The new Blackberry 9000 (bold) with half-VGA, 65,000 colors and 480x320 resolution received its name from participants constantly calling it brilliant and bold during initial testing.Is it just hype or does it live up to its name? The color pops out at you from the display crisp and lifelike. The newly designed screen is amazing. It appears to actually BE the panel, rather than underneath it somewhere. Picture clarity and viewing angle are excellent.The Blackberry 9000 has new icons and an updated look designed specifically for the "Bold". Looking at the images you can see the Blackberry 9000 is also more elegant and sleek on the outside just screaming STYLE. The black casing is offset in a striking way by the curvy edges and chrome trim.In terms of design and function there are many features. It is just a bit larger and heavier, yet slightly slimmer than its cousin, the BlackBerry Curve at 4.5"x2.6"x.55 and a tad under 5oz. Compared to the 8800 the keyboard is more comfortable and easier to use due to more spacing between rows.The Blackberry 9000 supports all of the latest wireless communications technologies such as HSDPA support. This is the first BlackBerry made to use this standard and it has been something anticipated for some time - but RIM wanted to ensure that battery life could still live up to their standards while at the same time offering users this new 3.5G technology. Wi-FI (802.11a/b/g) is included as is Bluetooth 2.0 support. Also built in is GPS!The Blackberry 9000 comes with a processor which doubles the computing power of previous models. With double the processor of its cousin the curve the 624 MHz Intel ensures fast, smooth performance. Theres no shortage of memory with a microSD/SDHC side loading expansion slot supporting up to 16GB and 128MG of flash memory and a full gig of onboard storage.The updated web browser included with the Bold is leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessors and allows web pages to be viewed in either mobile versions of full HTML, and the trackball can now emulate a mouse, including zoom functions. This is GREAT news for many BlackBerry users!The Blackberry 9000 has you covered when it comes to multimedia. A 2 megapixel camera has built in flash, 5x zoom and video recording capabilities. There is media player software included which can play MP3, WMA, AAC, DivX4 and WMV3 files. The phone also has a headphone/external speaker jack. You can expect rich, full stereo sound from the build in speakers. This is quite a contrast to previous models.AT&T users can expect to see the Blackberry 9000 first with HSDPA capabilities. Other versions will be out before you know it, says Lazaridis.The Blackberry 9000 will be available by summer of 2008, with pricing expected to be around 4-5 hundred.
