The last two UK networks have now released the BlackBerry Bold 9790. Orange and T-Mobile UK, part of Everything Everywhere, have both released the Bold 9790. Orange offers the device for free from £31 a month on a 24-month contract while T-Mobile UK has it free on the £36 and above tariffs, including T-Mobile's newly introduced The Full Monty Plan where you can get unlimited calls, texts and data. So, if you're any of those two networks or looking to join them head into an Orange or T-Mobile store now to check out the deals they have on offer for the Bold 9790. Alternatively, check out the deals online using the links below. More information / Purchase the BlackBerry Bold 9790 from Orange More information / Purchase the BlackBerry Bold 9790 from T-Mobile UK
Research In Motion (RIM) is likely to launch the BlackBerry Curve 9220 in India in April. The successor to the Curve 8520 will have a 2.0 MP camera, a 2.4-inch QVGA display, Wi-Fi and FM radio. However, one big difference on the Curve 9220 will be a dedicated BBM key on the phone, just like the Curve 8520 had music shortcut keys. The Curve 9220 is likely to be priced under Rs 9,000 in India. Being a non-3G phone, we won’t be surprised if it is introduced first in India globally. We had earlier exclusively reported on RIM’s 2012 product portfolio.
Good news for RIM today! They’ve just announced that their BlackBerry 7 Smartphones have followed the BlackBerry PlayBook and been given FIPS 140-2 certification by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC). The list of certified devices with BlackBerry 7 and BlackBerry 7.1 are the Bold 9900, 9930 and 9790, BlackBerry Torch 9850, 9860 and 9810, and BlackBerry Curve™ 9350, 9360, 9370 and 9380. So what does this mean for the average user? Well, your device is incredibly secure and all those messages that you don’t want anyone to access will be encrypted. For government employees, like heavy user President Barack Obama, this solidifies RIM as a trust worthy partner “to deploy security-conscious mobile solutions”. Full press release after the break.. congrats RIM!
BlackBerry 7 Smartphones Certified for U.S. and Canadian Governments BlackBerry 7 and 7.1 OS Achieve FIPS 140-2 Certification WATERLOO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Feb. 1, 2012) – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today announced that BlackBerry® smartphones running on the powerful new BlackBerry® 7 and BlackBerry® 7.1 Operating Systems (OS) have been awarded FIPS 140-2 certification by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC). FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) 140-2 is recognized by the U.S. and Canadian governments and is required under the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA). All BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry 7 and BlackBerry 7.1 benefit from this certification, including the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900, 9930 and 9790, BlackBerry® Torch™ 9850, 9860 and 9810, and BlackBerry® Curve™ 9350, 9360, 9370 and 9380. “The FIPS 140-2 certification for BlackBerry 7.0 and 7.1 illustrates RIM’s continuing commitment to providing industry-leading, secure, mobile computing platforms for our customers,” said Scott Totzke, Senior Vice President, BlackBerry Security at Research In Motion. “With all of the latest BlackBerry smartphones and the PlayBook tablet certified under the FIPS program, government and security-conscious customers can deploy our entire range of products with confidence.” In addition to FIPS 140-2 certification, the BlackBerry 7 OS has received Common Criteria EAL4+ certification (see announcement – November 14, 2011). The BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet has also received FIPS 140-2 validation (see announcement – July 21, 2011).
The BlackBerry Curve 9220 is a new device that is said to be coming out mid-2012. It will remain a part of the Curve line and geared toward new users and those who don't need the fancy Bold 9900/9930 hardware. The Curve 9220 sports a 2.0MP camera, 512MB RAM, FM radio and more. Look for more on this soon ...
BlackBerry Curve 9220 Specifications
Dimension
109 x 60 x 12.7mm
Radio
Quad Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900)
Display
2.44" diagonal - qVGA+ 320x240 resolution; 164dpi
Camera
2.0MP FF; Video recording; 5x digital zoom; Fixed focus
Sprint has updated the company’s end-of-life list to include two of its tablets. Shipments of the carrier’s BlackBerry Playbook and HTC EVO View 4G will come to a halt and supplies will run down within the coming weeks, according to the EOL list obtained by SprintFeed. Both tablets will be phased out by the end of of January, possibly leading to the announcement of an LTE tablet from the Overland Park-based company. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, Sprint announced two new LTE-powered smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and LG Viper, which will launch some time this spring. The company is looking to roll out its 4G LTE network by mid-2012 in select locations.
RIM introduced their new CEO, Thorsten Heins, in a video tonight, and he had some interesting things to say about the future of BlackBerry. Here are some of the key takeaways.
Heins starts off by talking about how grateful he is for the opportunity. He says RIM's "journey isn't over yet", and sees BlackBerry being among the top 3 wireless players worldwide if they keep doing what they're doing, and they do it well. This is a view shared by RIM's new chair of the board, Barbara Stymiest, and might not be what shareholders want to hear - at least the ones who have been clamouring for dramatic change at the company, and not just a leadership shuffle.
Heins is very realistic about the improvements RIM needs to make, however. He says "We have learned to execute. Yes, we have to get better at execution, but we've learned a lot going from a drawing room in 2007... Make sure that once we say a product is defined, that we move decively into execution mode, and get the product done in good quality, and on time, and also at good cost. ... We need to get a bit more disciplined in our own processes." In particular, he notes BB10 - "Needless to say - gotta ship on time, gotta ship with good quality."
He reiterates later on that he is very performance-driven, in addition to supporting prototyping and brainstorming. "When we decide on getting something done, I want it to be done on time at good quality, and at good cost, because that at the end of the day defines our customer satisfaction and it also defines our economic result." This message is a great one to deliver, especially if those rumours about the PlayBook's initial delay to launch due to processor changes are to be believed. It's really important for an exec to be able to to say "no" to certain ideas, if only to focus efforts and get goods out the door, and it seems Heins gets that. If RIM can simply pump out products faster, I think they'll be leagues ahead of where they are now.
Heins also speaks about how he's hoping to improve the spirits of those working at RIM. "[Our employees] need to see that BlackBerry is clearly makes a difference. This is not a 'me too' product. ... The employees have to see that they are not just fullfilling something, but they have to see and experience that they are participating in something." To that end, Heins goes onto say that it needs to be illustrated that internal feedback is listened to and considered... In other words, you won't have to send out anonymous letters to the media in order to expediate change at RIM. Regardless, Thorsten speaks with great admiration for the fighting spirit with which many employees have been tackling BB10, and that he can't wait to see it in the public's hands.
Heins went on to describe their corporate customer base as RIM's "fortress", which they will continue to defend, but has big plans for the everyday consumer too. "We need to be constantly communicating with our customers, with the audience, with the public, telling them about BlackBerry. You see this with the Be Bold campaign style." I'm really glad that Thorsten brought up the Be Bold campaign as the key example of good marketing at RIM, rather than the "Love" campaign, which never really struck a chord with me.
And what's Thorsten like personally? Well, he likes the outdoors and he's from Bavaria, where it was much easier to do some skiing. You can watch the full video below. How do you feel about the new RIM CEO? Will he be able to fill big Mike's engineering shoes? Can he match Jim's salesmanship? He definitely has a few fresh angles here without deviating too much from the established BlackBerry principles... As a speaker, he definitely seems more relaxed and confident that the co-CEOs of yore did when in front of the camera. For now, I'm cautiously optimistic about Thorsten Heins. I'm definitely interested to hear what Heins has to say on tomorrow morning's conference call, which we'll be livecasting starting at 7:45 AM EST. Be sure to tune in!
The recent market volatility hasn’t stopped RIM from continuing to release iterative versions of their most popular devices. We looked at the all-touch Curve 9380 last month, and now the Bold line has been refreshed once more. From the ashes of the successful Bold 9700 and its successor, the 9780, comes the tiny, touchscreen-enabled Bold 9790. To take one look at this diminutive device you’d think it was merely a small refresh of a tired QWERTY design. But there are three practical, and one existential, improvements that make this one of the best BlackBerry devices ever released. Keeping in mind that this is very much the same experience you’ve come to love, covet or abhor, let’s take a look to see if this is the Berry for you.
Specs: - 2.45″ 480×360 pixel capacitive touch display - BlackBerry 7 OS - 1Ghz Marvel Tavor MG1 - 768MB RAM, 8GB internal storage - 5MP continual autofocus camera w/ LED flash - VGA (640×480) video recording - WiFi (a/b/g/n), Bluetooth, A-GPS, NFC, UMA - 7.2Mbps download, 5.76Mbps upload - 110 x 60 x 11.4mm - 107g The Phone The Bold 9790 is small. Small in a way you never thought a Bold could be. While it may appear of a same berth as its predecessors, RIM has eliminated every spare ounce and millimetre At 11.4mm thick and only 107g, compared to the 9700′s 14mm and 122g, with a matte plastic graphite-coloured battery cover, the new Bold is about as compact and awesome in the hands as we’ve ever felt. If this is the last Bold of the BlackBerry OS line, it will be an appropriate send-off. Besides the new lithe profile, the Bold 9790 has a slightly modified keyboard, of which the last three buttons on either side hug the phone’s curved sides. This allows the spacious keyboard to be as wide as possible while maintaining the aerodynamic symmetry RIM was going for. They also do away with the unified four-button combo below the screen, opting for individual buttons for the call, menu, back and end keys. While the tweak may have turned off die-hard Bold lovers in initial renders of the phone, in person they buttons are much flatter and more subtle. The rest of the phone’s body is standard RIM fare, circa 2011. They have opted for an aerodynamic look, replete with diving curves and fretted symmetry. There is a beauty to each line, and the side profile begs to be photographed. The back cover, which dips slightly from the camera module, is one of the best the company has ever designed: secure, comfortable and extremely sturdy; it took them a few years but they finally got it right. The 2.45″ screen is a modicum larger than its predecessor, but the reason we’re all here is its added touch capabilities. Like the Bold 9900 the bright, sharp LCD is touch-enabled. We found the tiny screen to be of the same responsiveness as its bigger brother, so swiping through home screens and selecting text got a little bit easier than with the trackpad alone. As expected, though, with such a small area in which to work the benefits of a touchscreen are largely moot, relegating one to inverted swiping over swaths of text, or gesturing horizontally through captured photos. Unlike the Bold 9900 or Torch 9810, which both have screens big enough to feel relatively unencumbered by a thumb or forefinger, the Bold 9790 is at its most useful when combining the trackpad and light touch of a finger. Dialog buttons, such as the ones in App World, are large enough to hit on first try, but many apps developed for the identically-pixelled 9700 easier to navigate using the trackpad. Ultimately it all comes down to preference: the addition of a touchscreen to the smaller Bold design is undoubtedly positive, but ultimately superfluous. Many users of the 9700/9780 series would have likely been content without a touchscreen if it meant double the battery life. But RIM has excelled in the design of this keyboard: this is likely the best keyboard you’re going to find on a phone outside of the Bold 9900. Not only are the printed letters on each key bigger and bolder (with a new font!) but there is the same satisfying travel and perfect amount of feedback as found on the 9900. They’ve softened the blow of each key, muffling it to the light near-silence of a raindrop. Though slightly too narrow for our liking — the 9900′s keyboard is perfectly-spaced — RIM did the best job they could with the space allowed them. Performance The other area vastly improved from the Bold 9780 is performance. The Bold 9790, with a little help from its 1Ghz processor and BlackBerry 7, chugs along without a care in the world. This isn’t the same chip as housed in the Bold 9900, but rather a faster variant of the 624Mhz Marvel chip that powered everything from the Bold 9000 to the Torch 9800. While there is no doubt the 9790 suffers somewhat from less processing power — we experienced the odd ticking clock every now and then — it never felt slow. Swiping through menus, whether by screen or trackpad, feels effortless, and we were even able to install two apps at once without slowing down the entire enterprise, our usual performance benchmark. Since there are few BlackBerry apps to assiduously test the graphical performance of a new chip, we were left with the browser to prove its mettle, and were sincerely disappointed. Web pages tended to load quickly but suffered from a fair amount of checkerboarding. But there were times when pages would merely just sit there, unperturbed by our frustration, only to spring into action upon reload. We’d chalk the phenomenon up to a bad network connection, but it happened too frequently to be random, and too often when we had five bars of BIS service. At first we tried navigating through web pages with the screen — flicking vertically to scroll down, etc. — but found the real estate too small to be productive. We ended up either losing our place in the low-resolution minefield, or accidentally hitting a link where I finger tended to stop. At other times, we’d have to resort to using the trackpad/cursor combination to activate a link, as it would not respond at all to our finger. The amalgamated mess just led us to use the trackpad as we always did which, when combined with the capable and render-friendly BlackBerry 7 browser, actually treated us quite well. The browser itself, once a page loaded, worked well, and in most cases text realigned accurately to fit the allowable space. Pinch-to-zoom was smooth though, again, didn’t always respond to our touch. We’d recommend viewing mobile versions of your favourite sites if they exist, but we were happy to see HTML5-laden pages like Google+ and Facebook work without a hitch. In order to test the screen, we loaded a couple movie clips onto the device. A 720p h.264-encoded movie trailer played smoothly and looked extremely sharp, if a little constrained, on the 2.45″ screen. All compatible games played great, and the added use of the touchscreen helped us in quickly selecting and moving things where they needed to go. Camera
The Bold 9790 has a 5MP autofocus camera that takes great shots in good lighting, though as with most BlackBerry’s, the sensor isn’t big enough to capture adequate light in low-light situations. The flash is capable, though leans towards overexposure, and the auto white balance is actually quite accurate. Colours are bold and lively, with deep blacks and true whites. Because RIM graciously added full autofocus optics to the Bold 9790 it is able to take excellent macro shots, and can perform continual autofocus when lining up a shot or taking video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hjv6jLtiX8 Video, as opposed to the rest of the high-end BB7 contingent, can only be captured at a disappointing 640×480 resolution. We’ll blame the relatively slow single-core processor for being unable to encode 720p in real time, but it’s sure disappointing to see a camera being released at the end of 2011 with a max video resolution of a circa-2005 Nokia feature phone. Battery Life While not coming close to the glory days of the Bold 9700, where two or three days of moderate use was possible from the 1500mAh battery, the Bold 9790 lasts much longer than the 9900. Both devices have the same 1230mAh JM1 battery, but whereas we were unable to get more than eight hours on a Bold 9900, it wasn’t uncommon to have 20% left by the end of the day on the smaller Bold. The reasons behind this are pretty simple: a smaller touchscreen plus a slower more power-efficient CPU. Obviously if you’re synching three push email accounts and using BBM non-stop, you’re going to deplete the battery faster, but if you’re trying to avoid the the heartache of the 9900, the Bold 9790 may the right compromise for you. We looped the aforementioned 720p movie trailer and got 7hrs 24min from the test, which is nearly double what we got from the Bold 9900. Note that the software version loaded on the Bold 9790 was 7.0.0.528. BlackBerry 7 Experience As we say in every BlackBerry review, these days if you are buying a RIM device you have to know what you’re getting yourself into. You’re getting a top-rate set of first-party apps from RIM itself, including Podcasts, News, BBM Music, BBM, Twitter, Facebook, Google Chat, etc. You’re getting a mature operating system that is often buggy, glitchy and slow, but when it’s running well is very pleasant to use. With the combination of touchscreen and keyboard, you have access not only to all the keyboard shortcuts like “T to top” and “C to compose” as well as the “long-hold-for-menu” overlay on the screen. You have one-press access to the camera, universal search and a world-class standards-compliant browser. Email support is still the best on the market, bar none, and but for the limited selection of apps, we can tentatively say the same about messaging. Notifications are robust, call quality is excellent, and data speeds significantly improved over previous generations. What you’re missing, fundamentally, is the robust app ecosystem found in iOS and Android. You’re missing wide developer support, though the BlackBerry SDK tools are improving. But mostly you’re at the end of the line of an operating system that was not build to withstand the rigours of modern-day usage. Apps are ugly, to put it mildly; they run slowly, have vexing interfaces and limited features compared to their iOS and Android peers. The OS relies too heavily on menu-button context lists or finicky touch overlays, and despite the relative smoothness of BB7′s Liquid Graphics, it’s not hard to tell the Java-based framework is nearly ten years old. And while we didn’t hit any app crashes on this particular unit, we had to pull the battery a number of times, often after losing an internet connection. There is 768MB of RAM onboard, but at times, with several apps open, performance noticeably declined. Network Quality As with most BlackBerry’s, the Bold 9790 has incredibly clear call quality and unmatched reception. There were very few areas we didn’t have full coverage, and even when reception was not ideal the person on the other end could hear us very well. Unfortunately the mono speaker was much softer than we expected, and significantly less effective than any other BlackBerry we’ve used. And unlike the Bold 9900 and the rest of the high-end BB7 line, the baseband inside the 9790 only supports maximum download speeds of 7.2Mbps. This wasn’t as noticeable as on the Curve 9360 since much of the phone’s perceived speed comes from the 1Ghz processor, but it definitely affected download speeds in a negative way. Conclusions Without encroaching too much on the BlackBerry Bold 9900′s firm flagship stance, the 9790 slips almost unseen into the strong BlackBerry 7 line-up. With slightly more conservative specs, and a much cheaper price as a result, we’re unsure where it fits. With the Curve 9360 available for $300 outright, and the Bold 9900 for $600, at $450 the 9790 literally ends up right in the middle; if you’re buying outright, price could be a deciding factor. But if signing a 3-year term, the options become a lot murkier, and more carrier-dependant. The Curve 9360 is available for free on most carriers, whereas the Bold 9900 can be had for much less than its $169 carrier price from places like Future Shop or Best Buy. The Bold 9790 is debuting at a digestible $99, but that will drop quickly, likely to $0 by early next year. It’s a much better phone than the Curve 9360, though if you’re uninterested in a touchscreen and more so in battery life the cheaper model may be the way to go. The Bold 9900 has metal accents and a gorgeous, thinner bezel, but its battery life is atrocious. The 9790, with its diminutive lower-resolution screen, has a great keyboard that may be too narrow for those with larger hands. But its longer battery life and robust build may win people over. We’re not going to make the argument to buy a BlackBerry over an Android phone or iPhone. If you’re even considering the Bold 9790 you’ve likely made that decision already. But if you love the Bold 9700′s form factor and yearn for a bit of BlackBerry 7, this is probably your best choice, and for what it’s capable of, we loved using it. The BlackBerry Bold 9790 is available from Rogers, Telus, Bell and its various subsidiaries, as well as Future Shop and Best Buy. A quick note on our new rating system. We have attempted to address a number of issues and inconsistencies with our single-number system. Many readers found it confounding that a $600 phone could get the same 7/10 rating as a $200 phone. With this new system we are going to rate each aspect individually, with each one being weighted according to the overall value of the device. It is extremely difficult to obtain an objective rating from a subjective review: there are so many factors that go into each score, but mainly it’s from the individual perspective of the reviewer. Often an emotional connection with a device — its feel, its presence – can alter a final score. If we love a device despite its glaring flaws, it is our prerogative to give it a higher overall rating, and the same applies for an objectively perfect device that just feels wrong. This rating system will evolve over time and we hope it suits everyone.
Nokia's Lumia 710 is the second device to emerge from the Finns coalition with CEO Stephen Elop's ex-employers Microsoft, and the device is looking a shoo-in to be as successful as its big-brother, the Lumia 800.
The Lumia 710's competition is the newly reinvigorated Curve 9360 from BlackBerry. A device which packs in plenty of features that RIM used to reserve for the top of the line Bold-class smartphones. But does this new Curve have what it takes to best a new, touchscreen only device?
Software
Straight out of the traps it's easy to see how the Nokia Lumia 710 benefits from the Windows Phone 7.5 OS. It's fast, slick, offers almost every feature imaginable and looks the part too.
The new iteration of the OS, version 7.5 (Mango), adds plenty to the foundations set down a year ago. There's now a new unified inbox, a new version of Internet Explorer, multi-tasking and an improved tile system which offers more information at a glance than previous versions.
The Windows Phone Marketplace offers an ever expanding range of apps for the OS, many of which are free of charge, and the support Microsoft has given developers is evident here.
Right now Windows Phone 7.5 is excellent, in a year's time it could be world-beating.
The Curve 9360 runs on version 7.0 of BlackBerry OS which, though billed as a 'new' version, is more an update to version 6.0.
The OS is still fast, simple to use and very efficient though. So it hasn't lost its virtues with age.
For all of its distinguishing qualities, and there are plenty, BlackBerry OS 7.0 seems very dated. The interface is still largely text-based, the number of apps available via the BlackBerry App World is minute compared to its competitors and with no widgets or live information functionality you may feel like you've stepped back to the early noughties should you pick one up.
Winner - Nokia Lumia 710
Screen
BlackBerry's Curve 9360 comes with a 2.45-inch HVGA+ screen with a very pleasing pixel density of 246PPI.
Despite its small size it's a dream to watch video clips on (or even full movies if you commute) and the overall performance is fantastic. The colours are warm and realistic and the viewing angles are second to none.
The Nokia Lumia 710 features a 3.7-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen which is every bit as decent as the myriad others on the market right now, with the added bonus of having a pixel density of 252PPI, giving it the edge over many of its competitors.
As with the Curve 9360, the Lumia 710's display offers crisp, vivid colours, responsive performance and reasonable sunlight legibility.
Winner - Draw
Power
Nokia opted to fit the Lumia 710 with a large single-core processor, and the 1.4GHz Scorpion CPU does its job superbly. In addition to the main chip the device benefits from an Adreno 2.5 GPU and 512MB RAM, giving it a predictably solid drive-train with which to keep the Windows Phone OS buzzing along.
One area where the Lumia 710 is lacking is support for external memory cards as it doesn't offer any at all. But the device does come with 8GB of on-board storage, so that needn't be a big issue.
The BlackBerry Curve 9360 is powered by an 800MHz CPU and also offers 512MB RAM, which may seem small but is perfectly adequate to keep the little messenger moving along at a fair turn of pace.
The device supports MicroSD cards up to 32GB in size to make up for its less than impressive 512MB of storage out of the box.
Winner - Nokia Lumia 710
Camera
RIM doesn't have a particularly good track record for the photographic capabilities of its devices and we're sorry to say that this hasn't changed with the Curve 9360.
The device's 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, geo-tagging, face detection, image stabilisation and VGA video capture is disappointing from top to bottom, with lacklustre video capture and an awful fixed focus system for capturing stills.
In ideal light conditions with a stationary subject you can capture a fairly decent image, but let's be honest, who has the time or inclination to wait and organise when they're taking a photo out and about?
The Nokia Lumia 710 has a 5-megapixel autofocus camera which is very much more the ticket. The camera benefits from an LED flash, face detection and geo-tagging, as well as 720P video capture, and the results are pleasing, though a little noisy in low-light conditions.
If you're looking for a device to snap photos on the move then the Lumia 710 should make your shortlist. The BlackBerry Curve 9360 most certainly should not.
Winner - Nokia Lumia 710
Form & Build
Nokia Lumia 710 - 119 x 62.4 x 12.5 mm, 125.5 g BlackBerry Curve 9360 - 109 x 60 x 11 mm, 99 g
Both devices in this comparison are exceedingly well built.
The Nokia Lumia 710 is solid, comfortable in the hand and at the ear, and is light enough not to feel like an encumbrance in your pocket all day long.
The BlackBerry Curve 9360 is also a tremendously well assembled smartphone. It's small, well designed, offers an incredible hardware QWERTY keyboard which makes messaging and emailing a pleasure, and is comfortable to make a long call on.
If we had to choose and, well, we do, then we'd tip our hat at the Curve 9360. It's super small, offers excellent battery life and feels like you could kick it around a 5-a-side pitch for 90 minutes without breaking it (not that we'd advise it).
Winner - BlackBerry Curve 9360
Despite a late push, the Curve 9360 has come out second best today. It's a nice, compact smartphone which is available for an excellent price, but it's let down by a sub-par camera and lack of quality app support.
The Nokia Lumia 710 on the other hand, is a solid second entry into the Windows Phone 7 range and, as we've seen with the Lumia 800, with Nokia's hardware and Microsoft's software the only way is up.
If you haven’t had enough BlackBerry news over the past couple weeks, here’s more for you. Bell, Virgin and TELUS have all released the combo physical QWERTY keyboard and touchscreen Bold 9790 today. Price point for Bell range from $99.99 to no-term $429.95; Virgin is offering the smartphone for $99.99 on a 3-year and $429 outright. TELUS pricing comes in at $129.99 and tops out at $479.99. We’ll have our full review up shortly.
The rest of the phone’s body is standard RIM fare, circa 2011. They have opted for an aerodynamic look, replete with diving curves and fretted symmetry. There is a beauty to each line, and the side profile begs to be photographed. The back cover, which dips slightly from the camera module, is one of the best the company has ever designed: secure, comfortable and extremely sturdy; it took them a few years but they finally got it right.
Unlike the Bold 9900 or Torch 9810, which both have screens big enough to feel relatively unencumbered by a thumb or forefinger, the Bold 9790 is at its most useful when combining the trackpad and light touch of a finger. Dialog buttons, such as the ones in App World, are large enough to hit on first try, but many apps developed for the identically-pixelled 9700 easier to navigate using the trackpad. Ultimately it all comes down to preference: the addition of a touchscreen to the smaller Bold design is undoubtedly positive, but ultimately superfluous. Many users of the 9700/9780 series would have likely been content without a touchscreen if it meant double the battery life.
The other area vastly improved from the Bold 9780 is performance. The Bold 9790, with a little help from its 1Ghz processor and BlackBerry 7, chugs along without a care in the world. This isn’t the same chip as housed in the Bold 9900, but rather a faster variant of the 624Mhz Marvel chip that powered everything from the Bold 9000 to the Torch 9800.
At first we tried navigating through web pages with the screen — flicking vertically to scroll down, etc. — but found the real estate too small to be productive. We ended up either losing our place in the low-resolution minefield, or accidentally hitting a link where I finger tended to stop. At other times, we’d have to resort to using the trackpad/cursor combination to activate a link, as it would not respond at all to our finger.
While not coming close to the glory days of the Bold 9700, where two or three days of moderate use was possible from the 1500mAh battery, the Bold 9790 lasts much longer than the 9900.
As we say in every BlackBerry review, these days if you are buying a RIM device you have to know what you’re getting yourself into. You’re getting a top-rate set of first-party apps from RIM itself, including Podcasts, News, BBM Music, BBM, Twitter, Facebook, Google Chat, etc. You’re getting a mature operating system that is often buggy, glitchy and slow, but when it’s running well is very pleasant to use.
