Orange wins BlackBerry Bold race

13 August 2008

16 August launch date to irritate T-mobile

RIM's much anticipated BlackBerry Bold will be available sooner than first thought. Orange has declared that they will begin selling the device from 16 August. The announcement scuppers T-Mobile's hopes of being the first operator to distribute the device when they begin selling the Bold in September. The Bold, which is the first BlackBerry device to boast HSDPA, will be available to Orange customers for free as long as you are willing to shelve out £40 a month. 3 has also announced that the BlackBerry Bold will be available on 3, with Vodafone and O2 sure to follow.

Along with HSDPA, other features found in the Bold include Wi-Fi, integrated GPS that works in conjunction with the BlackBerry Maps application and the standard push email capabilities found in other BlackBerry devices. Word, Excel and PowerPoint files will also be able to be viewed and edited direct from the device.