New, iPhone, Competitor, Thailand, BlackBerry, Bold, 9700, Launches

Yesterday Research In Motion (RIM) officially launched the BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone in Thailand. Described by RIM as a “key” device for the Thai market, it is an improved version of the popular BlackBerry Bold.

The new Bold is available across all operators in Thailand with a release date of “sometime” in February. The device supports 3.5 G (HSDPA) wireless technology, great for most markets except Thailand where the technology is not available…and I hesitate to use the word ‘yet’.

In terms of improvements, the new Bold is more pleasing on the eye, with “compact and highly refined design”, with double the internal memory (now 256 MB with an SD slot to for additional memory) while the big new development is a “smoothly integrated touch-sensitive trackpad”, similar to a laptop trackpad it makes navigating the device easier and more intuitive.

Priced at 24,000 THB the 9700 will compete in the high-end smartphone space which of course includes the Apple iPhone.

If I had to choose one it would be the Bold.

I already have an iPod for my music, prefer a physical keypad, want access to personal AND work emails (which BlackBerry does better) and prefer the BlackBerry interface.

It is close thought as the iPhone’s web browser is superior, it has far bigger memory (up to 64 GB, while the maximum the Bold can go is 16 GB with additional external memory – though a 32 GB card is planned) and Apple has far more apps (both good and bad) though BlackBerry apps are decent nevertheless.

I had the pleasure of attending the press conference and an interesting interview with RIM’s managing director for Southeast Asia so more content will appear in due course.