Image Gallery: First Impressions of the BlackBerry Bold
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BlackBerry Bold retail box
The BlackBerry Bold is the first BlackBerry with HSDPA support and also includes WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS. It has a powerful 624MHz processor and comes with 1GB of on-board flash memory. The following gallery shows the hardware and some of the new screens you will see in BlackBerry OS 4.6.
BlackBerry Bold Getting Started Guide
The Guide is found under the top flap when you open up your box.
Here is the Bold
The Bold is found under a protective plastic shield and cardboard flap.
Takes several minutes on initial startup
I made sure the battery had some charge and then turned on the Bold. It takes something like 3-4 minutes for the initial startup of the device and this clock icon appears.
Bold starting up in hand
The Bold still fits nicely in my hand, but it is a bit wide and not as sleek and sexy as some of these latest devices. It is definitely a masculine device.
Clock feature when plugged in via USB
When I plugged the device in to a PC or into the power source the clock appeared on the display. You can switch between analog or digital mode and also setup alarms using the Clock application.
Bottom half of the Bold
There are four hardware buttons around the traditional trackball with the full QWERTY keyboard below that.
Right lower side of keyboard
You can see there is a right shift as well, along with a symbol key to access more characters.
Four hardware buttons
You will find send and end buttons on the outer part of the front, with the back and menu buttons closer to the trackball.
Trackball
The trackball is like the ones found on the Pearl and Curve devices and IMHO is one of the best navigation controls ever found on a mobile device.
Back of the Bold
The back looks pretty plain with just the camera up top. The back is also textured, as you will see closer in the next few photos.
Close up of the back textured cover
The cover feels like leather over plastic and may actually be leather, but I doubt it. It feels great in your hand and gives a professional look to an already solid device.
Left side of the Bold
I was very pleased to see two standards used on the Bold with the 3.5mm headset jack and miniUSB connector for syncing and charging. Nothing makes me happier than seeing these two standard ports on mobile phones. Just above the 3.5mm headset jack is the left stereo speaker opening too.
Mid to lower left side
There are customizable application launcher buttons on each side of the Bold and this one is found about halfway down the device. Below this button is the externally accessible microSD card slot. The cover flips open easily, yet seems to protect the card as well.
Mysterious bottom design
I am not sure what these two features are on each side of the bottom of the device, but they do not seem to perform any function.
Bottom of the Bold
The back cover release switch is found in the middle of the bottom with the microphone and another opening (I believe it may be a lanyard opening) found on either side.
Treo Pro, Bold, and E71
Here are three of the latest and greatest QWERTY devices, each running a different operating system.
Three devices stacked
The Bold is under the Treo Pro and E71 in this photo showing some size comparisons.
Three devices from the bottom
The Bold is noticeably wider than the Treo Pro and E71, but is actually a bit thinner than the Treo Pro. The E71 is the slimmest of them all.
Right side stacked up
Here is a shot of these same three devices from the right side.
Default standby screen
This is the display you will see when you first turn on your AT&T BlackBerry Bold. Other carriers throughout the world have it as well and may have other backgrounds.
Customizing the standby screen
I am a big fan of the Dodge Challenger and included an image of one on my standby screen.
Display after pressing the Menu key
When you press the left Menu key you will be taken to this display that shows everything loaded on your device. You can move the icons around and change the types of icons by changing your themes.
More icons on the device
As you can see there is a LOT loaded on the device just as part of the operating system. The PR company that sent the review unit also loaded a few trial applications for evaluation.
Month view is still lame
With all of the improvements in the BlackBerry OS, I have to say the calendar is still a bit lame and needs some attention. The month view is pretty worthless and just shows you the days of the month without any details at all.
Media application
BB OS 4.6 offers a much improved media application that lets you manage and view your videos, photos, ringtones, music, and voice notes.
Music player
The music player is pretty basic, but meets my basic player needs.
Ringtones
There are several ringtones and other included alarm and notification sounds on the Bold.
Recording a voice note
Voice recording is a very handy utility to have while driving when a thought pops into your mind that you want to remember for the future.
XM Radio access included
You can pay to listen to XM Radio on your Bold through an AT&T subscription.
Cellular video included
The AT&T cellular video service option is also available on the Bold.
Browsing on the Bold
I use Google Reader quite a bit for reading content on the go and the new browser works well with the mobile version. The browser is much better than previous browsers, but still doesn’t support flash.
Setup folder
Setup wizards can be found in the Setup folder.
Games are included
You actually get some fun games on the Bold, including Texas Hold’Em and Klondike.
Handmark Express on the Bold
Handmark Express is a full featured application that requires you to pay a monthly service fee for many of the services.
Viigo
I never tried Viigo before, but it also provides you with a lot of useful data and I understand it is currently available for free.
Options are still lame
The Bold and OS 4.6 are pretty polished, but then you select Options and are taken back to the 90s. It would be nice to see BlackBerry improve this interface as well.
Documents To Go Standard is included
You can view and edit documents (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) with the included applications from DataViz.
Premium Edition gives you more functions
You can also upgrade to Documents To Go Premium for creating new documents and getting access to more functions like spell checking and word count.
Watching Ironman on the Bold
Videos look fantastic on the Bold and I think I have found my new media player and ultimate converged device.
BlackBerry Bold retail box
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BlackBerry Bold keyboard
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