RIM Announces CDMA Version of BlackBerry Bold

By Tara Seals

Watch out AT&T Inc.: Research in Motion Ltd. has unveiled a CDMA version of the popular BlackBerry Bold smartphone, one of AT&T’s best-sellers.

Although carriers have not been announced by RIM, the BlackBerry Bold 9650 would be a nice “get” for either major CDMA carrier in the States (Sprint-Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless). A leaked Sprint “hotsheet” shows plans to offer the 9650 for $199 under a new two-year contract.

Regardless, it is expected to come to market in the United States in May.

This version of the Bold is very similar to the BlackBerry Tour, except that it adds an optical trackpad in lieu of a trackball, and it adds Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g). It’s a world phone that can support CDMA as well as GSM and HSPA networks.

Like the Tour, the Bold 9650 has a full QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth, GPS and a 3.2 megapixel camera.