BlackBerry has gone bold and high-speed. On Monday, Research In Motion (RIM) announced the BlackBerry Bold, a new mobile device that it said will give business users "unprecedented functionality and performance" as the first BlackBerry to support tri-band HSDPA.
In addition to its 3G capability, the Bold is appealing to high-end users with a black exterior, satin chrome finish, "leather-like" backplate, integrated GPS, quad-band EDGE, and Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g).
'Tremendous Step Forward'
RIM President and Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis called the BlackBerry Bold "a tremendous step forward in business-grade smartphones." RIM said the Bold will make "short work" of such functions as downloading e-mail attachments, streaming video, and loading Web pages. The device has a StrongARM mobile processor running at 624 MHZ, 128MB of flash memory, and one gigabyte of on-board memory, plus a microSD/SDHC memory card slot.
Users can talk on the phone while conducting e-mail send/receive, or while surfing the Web. The Bold also includes standard BlackBerry productivity applications, such as phone, e-mail, messaging, organizer, and browser. Word, Excel or PowerPoint files can be downloaded and edited on the handset, using the included DataViz Documents to Go suite.
RIM described the display as "the most vivid and bold" ever on a BlackBerry. It is a half-VGA (480x320) color LCD, fused onto the lens undersurface. RIM also touted the Bold's "desktop-style" Web-browsing experience, with users being able to choose between a full desktop version or a mobile version. Pricing for the Bold has not been announced.
'Evolution Toward Prosumer'
Mobile business devices are increasingly competing with the bells and whistles of consumer devices, and the Bold is looking to fill those needs. It has a two-megapixel camera with video recording, an enhanced media player, and a music collection manager. Music played through the stereo headphones or speakers can be adjusted via an included equalizer with 11...

More...