Here in Nigeria, we love good things (come on, who doesn’t?), and as technology keeps advancing, we Naija Bobos and Chikitos can’t slack. We all know a good thing when we see it and just by the rate at which “Can I get your number?” changed to “So what’s your pin?” you can tell BlackBerrys are in the good column.
Just like that, the day to up our BB game has come. Ok…so maybe it came a few days ago but as of now it’s fair to say the BlackBerry fun times are here again.
A while back, I talked about the launch of the new BB OS7 devices; about how great they looked and the huge leap in performance delivery. Not too much time passed after that before the folks at RIM kept their word and invited a select few to come say “hi” to the RIM team leading the move to Nigeria. (If you didn’t know their BlackBerry headquarters in West Africa is going to be in Lagos. Check out this post)
With that meeting in mind, it’s fair to say that the BB addicts in Nigeria have made a great impression on RIM, so that’s why they made sure we users (CrackBerry heads, I call’em) have great subscription options for our BIS, from the various networks.
Yes, that’s a step in the right direction, but the reason I sound so excited is that, as I said earlier, the day is here! And the day I speak of, is the day we can stroll to our favorite mobile phone retailer, right here in Nigeria and pick up our very own, brand spanking new BlackBerry Bold 9900/9300.
Yes, you heard me right, the touch screen, original style Bold devices are hitting shelves all over Nigeria as you read. The Bold 9900/9930 fits snugly in your palm at a measly 10.5 mm thick and approximately 130g, with a 2.8-inch touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard (This revert to the original style Bold may not favour everyone, as I saw a lady complaining it was way too bulky, however too each their own I say.)
So there I was just sitting at home when a friend ask me “Have you gotten yours yet?” of course I ask “My what?” to which we proceeded to Computer Village after some talk, then next thing you know (cue background music), there it was. All boxed up and looking gorgeous.
Having gotten a real close look at the device right there in “hustle central” I could see it’s similarities to BlackBerry OS6, but thanks to a faster processor it all feels so good. I remembered wondering what all the fuss was about regarding “liquid graphics” but swishing from app to app, picture to video and so on, it’s easy to see where the name came from, it’s just so fluid. The user interface is sleek and smooth and with the slew of new icons all over the OS the positive difference, was welcomed. Oh, and the added ability to rearrange and customize the home screen views is also pretty neat. All this and we haven’t even mentioned the great new features (NFC, Magnetometer, Accelerometer, etc) and tons of ways to use them. (Just hearing about the “Augmented Reality” applications has me thinking “yikes! What could possibly be next?”)
After I fiddled with it and found out it costs between N100,000 – N130,000 (depending on who you know and your verbal acrobatic skills), I went home longing for it. Fair enough it is a tasty device, however the price is bound to make you take a step back. It’s not like we are in the UK or elsewhere that our mobile networks offer contracts and the phones come practically free, in most cases over here you just have to shell out the big bucks one time. Which can’t be fun no matter the size of your cash stack.
So to soothe my ailing wallet, I decided to let Google soothe me, and the research led me to some awesome developments and my BlackBerry connects where hit up for more details.
Let me give you some of the hot news I discovered; I love apps but Blackberry have never really been up to par with their competition on that front, and most people know that android apps outnumber BlackBerry ones to no end. The good news is that many android apps are reportedly being tweaked to work on BBs with OS7, basically BlackBerry App World just got bigger. What’s more is that RIM has been working on a way to give software developers in Nigeria more incentives to do what they love. They launched their beta Native SDK (Software Development Kit) for BlackBerry Tablet OS, I could go all ‘tech geek’ but I’ll just say it allows developers create richer and more visually stunning games for the PlayBook. (Get more info on the SDK HERE and , anyway, for more apps for BB, check out my Th3rdCulture post HERE)
This is just awesome as the (coming soon) “BlackBerry Superphone” will come with the dual core QNX hardware platform (The power behind the high performance on the PlayBook). So very soon all games and software designed for the playbook will surely be on the new “super-phones” as well (“Need for speed” on my BB? Can I get a Geeky Hi-Five please?).
Also, we all know someone (or like me, are someone) who constantly loses, drops, formats or worse, their BB so finding “Blackberry Protect” app really made my day and then I read that RIM recently launching their BlackBerry Management Center, which was designed specifically for small businesses. It’s a free service where you can wireless back up, protect your content, locate the device by making it ring or even wipe contents where ever it is and so much more.
So as for me I’m saving up my Kobos as the BlackBerry Bold 5 (as people are bound to call it) is here and will be in your face as your friends and random strangers show it off at a public place near you.
Anyway, the screen touching, QWERTY tapping, 5mp picture taking, super fast browsing device is here, and now comes with 3 different ways to navigate your device. Touch the screen, use the track pad or the keyboard, (though this may actually be a drawback for some people as more options means more ways to get confused) however for others it’s the way forward. So get a move on to your mobile dealers and get the Bold 9900/9300, because trust me, the phone is worth the hype, even though your bank account will be the one to feel the brunt of this beauty. (Although I’m sure the new “All Screen Torch” will blow our minds as well, but that’s gist for another day.)
Check out the phone stats below:
- 115 x 66 x 10.5mm, approximately 130g
- 2.8″ capacitive touch screen display – VGA (640×480), 287 dpi resolution
- Ultra-user friendly QWERTY keyboard and optical track-pad
- 1.2 GHz Processor, 768 MB RAM
- 8 GB on-board memory, plus microSD slot supporting up to 32 GB cards
- NFC technology (Check Previous post for details)
- 5.0 MP camera, supports 720p HD video recording
- Orientation Sensor (Accelerometer), Digital Compass (Magnetometer), Proximity Sensor
- Built-in GPS / aGPS
- Dual-Band Wi-Fi® – 802.11 b/g/n at 2.4 GHz and 802.11 a/n at 5 GHz
- Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR support
- Wireless Network support:
- 9900: Tri-Band HSPA+, Quad-Band GSM/EDGE
- 9930: Dual-Band CDMA/EV-DO Rev. A, Dual-Band HSPA+, Quad-Band
- GSM/EDGE
- 1230 mAh removable, rechargeable battery
- BlackBerry 7 OS
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