RIM announced the upcoming availability of the BlackBerry Bold 9700 with Wi-Fi Calling from T-Mobile.
It will be the first 3G-powered BlackBerry available through T-Mobile USA, and also the first smartphone from RIM that includes built-in support for both 3G connectivity and voice calls over Wi-Fi, according to T-Mobile.
T-Mobile customers can continue to get mobile coverage and nationwide Wi-Fi calling with the company’s Unlimited HotSpot Calling service or, for business customers, the new Wi-Fi Calling with MobileOffice solution.
Wi-Fi calling will require Unlimited HotSpot Calling mobile plan or Wi-Fi Calling with MobileOffice service, qualifying rate plan, broadband internet connection and wireless router.
T-Mobile’s Unlimited HotSpot Calling is an add-on feature to qualifying mobile plan that enables unlimited nationwide calling over Wi-Fi from home and from all of US T-Mobile HotSpot locations across the country. It starts from $9.99. Regular plan minutes are used when call does not originate on Wi-Fi network.
Rumored as the Onyx, Bold 9700 comes with new BlackBerry OS 5.0, 624 MHz processor, 2.44” light-sensing display, 256MB Flash memory, built-in GPS and Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g), 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash and video recording, full-QWERTY keyboard, touch-sensitive optical trackpad and micro SDHC 2GB card.
It includes support for 3G HSDPA networks around the world and provides all well known RIM’s mobile e-mail and messaging solution, and access to social networking applications.
Many applications from BlackBerry App World are readily available directly on the 9700, such as Slacker Radio (free music), TeleNav GPS Navigator (turn-by-turn directions), and visual voicemail.
The new BlackBerry smartphone is expected to be available in November.
By the end of the year T-Mobile’s 3G network is planned to be available to approximately 200 million people across the U.S.
Comments