A day before Research In Motion (RIM) kicks off its annual WES 2010 conference, the Canadian OEM has rolled out details on a couple of new devices. According to a press release, RIM is upgrading the Tour as the 9650 Bold. Also, the Pearl will get an upgrade in the form of the Pearl 3G.
With the 9650 Bold is a 3G CDMA smarpthone that also supports Wi-Fi. The 9650 supports 3G (EV-DO) networks in North America and (HSPA/UMTS) abroad and has a full qwerty keyboard, optical trackpad and built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g). Additional specs include 512 MB Flash memory and an expandable memory card slot that supports up to 32 GB micro SD cards, with a 2 GB card included.
A press release from RIM says the BlackBerry Bold 9650 is expected to be available from carriers in the United States beginning in May. A separate release from Sprint today gave more details, saying the 9650 will be available Sunday, May 23, on its network for $199.99 with a new two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate.
The BlackBerry Pearl 3G, which RIM is billing as the smallest BlackBerry yet, comes in at less than two inches wide and weighing 3.3 ounces. The device supports high-speed 3G (UMTS/HSDPA) networks and Wi-Fi (b/g/n). It also features an optical trackpad for navigation, dedicated volume and media keys and a 3.2-MP camera with flash and support for up to 32 GB of personal content.
The Pearl 3G will be available in two models. The 9100 model features a 20-key condensed qwerty keyboard and the 9105 model features a 14-key traditional phone keyboard. The BlackBerry Pearl 3G smartphone is expected to launch with various carriers beginning in May.
Check www.wirelessweek.com for more coverage of RIM’s WES 2010 conference.