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  New BlackBerry Bold

  May 11, 2008 9:01 PM PDT

  RIM makes a Bold BlackBerry debut

  Posted by Bonnie Cha 38 comments

  

  RIM BlackBerry Bold

  (Credit: RIM)

  World: Say hello to the RIM BlackBerry Bold. *Cue dramatic music.*

  You may know it as the RIM BlackBerry 9000, but on Sunday, Research In Motion officially took the wraps off the highly anticipated smartphone, complete with a new name. The "Bold" is in reference to the smartphone's gorgeous display, but it's also bold in that it represents a number of new moves for the company. Oh, BlackBerry Bold, how do we love thee? Let us count the ways.

  The bold and the beautiful
  As we just mentioned, the device gets its name from its screen. The BlackBerry Bold features a half-VGA (480x320 pixel resolution) and a 65,000-color display. During some initial product testing, research group participants repeatedly called the screen "bold" and "brilliant." The Brilliant moniker didn't really jibe with the company, thus the BlackBerry Bold was born.

  So just how bold is it? Well, RIM stopped by our office late last week to show us the device, and let me just tell you, I was absolutely blown away. I can pretty much say I've never seen a better-looking display on a smartphone. Colors pop off the screen, and it's really amazing how sharp and crisp everything looks on the display.

  We watched a couple of videos, and for the first time, we didn't notice any of the pixelation or blurriness that you typically get with phones. In addition, the menu interface has been revamped with a much more modern look and icons. Also, as you can see from the images, the BlackBerry Bold boasts a new design. It's more elegant than models past, with curvier edges and a silver trim that complements the black casing.

  If you turn it over, you'll also notice that the back has a leatherette texture. No more slick plastic. RIM will sell replaceable backplates in different colors, including blue, gray, and red, if you want to individualize your phone a bit. The BlackBerry Bold measures 4.5 inches tall by 2.6 inches wide by half an inch deep, and it weighs 4.7 ounces.

  Kevin Michaluk at Crackberry.com took a gamble, buying one on eBay, and posted a hands-on review. He made a good comparison of the device to the Motorola Q9h.

  Finally, the BlackBerry Bold has a QWERTY keyboard that RIM likened to a modernized Curve keyboard, but I'm not really seeing it. Instead, it reminded me more of the BlackBerry 8830.

  Now, I know some of you 8800 series users had issues with the keyboard, but I tried it out, and it's pretty easy to use--relatively large buttons with some spacing between the keys.

  (Credit: RIM)

  Wireless smorgasbord
  There's a heaping of wireless options on the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) BlackBerry Bold, but the most appetizing and notable item is the HSDPA/UMTS (850/1900/2100) support.

  It's the first such equipped BlackBerry, and we all know that it's been a long time coming. RIM says the delay for bringing such a device to the market is that it wanted to make sure that battery life wouldn't be sacrificed at the expense of including the 3.5G technology. Hey, whatever the reason, we're just finally happy to have it.

  You also get integrated Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g), Bluetooth 2.0 with full A2DP support, and built-in GPS (enhanced and assisted).

  Horsepower
  The RIM BlackBerry Bold is equipped with a 624MHz Intel PXA270 processor, whereas previous BlackBerrys had 312MHz processors, so technically, you should enjoy smoother and faster performance.

  During our briefing, there were a few hiccups in performance, but we're going to keep our fingers crossed and chalk it up to the fact that it wasn't a final unit. There's also 128MB of flash memory and 1GB of onboard memory, which is all supplemented by the microSD/SDHC expansion slot (supports up to 16GB cards).

  Multimedia, Web, and other good stuff
  You still with me? I know this post is getting a bit lengthy, but there are just a few more highlights to note. First, the Bold includes an improved Web browser (thank goodness), with the option to view pages in a full desktop HTML style or a mobile version, and you can now more easily navigate pages with the trackball, which acts like a mouse cursor, and zoom in and out.

  As for multimedia, the smartphone is equipped with a 2-megapixel camera with video-recording capabilities and up to 5x zoom. The media player also continues to support numerous audio and video formats, including MP3, WMA, AAC, DivX4, and WMV3 files, and the phone is equipped with a 3.5mm headphone jack. By the way, the Bold has some pretty powerful speakers--none of that weak, tinny junk.

  Oh, and hey, what's this? It's makes calls, and sends and receives e-mails, you say? Yes, you'll still get all of the voice and messaging features of previous BlackBerrys, and the handset will also come preloaded with Dataviz's Documents to Go suite, for document viewing and editing.

  "When and where can I get one?"
  Now that we've totally built up the device, and you're ready to run out and buy one, here's the letdown: the BlackBerry Bold isn't available quite yet. It's currently going through carrier certification, and although RIM wouldn't officially name the service provider, based on the 3G bands, you can pretty much guess who it will be (hint: starts with an A and ends with T&T). And while pricing will also depend on the carrier, RIM is guessing that it will be in the $300 to $400 range, and expected worldwide availability is "this summer."

  OK, that's it! My fingers are tired from all the typing, so now it's your turn. Clearly, I'm pretty amped about the smartphone. Of course, the true test will come when we finally get it in for real-world testing, but from everything I've seen so far, the RIM BlackBerry Bold has huge potential. But what do you think? Hot or not? The commenting floodgates are open, so have at it.

  Update: AT&T confirmed this morning that it will be the official carrier of the BlackBerry Bold but didn't provide any details on availability other than "later this year."

  Posted 12 May 08

• 

  DELL XPS M1330 notebook

  Have a Sony VAIO VGN-SZ140P notebook bought in CA some 22 months ago. 

   

  Posted 25 Mar 08

• 

  Google's 767

  OK, I know this is a very big 'gadget' but I do so LOVE a private 'plane. Here's a picture from ValleyWag magazine of it taken recently at Christchurch, New Zealand:

  

  Posted 18 Apr 07

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  The new breed

  Still think this is one of the more remarkable new gadgets to appear in recent months. Within a week of use the predictive QWERTY combo rocks. Mine has changed my life and would have continued to do so if the screen had not died on me.

  Posted 11 Apr 07

• 

  How to combat that pesky clutter

  Wish my wiring looked as neat as that.

  Posted 25 Feb 07

• 

  Prada cellphone

  
  Prada's January announcement of a collaboration with LG to produce a
  phone represents another attempt for phone makers to appeal to
  increasingly sophisticated advanced phone users.  The phone will begin
  arriving in mid March and offers touchscreen capabilities similar to
  Apple's new iPhone. It is different from previous luxury branded phones
  in that Prada's input was taken onboard during the internal development
  of the phone.  Features like a monochromatic display, photo and video
  capabilities with a good lens by German manufacturer
  Schneider-Kreuznach, and interesting picture formatting displays are
  all generating good buzz.
  

  
  

  On the negative side, early reports indicate that buyers will need
  to massively upgrade the memory to get any real use of the video and
  photo capabilities, and sometimes the touchscreen can be a little slow
  in registering your finger movements.  
  

  
  

  The Prada phone is of course just the latest in a saga of luxury
  projects in the phone sector: starting with Vertu and the concept of
  luxury phones, and most recently with the rebadged RAZR by Dole &
  Gabanna, which appealed only to the wrong sort of people: as the RAZR
  went mass, the hip set realized that it had lost its cachet, and dumped
  it quickly. Plus the interface wasn't great.  Introducing a rebadged
  RAZR to appeal to them did little becaue the phone did nothing new.
  
  

  
  

  
  It remains to be seen if people will laugh at a Prada phone owner, or
  smirk in jealousy, because fashion for fashion's sake is rarely, if
  ever, truly fashionable.  Unless the phone is truly better than
  anything else out there, it won't be accepted, and that was the lesson
  learned with the D&G RAZR.

  Posted 21 Feb 07

• 

  Star Wars Lego Collection

  I tried to make a magic wand which was a bit daft as none of the pieces were cylindrical. Also had a colour problem as I didn't have black pieces so I elected to colour the grey pieces black with a felt tip which promptly came off all over my hands. The au pair was annoyed, asked me what the stain was, I said I didn't know, my father was told when he came home, still said I didn't know, got told if I told him the truth before we went to collect my sister I would get x smacks with the hair brush, if after we returned a number greater than x. I settled on x and elected to tell the truth. Think I was about 5. Funny how I remember this event and it's all because of LEGO.

  Tough Love in those days. 

  Posted 19 Feb 07

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  Cool clock

  Please tell me (stupid person - forgot my flax seed oil today) what the time is on the water clock?

  Posted 13 Feb 07

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  Parents - would you use this?

  Think the chips under the skin ... and having them 'chipped' is way to scary. Do quite like the idea of the shoes though.

  Posted 13 Feb 07

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  Sealegs

  Sealegs^TM is a revolutionary, patent-pending concept in the power boat market.
  
  Sealegs has been specifically designed and developed to take all the hassle out of the boat launching and retrieval process.
  
  The
  Sealegs system consists of motorised, retractable and steerable wheels
  which are fitted to specially designed 5.6m boats to give users a fully
  integrated, turn-key package.
  
  The Sealegs system works by having
  powerful motorised wheels which give a user variable speed of 0-10KPH
  (forward and reverse) powered by an on-board 16hp Honda driven
  hydraulic power-pack.
  
  A Sealegs boat can be driven from a
  storage location, down a boat ramp or beach and into the water - all
  with the occupants staying in the boat and remaining completely dry!.
  Once in the water, the Sealegs wheels are easily retracted into the
  "UP" position and are completely out of the water. The boat is then
  driven and used as normal. When approaching land, the Sealegs wheels
  are lowered into the "DOWN" position whilst still moving in the water.
  
  It
  is then simply a matter of trolling towards the beach and the Sealegs
  powerful motorised wheels touch the bottom and drive the boat up onto
  land. The occupants can then disembark, totally dry and safe.
  
  The Sealegs system utilises all submersible components and is Salt Water ready.

  Posted 08 Feb 07