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RIM today announced the BlackBerry Bold 9650 and the BlackBerry Pearl 3G. What’s interesting is that the Bold 9650 was rumored as the Tour2, a followup to the BlackBerry Tour. Indeed, the Bold 9650‘s model number would indicate that it’s a Tour successor, rather than a variant on the Bold 9700. So, why did RIM decide to go with the “Bold” moniker? According to the company, the Bold 9650 represents a shift in smartphone branding. Gone is the “Tour” brand. All future high-end BlackBerry smartphones will be launched under the Bold unbrella.
RIM’s VP of product marketing Mike McAndrews said during a press briefing this morning that “we’ve made a concerted decision to consolidate our high-end lineup under the Bold brand.” He added that “the Bold is our flagship brand for this class of product going forward.” Essentially, McAndrews confirmed that there will be no more Tour smartphones coming out of Waterloo.
How does this affect you, as a consumer? It doesn’t really make much difference what RIM decides to call their new high-end products. If anything, this new naming convention should make it easier for you to figure out which BlackBerry device is best for you. Well done, we say.
About The Author
Will Park
Will hails from The City of Angels - Los Angeles, California. He spends his time playing with his numerous gadgets and looking forward to seeing what future holds for mobile technology. An avid promoter of a fully "digital" life, he promotes the widespread adoption of truly mobile, paper-less living. He dreams of the day when he can go completely digital. No more snail mail, paper receipts, bound books, notepads/spiral notebooks, credit cards, hard currency. He's a digital warrior - fighting for the converged life. He is an idealist and a realist - he has a perfect view of what the world should be but knows that the world is not perfect. Can we ever hope to see Will's dream become reality? We'll see...
