

BlackBerry-growers RIM have officially announced the BlackBerry Bold 9700, the first follow-up to the original Bold and, like most BlackBerries, equipped with a full-on QWERTY keypad rather than the de rigueur touchscreen. There is a nod to touchiness, though: the Bold’s trackball is here replaced by a touch-sensitive trackpad, designed to be more reliable, more responsive and much better for web browsing.
The device itself looks less chunky than its predecessor, with the metal surround ditched for chrome-accented glossy black plastic.
Crammed inside is the same software as the BlackBerry Storm 2, which results in a hefty speed boost over the original Bold: RIM says you’ll see a speed increase of 30 to 50 percent during web browsing. The battery life should be better too: it’s claimed to last three days in normal use, or a massive 19 days in standby.
Features include a 3.2-megapixel camera, GPS, Wi-Fi, 3.5mm headphone slot and super-fast HSDPA 3G.
The Bold 9700 will hit the shops in November, with prices yet to be confirmed.
Read BlackBerry Bold 9700 goes official on FiveFWD






