RIM's BlackBerry Bold 9650 Goes Official

Today, Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion announced the launch of its new BlackBerry Bold 9650 smartphone, which was previously spotted around the web as the BlackBerry Essex or Tour 2. The latest addition to the BlackBerry Bold portfolio of premium smartphones comes as a global device with CDMA connectivity, capable of offering users the possibility to stay connected at all times.

“The new BlackBerry Bold 9650 is an extraordinary smartphone that we think customers will love,” said Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO at Research In Motion. “Whether at work or at play, the new BlackBerry Bold 9650 offers a truly impressive communications, multimedia and connectivity experience.”

The new mobile phone from RIM comes with support for 3G (EVDO) networks in North America and (HSPA/UMTS) abroad, while featuring a full-QWERTY keyboard, optical trackpad, and support for Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) connectivity. Moreover, the BlackBerry Bold 9650 comes with 512 MB Flash memory, coupled with a microSDHC memory card slot with support for up to 32GB of additional storage space, and with a 2GB card included in the package.

The already popular Bold design is there, sported by a device that measures 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.56 inches and weighs in at 4.8 oz. The handset includes a 2.44-inch display that boasts a 480 x 360 pixel resolution, a 3.2-megapixel photo snapper with flash, auto-focus and video recording, 3.5 mm stereo headset jack, Bluetooth connectivity, HTML web browser, built-in GPS receiver, and a 1400 mAhr battery that can deliver up to 5 hours of talk time on a CDMA network.

Additional features of the new handset include:
- BlackBerry Media Sync for easily syncing photos as well as iTunes and Windows Media Player music with the smartphone
- Easy mobile access to Facebook, MySpace and Flickr, as well as popular instant messaging services including BlackBerry Messenger
- Support for BlackBerry App World, featuring a broad and growing catalog of third-party mobile applications developed specifically for BlackBerry smartphones
- Built-in GPS with support for geotagging, BlackBerry Maps and other mapping applications

According to RIM, the new BlackBerry Bold 9650 smartphone should arrive on the US market in May(via Sprint).