• E-mail this page
• |  Print this page
• | 
• | 
• | 

The BlackBerry Bold's On Sale

What are all those lines for? Oh yeah, after what seems like ages, Research In Motion has finally released the U.S. BlackBerry Bold. The latest flagship phone is available now at AT&T phones for $299 with a two-year contract.

I find it a bit odd that they chose today for the launch, as they will unquestionably be overshadowed in the news cycle. But I am getting reports that there are some very excited Crackberry fans. An AT&T spokesperson said, "we are starting to get reports from several cities that there were lines of people waiting to buy Bolds outside of at least some stores in New York City, the New York City suburbs, Boston, Chicago, Charlotte, N.C., with reports of some of our stores already sold out. In some cases, the lines were 20-25 people deep."

Now, obviously the AT&T person has reasons to create a buzz, but Alley Insider did a quick Twitter search and found a few positive notes. User jakezim said, "At the ATT store in long line to get my Bberry Bold. Lots of peeps here exchanging iPhones for BlackBerries."

There are plenty of enterprise customers who already ordered it and don't have to wait in a stinking line as well. Regardless, I've had my hands on one for a few days now (will publish a thorough breaking down early next week), and I have to say that the Bold rocks. It looks, feels, and operates like a dream, and is definitely the best BlackBerry so far.

I'm playing with the G1 as well, and can't help but notice how "adult" the Bold feels in comparison. A bit of that is to be expected, as the Android is basically still in beta, but I can't stress enough how impressed I am with the Bold. With that said, our sister site Channel Web has five reasons to wait on BlackBerry Bold. The reasons include:

1. The 3G network issues between BlackBerry and AT&T might not be hammered out just yet

2. Smartphone prices are bound to drop

3. Other carriers may get the Bold

4. The next generation could be better

5. The Bold isn't the only hot new BlackBerry

Many of these are legitimate gripes, but if you've been chomping at the bit to buy a Bold, I say get it. And if you're a big talker, you can get the Bold for free from Wal-Mart. The catch is you have to sign up for a 1,350-minute talk plan, which can be single or family, and unlimited tests, as well as the BlackBerry data plan.

« Intel Raises Performance Bar With Nehalem Core i7 | Main | Six Apart CEO Aims To Disrupt Social Networks »