Blackberry Bold lands first on T-Mobile

Vodafone and 3 have both made murmurings about the Bold but it T-Mobile is the first network to get the prized BlackBerry.

It's named September as the month to go BlackBerry picking - beating off Vodafone who are committed to securing it "before November" and 3 who can only say it'll be available before the end of the year.

Business customers will be the first to get their hands on the HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS and 2MP camera loaded handset and its lush 480 x 320 screen. There's only 1GB of storage on-board but there is that all important SD-card slot for boosting capacity by 8GB and beyond. More details after the cut.

T-Mobile hasn't said when the Bold will be available to consumers but then you can always set yourself up as a one-man business if you're that keen.Carphone Warehouse, however, reckons it'll have the BlackBerry Bold on saleby mid-August. Here's what it has to say:

Be Bold

The New BlackBerry Bold Smartphone launches at The Carphone Warehouse

For customers seeking a smartphone that makes a bold statement, The Carphone Warehouse is introducing the BlackBerry® Bold™ smartphone from Research In Motion (RIM), available from mid-August 2008.  Crafted from premium materials, inside and out, the BlackBerry Bold is designed to give business professionals unprecedented performance in an intuitive BlackBerry® smartphone.

The BlackBerry Bold is the first BlackBerry smartphone to support tri-band HSDPA high-speed networks around the world and comes with integrated GPS and Wi-Fi®, as well as a rich set of multimedia capabilities. The BlackBerry Bold is a major step forward for customers that want an exceptional mobile experience for email, entertainment and the Internet on-the-go. From its lustrous black exterior with satin chrome finished frame and stylish leatherette backplate, to its stunning display, sophisticated user interface and newly designed full-QWERTY keyboard, the BlackBerry Bold smartphone stands as a symbol of accomplishment and aspiration.

The smartphone comes with the most vivid display ever introduced on a BlackBerry smartphone. Its half-VGA colour LCD display (480x320 resolution at 217 ppi) is fused to the undersurface of the lens, making images leap out with stunning definition and clarity. Pictures are vibrant and sharp, while videos play smoothly and web pages, documents, presentations and messages are displayed with exceptional quality and contrast.

The BlackBerry Bold smartphone makes short work of downloading email attachments, streaming video or viewing web pages thanks to its heavyweight processor. It also includes 128 MB Flash memory, 1 GB on-board storage plus a microSD/SDHC memory card slot* for storing music, photos and video.

The handset comes with the renowned BlackBerry productivity applications, including phone, email, messaging, organiser and browser. It also works with thousands of mobile business and lifestyle applications, making it easier than ever to stay connected, productive and entertained while on the go. With this powerful new smartphone, users can even talk on the phone while sending and receiving email or accessing the web. Users can also download Word, Excel or PowerPoint files and edit them directly on the handset using the preloaded DataViz® Documents to Go® software suite.

A 2 megapixel camera with video recording capability** and built-in flash with digital zoom helps complete the picture. The advanced media player can display pictures and slideshows quickly, play movies smoothly in full screen mode and manage an entire music collection. Audio can be played over the handset’s dual speakers in rich stereo sound and when using wired headphones or external speakers, the media player gives the user an equaliser with 11 pre-set filters – like "Lounge", "Jazz" and "Hip Hop" – that boost or soften audio ranges to create the perfect ambiance.

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* MicroSD/SDHC memory cards are available today in configurations of up to 8GB and the BlackBerry Bold is expected to support upcoming 16GB microSD/SDHC cards. 

** Video recording requires a memory card, sold separately.

Notes to Editors:

·        The Carphone Warehouse has over 805 stores nationwide

·        Stockist details: www.carphonewarehouse.com or from The Carphone Warehouse Direct Sales on 0800 925 925

·        The BlackBerry Bold is available from free on a contract from mid-August 2008