The BlackBerry Bold Touch, code-named the Dakota and Montana, has been spotted in a few document leaks, but we aren’t ones to fawn over mere two-dimensional renders for long. Some shots have surfaced of a real live device, unbranded, sitting next to the Bold 9700. The magnetic compass seems to be working fine on there, which will be used with BlackBerry OS 6.1 to enable augmented reality applications, and the source says the touchscreen is improved over the Torch 9800. The classic leather battery door has been swapped out for a new carbon fiber look, which isn’t disagreeable in the least.
According to previous leaks, the new Bold sports a 5 megapixel camera with flash and HD video recording, a 2.8-inch display at 640 x 480 (confirmed in this set with a shot of the graphics engineering screen), 1.2 GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, 8 GB of storage (though these pics only show 6.5 GB) plus microSD memory, Wi-Fi b/g/n with mobile hotspot, GPS, 3G, and NFC. Word has it Sprint is picking up the Bold Touch before the end of Q2, which is the end of March, the other leaks suggest we won’t see it until August.
Seeing this thing next to the 9700 really drives home that RIM’s going back to the Bold’s roots, before it lost the big-booty appeal of the 9000. This would give the Curve family a little more elbow room in RIM’s lineup to exist as the slim, svelte, stylish handsets too. As far as specs go, the Bold Touch is a solid iterative leap, if not the massive one some would want to see, like in a QNX-based phone. I suspect the Dakota will be a good choice for the business execs who are still clutching to their haggard BlackBerry 9000s and want things to change as little as possible while still having the best of the best, but we’ll have to wait until the thing comes out to see how it compares with the competition.
[via N4BB]