The BlackBerry 9700 codenamed Onyx has finally become official as RIM introduced next-generation Bold to the masses earlier today. Throughout 2009 we’ve seen hundreds of pictures of the Bold 2, heard from lots of industry sources, many details leaked on the web, and now the speculation is finally over as the BlackBerry 9700 was revealed as well as its “release month.” The BlackBerry Bold 2 features almost all radios hence it will be available in most carriers around the world.

RIM said that the next-generation Bold will be shipping sometime in November, and so far, in the US only T-Mobile introduced the handset and said that this is the first BlackBerry smartphone which allows voice-calling over WiFi. The previous generation Bold was released for AT&T, but that’s about to change.

BlackBerry 9700 Bold 2 features a 480 x 360 screen up from 480 x 320, 3.2-megapixel camera up from 2-megapixel, optical trackpad up from trackball, slightly tweaked QWERTY keyboard which was already the best in the world, and BlackBerry OS 5.0. Pricing and exact release date remain unknown for the moment but we should hear more soon so stay tuned!

Check out for more information at www.RIM.com or at T-Mobile.com/Bold.

BlackBerry 9700 Bold 2