BlackBerry Bold set for August 16 launch on Orange network

Orange will be the first network operator to offer the new BlackBerry Bold mobile phone in the UK.

The smartphone will be available to all Orange customers from August 16 - weeks ahead of T-Mobile, which earlier this week announced plans to launch the phone in September. Orange subscribers will need to sign an 18-month contract and pay £45 per month to get their hands on the Bold.

The handset is likely to be free, and the tariff is expected to include unlimited data usage, so that users can surf the web at no additional cost.

The Bold is seen as a response by RIM - the Canadian company that makes the BlackBerry - to the runaway success of Apple's iPhone. Since it went on sale last summer, more than seven million iPhones have been sold, and Apple is on course to break the 10 million barrier by the end of the year.

The launch of the new iPhone 3G, which offers fast web browsing as well as built-in GPS, has generated a surge of interest in the device.

advertisementBut RIM has hit back, producing a handset that matches the iPhone in many ways - the Bold offers the same high-speed web access, can send and receive emails on the go, and has built-in sat-nav.

The Bold also doubles as a mobile entertainment device for listening to music and watching movies, and it boasts a two-megapixel camera, the same as the iPhone. The Bold, however, can also open and edit Microsoft Office documents on the move.

And the Bold, unlike the iPhone, features a physical keyboard, rather than a virtual, touchscreen one. This is a nod to the BlackBerry's popularity as a mobile emailing device, which has seen it earn the nickname "CrackBerry" for its addictive qualities. Some people have criticised the ease, speed and accuracy of typing on an iPhone.

"This is really the next generation of phones, and we are confident we can take on the competition," said Philip Lander of RIM. "We believe our users want a keyboard, and that they are going to be very happy with the Bold for business and personal use."

Other network operators, including Vodafone, O2 and 3, are expected to offer the BlackBerry Bold in the coming months. O2, which has always had a close working relationship with RIM, is the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the UK, and is thought to be keen to push the iPhone as a business device to its corporate users. Vodafone has given no firm idea of when it will launch the Bold, and 3 is still working on finalising the 3G mobile phone network that makes high-speed web access on the BlackBerry Bold and Apple iPhone possible.

"The BlackBerry Bold uses iPhone design elements to create a sexy device that appears solidly focused on the traditional BlackBerry strength of email," said Rob Enderle, a technology analyst with the Enderle Group.

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