RIM is Bold with new 3G BlackBerry

It's IT Blogwatch: in which Research In Motion unveils its sexy new device -- the BlackBerry Bold (née 9000). Not to mention How to advertise an unpronounceable, orange, Scottish soda to women...

Yardena Arar reports:

Amid swirling rumors about the impending announcement of a 3G iPhone, Research in Motion [Sunday] introduced its slickest, speediest, most powerful, and most connected BlackBerry to date: the BlackBerry Bold 9000. Equipped with support for tri-band HSDPA and quad-band EDGE (which means that it will support the highest-speed GSM-family data networks wherever they are available worldwide), 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth, and both assisted and autonomous GPS, the Bold could prove a formidable challenger to Apple's next-gen iPhone on connectivity alone. It even looks a bit iPhone-esque, with its glassy display area, generally flat profile, and rounded corners. Still, the Bold comes configured with a hardware QWERTY keyboard, and it retains the general dimensions of its predecessors, so it's much shorter and somewhat thicker than the iPhone. more

Stephen Wildstrom adds:

More than one pundit has already called the BlackBerry Bold (known during development as the BlackBerry 9000) an “iPhone killer.” But that’s not the mission of the new super-BlackBerry ... Even as Apple’s iPhone has taken the U.S., if not the rest of the world, by storm over the past 10 months, RIM, which pitches its products primarily to business markets, has enjoyed a fabulously successful year ... The most striking feature of the Bold is its display. It runs at the same 320x480 resolution as the iPhone, but since the display is smaller, the screen seems even sharper. The user interface design takes advantage of this, replacing RIM’s traditional cartoonish icons with spare white images against a jet black background. Between the screen, an improved media player, and built-in stereo speakers (or a jack that accepts any standard 3.5 mm stereo headphone plug), it’s the first BlackBerry that I’d really want to use to watch video. There’s also a 2 megapixel camera. more

Kevin Michaluk bought a dodgy pre-release unit on eBay:

What a Week! I brought you the web's first review of the pre-release BlackBerry 9000 (thanks eBay!) ... Now it's time to BE BOLD and finish things off with the final release features & specs of the new BlackBerry Bold Smartphone. Much of following was known, and I'll skip the standard BlackBerry gimmes, but we now have precise answers to some of our lingering questions, including the internal memory ... All good stuff, but you can ... what has me excited here. When it comes to memory, the 9000 will be packing a Gig of built-in storage space for media files, etc. You won't be able to install applications on this (that's what the 128MB flash space is for), but it's still a welcome and much needed addition. It also seems all of us frustrated BlackBerry/iTunes users will no longer be frustrated!! And native DivX support? Sweet! more

Ronen Halevy agrees:

My favorite is the Memory upgrade and the DIVX support ... Thanks Kevin for gathering this all together. Were drooling already. more

Julio Franco sets it in context:

Research in Motion has been hard at work over the past year making sure their next generation BlackBerry device lives up to expectations. After all, the Ontario-based manufacturer has been able to remain competitive using its current line of phones that includes the BlackBerry Curve, Pearl, and the business-oriented 8800, that lack many innovations put forth by the now year-old iPhone and other competing products from Nokia and the likes. The BlackBerry Bold a.k.a. model 9000 will be the first of a number of devices to use a new platform consisting of a faster 624 Mhz processor, a revamped operating system, and improved memory and wireless connectivity support. This represents an overall step-up from the current BlackBerry device line-up ... [including] the newly built-in DataViz DocumentsToGo software, commonly used on the Palm platform. An improved web browser should handle sites unoptimized for mobiles better. more

Wilson Rothman thinks it's time for a colorful metaphor:

The sexiest thing to come out of Canada since Sarah McLachlan's Fumbling Towards Ecstasy ... Keep it up, RIM. I think it's working ... my guess is that those dudes are either fans of Goethe or fans of Cameron Crowe. You know... "Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid" ... The handset can handle 850/1900/2100Mhz for HSDPA/UMTS, plus T-Mo's 1700MHz band ... Has 802.11a/b/g plus good GPS, typically a tradeoff with BBs ... 624MHz Intel PXA270/Marvell Tavor PXA930 processor (reports differ), up from 312MHz ... Runs BlackBerry OS 4.6 ... Talk time of 5 hours, with standby of 13 days. more

Thus mocked Rene Ritchie [no relation]:

This Week in Smart Phone Schadenfreude brings you all the feel-better news you need about the smartphone world outside Apple’s current media dominator. (Who knew there was such a world? We were just as surprised! Inelegant, interface challenged, keyboardy, crashy, single-touchy place — best not to linger) ... Nice try, Crackberry. While the elegant chrome bezel and glossy black facade almost had us fooled, the huge, honking tic-tactile keyboard kicked our aesthetic back to reality. So what device did Crackberry.com break the interwebs (and likely Kevn’s paypal account) for? Confession: they lost us at keyboard, so — shrug — Treo 400? more

But Your Humble Blogwatcher's fanboi allegiance lies elsewhere:

Wow, from the look of this video, Research in Motion has really done a great job of sprucing up its user interface. Looks speedy, too. I've always been a PalmOS fanboi (I know, I know) and have gone through a succession of devices: original Pilot, Palm V, Treo 180, 270, 600, 650 -- but this could be the device that finally weans me off of PalmOS. Disclosure: RIM is a client. more

And finally...

• Irn Bru: Raoul

Buffer overflow:

• /Message: The Growing Backlash Against PR Spam, And The Rationale For MicroPR
• Groklaw: Microsoft emails Blender
• Penguin Pete: You Can Hack An OS But You Can't Hack People - part 3: More Maps
• Greg Kumparak: John Gruber on Blackberry vs iPhone
• Ed Bott: Update your Dell SigmaTel audio driver
• Robert Palmer: New version of Parallels supports Vista SP1, XP SP3
• Mark O’Neill: Spammers moving from email to the cellphone

Other Computerworld bloggers:

• Angela Gunn: Hiring hackers: Safety in numbers?
• Don Tennant: Changing the world
• Don Tennant: Forrester's George Colony: Technology-marketing partnership 'is a bitch' but worth it
• Preston Gralla: Microsoft tries to squash Linux on ultra-portables
• Seth Weintraub: The 3G iPhone shows some GPS clues
• SJVN: Fixing the XP SP3 reboot blues
• Seth Weintraub: Woman uses 'Back to my Mac' to get stolen MacBook back
• SJVN: Deep, down and dirty PC repair
• Mark Hall: Pay, tip, surf and spend via TableTop
• Shark Tank: Full speed ahead!
• Shark Bait: IT Director Heal Thyself

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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 21 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You can follow him on Twitter, pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.

Previously in IT Blogwatch:

• OpenOffice 3.0 beta arrives
• FBI Patriot probe prevented by EFF, etc.
• Microhoo: fat lady has not yet sung