Is BlackBerry Bold really having iPhone 3G-like issues?
Research In Motion launched its newest BlackBerry, the Bold, in Canada yesterday. Reviewers who have hastily compared it to Apple's iPhone have been asked by RIM to remove a side-by-side review comparing browsing speed between the two devices.
The Bold, or BlackBerry 9000, runs on an Intel XScale 624 MHz processor, has an HVGA 480x320 display and offers UMTS (2100, 900, 850MHz), GSM (1900,1800,900,850MHz), GPRS, EDGE and HDSPA , as well as Wi-Fi connectivity and GPS. There is also 1 GB of on-board memory for storage of files, and 128 MB of flash memory for applications.
In Canada, the device is available through Rogers and costs $399 with a three-year contract.
RIM's launch was delayed for battery life issues, and resulted in a less-than-hyped rollout. However, thanks to a video on Mobile Computer that compared the Bold's full Web browsing speed to the Apple iPhone, discussion about the device has elevated.
In the video, the two browsers loaded identical pages, but the iPhone ran laps around the Bold. Astute readers pointed out that during the test, the iPhone was actually loading the pages from its Wi-Fi connection, while the Bold was relying on its 3G and EDGE connection.
| An independent user's test of his new BlackBerry Bold, showing page loading times -- while nothing particularly speedy -- still faster than in a UK magazine's comparison with the iPhone 3G. Note the Wi-Fi indicator remains active throughout. |
A Bold owner responded with his own video of the Blackberry on Wi-Fi performing much faster than the Mobile Computing video showed. RIM then demanded the site pull the origninal comparison video, on the grounds that it was an unjust portrayal.