BlackBerry's best yet, the Bold 9700, finally on sale

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 24 November 2009 07:58

Mobile devices

Telstra also the IDC Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, October 2009 which says that: “The number of smartphone shipments to Australia increased by 29 per cent in the first half of 2009 as Australian businesses continued to adopt email-capable phones to boost workforce productivity and the growth in mobile applications made smartphones a must-have companion for many consumers.”
 
Specs include:

- Sleek design measuring 109 mm x 60 mm x 14.1 mm and weighing only 122 grams

- Sharp 2.44-inch light-sensing display

- Highly tactile full-QWERTY keyboard – with finely sculpted keys and chrome frets – for fast, accurate typing

- Touch-sensitive trackpad that allows intuitive and responsive navigation

- Built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)

- 3.2 megapixel camera with variable zoom, autofocus, flash and video recording

- BlackBerry OS 5.0, offering users email management and calendar enhancements as well as a better browsing experience with faster JavaScript and CSS processing

- Built-in GPS for maps and other location-based applications including Whereis Navigator

- 3.5 mm stereo headset jack

- Up to 15 hours’ standby time; up to 360 minutes talk time

- 256MB internal flash memory, expandable memory up to 32GB (comes bundled with a 2GB microSD card)

- Bluetooth 2.0



Telstra is selling the 9700 on its Business plans from “$0 upfront” on an $85 “Mobile PLUS” plan from December 1 (strangely not from today when available at retail!), on its Enterprise and Government Enterprise Fleet Plans and to consumers for $999 on an “MRO over 24 months”.

Optus, Vodafone (and presumably 3 Mobile also) have the Bold 9700 on a $79 plan, likely with better call credit than Telstra’s $85 monthly plan, and no doubt will have other options available as well.

RIM’s BlackBerry Storm 2 is yet to come, there’s still plenty of competition from the iPhone, its apps and all the iPhone clones, and there’s still no BlackBerry model like a Bold 9000 or 9700 with a physical keyboard AND a touch screen, something that presumably will come in the future, but all up, it’s RIM’s best BlackBerry yet – and if you want one, it’s available now from Telstra or in a few days from other carriers.