BlackBerry Bold 9900 and Bold 9930 officially unveiled by RIM

RIM is a mobile manufacturer with eyes on evolution, rather than revolution. The launch of the BlackBerry Torch in 2010 signposted a shift in BlackBerry smartphones towards touchscreen functionality, and – as expected – it’s a feature that’s now being brought to the company’s more traditional candybar phones.

At the BlackBerry World conference in Florida, RIM has just unveiled its new flagship handset – the BlackBerry Bold 9900 (or Blackberry Bold 9930 to us in the UK). For those unsure: the difference between the two model numbers is 4G connectivity, which is gifted to the Bold 9900 and destined for the USA.

The handset retains the candybar form factor found in previous Bold handsets, with the traditional BlackBerry keyboard, but is supremely thin at 10.5mm. Its taken that formula and added a 2.8-inch touchscreen to the mix, with user interaction aided by an update to the new BlackBerry OS 7. The new operating system brings faster browsing and NFC tech as well as better touch integration.

Inside, the Bold 9900/9930 packs a speedy 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with 768MB of RAM. There’s 8GB of internal storage, which is upgradable via Micro SD, and a 5-megapixel camera with flash and image stabilisation. The Bold 9900 and 9930 will both hit stores in the summer, but there’s no word on price as yet.

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