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The official BlackBerry Indonesia site has posted a teaser banner for a new handset coming first to the region on November 25. The image file name is “hero_bellagio”, which we’ve known to be the code name for the BlackBerry Bold 9790 for months now.
From what we’ve seen of the 9790, there won’t be much separating it from the 9900, aside from a more slight form factor. There’s going to be 8 GB of local storage, OS 7, and the same 2.4-inch 640 x 480 display. The 9790 will have a little leg-up on the 9900 by including autofocus for the camera – vital if you want to take quality close-up shots. NFC will be included, but whether or not the carriers will allow it to work is another issue altogether. It looks like the 9790 will be considerably smaller than the 9900, and may even be as slight as the 9360. If the 9790 is going to be billed as a cheaper version of the 9900, it’s possible that it won’t include a touchscreen and the processor will be dialed back to 800 MHz like the Curve, but for now, that’s just speculation.
It might seem like an odd choice for the first launch region, but Indonesia is a huge market for BlackBerry, and it makes sense that RIM continue to foster loyalty there if they can’t lock down any in the U.S.
[via N4BB]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
