Research in Motion has launched the BlackBerry Screen Reader app for the visually impaired. This is a free app which allows visually impaired BlackBerry customers audible output based on visual information displayed on a BlackBerry smartphone.

The app is available for the BlackBerry Curve 9350, 9360 and the 9370. Some of the key features of the app are listed below.

• Support for core applications – Users can easily access core BlackBerry applications including email, calendar, phone calls and more.
• Speech settings – users can customize the text-to-speech settings (volume, pitch and speech rate) and preferences for punctuation, verbosity and password security.
• Keyboard shortcuts – Users can set speech and audio preferences quickly and easily through (physical) keyboard shortcuts
• Accessible documentation – User Guide available in accessible HTML through a desktop web browser.

Research In Motion (RIM) today announced BlackBerry Tag at GITEX 2011, which will enable BlackBerry smartphone users to exchange multimedia content, contact information or BBM PINs by just tapping their phones against each other. The service will soon become available in RIM’s NFC-enabled smartphones like the Bold 9900 and the Curve 9370. BlackBerry Tag will be included in the next BlackBerry 7 OS update. RIM will also release APIs for BlackBerry Tag, which will enable developers to incorporate ‘tap to share’ feature in their apps. Nokia is already betting big on NFC with its upcoming Symbian Belle and Windows Phone smartphones with similar features where users can share files and contacts via NFC as well as pair with Bluetooth accessories easily. Google, on the other hand, is looking at NFC from a pure mobile wallet/mobile money point with its Google Wallet service. What needs to be seen, however, is whether this NFC tap to share functionality is brand agnostic to work across devices irrespective of its manufacturer.

As expected, RIM today launched the BlackBerry Curve 9360 in India. The latest addition to the Curve series runs on the latest BlackBerry 7 OS and comes in a sleek 11 mm thin chassis. Other specs include a 800MHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 5.0 MP camera with geo-tagging, flash and VGA video recording, up to 5 hours of talk-time and Wi-Fi connectivity. The display has also been ramped up from QVGA (320×240 pixels) to HVGA+ (480×360 pixels). RIM has tied up with Airtel that will provide Airtel subscribers two months free trial of its Rs 299 BlackBerry plan and local calls at 20p and SMS at 5p for a year. The Curve 9360 is priced at Rs 19,990.

Research In Motion has finally unveiled its new range of BlackBerry Curve smartphones running on the new BlackBerry 7 OS. This Curve comes in three variants – a world phone (9370), a GSM/UMTS version (9360) and a CDMA/EVDO Rev A variant (9350). All of them feature a 2.44-inch 48×360 pixel display, 800MHz processor, 512 MB RAM, 5.0 MP camera, GPS, Wi-Fi and an NFC chip. The 9370 comes with 1 GB of internal storage while the other two variants have 512 MB. The new Curve will be available in Canada this month and is expected to hit other markets in September. But this is not it, RIM has also sneaked in BBM Music as one of the features. Jump the break for the full PR and a video demo.
RIM Introduces New BlackBerry Curve Smartphones

Sleek, fast and easy-to-use smartphones feature next-generation BlackBerry 7 OS and deliver smooth social experiences wherever you go

Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced three new BlackBerry® smartphones featuring the BlackBerry® 7 Operating System (OS). The all-new BlackBerry® Curve™ 9350, BlackBerry® Curve™ 9360 and BlackBerry Curve™ 9370 smartphone are exciting additions to the popular BlackBerry Curve series.

These new models are designed to address a large and important segment of the global mobile phone market where customers are looking to upgrade their existing feature phone or existing BlackBerry Curve with an affordable, easy-to-use, full-featured and socially-connected smartphone.

“These new models will build on the incredible success of the BlackBerry Curve line and further expand the largest global launch of BlackBerry smartphones in our history,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “The new BlackBerry Curve smartphones are absolutely stunning and offer a significant performance upgrade with an unmatched mobile social experience for the millions of feature phone users in the market as well as our existing Curve customers.”

Everything You Need
The new BlackBerry Curve smartphones are slim, stylish and simply beautiful. They are ergonomically designed with a comfortable and iconic keyboard for fast, accurate typing and an optical trackpad for easy, one-handed navigation. GPS and Wi-Fi® support are also included, as well as a 5MP camera with flash and video recording so that memories can be captured and instantly shared on social networks. The microSD/SDHC slot supports up to 32 GB memory cards for additional media storage.

In addition to supporting the new BlackBerry 7 OS, the new BlackBerry Curve smartphones feature a range of powerful hardware enhancements including upgraded processors, displays and memory, and built-in support for NFC (Near Field Communications), a new technology that is enabling many exciting capabilities, including the ability to pair accessories or read SmartPoster tags with a simple tap of the smartphone.

Next-Generation BlackBerry 7 OS
BlackBerry 7 introduces a next generation BlackBerry browser which combines the dramatically improved performance of the advanced WebKit browser engine with the hardware enhancements in the new BlackBerry Curve smartphones to deliver a significantly faster, more fluid web browsing experience. Additional enhancements to this next generation BlackBerry browser have also enabled smoother navigation and optimized HTML5 performance for incredible gaming and video experiences.

BlackBerry 7 OS also includes a number of other pre-loaded applications and integrated functionality for increased productivity and collaboration right out of the box. The Premium version of Documents To Go is included free of charge, offering users powerful document editing features as well as a native PDF document viewer. BlackBerry® Protect is also pre-loaded*, offering customers the peace of mind that personal data can be backed up and secured in the cloud. With BlackBerry Protect, users can locate their misplaced BlackBerry smartphone using GPS or remotely turn up the ringer for an audible notification if their handset is close-by. BlackBerry® Balance (announced May 2, 2011) is integrated in BlackBerry 7, allowing users to enjoy the full BlackBerry smartphone experience for both work and personal purposes without compromising the IT department’s need for advanced security and IT controls. The popular universal search capability has also been enhanced with support for voice-activated search, so users can now simply speak to begin searching their device and the web for information.

Best In Class Communications and Social Experiences
The next generation BlackBerry Curve smartphones deliver the world’s best mobile communications and social experiences with a highly refined and integrated suite of phone, email, messaging and social apps to keep users connected and productive throughout the day.

The latest release of BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger) is pre-loaded and now extends the real time BBM experience to a range of other apps, such as Foursquare, allowing users to easily interact with each other from within the ‘BBM connected’ app (see separate announcement on July 28, 2011).

The updated Social Feeds (2.0) app has been extended to capture updates from media, podcasts, and favorites all in one consolidated view. The new Facebook® for BlackBerry smartphones (2.0) app introduces features like Facebook chat and BBM integration that makes it easier for users to connect with their Facebook friends in real time utilizing push notifications. Twitter for BlackBerry smartphones also delivers a deeply integrated experience including use of real time push notifications and Social Feeds integration.

Availability
The BlackBerry Curve 9350, 9360 and 9370 smartphones are expected to be available from carriers in Canada this month and from other carriers around the world beginning in September. Availability dates and pricing for specific devices from specific carriers will be announced in conjunction with RIM’s partners.