Sprint to launch the BlackBerry Bold 9930 and Torch 9850 this fall

Editorial Director of News and Content

| August 3, 2011

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Sprint BlackBerry Torch 9850 BlackBerry Bold 9930

Are you a BlackBerry lover on Sprint? If so, the holiday season may be coming a little early for you this year. Sprint just announced that it plans to launch both the BlackBerry Bold 9930 as well as the new BlackBerry Torch 9850 this fall. The carrier didn't get into specifics on release dates or pricing, but it did promise that we'll hear more when we get closer to launch. In the mean time, Sprint's press release is available for your perusal down below.

RIM already revealed that the 9850 will be coming to both Sprint and U.S. Cellular earlier today, and most people expect the 9900/9930 to make its way to all four big national carriers as well as some regionals, but we're always glad to get confirmation straight from the horse's carrier's mouth. Both devices will be facing some stiff competition from the likes of the Photon 4G and Samsung's Galaxy S II variant, but there may be no better way to pass the time during the chilly fall months than by making some popcorn and watching an epic smartphone battle royale, right?

America’s First BlackBerry 7 Smartphones Coming to Sprint This Fall
BlackBerry Bold 9930 boasts thinnest design and widest QWERTY on a BlackBerry smartphone; BlackBerry Torch 9850 will be the first all-touch BlackBerry smartphone for Sprint customers

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), August 03, 2011 - Sprint (NYSE: S) announced an expansion of its robust portfolio of BlackBerry® smartphones with the fall availability of America’s first two BlackBerry® 7 smartphones – BlackBerry® Bold™ 9930 and BlackBerry® Torch™ 9850 from Research In Motion (RIM). Specific pricing and availability will be provided closer to availability.

Both new smartphones are powered by the next-generation BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 7, a performance-driven operating system designed to deliver the ultimate in communications, multimedia and productivity. Both smartphones also feature Liquid Graphics™ technology, a key new feature powered by BlackBerry 7 to deliver incredibly fast, smooth performance and a highly responsive touchscreen experience. They are also both powered by a 1.2GHz processor, offer 5MP cameras and are World Phone capable.

“Sprint’s incredibly loyal BlackBerry customers will appreciate the benefits of the BlackBerry 7 user experience on these two new smartphones – BlackBerry Bold 9930 and BlackBerry Torch 9850,” said Fared Adib, vice president – Product Development, Sprint. “BlackBerry 7 is an evolution that extends the ability to support our customers domestically and internationally as they juggle their busy personal and professional lives with one easy-to-use device. We are excited to continue our strong relationship with RIM through these new powerful devices.”

Two options – Super Thin or Full Touchscreen

At just 10.5mm thick, the BlackBerry Bold 9930 smartphone is the thinnest BlackBerry smartphone ever. It features a 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen display, the widest QWERTY keyboard available on a BlackBerry smartphone and a trackpad for easy navigation.

Key features of BlackBerry Bold 9930 include:

BlackBerry® service with access to up to 10 supported business and personal email accounts, plus BlackBerry® Enterprise Server support for corporate email installations
DataViz Docs To Go® Premium suite preloaded, for editing Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files from anywhere
BlackBerry App World™, the official app store for BlackBerry smartphones offering customization, fun and productivity
BlackBerry® Playbook™ support with BlackBerry Bridge™ (Bridge is available as a free download on BlackBerry App World)
Near Field Communications (NFC) support for a secure exchange of information between NFC-enabled devices over a very short distance
Augmented Reality using the built-in compass (magnetometer) to support augmented reality applications
The sleek BlackBerry Torch 9850 smartphone will be the first full-touch BlackBerry smartphone from Sprint. It features a spectacular, new 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen display, the largest ever on a BlackBerry smartphone, and trackpad for easy navigation.

Key features of BlackBerry Torch 9850 include:

BlackBerry 7 introduces a next-generation BlackBerry browser with a significantly faster, more fluid web browsing experience that is up to 40 percent faster than BlackBerry® 6 based smartphones and up to 100 percent faster than BlackBerry® 5 based smartphones1.

The new BlackBerry Bold 9930 and BlackBerry Torch 9850 smartphones also feature Liquid Graphics technology, with each smartphone combining a dedicated high-performance graphics processor with a blazingly fast CPU and stunning high-resolution display to deliver an incredibly fast, smooth and responsive visual experience.

Building upon the Universal Search feature introduced in BlackBerry 6, BlackBerry 7 expands the capability to include voice-activated search. This new capability makes it easier and more convenient to search for content on the smartphone or web.

BlackBerry 7 also integrates BlackBerry® Balance™, which separates personal content from corporate content, giving users the freedom and flexibility to use the smartphone for personal email, Facebook®, Twitter®, multimedia, games and other apps, while satisfying the need for corporate data to be highly secure and manageable. BlackBerry Balance works in conjunction with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server 5.0.3, which provides a number of unique IT policy controls, such as wiping only corporate data or blocking work-related content and apps from being copied or forwarded to personal contacts.

BlackBerry Bold 9930 and BlackBerry Torch 9850 use the Sprint 3G Network domestically and offer World Phone capability for international travel to nearly anywhere in the world. Sprint customers have the power to make or receive phone calls in more than 185 countries and access to BlackBerry® data services, including email, apps and web browsing in nearly 150 countries. Customers also have the option of using a third-party SIM for international voice and data services.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 52 million customers at the end of 2Q 2011 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 6 in its 2010 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

1 Requires BlackBerry 7 OS. Testing was performed by RIM in July 2011 and measured average page load speeds using pre-release BlackBerry 7 software.

The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.