Content area
Full Text
The BlackBerry Bold updates the old-school QWERTY handset with 3G, Wi-Fi, sumptuous styling, and an amazing little widescreen, but the browser is still lame
The BlackBerry Bold, RIM's new executive QWERTY handset, enters the scene at a time when the utility of the fixed keyboard is under debate. This review overlapped with my longer-term evaluation of touchscreen and touch/keyboard devices, including the BlackBerry Storm, T-Mobile G1, AT&T Fuze (HTC Touch Pro), HTC Touch Diamond, and of course the iPhone 3G. I've had to ponder the question myself: Is the Bold worth its $299 price tag, much less worth a look at all?
I started out unimpressed, but after AT&T pushed out some substantial firmware fixes to the device, I resolved that the Bold has a real place in RIM's lineup and the enterprise mobile market. The Bold respects the enterprise formula, keeping sacred everything that makes the QWERTY BlackBerry a unique business and IT tool but enhancing it in well-selected places. The enhancements start with a platform modernization that exploits a fast CPU and accelerated graphics, enabling an updated GUI framework that makes high-res, widescreen QWERTY look like a million bucks.
[ Take a slideshow tour of the BlackBerry Bold. How does the Bold stack up to the competition? See InfoWorld's guide to the best mobile devices. ]
Live for the message Messaging (e-mail, IM, SMS) is still job one. The global BlackBerry notification and delivery infrastructure turns all messages into instant messages. Even polled IMAP and POP mailboxes are monitored by RIM's servers, not your handset, so BlackBerry...