I was at the RIM Campus in Waterloo, Ontario earlier this week and got a chance to take a look at the BlackBerry 7 running BlackBerry Bold 9790 (a.k.a Bellagio) and have some hands on time with it. I noticed a couple things about this new BlackBerry such as the move of the USB from the side to the middle of the bottom of the device eliminating the need for docking contacts on the 9790 and saving in its resulting overall size.
As well, I got to talk with the 9790′s Product Manager, Kyle Dorcas, and Marketing Manager, John Yen. They told me how the 9790 is seen by RIM as a companion device to the 9900 for people who liked the form factor of the 9700/9780. From what they told me, the smaller form factor is more of a global market concern than it is in North America where we don’t mind a larger device. As well, the 9790 was designed to be an entry point to the higher-end Bold franchise especially targeting the markets where phones are not given a subsidy by the providers and people buy them outright. In those markets, the Bold 9790 is targeted to be an “aspirational device” because it is, again, the high end line of BlackBerry without the price point of the Bold 9900.
I got a bunch of pictures of the 9790, specifically comparing it to the 9900 and then Kyle Dorcas was kind enough to do a video walkthrough of the Bold 9790 for everyone at home. Check it out below:
We now have a pretty solid rumor on a launch date for the BlackBerry Bold 9790. The device is now official and confirmed by RIM to be launching soon but that could be anywhere in the next month or two especially with AT&T. At least we have confirmation from MobileSyrup with a launch flyer showing the Bold 9790 launching up north on Bell Canada on December 2nd.
Now that you have seen more of the device are you considering picking one up?
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If you needed any more signs that the recently announced BlackBerry Bold 9790 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 are launching soon then look no further. Carriers have started rolling out official OS releases for both devices on their download websites. Mauricio @BBRocks noticed that Telkomsel launched OS 7.0.0.482 for the BlackBerry Curve 9380. Bla1ze @CrackBerry noticed that Telkomsel has also released OS OS 7.0.0.496 for the BlackBerry Bold 9790.
Anybody want to guess when and where they will come out first?
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While the BlackBerry Bold 9790 and Curve 9380 were just officially announced today that has not stopped TELUS for confirming their pricing. According to a tweet N4BB spotted from TELUS the devices will be “Coming soon, in time for the holidays” which is nice to see. They also confirmed the pricing on the new pages for the devices.
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The official BlackBerry Blog has been doing a good job of following up each device launch with a short interview with the device project manager. They have done just that with the latest launches for the BlackBerry Bold 9790 and Curve 9380. The thing is they only lobbed soft questions and avoided the big elephant in the room of why the BlackBerry lineup keeps growing with marginally different devices. I have to be the first to admit that I am really digging the BlackBerry Curve 9350 even though I do have a BlackBerry Bold 9900 so I am going to leave final judgment until I have one in my hands. Also I have heard that the BlackBerry Bold 9790 simply differentiates by its form factor of being much lighter than the 9900 though it seems to lose the HSPA+ and only a 1Ghz processor.
I was hoping for more in the interviews on RIM’s vision of how these devices fit in but you can check out the details from the interviews for yourself:
If you had your eyes on the BlackBerry Bold 9790 that RIM made official today then you definitely want to check out this video. One of our longtime tipsters, Ronishak, let us know that he uploaded his unboxing video of the new device. It goes on sale next week in Jakarta Indonesia for ~$500 USD or 4.7jt. Let him know what you think of it!
Now that the devices are official we can give you the official images RIM provided of the devices instead of leaked shots. Check them all out below and let us know what you think!
RIM has finally come out and made honest devices out of the BlackBerry Bold 9790 and BlackBerry Curve 9380. We knew the devices were coming but now RIM has officially made them part of the BlackBerry 7 portfolio. There is nothing really crazy new in this announcement but both devices will be packing NFC and a compass built in for augmented reality. The Bold 9790 will have a 1Ghz processor instead of the 1.2Ghz and 800Mhz processors we have seen so far. The Curve 9380 as you probably know by now is a cheaper version of the all touchscreen Torch with a smaller 3.2” display and an 800Mhz processor.
RIM is nice and vague about release dates saying that: “The BlackBerry Bold 9790 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 smartphones will begin to be available from various carriers around the world over the coming weeks.” Check out the full press release below:
Research In Motion Expands BlackBerry 7 Portfolio with the New BlackBerry Bold 9790 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 Smartphones
JAKARTA, INDONESIA and WATERLOO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Nov. 15, 2011) -
Editors Note: Six photos for this release will be available via Marketwire on the picture wire of The Canadian Press.
Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today announced two new smartphones based on the BlackBerry(R) 7 operating system (OS) – the BlackBerry(R) Bold(TM) 9790 and BlackBerry(R) Curve(TM) 9380.
The new smartphones offer impressively slim and stylish designs with enhanced communications, multimedia, productivity and social connectivity features. The BlackBerry Bold 9790 is both powerful and compact, offering users a fully loaded, high performance smartphone with the dual benefits of a high resolution touch display and a highly tactile keyboard. The BlackBerry Curve 9380 is the first-ever BlackBerry(R) Curve(TM) smartphone with a touch display. It continues to deliver the powerful social experiences, ease-of-use and smaller handset size that distinguish the BlackBerry Curve family, while also offering Curve users the choice of a larger display and an all-touch design.
"We are very excited to expand the BlackBerry 7 portfolio with the new BlackBerry Bold 9790 and BlackBerry Curve 9380," said Carlo Chiarello, Senior Vice President, Handheld Product Management at Research In Motion. "BlackBerry smartphones offer a uniquely refined mobile communications experience that people love and we think many customers will be thrilled by the faster performance, beautiful touch displays and compact designs available with these new BlackBerry 7 based models."
BlackBerry Bold 9790 Smartphone with Touch Display and Keyboard
True to the BlackBerry Bold brand, the new BlackBerry Bold 9790 smartphone is powerful, full-featured and built with premium materials and finishes. It combines a high-resolution and highly responsive touch display with a highly tactile keyboard and a precise optical trackpad, but comes in a narrow design that is easy to carry and exceptionally comfortable to hold. With the BlackBerry 7 OS and powerful 1 GHz processor, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 delivers fast, smooth performance for browsing the web, running apps, working with documents, and enjoying multimedia. It includes 8GB of onboard memory and an expandable memory card slot that supports up to 32 GB of additional storage.
All-Touch BlackBerry Curve 9380 Smartphone
The finely crafted BlackBerry Curve 9380 is the first all-touch smartphone in the BlackBerry Curve family. It features a highly responsive and brilliant 3.2" high resolution display and comes with preinstalled social networking apps, including BBM(TM) (BlackBerry(R) Messenger), Facebook(R), Twitter(TM) and Social Feeds apps, that offer a fun, easy and smoothly integrated mobile experience. This compact and stylish handset also features a 5MP camera with flash and video recording, allowing users to easily capture and share their favorite moments with family, friends and colleagues.
Powerful BlackBerry 7 OS
The BlackBerry Bold 9790 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 are both powered by the new BlackBerry 7 OS, which delivers a faster and richer user experience with improved browsing, voice-activated searches, and support for Augmented Reality and NFC (Near Field Communications). It also includes the ability to manage personal content separately from corporate content, and comes with a variety of personal and productivity apps out of the box.
BlackBerry 7 also introduces an enhanced browser that provides a significantly faster, more fluid web browsing experience. The browser includes a new JIT (just in time) JavaScript compiler to improve the load time speed of web pages and it offers optimized HTML5 performance for incredible gaming and video experiences. The popular universal search capability has also been enhanced with support for voice-activated search, so users can simply speak to begin searching their device and the web for information.
The BlackBerry Bold 9790 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 smartphones include built-in support for Augmented Reality and NFC, allowing users to connect with the world around them in fresh new ways. With the Wikitude Augmented Reality application, users can find nearby BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) contacts in real-time, read reviews on restaurants close to them, or get the story behind an interesting landmark and points of interest. NFC also enables many new and exciting capabilities, including the ability to make mobile payments, pair accessories or read SmartPoster tags with a simple tap of the smartphone.
BlackBerry 7 includes a number of preinstalled applications and integrated functionality for increasing productivity and easy sharing and collaboration right out of the box. The Premium version of Documents To Go is included free of charge, offering users powerful document editing features as well as a native PDF document viewer. BlackBerry(R) Protect is pre-loaded(i), offering customers the peace of mind that personal data can be backed up and secured in the cloud. BlackBerry(R) Balance is integrated in BlackBerry 7, allowing users to enjoy the full BlackBerry smartphone experience for both work and personal purposes without compromising the IT department’s need for advanced security and IT controls. The Social Feeds (2.0) app has been extended to capture updates from media and favorites all in one consolidated view. The Facebook for BlackBerry smartphones (2.0) app introduces features like Facebook chat and BBM integration that makes it easier for users to connect with their Facebook friends in real time.
Availability
The BlackBerry Bold 9790 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 smartphones will begin to be available from various carriers around the world over the coming weeks. Availability dates for specific devices from specific carriers will be announced in conjunction with RIM’s partners.
