AT&T: Be "Bold" on Election Day

After what seemed to be interminable delays, AT&T has finally announced the Blackberry Bold launch date: November 4th. Yep, they chose Election Day. So my guess is there will be a lot of election-related email flying back and forth.

Why they would choose Election Day, which is bound to have distractions and waits for (one would hope) more important matters: I have no idea.

The all-important "how much?" is $299.99 with a two-year contract.

This is the first 3G Blackberry on AT&T's relatively nascent 3G network, bit contrary to popular belief, not the first 3G Blackberry.

When people think of Blackberry, they think first of corporate email, but here are some other points from AT&T's press release:

• Simultaneous Voice and Data Capabilities — When connected to AT&T's 3G network, customers can conduct a phone conversation and at the same time check e-mail, browse the Web or use another data application, including when tethered to a notebook computer. This is a result of HSDPA on the device. But they're going to allow tethering?
  

• AT&T Navigator Global Edition — Powered by TeleNav, the only GPS-based service available from a U.S. wireless carrier to provide international navigation capabilities. AT&T customers can get spoken or text-based turn-by-turn directions with automatic missed turn rerouting and a local business finder service in 20 countries.

• Seamless Wi-Fi — Allows AT&T customers who turn on the BlackBerry Bold smartphone's Wi-Fi feature — 802.11 a/b/g — to connect automatically to home or campus networks. AT&T customers also will be able to access more than 17,000 AT&T hot spots nationwide, including nearly 7,000 participating Starbucks locations plus thousands more restaurants, airports, hotels and other convenient locations across the U.S.

• CV — CV (Cellular Video) from AT&T gives viewers access to thousands of video clips — news, sports, weather, entertainment and more — directly on a BlackBerry Bold smartphone via streaming video.

• AT&T Mobile Music Services — An industry leader in mobile music, AT&T boasts the largest catalog of offerings available today, giving customers mobile access to enjoy XM Radio Mobile™, song identification through MusicID, music videos through MobiTV and over-the-air access to the extensive music databases of Napster Mobile^® and eMusic^® — just to name a few.

Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive officer of AT&T Mobility said:

"The BlackBerry Bold is the best BlackBerry smartphone ever, backed by the nation's fastest 3G network and the hands-down best international coverage of any carrier. The BlackBerry Bold is the complete package, providing customers with an absolutely outstanding mobile experience whether doing e-mail, browsing the Web, viewing streaming video or simply making a phone call. And it is being introduced in the U.S. only from AT&T."

I'd add the word "arguably" in front of the word "fastest" above. Let's see how AT&T's 3G network handles the strain of still another high priority device (in addition to the iPhone 3G).

Full specs for the Bold are here.

This announcement follows Tuesday's RIM announcement: they're launching the BlackBerry Application Storefront in March of 2009.