BlackBerry Bold out on July 21 in Europe, SAR Problem Spotted

After the news of BlackBerry Bold 9000 being released in Canada on July 25, via Rogers, we now have an even earlier release date for RIM's flagship smartphone: July 21. Unfortunately for all the BlackBerry fans in North America, the Bold will be available starting this date only in Europe, offered by T-Mobile Germany.

The retail price of BlackBerry Bold 9000 will be quite high (probably higher than expected): 550 Euros, meaning around $860. This is even more than the retail price of Apple's new iPhone 3G, which was announced by AT&T to come free of contract too, for $599 (the 8GB version) and $699 (the 16GB version). Sure, prices in Europe have always been higher than the ones in the States, and the Bold is a powerful smartphone while the iPhone 3G is more like a multimedia device, but the European price still seems high.

Luckily, T-Mobile Germany has other offers to come with the BlackBerry Bold. Thus, the smartphone can be bought for as low as 89.95 Euros ($140) with a contract agreement for two years and an expensive data plan.

I'm sure most of you know by now the specs of BlackBerry Bold, but in case you've missed them, they are detailed here.

An interesting aspect about BlackBerry Bold that T-Mobile Germany unveiled is this: the smartphone's SAR (Specific absorption rate) value is of 1.80 W/kg (see the image on the left). If this is not a typo, the Bold cannot, theoretically, be released in North America, because the SAR limit imposed in Canada and the US is of 1.60 W/kg (while in Europe, 2.00 W/kg).

Since, on RIM's official website, the SAR value of BlackBerry Bold is not showed, we can only hope, for the sake of North American smartphone lovers, that its actual value is less than 1.60 W/kg. Otherwise, both AT&T and Rogers will have difficulties in releasing the handset.