A sweeter, better BlackBerry
With an enhanced browser and plenty of built-it apps, the new Bold 9790 is a great phone for work and play
A compact and slim smart phone with both a full QWERTY keyboard and touch screen, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 is surprisingly compact measuring just 110 x 60mm and positively skinny at 11.4mm thin. It weights just 107 grams too, so will sit easily in a shirt pocket or slide into tight jeans.
Because of the full QWERTY keyboard, the screen size is only 2.45 inch with 480 x 360 pixel resolution. Those with even slightly impaired vision may have problems reading but bright eye teens with good eyesight who spend their time text chatting, should love the keyboard at the cost of the smaller display.
The touch screen function makes it easier and faster to interact with the phone. You can tap the application icons or the commands without using the optical trackpad to move the cursor around.
And the full QWERTY keyboard makes it easy to type. During the test, I could easily type Facebook posts on the Bold 9790 even though the keys are tiny.
Bold 9790 runs on the faster and improved BlackBerry 7 OS, which is powered by a fast 1 GHz processor. The powerful processor plus improved OS resulted in fast, smooth performance for browsing the web, running apps, working with documents, and enjoying multimedia. Its menus were responsive and page scrolling was fast.
Bold 9790 supports HSPA 3G of 2100/1700/900 MHz. During the test, I had 3G connection, so I mostly tested it using Wi-Fi. YouTube clips flew smoothly and application downloads were quick.
Bold 9790 has 768 megabytes of RAM and 8 gigabytes of on-board storage and it can be expanded with microSD card of up to 32 GB, increasing the storage to 40 GB.
Bold 9790 has 5 megapixel camera with decent quality. Shots can be uploaded to Facebook and sent via email easily.
The BlackBerry 7 OS comes with new features and useful applications. It uses Near Field Communication technology to connect Bold 9790 with other NFC-enabled devices. NFC also enables many new and exciting capabilities, including the ability to make mobile payments, pair accessories or read SmartPoster tags with a simple tap.
BlackBerry 7 browser works faster, providing more fluid web browsing experience. The browser includes a new JIT (just in time) JavaScript compiler to improve the load time speed of web pages and it offers optimised HTML5 performance for incredible gaming and video experiences.
Bold 9790 includes built-in support for Augmented Reality. With the Wikitude Augmented Reality application, you can find nearby BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) contacts in real-time, read reviews on restaurants close to them, or get the story behind an interesting landmark and points of interest.
Bold 9790 comes with several useful pre-installed applications. One of them is Documents To Go, which allows you to create and edit Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint documents.
BlackBerry Bold 9790 smartphone retails for Bt15,990.
Key specs
Platform: BlackBerry 7 OS Network Tri-Band UMTS/HSPA
Networks: UMTS: 2100/1900/850/800 MHz (Bands 1,2,5/6) and 2100/1700/900 MHz (Bands 1,4,8); Quad Band GSMGPRS/EDGE Networks: 1900/1800/900/850 MHz; Data: HSDPA (7.2 Mbps)
Display: 2.45-inch touch screen with 480 x 360 pixel resolution at 246ppi
Camera: 5MP camera, flash, continuous auto face detection, image stabilisation, scene modes, 2x digital zoom
Video recording: VGA (640 x 480) resolution
Memory: 8GB on-board, expandable up to 40GB via microSD
Size: (L x W x D) 110mm x 60mm x 11.4mm
Weight: 107g
