Carphone Warehouse and RIM Launch the New BlackBerry Curve 8900 Smartphone to Customers in the UK

It looks like the 8900 is starting to pop up all over. Carphone Warehouse and RIM today announced that they will be selling the new BlackBerry Curve 8900 to customers in the UK soon.

Some highlights of the press release:

• BlackBerry Curve 8900 on sale nationwide in the UK December 20, 2008 through Carphone Warehouse
• The Carphone Warehouse has over 805 stores nationwide
• “The new BlackBerry Curve 8900 is destined to become a stylish must have phone.”
• Memory expandable to 16 gb with microSD media card
• 110 grams, 109 x 60 x 13.5 millimeters, 2.4 inch HVGA+ display (480×360 pixels), built-in Wi-Fi® (802.11 b/g) support and GPS capabilities

I don’t see any mention of pricing in the press release, so if anyone has more info be sure to comment or let me know directly through the contact page.

Does anyone have any idea or insider info on possible release dates for this awesome BlackBerry in the US? I’ll even accept a rumor. Ok maybe not a rumor.

Full press release after the jump.

PRESS RELEASE

London, UK and Waterloo ON – Carphone Warehouse and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced that the new BlackBerry® Curve™ 8900 smartphone, featuring a striking titanuim-coloured finish, will go on sale on 20th December in UK stores nationwide and on the website: www.carphonewarehouse.com.

A sleek, new twist on a classic style the BlackBerry Curve 8900 is the thinnest BlackBerry smartphone to date and comes with a highly refined design and comfortable in-hand feel.

Ross Yealland, Head of New Propositions at The Carphone Warehouse said “The new BlackBerry Curve 8900 is destined to become a stylish must have phone. We predict both new and existing customers will be fighting to get their hands on one from launch.”

The BlackBerry Curve 8900 has an expansive feature set that keeps users easily connected with their office, friends and family. In addition to exceptional phone, email, messaging, organiser, web browser and multimedia applications, the new BlackBerry Curve 8900 also features global connectivity support, built-in Wi-Fi® and GPS, a fast processor (512Mhz) and a dazzling hi-resolution display, enabling customers to remain productive and entertained while on the go.

The BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphone has on-the-go video, text and maps, a full QWERTY keyboard and an intuitive trackball navigation system that allows users to enjoy an exceptional communications experience. Its full-featured media player supports media streaming and can play all your favourite songs and videos. With its new 3.2 megapixel camera, including auto focus, image stabilization, digital zoom and flash, you can take sharp, print-quality pictures to capture the moment and immediately send them to a friend or post them on the Internet. The microSD/SDHC expandable memory slot supports up to 16GB, giving users plenty of storage that is easily interchangeable.

“The BlackBerry Curve 8900 lets you keep your finger on the pulse of what’s important to you. You can stay connected with the office, the Internet, your family and friends – all on a beautifully designed phone that looks and feels great,” said Mark Guibert, Vice President, Corporate Marketing at Research In Motion.

At approximately 110 grams and 109 x 60 x 13.5 millimeters, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 feels comfortable for either one-handed or two-handed use. Its large, striking 2.4 inch HVGA+ display (480×360 pixels) projects vivid color and makes information easier to read. It also provides flexible connectivity and helps people find their way, combining built-in Wi-Fi® (802.11 b/g) support and GPS capabilities.

The BlackBerry Curve 8900 is a quad-band smartphone, providing global connectivity for fast data access and web browsing. The smartphone can be used for Internet browsing and accessing emails using BlackBerry® Internet Service and BlackBerry® Enterprise Server.

BlackBerry Enterprise Server software tightly integrates with IBM® Lotus® Domino®, Microsoft® Exchange and Novell® GroupWise® and uses advanced encryption and IT policy controls to enable secure, push-based wireless access to email and other corporate data.

BlackBerry Internet Service is designed for smaller businesses and individuals. It allows customers to access up to 10 supported corporate and personal email accounts (including most popular ISP email accounts such as Yahoo! Mail and Google Mail) from a single device.