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BlackBerry Bold 9700 - trackpad replaces the trackball

Scott Fitzgerald- 09/11/2009

Tags: 3G phone, BlackBerry, BlackBerry Bold, mobile phone, Scott Fitzgerald, smartphone

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is due in stores late November, with the parent company RIM hoping for a repeat of the well-regarded original BlackBerry Bold.

The biggest departure from old Bold to new, is the replacement of the navigation method, with a small trackpad on the Bold 9700 replacing the old trackball. Based on my quick play with the device it seemed user-friendly, and alleviates the problem some users had knocking the trackball around while carrying the phone in pockets and bags.

The Bold 9700 is a 3G phone, with built-in GPS and Wi-Fi, 624 MHz processor, 3.2 megapixel camera (up from the previous Bold's 2MP), and a 6.19 cm screen with 480 x 360 resolution.

The 9700 is also a little more svelte than it's predecessor - 109 x 60 x 14.1 mm (L x W x D) for the new Bold, against 114 x 66 x 15 for the old.

Specifications

• Size: approximately 109 x 60 x 14.1 mm (L x W x D)
• Weight: 122 g (battery included)
• Memory: 256 MB internal flash memory and 256 MB RAM
• Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g, UMA support
• Expandable memory: supports up to 32GB microSD card
• Battery: 1500 mAh removable/rechargeable cryptographic lithium cell
• Battery life: GSM talk time: up to 6 hours; GSM Standby Time: up to 21 days; UMTS Talk Time: up to 6 hours; UMTS Standby Time: up to 17 days
• Music playback time: up to 38 hours
• Keyboard: 35 key backlit QWERTY
• Display: High resolution 480 x 360 pixel colour display. Transmissive TFT LCD supports over 65,000 colours, 2.44" (diagonally measured).
• Camera: 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus, image stabilisation, flash and 2X digital zoom
• Videocamera: Normal Mode: 480 x 352 pixels; MMS Mode: 176 x 144 pixels
• Voice input/output: Integrated speaker and microphone, hands-free headset capable, Bluetooth headset capable, integrated hands-free speakerphone
• Ringtones: 32 polyphonic - MIDI, SP-MDI, MP3, WAV
• GPS: integrated GPS with A-GPS (assisted GPS) ready
• Media player: video codec support: MPEG 4, H.263, H.264, WMV 9. Audio codec support: AAC-LC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, MP3, WMA9/10 standard & professional
• Picture format support: bmp, jpg, gif, png, tif, wbmp
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth v2.1; Mono/Stereo Headset, Hands-free, Serial Port Profile, Bluetooth Stereo Audio (A2DP/AVCRP) and Bluetooth SIM Access Profile supported
• Headset: 3.5 mm stereo headset capable
• Power adapter: +5V DC/500 mA AC power adapter with interchangeable location specific plugs
• Network Support UMTS: 2100/1900/850/800 MHz (Bands 1, 2, 5/6), 2100/1700/900 MHz (Bands 1, 4, 8). GSM: 1900/1800/900/850 MHz

Price and availability

BlackBerry would not pass along any information regarding which telcos are to carry the Bold 9700, so it's a case of wait and see which telcos and how much. Stay tuned.

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