The BlackBerry Bold has landed here in Hong Kong. Well, at least some of it cos Smartone-Vodafone is allowing pre-orders here and PCCW Mobile has launched it here.
I’m excited. GPS, Wifi, HSDPA, Qwerty keyboard, 480×320 screen resolution – this is possibly THE device that can replace my aging Treo 650. Now let me go find out the price of this thing.
Price update – the Bold still sells for about HK$4,000 to $4,200 from the shops in the cellphone malls – presumably parallel imported. Smartone still wants HK$5,288 for it.
http://www.dereth.org/2008/08/singtels-blackberry-bold-pricing.html
It’s priced at S$988
has the bold reached singapore yet? specifically funan? how much?
in hong kong where can one buy one? unlocked version that is.
Singtel Launches the BlackBerry Bold in Singapore this August.
http://www.dereth.org/2008/08/singtel-launches-blackberry-bold-in.html
According to the RIM website … the Bold has an “approximate retail value HKD$4680.” That’s about SGD$826. Ouch.
PCCW Mobile’s charging HK$1,988 for the Bold, presumably with a contract and a subscription to the BlackBerry plan.
http://pccwmobile.com/portal/common/plaintext.jsp?fldr_id=9410&lang=en
Smartone doesn’t seem to have the Bold until “mid August”, so the wait continues …
limbeer, I’m going to patiently wait for the BB Bold to reach Singapore. If it delivers on all the promises, I suspect it’ll be exactly what you and I have been waiting for.
The deal-breakers in the E71 for me were the lack of a modern navigation system (directional buttons? That was acceptable a decade ago but not now – give me a scroll-ball, scroll-wheel or touchscreen), 3.5mm jack, and, to a lesser extent, the lack of BlackBerry Connect software (Nokia has discontinued this for the E-series).
Yo limbeer, I agree: the lack of a 3.5mm jack is a real pain! But that and the poor camera quality aside, the E71 is perfect for now. The display couldn’t have been made bigger for its size, and I felt the physical dimensions of phone to be just right for the pocket. So has the iPhone craze cooled down in HK yet?
Certainly thought about the E71 but what bugs me is the lack of a 3.5mm jack and the low res screen display (320×240?) – even my ancient Treo 650 does 320×320! But why don’t they put a touchscreen on either of these devices??? That will be da bomb.
Asked a chap at the Smartone-Vodafone shop about availability today – apparently the BlackBerry Bold is due to be released in August (didn’t say when), and pricing is unconfirmed. BUT you can pre-order by paying a deposit, even when you don’t know the actual price. Very, very, sensible.
With my mobile contract recently expired, I wanted to hold out for this, but it’s taking forever to come to Singapore, so I got the next best thing instead: the Nokia E71. Darn… Hong Kong gadget lovers seem to be getting their fix faster than us here in Singapore…