Verizon Wireless and Research In Motion (RIM) today announced the BlackBerry Curve 8330 smartphone will be available in May. Packaged in a liquid silver-colored finish with chrome highlights, smooth edges and soft curves, the BlackBerry Curve 8330 is backed by Verizon Wireless' high-speed Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) network.

The BlackBerry Curve 8330 offers the following capabilities and key features:

• measures 4.2” x 2.4” x 0.6”and weighs only 4 ounces
• Large, vibrant 320 x 240 display, with light sensing technology
• full-QWERTY keyboard and trackball navigation system
• noise cancellation technology to offset background noise, Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD),
• Bluetooth 2.0, with support for hands-free headsets, stereo headsets (Bluetooth stereo audio profile A2DP/AVRCP)
• 2.0 megapixel camera
• Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones application
• 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack and dedicated volume controls
• MicroSD/SDHC memory card slot
• HTML web browser
• A removable, rechargeable battery, rated for up to 260 minutes of talk time and up to 11 days of standby time

The BlackBerry Curve 8330 smartphone will be available for $269.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.