RIM's BlackBerry Bold has just received approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for release in this country. All devices that use U.S. airwaves must receive a thumbs up from the FCC before shipping here.

The Bold, which AT&T is due to ship later this summer, is significant - in part -because it's the first RIM smartphone to support to support tri-band HSDPA 3G wireless data networking on GSM networks worldwide, including AT&T's in the U.S. It is the same technology touted for the iPhone 3G, which the carrier will launch tomorrow.

AT&T’s UTMS/HSDPA network is now available in more than 270 U.S. markets with average uplink speeds between 500 and 800 kilobits per second (Kbps) and typical downlink speeds of 600 to 1,400 Kbps, considerably faster than the operator's 2.5G EDGE network supported by other BlackBerries and the first iPhone. The carrier expects to grow the number of supported markets to 350 by the end of the year.

In addition, by offering the Bold, AT&T will become the only U.S. carrier to sell a BlackBerry that has international 3G capabilities. While CDMA operators like Sprint and Verizon already offer 3G-capable RIM smartphones, theirs use EV-DO technology, which isn't supported by most carriers around the world.

According to reports, the Bold's 480 x 320-pixel (half-VGA) resolution) is the best-looking display every to appear on a smartphone. It is supposed to be so good, participants in research groups testing the new BlackBerry kept calling the screen "bold" and "brilliant," hence the name.

The Bold is composed of a black exterior with a satin chrome finished frame and leather-like backplate. It measures 4.5 x 2.6 x 0.55 inches and weighs 4.7 ounces.


diagram from FCC

RIM's redesigned to the Bold's full-size QWERTY thumb-keyboard to make it easier to use as well.

The Bold integrates GPS and Wi-Fi, in addition to multimedia capabilities.

Inside, Bold sports the most powerful processor, 624MHz, ever found in a BlackBerry. It includes 128 MB Flash memory plus 1 GB on-board storage memory, as well as a microSDHC memory card slot that is conveniently accessible from a side door.

Of course, Bold comes with the RIM's BlackBerry productivity applications, including phone, push e-mail, messaging, organizer and a re-designed browser.

The trackball - first scene as the Pearl in the BlackBerry Pearl - mimics a mouse to make it easier to navigate sites in "Page View" or "Column View" or to zoom in on specific parts of a web page, while various emulation settings allow users to choose between the full desktop-style HTML content and layout or the mobile version.

Attachments can also now be downloaded from within the browser and there is support for watching streaming videos (RTSP – real-time streaming protocol). You can read and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files using the preloaded DataViz Documents to Go mobile office suite.

It features a 2 megapixel camera with video recording capability, built-in flash and 5x digital zoom.

The media player can display pictures and slideshows, play movies in full screen mode, and manage music files. Audio can be played over the handset’s dual speakers and when using wired headphones or external speakers, the media player gives the user an equalizer with 11 preset filters – like "Lounge", "Jazz" and "Hip Hop" – that boost or soften audio ranges to create the perfect ambiance.

For managing music and video, the BlackBerry Desktop Manager software includes Roxio Media Manager for BlackBerry as well as Roxio Photosuite 9 LE. For those that manage their collection with iTunes, the new BlackBerry Media Sync application provides a way to sync iTunes digital music collections with the smartphone.

Phone features include Speaker Independent Voice Recognition for Voice Activated Dialing, Bluetooth 2.0 with support for hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, and car kits. It also hsa dedicated 'send', 'end', and 'mute' keys, smart dialing, speed dialing, conference calling and call forwarding.

Noise cancellation technology is supposed to offset background noise

Its removable 1500 mAhr battery should provide approximately 5 hours talk and 13 days standby time.

Like all BlackBerry smartphones, the Bold gives works with BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which enables advanced security and IT administration within IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise environments, as well as BlackBerry Professional Software for small businesses.

It also works with BlackBerry Internet Service, which gives users access to up to 10 work or personal e-mail accounts and the BlackBerry Unite! software for SOHO and home users.

The Bold will come with a stereo headset, travel charger, carrying case or sleeve and USB cable. Users will also be able to personalize their BlackBerry Bold smartphone by purchasing replaceable leather-like backplates that come in a range of colors.

No word yet on pricing.