Of course, the true value of the Bold 9700 only comes to users who do a lot of messaging (email, text, etc.). Mobile phone users who are into heavy multimedia specialization like high end camera need to look elsewhere.

Hardware, Features and More

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 uses the BlackBerry proprietary operating system, while it does not have the full range OS like Windows Mobile, the BlackBerry OS is well designed and is very intuitive. The new BlackBerry track pad also makes navigating the OS a very pleasant experience. The quick response of the screen to track pad commands creates a seamless feeling when using the phone.

The 2.44 inch screen can display up to 65 thousand colours and has a resolution of 480 x 360 pixels. Images are nice and crisp when viewed on the screen. Users can take images and videos with the built in 3.2 mega pixel camera. Media storage is tight with the 256MB internal storage, so expect to rely on the microSD card for more space. The phone can play music for up to 35 hours.

As a 3G device, the Bold 9700 can connect to HSDPA. Users can use GPRS and EDGE too, and the phone supports wireless LAN (WiFi).

Carrier Deals

BlackBerry Bold 9700 deals are now available with both Vodafone and T-Mobile. They offer this phone for around 35 Pounds a month. Orange Mobile UK now lists the phone as soon to be available but no confirmed launch date has been set yet.

Well, maybe I will hold it on the same level as the Palm Pixi; regardless, the initial confirmation from Research in Motion clearly shows that their new BlackBerry is definitely the device to look out for.  Yes, it’s a 3G smart phone, so expect the usual quad-band support and other basic networking features. What I really want is the new integrated web applications for Facebook, Flickr and Twitter.

There are plenty of web applications out there but none are as impressive as the ones that the Bold 9700 will have. The most useful is its instant messaging function. The device supports practically all major messaging programs such as AIM, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ and more.

Imagine being able to instantly access all your contacts there in a single mobile device. Then there is the support for email, social networking sites and media sharing websites. Believe me when I say that the Bold 9700’s physical keyboard will be seeing a lot of use thanks to these applications.

The hardware is something you would expect from a modern 3G smart phone and probably a little more. Previously, I thought that this device would be carrying the same 628 MHz processor as the original BlackBerry Curve, but as the report states, a new TI processor will be used and it will be much faster –could TI be trying to square off with Qualcomm? We can only hope to see another 1 GHz processor.

Seriously, I think the new core will clock at over 700. The Bold 9700 will also have 256MB of internal storage, wireless LAN support, HSDPA and a 3 mega pixel camera with LED flash.