Research In Motion has today announced the launch of the BlackBerry Curve 9320 in New Zealand.

The device is available from Vodafone New Zealand today and can be purchased outright for NZ$399. Press release after the break.

Auckland, New Zealand, 3 July 2012 – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today launched the BlackBerry® Curve™ 9320 smartphone in New Zealand. The new smartphone is designed for socially-connected customers and features all of the core BlackBerry messaging and social-centric features that keep people connected. It also offers global 3G connectivity backed by long battery life to allow users to make the most of their day.

“We’re excited to bring the new BlackBerry Curve 9320 to New Zealand. It is a great smartphone for users who want to stay socially-connected through messaging and social networking apps such as BBM, Facebook and Twitter,” said Ray Gillenwater, Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand at Research In Motion. “The new BlackBerry Curve 9320 is a fantastic smartphone and a particularly good choice for customers who are upgrading to a smartphone for the first time. It’s powerful, affordable and packed with features including a dedicated BBM key and FM radio.”

The BlackBerry Curve 9320 has everything a customer needs to stay in touch with the people that matter most to them. It even features a dedicated BBM key, bringing the power of RIM’s popular mobile social network up in an instant, as well as the best keyboard in its class for quick and easy typing.

Customers can easily interact with their social network in real time, using preloaded apps for Facebook® and Twitter®. The new Social Feeds 2.0 app is also preloaded, allowing users to post updates to multiple social networks simultaneously and capture updates from news sources (RSS), social apps and instant messaging apps all in one consolidated view. The integrated camera includes a flash and supports video recording, and pictures can be tagged with their location thanks to the smartphone’s built-in GPS.

The new Curve model also includes a built-in FM radio, allowing users to tune into their favourite local stations, and listening to the FM radio does not require a data plan or use data services. Designed to allow both 3G connectivity and long battery life, customers can get up to seven hours of talk time or up to 30 hours of FM radio listening or music playback with headphones.

The BlackBerry Curve 9320 comes with the new BlackBerry® 7.1 OS, which supports Mobile Hotspot where available.* Parental Controls is a brand new, on-device feature that provides parents and guardians with simple options to help protect children by restricting access to specific functions, features and applications.

* Please check with your carrier for availability.