On paper, the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 smartphones look like the most competitive offerings RIM has had in years. RIM has upgraded the aging processor on existing Torch and Bold phones to 1.2 Ghz, added 8 GB of onboard memory, support for 720p HD video recording and support for 4G HSPA+ networks.
The 9900 and 9930 phones are also the thinnest BlackBerry smartphones yet -- each measuring just 10.5mm thick. RIM has also added bells and whistles like dual-band Wi-Fi, NFC support, and the classic BlackBerry QWERTY keyboard in addition to a touch LCD screen.
This is the most competitive offering that RIM has produced since at least 2008. The design, while still classic BlackBerry, is thinner than in the past and the processor and onboard memory requirements are no longer embarrassingly passe.
As for the new BlackBerry 7 OS, RIM says that it features a better browser (with better HTML5 support), the ability to keep personal and corporate content separate and built-in productivity apps. We expect to see more at BlackBerry World later this week.
Sight unseen, we're still not convinced RIM can compete against the latest crop of Android and Windows Phone devices -- not to mention the next iPhone. Still, the newest BlackBerry Bold at least looks like a step in the right direction.