The first of the BlackBerry 7 devices from Research In Motion (RIM) is now available in SA through Vodacom.
The BlackBerry Bold 9900 combines the iconic qwerty keyboard and touch display in an updated version of the BlackBerry Bold design. The handset is also the thinnest of the BlackBerry handsets, at 10.5mm.
“We are excited to bring the first BlackBerry 7-based smartphone to our customers in SA in the form of the BlackBerry Bold 9900, which will provide our customers a rich and integrated communications experience,” says Vodacom's managing executive for sales, Zunaid Dinath.
The announcement follows last week's release of the BlackBerry PlayBook, also with Vodacom. The 7-inch tablet is now also available through Telkom Business Mobile.
The BlackBerry Bold 9900 goes on sale in selected Vodacom stores nationwide today, at a recommended retail price of R7 694 prepaid, or for R499 per month on a 24-month BlackBerry Talk 100 contract.
In May, RIM announced two new BlackBerry Bold (9900 and 9930) models and the BlackBerry 7 OS. The new handsets and OS were, however, only officially launched by RIM last month, along with three new BlackBerry Torch models.
The new BlackBerry Torch 9810 builds on the original Torch 9800, combining touch display with a slide-out keyboard. The BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860 introduce an all-touch design and 3.7-inch display, the largest on a BlackBerry smartphone.
Each smartphone also features a 1.2GHz processor, HD video recording, 24-bit high resolution graphics, and advanced sensors enabling new augmented reality applications such as Wikitude.
Next-generation
In a statement from RIM, the company claims its new BlackBerry 7 devices are up to 40% faster than BlackBerry 6-based devices and up to 100% faster than BlackBerry 5 smartphones.
“Additional enhancements to this next-generation BlackBerry browser have also optimised zooming and panning for smoother Web navigation, and optimised HTML5 performance for incredible gaming and video experiences,” says RIM.
“Speeding up browsing addresses a major weakness in the BlackBerry experience,” says World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck. “Bringing touch-screen functionality to the Bold also fills an obvious gap.”
RIM has been struggling to withstand the pressure of increased competition from Google's Android and Apple. But, despite the difficulties in maintaining smartphone market share in mature markets, the BlackBerry handsets have proven to be popular in emerging markets.
BlackBerry is the most widely used smartphone brand in SA, according to Goldstuck. The brand was also voted “SA's Coolest Brand” in the Sunday Times Generation Next 2011 Brand Survey Awards in May.
However, the company has lost 58% of its stock value this year, and last month announced it was cutting 10% of its global workforce to trim costs while also reorganising its upper management.
According to Ryan Smit, digital consumer unit head at BMI-TechKnowledge, RIM functions at two market levels, with the Bold and Torch models catering for the high-end, early adopters, and the Curve targeting the lower-end of the market.
“RIM might struggle with competition among the high-end device market, but it will continue to do well with the Curve in the lower-end, with its attractive price point.”
App World update
According to Goldstuck, RIM needs to understand its loss of market share in Western markets is directly related to the extent to which its platform is app-friendly.
“They understand the technology of the phones, they understand the business needs, but they don't seem to have grasped where the hearts and minds of the users have moved,” says Goldstuck.
However, in conjunction with the BlackBerry Bold 9900 release in SA, RIM also announced the availability of BlackBerry App World 3.0.
App World has previously been criticised for being too complex to purchase, navigate or manage applications. RIM has also fallen behind its rivals in terms of its developer ecosystem and number of total apps.
The new version of its application marketplace addresses some of these issues and includes a number of new features as well as a complete redesign. Changes include increased sharing capabilities and improved navigation.
The update also has new channel categories and a “My Account” feature which aims to make download and payment easier. The “My World” feature has also been improved to make the management of applications and subscriptions easier.
Users running BlackBerry OS 5.0 and higher will see on-device upgrade notifications appear within the next few days.
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