14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that the first BlackBerry device to run under Research In Motion's new BlackBerry 6 OS is getting nearer to its official launch on the market. Following a wide range of rumors regarding the upcoming release of such a device on the market in the near future, come reports on a new BlackBerry mobile phone passing through FCC, suggesting that things might be gearing up to be announced officially.
The handset that received FCC approval sports support for AT&T's airwaves, and it might be none other than the BlackBerry 9800, the long rumored sliding device from the Canadian smartphone designer. The FCC documents that emerged on this handset name it only as the “BlackBerry smartphone model RCY71UW,” Engadget says that this handset cannot be another phone than the said slider.
Among the specs that emerged on this phone from the FCC filing, we can count GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/1900, UMTS II (1900), V (850) frequencies support, along with Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n connectivity options. Moreover, the BlackBerry 9800 is expected to be launched as a global device, and the GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800 MHz bands and UMTS I (2100) bands seem to have been listed for international use.
Undoubtedly, this is one of the handsets that RIM was long expected to bring to the market, and it seems that we're finally getting closer to its launch. According to Engadget, the phone has been tested with the slider closed and open, which means that most of the previous rumors on the smartphone, if not all, should pan out in the end.
It still remains to be seen whether RIM and AT&T would indeed announce or not the upcoming launch of this device during the press event set for later today. Most of the latest leaks and rumors point towards this close official announcement, which should be accompanied by additional details on the new BlackBerry 6 OS. Keep an eye on this space for more info on this.