RIM keeps mum on BlackBerry Bold plans for Asia Pacific
By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 18:35:00 05/13/2008
QUEZON City, Philippines -- Research in Motion (RIM), maker of the popular BlackBerry handheld devices, was mum about plans for its newly launched BlackBerry Bold for the Asia Pacific region, in particular the Philippines.
"RIM is working with our partners in Asia Pacific to bring the BlackBerry Bold smartphone to local markets in the region. Specific carriers and pricing will be confirmed at a later time," said Teresa Chang of RIM public relations in Asia Pacific.
Asked whether the company has started discussions with local mobile networks Smart Communications and Globe Telecom, Chang reiterated that RIM would disclose more details later.
She, however, pointed out that the launch of the Blackberry Bold is not directed at the growing popularity of the Apple iPhone.
"The Apple iPhone is a device, while BlackBerry is an end-to-end solution. RIM offers choices of devices, services, network technologies, as well as our unique push mechanism to deliver e-mail and data. There may be competitors in each of the different segments but there is no competitor in the full end-to-end solution suite," she said.
She said that the BlackBerry Bold smartphone is "a tremendous step forward in business-grade smartphones" packaged in a "beautiful and confident design."
She stressed that the BlackBerry continues to be a product targeting business professionals and "power users."
The BlackBerry smartphone is the first Blackberry device that comes with tri-band, HSDPA (high speed data packet access) network support. It also comes with a GPS (global positioning system) and supports wireless fidelity.
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