of fires and explosions linked to the power bank, which contains lithium-ion batteries. Two of the reports relate to minor burn injuries and required medical attention, while a further 11 reports cite property damage totaling more than $60,000, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Read more