Blackberry Bold 9700 available late November in Australia
- 05 November, 2009 15:19
- Comments (15)
Research in Motion (RIM) has included support for the Mac OS X operating system with its latest smartphone offering, the Blackberry Bold 9700.
The Bold 9700, which will be available in Australia from late November, is a companion smartphone to the Bold 9000, with added capabilities such as 3G HSDPA support and an optical trackpad.
2009 has been a big year from RIM; it marks the 10th anniversary of its Blackberry smartphones. The company also opened its ANZ office in Sydney in April.
“This is our second 3G device and it also features our optical trackpad technology,” Beachley said.
Check out the pictures of the Blackberry Bold 9700
The optical trackpad, which is also available in the Curve 8520, is similar to the trackpad on a laptop. RIM has also upgraded the camera from 2 to 3.2 megapixels. Other features include a Micro USB port, customisable keyboard and WiFi.
Changes to the positioning of the MicroSD card means users will not have to take out the phone’s battery in order to access the card. And, for the first time, Mac users will also be able to sync the device with their systems thanks to support for Mac OS X.
Beachley sees the device as focused on two groups: The first is successful professionals such as IT managers. The second is Gen Y transitioners who are “looking to harness the speed of the 3G network”.
BlackBerry Bold 9700 at a glance:
- Size — 109 mm x 60 mm x 14.1 mm
- Weight —122 grams
- 6.2 cm light-sensing display (480 x 360 resolution at 245 ppi)
- Full QWERTY keyboard
- Touch-sensitive trackpad
- Built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) with support for Wi-Fi calling via UMA where available
- 3.2 MP camera with variable zoom, autofocus, flash and video recording
- BlackBerry OS 5.0
- Built-in GPS
- Media player
- 3.5 mm stereo headset jack
- dedicated volume controls, lock and mute keys
- microSD/SDHD memory card slot that currently supports up to 16 GB cards
- 2GB memory card
- 256 MB of Flash memory
- background noise suppression technology and speakerphone
- Bluetooth (2.1)
- Support for BlackBerry services including access to up to 10 supported email accounts and BlackBerry Enterprise Server support
- Available in two versions to support various carrier 3G network frequency combinations: UMTS/HSDPA 2100/1900/850/800 MHz and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM UMTS/HSDPA 2100/1700/900 MHz and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM
- Removable, rechargeable 1500 mAhr battery with about 6 hours of talk time and 17 days of standby time in 3G mode
- Bookmark this page
- Share this article
- Got more on this story? Email Computerworld
- Follow Computerworld on twitter
Comments
Anonymous
better than the iphone? i wouldn't go for it
Doolang
The blackberry is free to communicate with other blackberry users and is geared to use for business use. I much prefer the blackberry over my iphone.
Anonymous
I think you only have to use the iPhone for a while as an actual phone - ie. make and receive phone calls - to realise that the blackberry (and other devices like nokia's e71) are far superior phones. all of the other functionality though that most smart phones these days offer, is a much better experience on the iphone. if only it handled calls as well!
Manny the gun
It's been said a million times, yet again: the BlackBerry is made for professional users whereas the iPhone is made for the general public. It's as simply as that. Whichever demographic you slot into, buy that phone
Anonymous
Sounds a LOT like the Nokia E72. I just got the E71 and love it.
Andrew
The Blackberry wins in a corporate/business world. The iPhone is nothing more than a toy for consumers. In the real word where businesses need control and consistancy with staff phone devices the Blackberry is pretty much the only device that goes.
Multiple Blackberry devices in a workplace with unlimited calls and Blackberry data syncing plus ability to lock them down makes them the real winner.
You have to look beyond just the phone in the business marketplace. Lots of businesses need secure control of these sorts of devices and the iPhone just doesn't cut it there.
Anonymous
Not sure what you mean by "includ[ing] support for the Mac OS X operating system" in the latest Blackberry Bold. RIM released software for the Mac that allows most (and maybe all) Blackberry phones to synch with OS X — it has nothing to do with the phone itself. I've used it to synch my 3-year-old Pearl with my MacBook ...
Anonymous
i've had three month-long stints with the iPhone, during all of which I kept my Blackberry in my other pocket. the iPhone is a great device- tons of fun, and works beautifully with my Mac. However, when calls need to be made, emails written, and work done- I always go back to my blackberry.
Kevin
With iPhone you can do the same. Just the app called Ping! and it works like Blackberry messenger. iPhone to iPhone messenger.
Kevin
I just check with a dealer from Optus, they will only release the Blackberry 9700 next Feb because they still have a lot of stock of 9000!. Why can't RIM force the carriers like Apple does with the releasing of iPhone 3GS even there're old iPhone 3G in stock?
Anonymous
In my experience the iphone seems like a novelty, the blackberry is so much more functional. I can do anything i need to on my blackberry, but it doesnt mean i dont love to play with an iphone; but like any novelty, the excitement will wear off, and what are you left with? a phone that doesnt really do anything you need it to do.
Anonymous
are the features of blackberry 9700 similiar / same as E72?
Anonymous
I can't believe they would be foolish enough to make such a massive error. I have also spoken with Optus regarding the 9700, but they cannot confirm a release date. I can, however, say one thing is for sure. I have no problem switching services to the first carrier to release this phone. The 9700 is heads above the 9000. Optus is better off tagging the 9000 for clearance and getting the 9700 to market ASAP!!!
Anonymous
HEY OPTUS...it is now the "end of November". Where is the Bold 9700??!?!?!?!?
Anonymous
You're right Iphone has got Ping however you need internet to ping another iPhone users and it's not very practical when the other users are overseas as it might become costly! Blackberry messenger is part of your unlimited blackberry internet!
Post new comment