RIM might have only brought 1 new smartphone along to BlackBerry Globe 2011 this week, but the new Bold 9900/9930 promises to slot neatly into the flagship position within the company’s range. Providing the much-requested double hit of touchscreen and physical keyboard, inside a candybar form-factor, the BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 also marks the debut of BlackBerry 7 OS. Take a look at our hands-on report soon after the cut.
RIM is keen to point out that the Bold 9900/9930 is the thinnest smartphone its made to-date, at ten.5mm thick, and it is undoubtedly slim within the hand. The familiar Bold profile of a brushed metal bezel and tapered, textured back panel is evident, and the entire thing balances neatly between feeling solid and simultaneously lightweight. These aren’t production units, clearly, but the create top quality is decent.
The mixture of touch and QWERTY is some thing we’ve seen just before inside the Torch, but their close proximity on the Bold 9900/9930 makes it far more straightforward to reach up and tap the display with a thumb. The 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen may possibly be on the little side – the Torch 9800 has a 3.2-inch, 480 x 360 panel – but at 640 x 480 it packs far far more pixels and looks considerably smoother and slicker. Nonetheless, it could be somewhat tricky to navigate due to its size, specifically for those who have major fingers.
BlackBerry 7 OS’ major selling point is browser overall performance, with a new JavaScript compiler, HTML5 Video support as well as other modifications. As you may see in our demo video, it is a massive step up from what you discover on BlackBerry 6 products, although we’ll have to invest a lot more time together with the OS to determine regardless of whether it’ll allow RIM to catch up with iOS and Android. It undoubtedly feels smoother and extra responsive than previous versions, though the Daring 9900/9930’s one.2GHz processor and 768MB of memory do not harm there either.
The flip facet of those innovations is always that RIM has successfully axed legacy assistance for its previous smartphones. There’ll be no BlackBerry seven OS update for the Torch 9800 or other latest devices, a signal – RIM claims – of how carefully integrated the new software is using the hardware in its 2011 variety of handsets. That may well infuriate present owners, but it ought to also make sure you analysts and others who’ve been calling out for RIM to phase as much as the Android and iOS plate and compete extra aggressively.
There is nonetheless time for RIM to polish the Daring 9900/9930 prior to its summer time release, but while the smartphone itself may be considered a reasonably compelling piece of hardware, it is the gaps inside the company’s line-up that start off to look concerning now. With no upgrades to OS 7 it indicates RIM wants to launch a whole new range of devices; it cannot rely on reworking older phones. How swiftly it can do that may perhaps make the distinction amongst remaining relevant and losing market share.
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