RIM BlackBerry Bold 9000 available on 17,000 Internet hotspots

By: Sara Smith
Staff Writer
Published: Nov 26, 2008

The RIM BlackBerry Bold is available on AT&T's Wi-Fi network. The network has 17,000 Internet hotspots nationwide. BlackBerry mobile users also get a mail-in rebate.

Research In Motion Limited launched its BlackBerry Bold 9000 about three weeks ago. The reviews have been good and most consumers have praised the handset.

While the Bold 9000 is not the newer BlackBerry Storm, it does include the AT&T GPS system. Live streaming video and music is also available for the mobile handset. The phone uses the new 3G network by wireless carrier AT&T.

BlackBerry Bold is a traditional device with a real mobile keyboard. The phone has a better display, 3G radio, and a faster processor. For customers using the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, Bold works best when handling corporate email, contacts, and calendars.

The camera on the phone is good and lets users add Geo-Tag photos. It allows users to name the files as they capture them. It can capture video which the Apple Inc iPhone does not have.

The only downside to this smart phone is Web browser. Web pages do load faster. They look much better than other mobile phones. Perhaps the Bold doesn't use the compression as other smart phones do, but the pages look sharper. However, pages load slower when Javascript is turned on. It also crashes Internet Web pages from time to time.