Last month in Orlando BlackBerry announced the launch of the new Bold Touch Screen 4G 9900. BlackBerry stated the phone would be available from carriers globally this Summer. However, according to recent reports the 9900 will launch at the same time as the new iPhone – September.
This Bold is much anticipated by BlackBerry fans around the globe, as it will be the first BlackBerry have 4G connectivity and a touch screen display. The display of the new Bold will be slightly larger than the current Bold, with a 2.8-inch ‘liquid graphic’ touch screen. This Bold will be slimmer than the current Bold, with a similar physical QWERTY keyboard. This is going to be the second BlackBerry to have a touch screen and full QWERTY keyboard. The Torch currently has a slide out keyboard, however, the keyboard of the Torch is a little cramped and the keys are not raised as much as the Bold. There will be two versions of the new Bold. The 9900 which will be a quad-band GSM phone running on HSPA+ networks (available from T-Mobile and At&t). And the 9930, which will support both CDMA and GSM (available from Sprint and Verizon). The advantage of the dual mode 9930 is that it will have strong international roaming capabilities. The new Bold will ship with the new Research In Motion (RIM) operating system from BlackBerry, version 7.
If you can wait out until September for your upgrade this is the phone you should be looking at. iPhone lovers might argue otherwise, however, the new iPhone 5 launching at the same time as the Bold 9900 is not likely to impress fans as much. The iPhone 5 is expected to be very similar to the current iPhone 4 both physically and internally. The only major changes will a faster processor chip and an 8 mega pixel rear camera (currently the iPhone 4 has a 5 megapixel camera). The most noticeable omission in the iPhone 5 is no 4G connectivity. Will the iPhone 5 be able to hold its own against a 4G Bold and a number of impressive 4G Android phones.
