14 DAY TRIAL // According to the latest news on the web, Sprint is about to replace its BlackBerry 8830 with a new CDMA version of the Bold. The replacement is rumored to take place this quarter, and there are some voices saying that this would be an expected move on the part of the company, given the fact that the Bold comes essentially as a direct replacement for the 8800 series.
Moreover, the 8830 is said to be almost ready to see a refresh, yet there will be some who might not appreciate this, supposedly those who are rather fond of the 8830's camera-less nature. The news also states that the Bond will sport EV-DO Rev. A, along with a larger storage memory and a new UI, one revised to be in concordance with Sprint's current corporate branding.
The new CDMA variant of the Bold, rumored to be dubbed Niagara, should come with updated looks so as to go hand in hand with the styling queues of the 8900 and Storm. It seems that the new handset should also pack a full-QWERTY keypad, a 480 x 360 display, aGPS, WiFi and a 3.2-megapixel camera. The rumors also say that the Niagara might also feature HSPA world-roaming.
If the rumors prove true, then this is great news for Sprint, as the maker is known to not have launched any new BlackBerries for quite a while now. Moreover, the company also had some problems with releasing the Storm and Bold handsets, although it managed to get iDEN Curve launched not long ago. From what we've seen on the web, this time the company should be able release the Niagara during the first quarter of the year.
In addition, the new OS 4.5 should also come to users shortly; at least this is what some people say. As for Niagara, no word on pricing or on a more specific launch date has emerged.