RIM and China Mobile launch the very lucky BlackBerry Bold 9788

 

Today RIM and China Mobile have announced the BlackBerry Bold 9788. The Bold 9788 joins the China Mobile family keeping the sleek design of the 97xx series and is also the first BlackBerry smartphone to run on the networks TD-SCMDA wiresless network, a locally developed version of 3G. With the introduction of the Bold 9788, RIM and China Mobile hope to widen their customer base and reach more consumers and professional individuals. Until now, the network has focused on enterprise companies.

The Bold 9788 will come with a range of tailor-made applications and services provided by China Mobile. It will run BlackBerry 6 and feature a WebKit-based browser, 5MP camera, WiFi connectivity, and GPS. It will be available from China Mobile stores and RIM authorized resellers.

As for that device model number, the 9788... it looks like RIM is paying attention to Chinese culture and going for a bit a of BlackBerry good luck here. The number 8 is the most fortuitous of numbers.

For more information on the BlackBerry Bold 9788

Read the full Press Release

China Mobile Gets the BlackBerry Bold 9788 with BlackBerry OS 6

I guess this is RIM giving the BlackBerry Bold line a blast to the past. They have announced the new BlackBerry Bold 9788 together with China Mobile today. Its the first BlackBerry to support the Chinese TD-SCDMA network though I cannot quite make out what device it is. It looks like it is a rebuild of the 9700 for China Mobile since it has 256MB of RAM instead of the 9780’s 512MB. Its also shipping with BlackBerry OS 6.

Check out the press release below or the BlackBerry Bold 9788 page on RIM’s China website if you can read it! Either way it is coming this month.

Research In Motion : RIM and China Mobile Introduce BlackBerry Bold 9788

September 6, 2011 – First BlackBerry smartphone to support TD-SCDMA technology

Waterloo, ON and Beijing, China – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) and China Mobile today introduced the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9788 smartphone, the newest addition to China Mobile’s BlackBerry® smartphone offering and the first to support the nation’s TD-SCDMA wireless network.

Featuring a sleek, iconic design and an incredibly easy-to-use keyboard, the BlackBerry Bold 9788 is elegantly styled and packed with powerful communications, multimedia and productivity features.

China Mobile and RIM have to date been focused on successfully introducing the BlackBerry solution to enterprise customers in China. The launch of the BlackBerry Bold 9788 smartphone showcases the strong partnership between China Mobile and RIM, and provides a solid foundation from which the two companies will continue to work to better address local market needs. The new smartphone also marks China Mobile and RIM’s efforts to broaden the reach of BlackBerry smartphones and services to Chinese SMBs and professional individuals.

The BlackBerry Bold 9788 is a compact and stylish smartphone that offers a compelling blend of features, performance and design. It supports China Mobile’s TD-SCDMA network, as well as Wi-Fi® connectivity and GPS for location-based applications and geo-tagging. The 5 MP camera comes with a full complement of high-end features including continuous auto focus, scene modes, image stabilization, flash and video recording. The smartphone also includes an expandable memory card slot.

As a customized smartphone for China Mobile, the BlackBerry Bold 9788 is preloaded with a range of tailor-made applications and services from the operator.

Featuring the BlackBerry® 6 operating system, the BlackBerry Bold 9788 smartphone integrates a new, rich WebKit-based browser that renders HTML web pages quickly and beautifully for a great browsing experience. Additional features of BlackBerry 6 include expanded messaging capabilities with intuitive features to simplify the management of social networking and RSS feeds (Social Feeds), and integrated access to various instant messaging applications. The BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger) software preloaded on the BlackBerry Bold 9788 provides an easy and reliable way for people to instantly and reliably communicate. The BlackBerry Bold 9788 also supports BlackBerry App World™, enabling users to explore BlackBerry applications tailored for China Mobile customers.

With more than 500 IT policies available, the BlackBerry Bold 9788 and BlackBerry® Enterprise Server together provide a secure, manageable mobile solution for enterprise customers. The BlackBerry solution is the leading mobile solution for enterprises globally and has been adopted by a wide range of Chinese corporations.

The BlackBerry Bold 9788 smartphone is expected to be available from authorized China Mobile and RIM channels in China in September.  For more information, please visit http://cn.blackberry.com/Bold9788

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