New Technology Reviews!.: Software

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Q and A session from Hong Kong

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Q and A session from Hong Kong

I’m sure many of you readers were following along during the live broadcast of the Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich just as we were, but...

In Depth: 5 best programs to speed up your PC Easily

5 best programs to speed up your PC</h3>
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The way Windows handles software is far from perfect. Every time you install a program, bits of it are scattered all over your system, and the end result is a slower PC.</div>
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You've probably encountered this; old computers tend to feel clogged up and sluggish. The parts inside haven't degraded - they're still as capable as the day you bought the PC - it's your programs that are to blame. This even applies to programs you've already uninstalled, which leave traces of themselves behind like litter after a particularly fine picnic.</div>
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It's not surprising, then, that the primary method of speeding up a system is to clean it thoroughly. Remove the artefacts of past programs and you remove the dilly-dallying of Windows looking for things it will never find.</div>
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But there's more to a fast system than a tidy hard drive. There are many subtle tweaks that can be made to Windows itself that lead to a slicker experience.</div>
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In this test, we're looking at a selection of programs that do both. We're judging our subjects based on some real-world tests, such as system boot time and the time taken to load Internet Explorer 8, although these are subjective - your results may vary from ours depending on the content of your system.</div>
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Each time we test an application, we're starting from the same point: a worn-in Windows 7 installation with apps such as RealPlayer, AVG Antivirus, OpenOffice and Apple iTunes installed - a selection of the most treacle-like applications you can install on your PC. We're also looking at how easy these programs are to use.</div>
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It doesn't matter how effective software is if it looks as though it's written in Sanskrit, because you're unlikely to understand exactly what you're doing to your computer. A good system speed-up is one done without much prodding from you; you wouldn't take your car to a mechanic and expect to be referred back to a Haynes manual, would you?</div>
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Avanquest Fix It Utilities 11 Pro</h4>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Price:</span> £31<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Web:</span> www.avanquest.com/uk</div>
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<img alt="Avanquest" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/PC%20Format/PCF%20257/PCF257.w_roundup.fixit1-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/PC%20Format/PCF%20257/PCF257.w_roundup.fixit1-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Fix It Utilities, obsessed with doing everything it possibly can, digs its claws in deep to your computer. It leaves a little program running in your taskbar at the bottom-right of the screen that doesn't seem to go away even if you ask it to, and pushes the option to use its built-in antivirus facilities even if you've already got your own antivirus software installed. It's not the best of starts, frankly.</div>
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The language used within the app is also a bit weaselly - it lists scans not yet run as problems with your system, for example - but we can't fault it for simplicity. There's a single button marked 'One click fix all' which seems to do just that, running through its battery of tests and fixes to make sure your computer is in tip-top condition with little input from you.</div>
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It's not entirely concerned with system speed-ups, but that's definitely a large amount of Fix-It Utilities' remit. There's an internet optimiser, a section dedicated to Windows speed-ups, and a scan that promises to shuffle your computer's memory into a fast order.</div>
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Go deeper than the one-click option, though, and you might start getting a bit baffled; the presentation of deeper sections such as the Startup Commander are tough going to say the least, full of check boxes and changes that don't immediately shout about what they might do to your computer.</div>
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Leave them to run on their own, though, and you're unlikely to be disappointed - Fix-It Utilities did a good job at making our system feel quicker, and its active protection facility (which monitors your computer regularly for issues so it doesn't get sluggish again) is an excellent touch.</div>
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You shouldn't have to go in and run programs like this - they should look after you.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Verdict</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Pros:</span></div>
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Ostensibly simple interface<br />
Great hands-free tweaking</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Cons:</span></div>
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Too pushy<br />
Can be surprisingly complex</div>
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Does a lot of things well, but it's too simple in some places, too complex in others.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Score: 79%</span></div>
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Iolo System Mechanic 10</h4>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Price:</span> £28<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Web:</span> www.iolo.com</div>
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<img alt="System mechanic 10" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/PC%20Format/PCF%20257/PCF257.w_roundup.systemmech1-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/PC%20Format/PCF%20257/PCF257.w_roundup.systemmech1-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Where other apps might over-simplify things, System Mechanic makes a good stab at saying exactly what it's doing with the clearest language possible. You won't be mystified as to what any of its functions do, but be prepared to read for a while; everything is described in excruciating detail.</div>
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Compared to, say, Fix-it Utilities, System Mechanic seems a bit more honest; when it says "problems", it means problems with your computer rather than problems with the way you've used the software.</div>
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You're given complete control over the way you go about fixing issues, too. You can certainly whack the Repair All button and let the program do all the work for you, or you can methodically go through System Mechanic's repair sections and fix your issues one by one.</div>
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System Mechanic also has what it calls a tool box, containing a bunch of mini programs sorted by category, so you don't need to know that you want a registry compactor, for example - if you know you want to improve your computer's performance, you just go to the appropriate section.</div>
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OK, System Mechanic isn't for everyone. If you're completely averse to any kind of technical language, you'll probably turn away in horror, even though it does a competent job at explaining things clearly. But if you want a piece of software that's going to speed up your PC and make sure it's in tip-top shape, this is definitely it.</div>
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Iolo's ActiveCare technology sensibly keeps an eye on things when you're not using your computer, which means it doesn't slow down when you're in the middle of something, and with a year of updates included and a three-PC licence we'd even go as far as to say this was a bit of a bargain.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Verdict</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Pros:</span></div>
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Best speed improvement here<br />
Clear explanations throughout<br />
Great interface</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Cons:</span></div>
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Can be overly wordy</div>
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Easy to use, well laid out: this is an app with speed at its very core, and we love it.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Score: 90%</span></div>
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IObit Advanced System Care Free 3</h4>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Price:</span> Free<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Web:</span> www.iobit.com</div>
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<img alt="IOBit" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/PC%20Format/PCF%20257/PCF257.w_roundup.asc1-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/PC%20Format/PCF%20257/PCF257.w_roundup.asc1-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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There's a lot to be said for clarity. IOBit's AdvancedSystemCare Free 3 needs a little digging before you can work out what each of its sections do, and the language used in its tutorials isn't really very friendly.</div>
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Run a scan and you'll probably be told your Windows system has an amazing number of problems - ours had about 10,000. But those problems were a lack of individual 'immunisations' from the program's security section, something we'd have lumped in to a single issue. Scare tactics.</div>
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ASC has its advantages, though. The Turbo Boost option scales up your processor and helps you switch off everything unecessary for when you need a litle more performance. The one-click Care button runs through its litany of tests and solutions (without explicitly bothering you with any details of what it's actually doing) and it certainly offers a wide range of potential refinements to be made to your PC.</div>
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Its focus is on increasing your computer's speed and safety by cleaning it up rather than using any specific tweaks, however. Strangely, IOBit has chosen to spin many of the tweaks that would work well in ASC - features that many other apps include by default - off to separate packages. Want better games performance? Get Game Booster. Faster web connection? You need to download Internet Booster.</div>
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This isn't exactly efficient, and the way IOBit goes about encouraging you to download these apps - including a confusingly labelled tick box in the installer and a whole page of seemingly useful options in the main app acting as Trojan horses - is just cheeky. There's no box. There's an installer, and a sneaky one at that; not only does it suggest installing a browser toolbar, but IObit tries to get further software on your system at the same time.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Verdict</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Pros:</span></div>
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Single-click</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Cons:</span></div>
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Tries installing rubbish on installation<br />
Uses scare tactics<br />
Doesn't actually do that much</div>
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Does a decent job in the tasks it covers, but that doesn't cover too much ground.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Score: 42%</span></div>
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CCleaner</h4>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Price:</span> Free<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Web:</span> <a href="http://www.piriform.com/" mce_href="http://www.piriform.com/" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;">www.piriform.com</a></div>
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<img alt="CCleaner" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/PC%20Format/PCF%20257/PCF257.w_roundup.ccleaner-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/PC%20Format/PCF%20257/PCF257.w_roundup.ccleaner-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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You may think it's a bit of a strange move, including CCleaner in this test. We'll admit it; we've thrown in a bit of a curveball.</div>
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This is not explicitly a speed-up tool. The name is a dead giveaway - it's all about cleaning up your PC. But you really won't find a better representation of why cleaning up is the best way to make your system run faster than CCleaner, one of the most widely respected and widely used free applications on the web.</div>
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It's the industry standard for a reason: the results speak for themselves. Of course, we're not suggesting that it's perfect. CCleaner is not exactly friendly if you don't know what you're doing with your computer. Nothing is sugar-coated, and there's a lot in there that won't be obvious to novices.</div>
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But that's only on the surface; look carefully: there are two buttons. One says Analyze, the other says Run Cleaner. You don't actually have to know anything beyond how to click a mouse to get the most out of CCleaner, so don't be too intimidated.</div>
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Click the Registry button on the left and you're similarly equipped - two buttons get the job done. Doesn't matter if you know what's going on or not. And while other applications do more to spruce up your computer, or do it in a flashier way, they're either paid-for apps or they're slathered in sneaky add-ons. Glary Utilities tries to install the Ask toolbar into your web browser. AdvancedSystemCare makes a stab at installing its own Yahoo-based toolbar, and tries to get you installing a host of extra apps, too.</div>
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CCleaner is, appropriately, clean of sneaky installers, and we applaud publisher Piriform for making it that way. Nothing. No box, no tricksy installers, just an honest computer cleaner that does its job perfectly.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Piriform's other applications cover alternative aspects of PC efficiency, so check the website.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Verdict</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Pros:</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Does the job well<br />
Simple interface</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Cons:</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Can be a little intimidating<br />
Won't boot your machine quicker</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Intensive system cleaning that will lead to a much faster PC in the end.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Score: 84%</span></div>
<h4 style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">

Glary Utilities</h4>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Price:</span> Free<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Web:</span> www.glaryutilities.com</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="Glary" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/PC%20Format/PCF%20257/PCF257.w_roundup.glary1-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/PC%20Format/PCF%20257/PCF257.w_roundup.glary1-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Free for non-business use, this has one of the widest ranges of tweaks, speed-ups and cleaning tools we've seen in an application. Particularly a free one.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
GU's one-click section focuses on cleaning potentially threatening files and tightening up the areas of your PC that get a little loose with time, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. There is a whole host of additional modules that do way more than straight cleaning.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
There's a memory optimiser, a start-up manager and a registry defragmenter; jargon-filled sections which, we assure you, all help to shave microseconds off that vital boot time.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
That jargon, unfortunately, runs all the way through. So while you might get on well with the one-click section, if you're not an experienced user, you probably won't have much luck with the rest of the program because the complexity of its modules increases along with the complexity of its language. And its AutoCare section, which should schedule automatic cleaning and fixing, isn't available in the free edition.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
The commerical version, which also adds a 24/7 technical support system, will set you back $40, or around £30 - for that money, we'd gravitate towards System Mechanic any day. That said, we'd rather endure free Glary's direct use of jargon than AdvancedSystemCare's rather confusing interface, and there's a lot here worth using.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Verdict</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Pros:</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Good selection of utilities<br />
Works well to improve performance</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Cons:</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Can feel overly compelx<br />
Free version doesn't have scheduler</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Probably the best system cleaner and speed up app you'll ever find for free.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Verdict: 80%</span></div>
<h4 style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">

And the winner is... Iolo System Mechanic 10</h4>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="system mechanic 10" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/PC%20Format/PCF%20257/PCF257.w_roundup.systemmech2-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/PC%20Format/PCF%20257/PCF257.w_roundup.systemmech2-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Are you willing to pay money? Then go straight to System Mechanic and do not pass Go. It's got all the features you need for a fast, clean computer, and a team working on it that's completely dedicated not just to cleanliness but to firing up your PC's turbocharger.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
That's not to say that Fix-It Utilities is in any way poor; if you're not up to speed with computer lingo, it's well worth a shot.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
On the free side, as long as you're careful to avoid the tag-on toolbars offered in the installation packages of Glary Utilities and AdvancedSystemCleaner, you can't really go wrong installing all three; it's certainly not going to hurt.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
CCleaner does the neatest job of tidying things up, and Glary Utilities' more advanced tweaking modules really are top notch if you're looking to add that final extra lick of speed.</div>
</div>
</div>

In Depth: 5 best programs to speed up your PC Easily

5 best programs to speed up your PC The way Windows handles software is far from perfect. Every time you install a program, bits of...

Google TV 2.0 to run Honeycomb, Android Market apps

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<img alt="Google TV 2.0 to run Honeycomb, Android Market apps" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/c7688b61c7470-75.jpg.jpg" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/c7688b61c7470-75.jpg.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /><br />
Google has announced a software update for its UK-bound Google TV service, which incorporates the Android Market and Honeycomb OS for the first time.<br />
Google TV 2.0 opens up the service to third party developers via the Android Market, which means all existing applications can be rewritten for the TV screen and new ones can be created.<br />
With Google TV set to launch in the UK early next year, this opens the possibility for the likes of Spotify, BBC iPlayer, LOVEFiLM and Sky Go to have native applications for the service.<br />
<h4 style="font-size: 1em;">
Numbers will grow</h4>
In a post on the official Google TV blog, the company says: "We are opening up the TV to the creativity of content creators large and small through Android Market.<br />
"Android developers can now bring existing mobile apps or entirely new ones to TV.<br />
"Initially, the number of apps won't be large – apps requiring a touch screen, GPS, or telephony won't show up – but 50 developers have seeded the Market with cool and useful apps for the TV. We're excited to see the number of apps grow."<br />
The new Google TV, which runs a variant of the Android Honeycomb OS seen on tablets like the Motorola Xoom, also has an overhauled, simplified interface which makes finding content easier.<br />
Another big improvement looks to be the YouTube app. Google says it has completely overhauled the way the video sharing portal works on Google TV, with the company also integrating YouTube into the system's content search.<br />
<h4 style="font-size: 1em;">
Google TV: All bets are off</h4>
When Eric Schmidt announced Google TV would be coming to the UK, many felt that the horse had already bolted, following a disappointing reception in the US due to the lack of content available.<br />
With news that all content providers, as well as game developers can now push their wares using the service, it makes the Google TV proposition an entirely different and much more interesting one.<br />
We're actually quite excited now.<br />
</div>

Google TV 2.0 to run Honeycomb, Android Market apps

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RIM: Buy two BlackBerry Playbooks get one free

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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"></span><br />
<img alt="RIM: Buy two BlackBerry Playbooks get one free" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/f52a5f815a470-75.jpg.jpg" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/f52a5f815a470-75.jpg.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /><br />
RIM is offering business customers a completely free BlackBerry PlayBook... when they buy two.<br />
The 'Back to Business' promotion, which RIM says is aimed at kitting-out small businesses with PlayBooks will run from now until December 31st 2011.<br />
The somewhat desperate attempt to shift some of RIM's over-flowing PlayBook inventory will include three free accessories per tablet.<br />
Buyers will get a 6ft HDMI cable, a black leather sleeve and a charging pot absolutely gratis.<br />
<h4 style="font-size: 1em;">
Software update delayed</h4>
The 'special offer' comes after RIM revealed, this week, that it would be delaying a much needed PlayBook software update until February 2012.<br />
The PlayBook is yet to gain a native email application, while the long-promised Android app player remains a pipedream.<br />
<h4 style="font-size: 1em;">
Week to forget</h4>
All-in-all, it has been another week to forget for the Canadian giant.<br />
The software delays caused stocks to crash once again, while on Wednesday night it was hit with a class action lawsuit over the internet services outage which left millions without BBM and email earlier this month.<br />
Tech Radar has contacted RIM to ascertain where this offer extends to UK businesses.<br />
<img alt="" border="0" data-mce-src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/117330553434/u/49/f/9809/c/669/s/19a5b177/kg/253-259-264-281/a2.img" src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/117330553434/u/49/f/9809/c/669/s/19a5b177/kg/253-259-264-281/a2.img" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" /><img alt="" data-mce-src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/allnews/~4/J6bV2TGnvHk" height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/allnews/~4/J6bV2TGnvHk" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="1" /><br />
</div>

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RIM is offering business customers a completely free BlackBerry PlayBook... when they buy two. The 'Back to Business' promotion,...

Verizon’s Samsung Stratosphere rooted already

Verizon’s Samsung Stratosphere rooted already

If you want to make your Android phone work harder, there’s only one way to go: root. Verizon’s latest phone, the Samsung Stratosphere, ...

HTC looking over Ice Cream Sandwich to determine upgrade plan

HTC looking over Ice Cream Sandwich to determine upgrade plan

Just like most manufacturers probably are doing, HTC is looking over Ice Cream Sandwich as we speak and are trying to device and determi...

Review: BlackBerry Curve 9360

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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;"></span><br />
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<div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="Review: BlackBerry Curve 9360" class="aligncenter" height="212" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_04-470-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_04-470-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="282" /></div>
<h3 style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Overview, design and feel</h3>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
With users rushing to denounce BlackBerry and announce they'll leave the platform, RIM really needs to pull a belter out of the bag to put the horrors of 2011 behind it.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Which is where the BlackBerry Curve 9360 comes in. The range has long been one of BlackBerry's most popular - affordable, but not cheap; sleek, but not too flash. And the bestselling Curve 9300 has now been updated to give even more bang for the buck. 3G, GPS, NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and, of course, BBM are all here and accounted for.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" class="aligncenter" height="189" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_04-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_04-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="252" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
The first thing you notice is just how thin this smartphone is. The Curve 9360 feels almost like it's not completely finished, as though you're holding a dummy unit in a shop. It's only 11mm thick, and light as a feather at 99g. It also has precise edges - not enough to cut you, but it certainly gives that impression.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Curve_9350-9360-9370_AdAngle-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Curve_9350-9360-9370_AdAngle-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Made of a combination of brushed metal and black plastic, this is one good-looking handset, and measuring just 109 x 60mm, it's a great size.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Hands-on%20photos/2011-10-18%2014.21.50-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Hands-on%20photos/2011-10-18%2014.21.50-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Up top you have the standard 3.5mm headphone jack and a lock button that's not touch sensitive, although we did wonder about this, since you don't actually press it in far enough to be noticeable to lock and unlock the screen.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_03-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_03-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
The left-hand side has the micro USB charging/syncing port, while the right has both a volume rocker (with middle shortcut button) and convenience key. It's typical BlackBerry fare.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Curve_9350-9360-9370_Back-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Curve_9350-9360-9370_Back-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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The back houses the 5MP camera lens on one side, while the LED light for taking snaps is at the other end. We missed having a flash on the Curve 9300, so it's really good to see it back here.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_07-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_07-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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The battery door is made of a high gloss plastic that looks like it'll scratch to high heaven given half a chance, and rests just above the speaker.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_01-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_01-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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This battery cover's not easy to get off - and that's being kind. In the absence of an instruction manual with our review unit, we sat there patiently trying to get it off for what felt like an eternity, and could find no obvious way to do it. We eventually had to force it open and closed just to get a SIM and MicroSD card inside.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_05-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_05-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Around the front, you'll find the compact QWERTY keyboard, optical track pad and four BlackBerry shortcut keys. They appear to be fused to the bottom of the screen but they're not touch-sensitive and give a nice, satisfying click as you push them in.</div>
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The screen itself has a 480 x 360 resolution and really looks like a quality display. RIM hasn't cut corners here.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Curve_9350-9360-9370_SideAngleLeft-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Curve_9350-9360-9370_SideAngleLeft-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Within the BlackBerry range, the Curve 9360 will be mainly competing against its predecessor, the 9300 3G. And the Curve 9360 is also due to be released in white on the Orange network soon, so prepare for a little sibling rivalry there too.</div>
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Looking further afield, we'd pit it against the Samsung Galaxy S rather than the Galaxy S2, or against the Apple iPhone 3GS rather than the iPhone 4S in terms of what you're getting for your money. But it's an uneasy comparison, because both the Samsung Galaxy S and iPhone 3GS have touch screens, whereas the BlackBerry 9360 does not.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_06-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_06-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
It's aimed squarely at those who are either on a budget and want a BlackBerry but without the size/price tag of the excellent Bold 9900, or those who are slightly younger. This is a model we can see in the clutches of many a teenager over the next few months, and with its reasonable price tag - £280 SIM-free or free on a £25 per month contract - it's likely to fit that mould perfectly.</div>
<h3 style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Interface</h3>
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The BlackBerry Curve 9360 has an immediate advantage over its predecessor in that it runs BlackBerry OS 7 - as do all of the RIM crops that have just been released from harvest.</div>
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Cosmetically, OS 7 takes its cues from the BlackBerry PlayBook and OS 6. Gone is the standard blue-and-white grid format that we got in OS 5 and, to a certain extent, saw an updated version of in OS 6.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215522-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215522-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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The icons on OS 7 are all very much individual. In fact, it looks like a little bit of a mishmash, and we couldn't help thinking of the busy look that OS 4 provided when you had the app drawer open in the old days.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215546-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215546-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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There's no kind of uniformity here and, while we're big fans of the clarity of icons, we have to admit that we think this is where it all looks a bit cheap.</div>
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OS 7 was promised as a faster operating system. And to be fair to RIM, it has delivered on this. That's because this baby whizzes along, leading you to believe that there's more in there than just an 800MHz processor.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215507-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215507-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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It's been upped from the 624MHz found under the hood of the Curve 9300 and between that and the improved operating system, there were very few occasions where it ground to a halt. It did happen occasionally - but only in circumstances where we had lots of apps open. We admit, we were impressed.</div>
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As before, you have numerous app drawers you can swipe through (favourites, recent, downloaded and so on), although you can now manage which ones you want to see via the menu. We found these drawers to be a bit pointless and distracting on our Bold 9780, so are glad this option is here.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215515-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215515-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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As before, you can search anywhere in the phone using the keyboard, which is kind of like smart dialling, but searches through more than just your phone book.</div>
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Or, if you're feeling particularly lazy, just use your own dulcet tones. The new operating system - and therefore the BlackBerry Curve 9360 - comes with voice-search included. RIM probably thought it had something great here - but has unfortunately been massively usurped by Apple's Siri.</div>
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It's not that the BlackBerry Curve 9360 implementation is bad - far from it. It matched our voice relatively well and brought up various search options. But it is, in no way, a 'virtual personal assistant' and had it not been for Siri bringing that to the masses, it wouldn't have mattered. But it has - and you notice.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215602-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215602-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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The other thing we're not massively enamoured with is that voice searching should be just that: vocally-driven. By this, we mean so you don't have to touch your phone.</div>
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But you do on the BlackBerry Curve 9360, because you have to press a button when you're finished talking to let the phone know, and then you have to press another button to choose what it is you want to search (whether it's your phone book, the web or something else).</div>
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It renders it all a bit pointless, and you can't help feeling that RIM just hasn't thought this through.</div>
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Contacts and calling</h3>
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We weren't expecting this element of the BlackBerry Curve 9360's operating system to be radically different, and we're not disappointed, because it isn't different in any way, shape or form to the offering on the BlackBerry Bold 9900. In fact, it's almost identical to the way contacts appear on OS 6, too.</div>
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We went through every single option in there, and did so on our OS 6-running 9780, and not one single option has changed - as far as we can see.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215637-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215637-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Again, that's not to say that the offering here is bad, because it definitely isn't. BlackBerry's contacts handling system on the Curve 9360 is as top-notch as it always has been - albeit a little boring, cosmetically.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215916-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215916-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Getting names and numbers on the phone is a piece of cake. You're spoilt for choice really, with BES/BIS, Google Contacts integration or just plain, old-fashioned PC/Mac syncing. It all works, and thousands of contacts will take seconds to populate.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215929-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215929-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220015-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220015-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Contacts are listed with thumbnails. If you have a photo of the person, it looks great. If, like us, some have pictures and some don't, then you'll just have what looks like an untidy phonebook with lots of missing images in your list.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215942-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_215942-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Within a contact field, you can put any bit of information you require, ranging from date of birth to anniversaries, address, phone, email details plus custom information if you want to keep a note of their dog's name.</div>
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For a novice, it may all be a little too much. Yes, it's great that RIM provides us with so much customisation potential. Yet we're still yet to meet anybody who'll fill in all of those details for all of their contacts.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220000-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220000-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Calling a person is easy, though - just type their name in from the home screen and smart dialling kicks in, or do it via the contacts app. You can also add shortcuts to people to dial on your home screen, a feature that our iOS-loving friends still miss out on.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220034-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220034-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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During a call you get the usual options such as hold, add participant and so on. There's nothing new here. And the call quality is, as you'd expect from BlackBerry, pretty good. It's clear as a bell, loud on both speaker and handset modes, and there's even the option to increase bass.</div>
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The BlackBerry Curve 9360 can hold onto a signal and that is, of course, one of the basics that a manufacturer should always get right.</div>
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Alas, despite this being a 3G phone, if you're looking for any form of video calling on the BlackBerry Curve 9360, forget it.</div>
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But you can be sociable in other ways - both Twitter and Facebook are supported and come preinstalled with the latest and greatest versions - both of which have been updated for OS 7. Facebook statuses are ingrained into a contact's card, but there's no really deep integration of the type we see on Windows Phone 7 handsets or certain Android offerings, which is a shame.</div>
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Messaging</h3>
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Chances are, if you're grabbing a BlackBerry, you're doing it because you're big on messaging, rather than just phone calls. And it's all in here: every option you could shake a stick at.</div>
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Firstly, email. Be it BIS or BES, you're home and dry with the BlackBerry Curve 9360, which operates as most BlackBerries do when it comes to messaging: brilliantly (we'll skim over the events of October here.)</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlackBery_Curve_9360_messaging-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlackBery_Curve_9360_messaging-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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You can customise how you want it to look and have your emails separate from BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) or from your SMS, or throw the whole lot together into a consolidated inbox. Heck, Twitter and Facebook messages will join in the party too if you want them!</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220107-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220107-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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It's not any different to what we've seen before, but once again everything just seems to work. And you can add as many third party solutions as you want, from Windows Live Messenger to WhatsApp and Google Talk.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlackBery_Curve_9360%20text-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlackBery_Curve_9360%20text-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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BBM is one of the big selling points here: secure, encrypted instant messaging that enables you to keep in touch a lot easier (and cheaper) than SMS, which is why it's so popular with younger folk.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220211-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220211-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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RIM knows how much of a deal-breaker BBM is, which is why it's recently been looking at porting the software over to Android too. For now though, it's BlackBerry-only, and with the BlackBerry Curve 9360 - and the likelihood of it being popular with youngsters - it's one of this handset's biggest draws.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_05-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_05-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Typing on the BlackBerry Curve 9360 is an easy enough affair. The physical keyboard lacks the size of the Bold 9900 and is of the typical Curve variety, which is more spaced out and clicks a lot more. BlackBerries first got their name because the keys looked like the seeds from the BlackBerry fruit.</div>
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And here, that's more apparent than ever. Big shovels of hands may have issues with the small keys, but for the majority of us it's perfectly usable.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220233-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220233-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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BlackBerry's own Social Feeds app is also present, although we still don't get why you'd want to use this. It's not separate software - it just takes you into the relevant app when you click on anything. Still, at least you can ignore it if you want (which is what we did.)</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220606-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220606-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Internet</h3>
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We can still remember our first BlackBerry Curve, the 8310. It was a lovely piece of kit for its day, but when it came to that web browser, we wanted to scratch our eyes out with a fork. Pages took a day and a half to load and then never looked anything like they were meant to.</div>
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The 8900 made some improvements, but it was only when OS 6 came along and the new WebKit-enabled browser took over that we could actually consider browsing properly for more than a couple of seconds. And now, on the BlackBerry Curve 9360 and OS 7, you really feel that the web browser has come of age.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220856-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220856-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Don't get us wrong, we're not saying it's brilliant or the match for Android or the iPhone, because it's not. But it's definitely usable. If you have time on your side, that is. Loading pages does take a little while, because that 800MHz processor still has to work like a Blackpool donkey to render even the simplest web pages.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220936-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220936-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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The TechRadar homepage took a staggering 27 seconds to load, and that was over Wi-Fi. We're talking from the second we pressed return on the address bar until the last vestige of that loading line had left our screen. We could actually start reading the page at about 13 seconds in, so all was not lost, but it's still ridiculously slow.</div>
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And over 3G, it was even longer - taking the best part of 46 seconds to fully load the same page.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221009-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221009-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Other pages took comparable times, and although we bemoan this, it wasn't so bad that we wanted to throw the BlackBerry Curve 9360 out of the window as we have with some other handsets in the past.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
The likelihood is that if you're serious about web browsing, you'll probably go for the <a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/blackberry-bold-9900-989797/review" mce_href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/blackberry-bold-9900-989797/review" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;">Bold 9900</a> and all its touchscreen wizardry (or alternative phone altogether), but for a bit of light surfing, the Curve 9360 will suffice.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221137-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221137-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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And at least the resolution pulls a few points back onto the score too, because that screen does look fantastic with web pages loaded on it. The clarity is great and you can't easily spot pixels as you often can with some cheaper handsets.</div>
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RIM has updated how bookmarks work, so instead of getting them in a list format, you get little thumbnails of all of your sites. The same goes for your history.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220816-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_220816-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Predictably, there is no Flash capability. We moan about this every time, and gave the Bold 9900 hell for this omission. We didn't really expect RIM to have included it here on a junior handset, and even if it had, if the BlackBerry Curve 9360 struggles to get normal pages up in a decent time, we shudder to think how that processor would cope with Flash elements.</div>
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For the first time in our life, we'll probably say here that it is just as well that Flash has been left out.</div>
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Camera</h3>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_07-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_07-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
The BlackBerry Curve 9360 has a much-improved camera than the one found on its predecessor. Gone is the 2MP unit and in its place is a 5MP offering, which is pretty average for what's about at the moment and certainly by no means inferior.</div>
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RIM has also given us a flash, which is something we couldn't believe it left out on the Curve 9300. We can't understand why some phones still don't come with any kind of illumination these days. Not having one makes taking pictures such a boring experience.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221158-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221158-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
When Apple recently launched the iPhone 4S and upped the camera to 8MP, it said that would probably be the best compact camera some people owned.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Now we're in a situation where the camera on a phone could be the primary snapper - without having to worry about a DSLR or high-end compact camera.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
It's a shame RIM hasn't got the same ethos here, though. Befitting the Curve's position below the Bold 9900 (which itself didn't set the world alight with its 5MP camera), the lens on the Curve 9360 isn't bad.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
But it is average, and you realise that you won't be taking this out in place of a camera when you plan on taking lots of snaps because, quite frankly, it's not up to the job of anything other than the odd piccy to send via MMS or email.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221213-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221213-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
The BlackBerry Curve 9360 has all manner of scene modes, including face detection. Heck, it's even got image stabilisation (although it's turned off by default).</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
But what it doesn't have is an autofocus. This camera's focus is fixed all the way, which meant that when we tried to take photos, there was no mucking about, it just took what was there in front of it. And almost every photo we took ended up slightly blurred.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
The image stabilisation really is rubbish, because we stood stiller than a corpse when we took our shots but it wasn't enough. In fact, bizarrely, photos taken in darkness with the flash on were the only ones that were really worth anything.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
The camera is most definitely not the BlackBerry Curve 9360's strong point. We remember the Bold 9900 having struggles with its autofocus, and really hope this doesn't mean BlackBerry is giving up on its cameras.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<a href="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo1.jpg" mce_href="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo1.jpg" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;"><img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo1-424-100.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo1-424-100.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></a></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">FLASH: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">The photo light works brilliantly. Photos actually look better when taken with it on</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
See full-res image</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<a href="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo2.jpg" mce_href="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo2.jpg" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;"><img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo2-424-100.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo2-424-100.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></a></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">YELLOW:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">Close-up subjects can look a teeny bit yellow with the flash on. But not much</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
See full-res image</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<a href="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo3.jpg" mce_href="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo3.jpg" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;"><img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo3-424-100.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo3-424-100.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></a></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">NO FOCUS:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">The lack of focus can be a real problem</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
See full-res image</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<a href="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo4.jpg" mce_href="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo4.jpg" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;"><img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo4-424-100.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo4-424-100.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></a></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">BLURRY:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">Moving subjects are prone to blurring</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
See full-res image</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<a href="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo5.jpg" mce_href="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo5.jpg" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;"><img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo5-424-100.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo5-424-100.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></a></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">PIXILATED:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">The zoom is digital so photos look no better than they did on a Nokia 6680 years ago</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
See full-res image</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<a href="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo6.jpg" mce_href="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo6.jpg" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;"><img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo6-424-100.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo6-424-100.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></a></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">NATURAL LIGHT: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">The camera is best suited to scenic shots in good light</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
See full-res image</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<a href="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo7.jpg" mce_href="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo7.jpg" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;"><img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo7-424-100.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Photo7-424-100.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></a></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">COLOURFUL: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">Colours come out well in good light</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
See full-res image</div>
<h3 style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Video</h3>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
When we reviewed the current Daddy of the BlackBerry range, the Bold 9900, we were disappointed with the 5MP camera (the same offering as we have on the Curve 9360, albeit with a couple more options) but it redeemed itself to a certain extent with the fact that it can shoot HD video.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Sadly, if you want to shoot HD video on a BlackBerry, you'll have to go premium, because you can't do it with the Curve 9360. Video is restricted to a measly maximum resolution of 640 x 480, which is what we had in years gone by with another mode for shooting smaller MMS-friendly files.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221253-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221253-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Yet that's not to say that quality is bad, because it's actually not at all. Videos suit the screen size perfectly so you don't feel like you're really missing anything by being able to shoot in just SD.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79HGaCYbp6E</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/5339/youtubeinsert42090.jpg" src="http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/5339/youtubeinsert42090.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
And even when they're transferred to your computer, they're not bad. They're not brilliant, but they're more than adequate.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
There are various scene modes included just like in the camera app - although there are fewer of them - and image stabilisation rears its head here again but, also again, we couldn't see what it offered.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
There is a video light but annoyingly, you have to decide if you want to have it on or off before you start shooting your video, which is irritating - especially if you're moving around between light and dark or maybe shooting in twilight.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221309-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221309-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
You have to stop recording to toggle it on and off, which can ruin videos, and annoyingly there is what looks like an icon at the bottom of the screen for you to click on to turn the light on and off.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Unfortunately, this is just a notifier, signalling if your light is on or off (like you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at the back of the phone) and is a waste of screen real estate. It's annoying and shows that RIM hasn't really thought this whole bit of the OS through. Most people won't notice or mind, but we did, and it irked us.</div>
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Media</h3>
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Media is one of the feathers RIM has in its virtual cap, and one that is often overlooked by people looking to buy a multimedia smartphone.</div>
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Although BlackBerries are primarily messaging devices and that's what buyers associate them with, in recent years RIM has upped its media capabilities. We assume this is in response to the iPhone, and with RIM trying to target the teen market, this becomes ripe fighting ground.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221413-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221413-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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It's especially true of the BlackBerry Curve range now these affordable smartphones are being pitched towards the younger users as well as others.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221501-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221501-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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We love the fact that RIM no longer provides us with just a bog standard music player, but has dedicated sections such as a podcast area that even enables you to search and subscribe directly from your handset.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221423-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221423-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Amazon MP3 is built in directly, and it provides a credible alternative to the iTunes store. In fact, in some ways it's better, because it includes things you wouldn't necessarily find on iTunes (we even dug out the old <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">Red Dwarf</span> theme tune and used it as a ring tone - sad, eh?).</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221438-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221438-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Music is purchased and downloaded and you can sync it straight back to your PC or Mac using the excellent software that RIM provides, which even syncs iTunes playlists perfectly (that's no mean feat - just ask Android smartphone users).</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221520-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221520-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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There's no FM radio, sadly, although RIM has never included an FM radio on its mobile phones, so it's hardly a surprise. We used the TuneIn Radio app for our radio needs.</div>
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The loudspeaker is just that - LOUD. There's no hint of tinniness, and although bass is a little on the meagre side, it's not enough to notice when you play music through the back. It does muffle if you put the BlackBerry Curve 9360 down on a soft surface, but that's hardly anything to be concerned about.</div>
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We can see a lot of bus passengers getting angry with school kids when they start piping out various tunes to each other on this handset. Oh dear.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221613-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221613-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Videos are kept in their own sections, as are music and photos, and you're even given options to search BlackBerry AppWorld for apps that will work with them. It's all really well integrated, and we're sold on this.</div>
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We can confidently say that, media-wise at least, we think the BlackBerry Curve 9360 is a worthy (and cheaper) competitor to the iPhone, even if it falls down in certain other comparable aspects.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221559-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221559-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Watching video is adequate. The BlackBerry Curve 9360 doesn't struggle to play clips, but you won't really want to watch all 200 seasons of <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">The Wire</span> on it unless you're pint-sized, because you'll be squinting your way to the opticians.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221634-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221634-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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For watching a couple of YouTube clips or even a short episode of something on the train, though, it's more than capable.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221541-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221541-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Make sure you invest in a memory card, because you won't be able to fit much on the 512MB available out of the box.</div>
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Battery life and connectivity</h3>
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Now here's what's really odd. RIM's handsets seem to be getting more and more adventurous. But bucking the trend set by other manufacturers, its batteries are getting smaller and smaller.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/2011-10-18%2014.24.12-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/2011-10-18%2014.24.12-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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The Bold 9780 gave users a good old 1500mAh power pack, but the hootin' tootin' Bold 9900 maxes out at a meagre 1230mAh. Similarly, the Curve 9300 battery was 1150mAh, and now the BlackBerry Curve 9360 is even smaller, at just 1000mAh. That has to be one of the smallest batteries we've seen in years.</div>
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Weird, huh?</div>
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RIM has presumably taken this step for two reasons: firstly, because it wants to keep the Curve 9360's dimensions down to make it appear sexier, and secondly, because OS 7 is just better at managing power - especially with a handset where the processor maxes out at 800MHz.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Battery1-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Battery1-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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But really, guys? 1000mAh? Are you mad?</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
To be fair to RIM, it will get you through a day - but you'll have to be sensible. We hate to break it to you that the era of BlackBerries having the best battery lives out there is long gone now. A BlackBerry in 2011 is no better than any other average smartphone when it comes to battery life.</div>
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We took our review unit off charge at 7am and spent an hour catching up with emails, Tweets, Facebook messages and browsing the web. At about 10am, we went for a 10 mile run using the Adidas MiCoach app and listening to the radio streaming through TuneIn.</div>
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Over the course of the afternoon, we played Jamie Woon's album from start to finish (streaming it over Bluetooth to our stereo), made about 40 minutes worth of calls and sent about 30 emails. We also sent the odd text message. We managed to eke out the power until just after 7pm, when the handset shut down the radio and told us it was off to bed.</div>
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We class that as pretty intense usage, so if you're more of an average punter, you'll easily make it through until bedtime.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221659-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221659-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
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Connectivity-wise, GPS (with A-GPS), Bluetooth (with A2DP), HSDPA/HSUPA (plus EDGE if you really want to go retro) and Wi-Fi are all there.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
NFC is also here. First introduced in the Bold 9900 and still as useless as a chocolate teapot until the technology gets major buy in, we're really shocked to see it here.</div>
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Not because it shouldn't be, but because this is a cheaper, more cheerful handset than the premium Bold 9900 so we wouldn't expect treats like that to find their way onto the spec sheet.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Still, it just goes to show how much RIM thinks NFC will be part of our lives in the months and years to come - and will probably come into its own if the Curve 9360 and BlackBerry Tag become as popular as RIM hopes.</div>
<h3 style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Maps and apps</h3>
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A plea, now addressed to RIM: Please, please, please put your BlackBerry Maps app to sleep. It's the kindest thing to do. Not just for you but for us, because every time we review a BlackBerry handset and find this piece of tat on there, it raises our heart rate.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
This app is pointless and useless. Google Maps (and others) is far superior, but you just give us something so old that it looks like it's from the movie, <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">War Games</span>.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221759-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221759-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
We urge users to just file this app in the bin, because it really is that pointless. A-GPS is on board to enable mapping and navigation apps to find your location, which helped us to get a lock in no time at all.</div>
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<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221914-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221914-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
While we're at it, can we have some more games too? Please??!</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221927-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221927-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Word-Mole and BrickBreaker were great back in 2008. But something else - maybe just one little platform game - would be lovely. Yes, we know we can download more via the AppWorld (for free up to the value of $100 for some lucky users, following the recent outage), but it would feel like you care if you could just refresh this.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_222015-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_222015-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
In terms of other apps, there are a few new bits in there such as a new Smart Tags programme, which is related to the in-built NFC technology. This basically keeps a record of all the tags you've touched in recent times, meaning you can head back into that snazzy web link or see the picture you snared if you so wish.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221817-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221817-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
There's also BlackBerry Protect to help keep your data secure - remember, security has always been one of RIM's biggest selling points, so there's no surprise in it cashing in on this.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221852-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/munch_2011_08_07_221852-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
The App World is still hideously overpriced and under populated compared to offerings like those from Apple and Android.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
However, don't forget there are other alternatives such as Handmark and GetJar, which have been around for years and have some titles at better prices. The common misconception of lots of phone users is that they're locked into one store. But you can shop around. And you probably should.</div>
<h3 style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Hands on gallery</h3>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_01-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_01-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_02-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_02-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_03-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_03-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Hands-on%20photos/2011-10-18%2014.19.59-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Hands-on%20photos/2011-10-18%2014.19.59-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_04-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_04-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_05-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_05-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_06-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_06-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_07-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_07-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_08-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_08-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360 review" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_17-420-90.JPG" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/Mobile%20Phones/Hands%20on%20pictures/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/BlacBery_Curve_9360_17-420-90.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<h3 style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Official gallery</h3>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Curve_9350-9360-9370_AdAngle-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Curve_9350-9360-9370_AdAngle-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Curve_9350-9360-9370_Back-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Curve_9350-9360-9370_Back-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Curve_9350-9360-9370_Front-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Curve_9350-9360-9370_Front-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Curve_9350-9360-9370_SideAngleLeft-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Curve_9350-9360-9370_SideAngleLeft-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<h3 style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Verdict</h3>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<img alt="BlackBerry curve 9360" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Curve_9350-9360-9370_Front-420-90.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/BlackBerry/BlackBerry%20Curve%209360/Curve_9350-9360-9370_Front-420-90.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
We have to say that we're really impressed with the BlackBerry Curve 9360. More so than the Bold 9900, in fact.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
Here's why: for years, Curve users had to compromise on features.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
The first Curve we owned, the 8310, had GPS but no Wi-Fi. There was a version that had Wi-Fi, but no GPS, and nothing in between. Annoying, much.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
The Curve 8900 came along but, although it was sleeker than the Bold 9000 and had Wi-Fi, it didn't have 3G, which meant download speeds were really bad.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
More recently the Curve 9300 was bestowed upon us, and had a camera but no flash. It's like RIM had deliberately chosen to leave one key feature off so that Bold users had something to boast about.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
This is the first time we've really felt that a Curve device has been given all the bells and whistles of more premium handsets, and we think the Curve 9360 will be a best seller for RIM. If it is, it's well deserved.</div>
<h4 style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">We liked</span></h4>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
The BlackBerry Curve 9360 is a great size and really feels like a complete package. The addition of 3G as well as a 5MP camera, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and NFC makes you feel like you have it all in your pocket.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
The screen is sharp and the media capabilities are spot on. Oh, and there's messaging, which is, of course, BlackBerry's forte.</div>
<h4 style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">We disliked</span></h4>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
The browser could be quicker, but we guess that's down to the meagre 800MHz processor that powers this thing. The voice searching is a bit of a pointless addition, and while the camera will suffice for shooting drunk snaps of your buddies, it won't be replacing any other cameras any time soon.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;">
We're also not overly impressed by the reduction in battery size.</div>
<h4 style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
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We think it says it all that when writing the pros and cons, we were overloaded with pros and struggled to think of cons to list. Yes, the BlackBerry Curve 9360 is a budget device compared to the premium Bold 9900, but we can't help thinking that considering the cost of it, it's actually a million times better value for money.</div>
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It's still not all there. RIM could have fitted it with a quicker processor and larger battery, but then that would take this into the premium league and would negate the whole point of having more expensive handsets - although other manufacturers seem to manage to do it.</div>
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Having said that, you'd be forgiven for thinking this is a premium handset, and we wholeheartedly recommend you consider this if you're looking for a half-decent messaging device.</div>
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The fact of the matter is that RIM really needs something to help it out right now following the debacle of the last few weeks. Something that will get it back up there as a credible name. And in our view, the BlackBerry Curve 9360 is most definitely going to help it along the way.</div>
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Review: BlackBerry Curve 9360

Overview, design and feel With users rushing to denounce BlackBerry and announce they'll leave the platform, RIM really needs to...