BlackBerry 'Bold' Looks to Be Just That

No, the BlackBerry Bold does not have a touch screen. Read on and I'll explain why.

When the Research In Motion(RIMM Quote) folks began conducting market research focus groups for their new 9000 handset, one of the most common comments they received was that their new handset design was "bold." As the legend goes, enough people called the new design "bold" that the name stuck.

So, this morning, RIM President and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis is announcing (at the WES 2008 conference in Orlando) the brand new Blackberry Bold -- the next-generation device they're hoping that everyone will have to own.

I was privileged to get a personal preview from Mr. Lazaridis of the Bold last week. Among the things that strike you right away are the size (it's a full-sized BlackBerry with a real QWERTY keyboard), the new interface (looks pretty), the screen (you will have to see it to believe it) the sound quality (the video demo I watched also had three-dimensional-from-two-speakers, hi-fi stereo sound) and the new Web browser.

Here's what you need to know: The Bold is a super-multi-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE/HSDPA world phone. It is also a tri-band (2100/1900/850) UMTS (3G data) phone. That means it works everywhere -- including North America, Europe, Japan.

Everywhere.

There's 1GB of memory onboard with 128MB of flash. Battery life is targeted at five hours of talk and 13 days of standby. As with any device, actual battery lifetimes are quite variable from phone to phone.

There is built-in GPS. 802.11a/b/g Wi-fi too. The Bold also comes with stereo Bluetooth (that means you can listen to the music you store on optional microSD cards using wireless headphones). The plug-in headphone/headset jack is stereo, too. The video/still camera is 2MP and has a built-in flash feature.