BlackBerry Bold 9000

Manufacturer	Research In Motion
Compatible networks	Quad band GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 Tri band HSDPA: 850/1900/2100[1]
Availability by country	August 4, 2008 (Chile)[2] August 21, 2008 (Canada)[3] November 4, 2008 (U.S.)[4]
Form factor	Candybar smartphone
Dimensions	4.48x2.6x0.59 in (114x66x15 mm)[5]
Weight	4.8 oz (136 g)[5]
Operating system	BlackBerry OS 5.0[6]
CPU	624 MHz Marvell Tavor PXA930[6]
Memory	128MB RAM, 1GB storage, microSD slot[3]
Data inputs	Trackball, keyboard
Display	480x320 px 2.8 inch TFT LCD[3]
Rear camera	2.0 megapixel[5]

Specifications

• Size: 114mm × 66mm × 15mm
• Weight: 4.8 ounces (136 grams)
• Display: Half VGA resolution 480 × 360 pixel color display backlit transmissive High-Definition TFT LCD
• Camera: 2.0 MP camera (JPEG encoding) with flash, 3x digital zoom
• Battery: 1500 mAhr removable/rechargeable cryptographic lithium cell
• Standby life: 13.5 days standby, .5 hour talk
• GPS capable with extended ephemeris and maps
• Input: Backlit QWERTY keyboard, trackball
• Video format support: DivX 4, DivX 5/6 partially supported, XviD partially supported, H.263, H.264, WMV3
• Audio format support: .3gp, MP3, WMA9 (.wma/.asf), WMA9 Pro/WMA 10, MIDI, AMR-NB, Professional AAC/AAC+/eAAC+
• Ringtones: MIDI, SP-MDI, MP3, WAV
• Connectivity: 3G; Bluetooth 2.0; 802.11g; 3.5mm stereo headset, Mini-USB
• Networks: UMTS 2100/1900/850 MHz; GSM: 1900/1800/900/850/MHz; EDGE networks; HSDPA networks

Applications

All the familiar BlackBerry applications are available on the Bold: WordToGo, PowerPointToGo, BrickBreaker and WordMole. The Bold also offers new or updated applications for BlackBerry Messenger, WHERE GPS, and Mobi4Biz.^[7]

Reception

The Blackberry Bold has generally been positively reviewed by critics. Bonnie Cha of CNET rated the phone as "Excellent" and praised the phone's screen and multimedia capabilities. However, she did not like the bulkiness of the bold and she notes that it has poor web browsing navigation. However, she mentioned that the bulkiness would be greatly improved by Blackberry OS 6.0.

Technical issues

• On October 10, 2008, UK provider Orange suspended sales of the BlackBerry Bold due to undisclosed software issues.
  
• March 2, 2008, RIM says they had or still have an overheating problem with the Bold saying in some cases it became too hot to handle. This problem seems to have affected regions in and around Japan only. "BlackBerry Bold devices in other countries are unaffected by this matter.^"
• The Bold, the second 3G BlackBerry (first supporting US frequency bands), launched in the U.S. in November 2008, after several snags delayed its release. The Bold went through several revisions before its official launch to ensure it operated properly on AT&T's 3G network and to hammer out software issues.
• Unlike many competing smartphones, hardware issues prevent any kind of audio/music composition or editing applications from running successfully on the Bold.