BlackBerry Bold 9900 is Hong Kong bound, due September 9th

The countdown is on for Hong Kong! Yesterday, RIM announced that the BlackBerry Bold 9900 will be launched on September 9th in Hong Kong with authorized carriers and channels.

“We are very excited to be bringing the highly-anticipated BlackBerry Bold 9900 and BlackBerry 7 OS to Hong Kong.” said Senior Vice President of Asia Pacific for Research In Motion Urpo Karjalainen, “Featuring the industry’s best keyboard together with a brilliant touch display, this powerful new smartphone also offers enhanced performance, faster browsing and exceptional work tools for the ultimate in communications, multimedia and productivity.”

I agree with Urpo, the keyboard on the 9900 is absolutely amazing; emailing has never been so comfortable. This gives you plenty of time to go head on over to shopcrackberry.com to check out accessories before you get the 9900 in your hands! Press release after the jump.

Hong Kong - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced plans to launch the new BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 smartphone through authorized carrier partners and retail channels on September 9 in Hong Kong.

The new BlackBerry Bold 9900 smartphone is a truly outstanding smartphone that features both amazing performance and a stunning design. Built on a new, performance-driven platform powered by the BlackBerry® 7 operating system, it is also the thinnest BlackBerry® smartphone yet at only 10.5mm, and the first to offer the perfect union of an amazingly effective keyboard and brilliant touch display.

Urpo Karjalainen, Senior Vice President of Asia Pacific for Research In Motion said: “We are very excited to be bringing the highly-anticipated BlackBerry Bold 9900 and BlackBerry 7 OS to Hong Kong. Featuring the industry’s best keyboard together with a brilliant touch display, this powerful new smartphone also offers enhanced performance, faster browsing and exceptional work tools for the ultimate in communications, multimedia and productivity.”

Next generation BlackBerry browser

The BlackBerry 7 operating system introduces a next generation BlackBerry browser with a significantly faster, more fluid web browsing experience that is among the best in the industry. Combining the dramatically improved performance of the advanced WebKit browser engine together with powerful hardware enhancements, the BlackBerry Bold 9900 smartphone delivers browsing results that are up to 40% faster than BlackBerry® 6 based smartphones and up to 100% faster than BlackBerry® 5 based smartphones*. Additional enhancements to the next generation BlackBerry browser have also optimized zooming and panning for smoother web navigation and streamlined HTML5 performance for incredible gaming and video experiences.

Liquid Graphics

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 features Liquid Graphics™ technology, combining a dedicated high-performance graphics processor with a blazingly fast CPU and stunning high resolution display to deliver a highly responsive touch interface with incredibly fast and smooth graphics. In addition, the smartphone features a brilliant display, with an eye-popping 287 dpi, that delivers crisp, stunning visuals.

Increased productivity

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 includes a number of pre-loaded applications for increased productivity and collaboration right out of the box. The Premium version of Documents To Go is now included free of charge, offering users powerful document editing features as well as a native PDF document viewer. In addition, BlackBerry® Balance (announced May 2, 2011) is also included, allowing users to enjoy the full BlackBerry smartphone experience for both work and personal purposes without compromising the IT department’s need for advanced security and IT controls.

Improved social experiences

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 comes with the newest release of BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger) which now extends the real time BBM experience to a range of other apps. These ‘BBM connected’ apps can integrate the popular functionality of the BBM service and offer users the ability to interact with their friends from within the app itself. The updated Social Feeds (2.0) app has been extended to capture updates from media, podcasts, and favorites all in one consolidated view. The new Facebook® for BlackBerry smartphones (2.0) app introduces features like Facebook chat and BBM integration that makes it easier for users to connect with their Facebook friends in real time.

NFC enabled

The new BlackBerry Bold 9900 is also the first BlackBerry smartphone to include built-in support for NFC (Near Field Communications), a new technology that is enabling many new and exciting capabilities, including the ability to pair with NFC-enabled accessories or read SmartPoster tags with a simple tap of the smartphone.

For more information, please visit www.blackberry.com/touchbold.

About Research In Motion

Research In Motion (RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, revolutionized the mobile industry with the introduction of the BlackBerry® solution in 1999. Today, BlackBerry products and services are used by millions of customers around the world to stay connected to the people and content that matter most throughout their day. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. RIM is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.

Forward-looking statements in this news release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used herein, words such as "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "should", "intend," "believe", and similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by RIM in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that RIM believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Many factors could cause RIM's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those described in the "Risk Factors" section of RIM's Annual Information Form, which is included in its Annual Report on Form 40-F (copies of which filings may be obtained at www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov). These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on RIM's forward-looking statements. RIM has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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