BlackBerry Bold 9000, the newest and coolest smartphone manufactured by the Canada-based RIM, is now available in Australia, for Telstra's business customers. The largest Australian mobile carrier is selling the handset for a recommended retail price of 999 AUD (about 870 USD or 590 Euros).

The Bold can also be bought with various Telstra plans (like the $80 Phone Plan or the $89.95 BlackBerry email plan); thus, the handset will cost less.

Of course, the Bold works on Telstra's high-speed Next G network, allowing corporate users to make the best out of its features.

"The great speed of the Next G network and the capabilities of the technology that stands behind it will deliver Telstra's enterprise and government customers a faster BlackBerry experience and a browsing experience in more places, similar to what they would achieve at their desktop," declared Mr. David Thodey, Telstra Enterprise & Government Group Managing Director. "This will mean that the BlackBerry Bold smartphone will deliver even greater personal and enterprise productivity improvements than experienced in the past. The superiority of the depth of the Telstra Next G network will also mean that the BlackBerry Bold smartphone will work in more lifts and on the upper floors of multi-rise buildings, and with global roaming this makes the BlackBerry Bold the perfect tool for the business executive on the go."

Coming in a 14-millimeter thin case, the Bold is packed with everything someone might want from a smartphone, from 1GB of expandable memory to advanced email and Web capabilities or RIM's famous trackball navigation and a full QWERTY keyboard.

"The introduction of the BlackBerry Bold will be a boon for business customers, offering unprecedented functionality and performance and allowing 'always on' wireless connectivity while away from the desk," declared Ms. Deena Shiff, Telstra Business Group Managing Director.

Business customers aside, Telstra said that BlackBerry Bold would be available for regular Australian customers too, but only starting September.