In an unexpected turn of events, a new BlackBerry device has been leaked to the world: the BlackBerry Curve 9300! First outed by CrackBerry in early April, they’ve now returned with photographic evidence! The device is slated as the successor to the Curve 85xx series (the 8900 is looking more and more like a one-time spin-off), and is specced as such. The 9300 retains the basic form factor of the 85xx (albeit with chrome trim), along with the rather low 320×240 resolution; major additions include 3G and Wi-Fi radios. The device is also still running BlackBerry OS 5.0 and looks to only have 256 MB of memory, rather than the BlackBerry 6 OS and 512 MB we’ve been seeing on other new devices.

The specs and form factor place the new 9300 squarely in the budget smartphone category (where the 85xx currently dwells), and we’ll be interested to see how it stacks up with the newer Pearl 9100 (which by all designs, is really a significantly better device) and Bold 9700/9650. No word on release dates or launch carriers (AT&T and T-Mobile would be the logical choices), but we expect we’ll hear more soon. Until then, check out the pictures below and then let us know what you think in the comments!

via: CrackBerry