BlackBerry Bold

TheBlackBerry Boldis a discontinued line ofsmartphonesdeveloped byBlackBerry Limited.The family of smartphones was launched in 2008 with the BlackBerry Bold 9000. In 2009 theform factorwas shrunk with the 9700 and theTour 9630.In 2010BlackBerryreleased the 9650 and 9780 refreshed with OS 6. In 2011 came the 9790 and 9788 along with the 9900/9930 series. The 9900/9930 and 9790 are touchscreen smartphones, released in August and November 2011, respectively.

The Bold family was known for its distinctiveform factor,QWERTYkeyboard, and typical BlackBerry messaging capabilities with a different keyboard than theCurveseries. The Bold series was usually more expensive and had more expensive materials (e.g. leather, soft touch rubber, carbon fiber, metal) compared to the Curve (plastic, glossy), and had higher specifications. There were two basic form factors within the Bold line: the original larger size on the 9000 and 9900 Series and the "baby bold" form factor the other models have.

Early series

BlackBerry Bold 9700

Main article:BlackBerry Bold 9700

TheBlackBerry Bold 9700(codenamed "Onyx" ) is a high-endmobile phonedata device (smartphone) developed byBlackBerryand released on December 18, 2009. While many things including the form factor are similar between this model and the larger models, the difference in the 9700's specifications are as follows:

• Wi-Fi calling supportedUMA(Carrier dependent)
• Browser – HTML browsing, View Movies/Clips from websites built for mobile streaming,RSSfeedsupport
• Voice Dialling

All the familiar pre-loaded BlackBerry applications are available on the Bold 9700, including but not limited to:WordToGo,PowerPointToGo,BrickBreakerand WordMole. The Bold 9700 also offers BlackBerry Messenger 4.7 but is upgradable to 7.1 in the BlackBerry App World. By upgrading the OS to version 6.0, a user also automatically upgrades to higher versions of applications.

BlackBerry Bold 9650

BlackBerry Bold 9650

Slogan	Love to be Bold.
Availability by region	Sprint Nextel: May 23, 2010 Verizon Wireless: June 3, 2010 (Online) June 10, 2010 (Retail Stores)

The BlackBerry Bold 9650 is part of the 9600 device series which takes design cues from both its predecessor, theBlackBerry Tour9630, as well as itsGSMvariant, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 & the BlackBerry Bold 9780. Changes from the Tour include built-in Wi-Fi, 512 MB of onboard storage, and anoptical trackpadinstead of the trackball. It utilizes a 528 MHz processor, and has a 3.4 MP camera available as an option. The major difference between the 9700/9780 vs the 9650 is that the 9650 is the World Phone Edition that can use CDMA & GSM networks globally; the 9700/9780 only runs on GSM networks.Sprint Nextelannounced that they would be the launch carrier for the Bold 9650 shortly after the device was introduced, releasing the phone on May 23, 2010.Verizon Wirelessfollowed closely, releasing the phone exclusively online on June 3, 2010, followed by its retail stores on June 10, 2010. It was released in Canada the week of April 27, 2010.

BlackBerry Bold 9780 Series

The BlackBerry Bold 9780 is a high-endmobile phonedata device (smartphone) developed by BlackBerry, released globally in November 2010.On September 7, 2011China Mobileand BlackBerry announced a variant known as the Bold 9788. The 9788 variant is identical to the 9700 except that the 9788 uses a Chinese 3G standard known asTD-SCDMA.

The Bold 9780 shares the same form factor as the 9700, and the only notable differences are an improved camera (5.0 MP vs. 3.2 MP) and double the onboard memory of the 9700 (512 MB vs. 256 MB). Both devices are OS 6.0 capable, with the 9780 having OS 6 already installed. Additionally, the chrome chassis around the older Bold models had disappeared.

BlackBerry 7 series

On August 3, 2011BlackBerry announced their seventh major release of BlackBerry OS. It included several major changes such as universal voice search, support for HTML5, Liquid Graphics andNear field communication.It also has many optimizations which improve web and gaming experiences as well as social network integration as well as some layout changes with some new icons. BlackBerry OS 7 comes bundled with the premium version of Documents To Go. On January 9, 2012BlackBerry announced BlackBerry OS 7.1 which allows Wi-FiTethering,BlackBerry Tag andUMAcalling.

BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930

BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930

Availability by region	August 10, 2011 (Rogers) August 12, 2011 (Vodafone) August 12, 2011 (Bell, Telus) August 15, 2011 (Verizon) August 21, 2011 (Sprint) August 21, 2011 (O2) August 31, 2011 (T-Mobile) September 1, 2011 (Optus) November 3, 2011 (Vodafone) Sept 7, 2011 (SmarTone, 3, China Mobile, Vodafone, CSL) Oct 19, 2011 (WINDMobile) Nov 6, 2011 (AT&T)
Successor	BlackBerry Q10

Blackberry Bold 9900 in white

The BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 (codenamed internally as "Dakota/Montana", also known as Bold Touch) is part of the 9000 device series. Introduced in August 2011, it is the first of the Bold line to provide a touchscreen. It marks a return to the form factor of the original 9000 and its popular wide-set physical keyboard.It takes design cues from both its predecessor, theBlackBerry Tour9630, as well as itsGSMvariant, theBlackBerry Bold 9700.

• Thinnest BlackBerry to date
• Glass fibre Cover for battery compartment
• NFC technology

The Bold 9900 was launched in Thailand at the DTAC 3G Expo on September 3–4th 2011. Soon after, many users were complaining that the phone was not 100% reliable for daily use as it often "froze" during the use of BBM (BlackBerry Messenger). The browser was also one of the main problems, as the touch was not as smooth asBlackBerryadvertised. Both issues were promptly resolved through the over-the-air software releases of BBM 6.0 and BlackBerry OS 7.1, respectively. The Bold 9930 operates on bothGSMandCDMAnetworks whereas the Bold 9900 can only function on theGSMnetwork. However, the Bold 9900 can function in GSM bands that the 9930 cannot use. A 4G LTE version was available with select carriers eventually.

BlackBerry Bold 9790

Introduced on November 15, 2011,the BlackBerry Bold 9790 follows the ergonomics of its predecessor, the Bold 9780, with an upgraded 1 GHz processor. The camera does auto focus (as compared tofixed focusof its predecessors), but can only produce VGA resolution videos. Java is not supported on this device.

Model comparison

Early series

BlackBerryBold 9000

Model		BlackBerry Bold 9000	BlackBerry Bold 9700	BlackBerry Bold 9650	BlackBerry Bold 9780	BlackBerry Bold 9788
Image
Announce Date		May 12, 2008	October 21, 2009	April 26, 2010	October 27, 2010	September 6, 2011
Display		480x320px2.6 inch(built on 110 μm pixel) at 221ppi	480x360px2.44 inch(built on 100 μm pixel) at 244ppi
Processor		624MHzMarvellTavor PXA930		Qualcomm MSM7600 @ 528 MHz	624 MHz
Memory	Internalstorage	1 GB	microSDslot only; 2 GB card included
	RAM	122MB	256MB	512MB
Inputs		Trackball,keyboard	Optical trackpad,keyboard
WiFi/Bluetooth		802.11a/b/g,Bluetooth 2.0+A2DP	802.11b/g,Bluetooth 2.1+A2DP
Compatible Networks		2G GSM and 3G HSPA		2G GSM, 3G CDMA and 3G HSPA	2G GSM and 3G HSPA	2G GSM and 3G TD-SCDMA
Operating system		BlackBerry OS4 / 5	BlackBerry OS5 / 6		BlackBerry OS6
Battery		1500 mAH		1400 mAH	1500 mAH
Weight		136 g (4.8 oz)	122 g (4.3 oz)	136 g (4.8 oz)	122 g (4.3 oz)
Dimensions		114 mm × 66 mm × 15 mm (4.49 in × 2.60 in × 0.59 in)	109 mm × 60 mm × 14 mm (4.29 in × 2.36 in × 0.55 in)	112 mm × 62 mm × 14 mm (4.41 in × 2.44 in × 0.55 in)	109 mm × 60 mm × 14 mm (4.29 in × 2.36 in × 0.55 in)
Camera		2.0MP	3.2MP		5MP

BlackBerry 7 series

Model		BlackBerry Bold 9900	BlackBerry Bold 9930	BlackBerry Bold 9790
Image
Announce Date		August 3, 2011		November 15, 2011
Display		640 x 480px2.8 inchTFT LCD(built on 88 μm pixel) at 287ppi		480 x 360px2.45 inchTFT LCD(built on 100 μm pixel) at 246ppi
Processor		Qualcomm Snapdragon2 MSM8255T processor 1.2 GHz		MarvellTavor MG1 PXA940 1 GHz
GPU		Adreno205		PowerVRSGX543 GPU
RAM		768 MB
Storage		8 GB Internal Storage microSDslot
Inputs		Multi-touchtouchscreen,volume controls,proximity andambient lightsensors, 3-axisaccelerometer,DigitalCompass,GPS/aGPS
Connectivity		802.11a/b/g/nDual band Bluetooth 2.1+A2DP+EDR Near field communication
Compatible Networks	GSM/GPRS/EDGE	850/900/1800/1900 MHz
	UMTS/HSPA	2100/1900/850/800 MHz (RDE7*UW/RDY7*UW) or 2100/1700/900 MHz (RDV7*UW)	2100/900 MHz	2100/1900/850/800 MHz (REC71UW) or 2100/1700/900 MHz (RED71UW)
	CDMA/EVDO	—	800/1900 MHz	—
HSDPA		14.4 Mbit/s		7.2 Mbit/s
HSUPA		5.76 Mbit/s
Operating system		BlackBerry OS7
Battery		1230 mAH ReplaceableLithium-ion polymer battery 12.8 days standby (GSM/UMTS) 6.3 hours talk (GSM) 5.9 hours talk (UMTS) 50 hours music playback	1230 mAH ReplaceableLithium-ion polymer battery 12.8 days standby (CDMA/GSM/UMTS) 6.6 hours talk (CDMA) 6.3 hours talk(GSM) 5.9 hours talk (UMTS) 50 hours music playback	1230 mAH ReplaceableLithium-ion polymer battery 18 days standby (GSM) 17 days standby (UMTS) 5.2 hours talk(GSM) 5.3 hours talk (UMTS) 33 hours music playback 6.3 hours video playback
Weight		130 g (4.6 oz)		107 g (3.8 oz)
Dimensions		115 mm × 66 mm × 10.5 mm (4.53 in × 2.60 in × 0.41 in)		110 mm × 60 mm × 11.4 mm (4.33 in × 2.36 in × 0.45 in)
Camera		5megapixel 4x digital zoom Flash HD video(720p) at 30fps		5megapixelContinuous auto focus 2x digital zoom Flash VGAat 30fps

External links

• BlackBerry
• BlackBerry Bold(Official site)
• [1](BlackBerry device support)