BlackBerry Bold 9900 series launching "later this summer"

For those BlackBerry Bold 9000 owners longing for a replacement to your device, you won't have to wait much longer.  Research in Motion today announced the BlackBerry Bold 9900 series, which will encompass the 9900 model for GSM carriers, and the 9930 model for CDMA carriers.

Billed as the "thinnest BlackBerry to date," it offers a 1.2 GHz processor, 2.8-inch Liquid Graphics touchscreen display, 8 GB of on-board memory, 5-megapixel camera with support for 720p HD video recording, NFC capabilities, and a microSD card slot with support for up to 32 GB cards.  Additional information can be found at www.blackberry.com/touchbold.  The CDMA version (9930) will be a world device, with dual-band HSPA+ and quad-band GSM/EDGE support.  Best of all, it looks like it retains a keyboard that's as good - or perhaps better? - than the original Bold 9000 device.

The series will launch "later this summer" and will be the first smartphone to run the company's new BlackBerry 7 OS.  I'll have some hands-on time with the device shortly, but in the meantime, let me know - does the prospect of a new BlackBerry excite you, or is it just more of the same?  Take it to the comments section below!