Rogers announced today that the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9700 will be available “in the coming weeks.” This is not quite news as RIM’s press release had already confirmed this fact but we now know that the Bold 9700 will be available in time for the holidays.
“The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is certainly a sight to behold,” said John Boynton, Executive Vice President, Marketing, Rogers Communications. “Rogers is pleased to add this stylish, high performing device to our lineup of leading-edge smartphones, just in time for the holiday season.”
The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is powered by a 624MHz processor and BlackBerry OS 5.0. It comes with quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and UMTS/HSDPA connectivity, a 2.44-inch HVGA display, 256MB Flash memory, the traditional full-QWERTY keyboard, built-in GPS, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, a 3.2MP camera with auto-focus and flash, a microSDHD memory card slot (2GB card also included), a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack, and a 1500mAh battery. It replaces the original Bold’s track ball with an optical track pad. It is also thinner and lighter than the original Bold.
Rogers will offer the BlackBerry Bold 9700 for CA$299.99 with a three-year service contract (minimum CA$45 per month voice and data plan). The price rises to CA$499.99 with a two-year contract, CA$549.99 with one-year and CA$599.99 with no contract.