After several international false starts and domestic delays, the BlackBerry Bold has premiered at AT&T stores and online in the US, with an offer of free Wi-Fi at some AT&T hotspots nationwide when accompanied with an unlimited data plan. The BlackBerry Bold has a Quad-Band GSM, a GPS, Bluetooth, a 2 Megapixel camera with 3 x digital zoom, and media player capabilities with support for XM radio and Napster Mobile. Processing is handled by a Marvell PXA chipset, which is based around an Intel XScale 624 MHz processor. Furthermore, Bold provides 1GB of onboard storage, extensible to 16GB via MicroSD. The gadget is priced at $300, but only if you choose to subscribe to both a $40+ per month voice plan as well as a $30+ per month data plan, with a two year AT&T contract.

The BlackBerry bold also has a keyboard backlighting, a built-in speakerphone, a 217 ppi pixel screen and a tethered modem support through an integrated wireless modem. As for the free Wi-Fi access already mentioned, the service will be available at more than 17,000 hotspots across the nation and they will include Starbucks, Barnes & Noble and thousands of other locations. The Bold comes pre-loaded with AT&T Navigator, CV (Cellular Video), YellowPages.com Mobile and AT&T Mobile Music service with XM Radio Mobile and MusicID. AT&T provides content via its Media Mall, a shop for applications, ringtones, games and others. Jeff Bradley, Senior Vice President of AT&T, told the media: “BlackBerry Bold is the best BlackBerry smartphone ever.  Customers can have a superior experience in accessing email, making a phone call, browsing the Web or performing myriad other data functions."