It’s been almost a year since the BlackBerry Curve 8980 Atlas made an appearance, and the device has now suddenly popped back up and this time sporting China Mobile branding, although the official announcement has come from Research In Motion yet.

According to an article over on Softpedia by Cosmin Vasile , the BlackBerry Curve 8980 Atlas has reappeared on Chinese website Berrycn prior to a launch on China Mobile. Apparently somehow Research In Motion has managed to get round that the device sports WiFi although we’re not quite sure how.

The China Mobile BlackBerry Curve 8980 Atlas will come with WiFi but won’t sport any 3G capability; however apparently the BlackBerry Bold 9700 will also be launching in China at the same time and will have 3G but no WiFi.

So it would appear that you can opt for the BlackBerry Curve 8980 Atlas with WiFi or the BlackBerry Bold 9700 with 3G but not have both on one device. Word has it the BlackBerry Curve 8980 Atlas will see daylight on China Mobile in a couple of weeks.