Specifications for a new BlackBerry Bold have been leaked, and it looks as though little has changed from the 9700, at least visually and through the way it works.
Boy Genius Report managed to get hold of an internal document that reveals RIM hasn’t changed much with the ‘Bold R020’, which is expected for an October release, compared to what has gone before.
On the outside it keeps that familiar Qwerty keyboard styling, trackpad, hard keys and media keys. Under the bonnet, the engine is the same 624MHz processor.
It will run on the new BlackBerry 6 OS, but it doesn’t appear RIM has put any touchscreen functionality to make use of some of its new features, as it has with the Torch.
Hunting around for a few differences, the new Bold will have more base memory of 512MB compared to the 256MB before, as well as microSD support for up to 32GB.
There are also some significant changes with the camera. It has been upgraded from 3.2 megapixels to 5 megapixels, and will have a new LED flash.
RIM has gone for the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it approach”, with the Bold 9700 being a flagship phone that still sells very, very well.
As BGM reader ‘Stranger’ wrote in comments to the story, “You can’t beat the email, messaging, notifications, calendar, BBM, battery, and keyboard of the 9700. Add a better browser and better camera (9700 camera is already decent). The core apps that I need on my phone are fine.”
Do you agree that the BlackBerry Bold was perfect to begin with, and didn’t need to change too much? And how does it stack up against the other prospective smart phones we’ll see in the next few months? Let us know in the comments.
Image credit: Boy Genius Report