Cant wait for it, Tour has been somewhat of a dissapointment.

YEAH FIRST! IM BUYING THIS ONE, I'LL BE THE FIRST IN THE WHOLE USA!

Lets get it on Sprint ASAP.... :)

But I saw it first! haha.

One is gonna be mine!!! C'mon Big Red!!!

But no white????

FINALLY!! That's all I have to say. Been waitng way to long for this

I'd be interested.

I am standing in line now for it! lol I cant wait!

I think its so cool we can finally talk and surf the web at the same time on this Bold!

Should be interesting to see when the carrier annocuments start coming through...I hope it's soon!

I believe you will only be able to talk and surf while connected to wifi! Still a big improvement! But the ability to do it over the cdma networks is still not there! Can't wait to see one in person!

I'm mad the hardware didn't really change....I was really hoping RIM would correct the poor charger port placement on the Tour with the Bold update. Additionally I was hoping we would get the the battery of the 9700. I still think the 9700 is a better phone save the additional memory....I won't be upgrading to this. The end is near for me. I hope those who have been waiting for this are pleased with it though.....

Awesome! I can't wait to get one of these from Verizon!

It's mine

Yay for incremental upgrades!

I own a Tour, and WiFi would be good to have, but until Webkit browser, and/or OS 6.0, I'm afraid RIM is still late the party... a trend which is disappointing to say the least.

HTC (Mainly Incredible), WinMo 7, and iPhone 4 phones are/will be nipping at the heels of Blackberry's market dominance in the coming years.

Perhaps the "slider" with a true 'designed for touch' OS 6 will be RIM's salvation in the consumer market. One can only hope, right?

So this is essentially a 9700 for CDMA except it has twice the memory. Wow. Groundbreaking.

Finally they announced it. Ill stick with my 9700 personally. But happy for all those Verizon customers!!!

A Tour with a trackpad and WiFi...and a whole bunch of Tour users stuck in 2-year contracts who won't buy it anyway.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Can't understand how these haters can't help but to talk sh** about RIM. RIM is making positive decisions going foward. So get you a Droid,you will be back when that POS breaks first time you drop it.

I noticed the press release says Bluetooth 2.1. With my current Tour, I have Bluetooth Version 1.1. I sync everything with my 3rd party Kenwood head unit in my vehicle. Does anything feel this will be an issue in regards to compatibility?

I'm gonna get my dad to get this for me

I have to say its a big let down..
For work it was the phone to have but now a days
Blackberrys are used by everyone and this is the best
they can come out with? even the 9700 is like a phone
that should have come out 5yrs ago... its always the same old same ith rim.... i might jump on the HTC Incredible,
that looks like a device that does it all...Sorry Rim
but same old same again and a 3.2mp come on!!! what is it, 1998 still?

I like the number keypad in red. Very sexy and a subtle way to differentiate this phone from the 9700.

can you let us know how much retail price is on this Bold?

I've been waiting to upgrade from my 8330 to this phone for months...but it took too long, and this just shows the lack of a real substantial upgrade from RIM in the past years. I never thought I'd own anything but a BlackBerry, but I'll be in line for the HTC Droid Incredible at the end of the week.

Looks like the 9700 same phone with more ram there's no news on the processor. At last it doesn't look like the tour as first thoughts looks little bigger than the onyx if so this is going to be cool but what's the code name looks very good. Now I think rim is begining to listen to us now. That other prototype was a load of crap. The bold is back in the game not as a bloody rush phone. Ill like to hear the cpu speed upgrade thou. Cheers.

I so agree with you tatersalad except for me it will be the EVO in June. I love BB so I will keep my tour 1 for my bb fix every now and then...No bold battery cover either...shame on you rim for making us wait sooo long for a tour 1.5 and renaming it a bold.

So I went to the Blackberry website and clicked more info under the phone where you can sign up to be notified of availability and such, and the website title on the page's tab in my browser says "Bold 2 Updates". So is RIM officially going to call this the Bold 2?

And when i clicked anything for the 9700 it only said Bold and not Bold 2 so people hush before you make the 9700 claim as the Bold 2

I have a BB Tour 9630 on the Sprint network, and love it. It's such a great phone for me. I'm glad to see this upgrade hit the market. I sure wish I had that optical track pad on my Tour, but I've had absolutely no problem with my trackball, it works fine. This new Bold 9650 is every bit as good as the Bold 9700 that AT&T has, plus it has the important benefit of more in-device memory. Good for Sprint & for Verizon!

Give me a break...this redesign and the updated Pearl is not what BB should be news releasing during its annual global conference and smart phone users want to see....show us the real deal changes at RIM.

Large (2.44") high-resolution display (480 x 360 resolution at 245 ppi)

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

Can i use the 9650 in Europe with GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA ?

yes, or ?

ughhh why are they calling it a bold when it looks nothing like a bold? such a disappointment.

http://newsreleases.sprint.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=127149&p=irol-newsArticle...

Here is sprin't official write up. Available May 23rd.

Yep I was right on about this , :p

No leather door? LAME!

I'm pretty sure this will have the webkit browser. I compared this press release to that of the storm 2 and the bold 9700 and this is the only one that says full html. The other ones just said browser with enhanced css and javascript rendering.

512 RAM!
WEBKit and 6.0 ready!!

F*ck You to all those that say this isn't an upgrade. This kills any other blackberry on the market. The only setback is that they didn't move the charger slot.

Where does it say that it does not have a leather door? I haven't even seen a picture of the back of this thing.

That was my thoughts too. Full HTML browsing is DEFINITELY an upgrade.

Still no word on its actual speed? Will it boot up in under 10 minutes? Hold a GPS signal? These are the things I would NEED to know before I'd ever consider it over my 9630 (which I am very displeased with).

Step forward not back guys....April 29th

Screw a phone a year and a half late for the same price as the others.

I can't wait for my upgrade. Been stuck with a Storm1 and only have a couple months left on the contract. Give me back my full qwerty and more memory!

Will the BOld 9700 get an upgrade to 512MB as well, I sure hope so!

Ehhh......

Love my Tour. However, if I ever need to replacement, I will be glad to get one of these. But I will NOT be paying to upgrade.

RIM must be saving a ton of money since they can use the same picture over and over again for years for all their press releases.

Its unbelievable how all of us 9700 users are getting jipped on the memory. I cant believe it. I understand there is always a deceivingly new way to make money, but cant RIM just be a little generous. Not every one has the money to shell out for a new phone every 3 or 4 months or want to feel like they're getting jipped out of the memory because their with a different carrier? ... bullshit! 256 is good but 512 is really showing us some love. The droid seems to be the hot thing on the market and the fastest and sadly way faster than my 9700. I'm a bit jealous of that fact but i do love my blackberry bold 9700. The market of phones are such a high demand. Give us something that's competitive and not left in the dust. Wake the hell up RIM! Its highway robbery when it comes to trying to keep up with phones, technology, etc for a lot of people. Sometimes someone has to express their feelings but the movement is much stronger when someone follows. What do you guys think of this memory deal?

it will be releases on @Sprint on May 23rd as per their twitter page

Wow, unbelievable!!! A trackpad, wifi, a whole lot more memory! How many hours a week of hard work do RIM employees work to be able to come out with such improvements over the first Tour in the whole damn year! I've had a lot of BBs but I'm getting to the point where i'm like, who are they fooling? like they say: fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me and fool me again, F*** you!!!
It is unbelievable to read such crap! I have to quote the CEO because I'm just starting to throw up in my mouth. Read it again and think about it, especially Tour 1 owners:

"The new BlackBerry Bold 9650 is an extraordinary smartphone that we think customers will love," said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. "Whether at work or at play, the new BlackBerry Bold 9650 offers a truly impressive communications, multimedia and connectivity experience."

I hope for them the new Iphone will have a trackpad so at least they can all compete fairly! I was waiting fo the old Tour New Bold to come out and thinking that maybe something cool with actually a lot more! But they were so cheap that they didn't want to change the molds at the factory. I think the only way I would get this is FREE without renewing contract! Otherwise it's a waste. With such decision, I'm starting to wonder how long RIM will last and who exactly are they competing with? Maybe other BBs like the 7250.

RIM's products are like fleet vehicles...pretty much all the same and not worth replacing unless they're worn out or broken.

From the looks of the phone there appears to be no charging plates on the bottom, would be a shame to miss out on the dock feature which was very sleek and professional

http://worldwide.blackberry.com/blackberrybold/bold_features.jsp

users of the onyx aka 9700 dont need this asap, since as of right now, this one is the same phone with more memory, and more carriers, the onyx is doing just what this phone will be doing, since m a blackberry isnt all that of a toy to be wasted the day playing games. most people wount even run this car pass 50. lol. im yet to see a user that will take full advantage of either the 9700 using the hearing aid capability, and running the cpu till it over heats and crash, berries are tuff devices, i think rim is doing the right thing by slowly getting things done, since they work they dont crash or break down like that. the bottom of this device is rounded like the 9000 still holding the size of the 9700 but still looks a tad bigger still maintaining a small look. like the red number keys all bolds should of came with them, this device turned out better than i have expected. but since i will not be needing a newer device just yet i could get this one still just for the latest of the greatest. first i want to see how fast this runs.

For those who question how we know there's no leather door, click on the link to go to the BlackBerry website and ur able to get a 360 Tour (no pun intended, but damn that was good) of the phone.

No leather door: NOT A BOLD!

RIM reminds me of the car companies in the 50's. From the onset of a new vehicle, they would desing EVERYTHING into it, and then take it off. Sell the base model the first year, then add some chrome one year, or intermittant wipers the next. Over the course of 10 years? You "introduce TEN new cars!"....what crap! I swear on everything holy, if Droid had a better keyboard? It would be SO over if you ask me.

Will that red numbered keyboard fit my 9700? :)

The release says this new Bold does not have WiFi N (only b/g) yet the new Pearl has b/g/n... is that a typo? Or can a CDMA phone not have N?

I have a BlackBerry Storm2, and it just as much as I want to love BlackBerry (this is my second one), I think I'm getting the new iPhone when it comes out this summer.

This phone should have been out last year. Verizon and their lock on wifi prevented this last summer. Now a year later, problems with tour, etc, will keep me from keeping RIM. With the secret out about the iphone 4, I will be heading in that direction. I have no business use for the phone, purely personal, and RIM has been a dissapointment. The 8330 was the greatest for a long time, but the tour took too long to be an adequate replacement. When att had the bold 9000, and curve 8900, while CDMA was still stuck with a slow moving 8330, I'm sorry, but I'm out the door. I've been locked into Big Red's network for too long now, so I'm hoping not to be dissappointed, but the new iphone is where it's at. When RIM can match that, or APPLE finally goes CDMA, I'll be back.

I have a BB Tour 9630 on the Sprint network, and love it. It's such a great phone for me. I'm glad to see this upgrade hit the market. I sure wish I had that optical track pad on my Tour, but I've had absolutely no problem with my trackball, it works fine. This new Bold 9650 is every bit as good as the Bold 9700 that AT&T has, plus it has the important benefit of more in-device memory. Good for Sprint & for Verizon! http://www.electronicswholesaledistributor.com/ when will it be listed?????

at this point why does rim even release new phones?? they all look the freaking same with the same boring features. all they do is ad a trackpad give a new number and wow the big new device!!!! please rim is gonna fade back into only corporate where i think it belongs smartphone are changing and rim is stuck. keep up the bad work rim soon to be palm

RIM twiddled their thumbs far too long on this. I know at least 5 people who are moving on from their Blackberry to the EVO ... high five RIM

I wonder if Verizon or Sprint will let Tour owners upgrade to this new Bold 9650? We shouldn't have to pay to upgrade since the Tour has had one too many problems. Anyone know anything?

not even a year later and they come out with this, i wish i had a trackpad instead of a goddamn trackball which becomes freakin unusable and hard to get back to normal anytime you get even a little bit of grease on it...

so... now there's 3 Bolds?
the 9000 (my fav Bold, and the most BOLD looking one)
the 9700 (basically a 9630 w/ a trackpad)
and a 9650 (no... wait... THIS is a 9630... w/ a track pad)

whatever. I approve. Make it in white, silver, or grey and ill trade my 8530.

honestly i'm not impressed. I'm not just some hater trolling either. i absolutely love my 8330, but now that my 2 years is up, and i'm looking at other phones, without the webkit browser, i'm let down.

i will admit that if i wasnt a college student, and needed a phone for business, this would be great, but just as a regular consumer, i may be leaving RIM. to me, phones today need something to wow you with if you want to make sales, and this just doesnt do it for me

Seriously why didn't RIM Call it Tour 2 it is basically the Same! And it just doesn't Fit Into the bold family! On a Bold phone There Has To be some leather xD no But I don,t like That this is messing it all up! Now we have 3 Bold s !!! So it May be a bit confusing To other people! Especially when they Are New To BlackBerry!
The pearl 3G is awesome! But in germany we Got the 9105 which Has just a normal Cell phone keypad! It doesn,t feature surepress!

Does anyone know if the screen of the 9650 is the same physical screen as the 9630 (not dimensions or resolution, I'm talking physical properties like "hardness")? In other words, does the screen on the 9650 warp if you apply any pressure to it like the 9630 screen (like an old digital LCD calculator screen)? This "softness" is in contrast to the screen of, say, the 8330 that has a hard plastic lens protecting it.