If you check out the Bold 9700′s dimensions you will see that it measures in at 109mm x 60mm x 14.1mm and weighs just 122 grams, this is what we regard as a relatively small and light smartphone when you compare it to most of today’s offerings, however it is not a great deal smaller than the Xperia Play. This is despite the fact that this boasts slide-out PlayStation controls and a 4-inch touchscreen display. The official measurements are 119mm × 62mm × 16mm and weighs it 175 grams.

The comparison shows that despite its advanced internals and impressive features the Xperia Play is not as big and bulky as a lot of people may think, it is just 19mm longer, 2mm wider and 1.9mm thicker, we have to admit this did take us by surprise.

You only really get the impression that the Play is much larger than the Bold 9700 when you have the sliding controls showing, however it still fits nicely in the hand when you play the games and is smaller and lighter than the 3DS / PSP.

We have embedded some photos of the two devices side-by-side below, are you surprised at all?

More About: BlackBerry Bold 9700, Research in Motion, Sony Ericsson, Xperia Play

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Let me just start off by saying this is not an official version of the OS by any means, so by installing and following this guide is completely at your own risk. My recommendation to you would be to wait for an official release by either RIM or your carrier.

For the rest of you who know what the circumstances are but still want to go ahead with the install, read on.

1. Upgrade Desktop Manager and Backup – This will be the most important step in this entire guide, unless you are not worried about backing up your contacts, calender data, message, music, photos, tasks, memos and anything else you want saving.

If you already have Desktop Manager installed on your computer, check what version you are running by loading up the application (Windows Start menu > All Programs > BlackBerry > Desktop Manager), clicking help, then selecting About BlackBerry Desktop Manager. The version will be listed on the General tab. If you are not running version 6 of the software, click the Check for Updates link in the bottom right hand corner of the application, where it will then prompt you to download and install Desktop Manager version 6.

Once Desktop Manager 6 has been downloaded and installed, reload the application, plug in your 9700 and let the program register that the phone is connected. From here, you should see two options in the black toolbar at the top. Click Device > Back up… This will then take you through the step by step process of backing up your important data. Once this has been done, and you have made a note of where you saved your backup file, go back to DM (Desktop Manager) and backup your pictures, videos, and music if you wish by selecting the appropriate option under Media Sync, which is listed on the left hand side of the application.

All backed up now? Good, lets get moving.

2. Install OS 6.0.0.344 On Your Computer – Once you have downloaded OS 6 from wherever you downloaded it from (I will not be giving any links to the program), double click the .exe file and go through the steps. It’s fairly straight forward.

3. Installing OS 6 On Your BlackBerry Bold 9700 & Restoring Backup – Once step 2 has been completed, connect your phone via USB if you disconnected it after the backup process. If DM loads, check that it is connected. You should see an image of the device when it loads with an option telling you that an update is available for your 9700. Ignore this for now and close DM.

Now we need to locate the setup files that we installed in step 2. To do this, we go to: –

C:\program files(86)\common files\research in motion\apploader\

When inside this directory, either delete or rename the vendor.xml file to something else. I recommend that you delete it. If it is not there, don’t panic, then run loader.exe.

Follow the on screen instructions, but when going through, take a look at the different check marks to see what you want installed and what you don’t want installed. My recommendation would be to uncheck all applications that you downloaded such as Facebook, Twitter, Windows Live Messenger, Copter etc. We will manually redownload these after OS 6 has been installed.

When you get to the screen that asks you if you want to make a backup of your device and restore 3rd party applications, change the option to Do Not Restore. It should already be selected to do so, so make sure you change it.

Experience OS 6.0.0.344 – Let the updater go through the process and update your phone to OS 6. It should take up to 30mins for this to be completed. Once it has been completed, or near to doing so, you should notice that your BlackBerry has a slightly different loading screen, with the loading bar being at the bottom of the screen and an updated BlackBerry logo. The phone will then boot for the first time and take you through a video guide of the new features that come with OS 6. I almost skipped this, but if I did I would not have found out about 1 or two new features like the improved zoom, or the extra options that have been added. It will then prompt you to setup your 9700. If you wish to do this later, you can always come back to it. Play around with the menu’s for a while until you are satisfied that the installation went well and are having no issues. I recommend doing a battery pull afterwards, and letting it reboot to double check that there are now problems after the initial boot.

Restoring Data To Your Bold 9700 – By now, you should have a big smile on your face knowing you installed OS 6, and everything is working perfectly. You love the new menu’s and features but want to get your contacts, saved data and applications back on there.

Simply pop your USB cable back into the phone, load up DM, select Device > Restore, to which then you will be prompted with an option to choose your backup file. Select the most recent, and then select the option that allows you to choose what items you would like to restore. Only choose items like contacts/calendar/tasks/memos/messages etc. Nothing else should be restored from the backup file.

Once everything is restored and you have checked to make sure it is all there, you can then use BlackBerry App World to download the applications you had installed before and hey presto! You have a fully functional OS 6 installed on your BlackBerry Bold 9700.

If this guide was helpful to you, or you would like to make some additions, leave us a comment below and share your thoughts.

Update: A lot of you have had trouble downloading the update, here are some alternative download links for you: FileServe, MediaFire, DepositFiles.

More About: BlackBerry Bold 9700, BlackBerry OS 6, RIM

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Back in August, we told you that OS 6 was going to come to the Bold 9700 and the Pearl 3G within’ the “months ahead,” and although not official, you can now get the unofficial version of OS 6.0.0.344 via IntoMobile who have the download links.

As of right now, the only BlackBerry to be running OS 6 is RIM‘s latest handset — the BlackBerry Torch and any firmware update to existing BlackBerry OS’ is going to be a welcome addition to any BlackBerry user.

Remember, if you are feeling confident about downloading these unofficial leaks, we ask you that you be careful and are mindful that you are installing these at your own risk.

Have you downloaded OS 6.0.0.344 yet? Let us know in the comments below how it is performing for you.

Source: IntoMobile

More About: BlackBerry Bold 9700, BlackBerry OS 6, RIM

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We have no idea how someone has managed to obtain this new version, but if you are interested in trying this out, you will find the download links over at BBLeaks.com.

The version number which you’ll be downloading is OS 6.0.0.344, which is thought to be the most up to date version of RIM’s new OS. Don’t forget that this is an unofficial version, so download at your own risk if you decide to try this out.

If you have already installed this new version, let us know if it works, and what new features you have discovered.

More About: BlackBerry Bold 9700, BlackBerry OS 6, RIM

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The only RIM handset to be running on BlackBerry OS 6.0 is the Torch, so will be a welcome upgrade for Bold 9700 and pearl 3G users. There are a number of good features with the new mobile OS, but there are still a few things that could have been worked on a little more.

It was no secret that the browser on BlackBerry OS 5.0 needed an improvement, and the new WebKit browser is certainly that. However, Chris Ziegler from Engadget noticed that it is not without its issues.

With this news and the unveiling of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet device, Research In Motion is certainly in good shape and is prepared for a fight when it comes to keeping its smartphone market share.

More About: BlackBerry 6, BlackBerry Bold 9700, BlackBerry Pearl 3G

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The video has been embedded below, I was pleasantly surprised as I had been led to believe that OS 6.0 was slow and laggy on the 9700, this video shows a snappy web browser and quick switching between applications.

The new native web browser looks great, sites seem to load very quickly and there are new features and enhancements which look to make web browsing on the 9700 an even more enjoyable experience than before.

The new camera software looks great, 9700 users running OS 6.0 will get face detection which I’m sure will prove to be a popular addition.

After watching the video I can’t wait for OS 6.0 to launch for the Bold 9700, can you?

Source: BGR

More About: BlackBerry Bold 9700, web browser

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As with all BlackBerry OS updates, details are scarce, however we have heard that this OS is the ‘snappiest yet’, but other users are reporting that not a lot else has changed.

Despite this being an official release installing the update is a risk, therefore I would strongly recommend backing up all important data beforehand, once complete head over to this page to download the OS.

Personally I have no issues with the OS currently running on my BlackBerry Bold 9700, therefore I will probably skip this update and wait for something more significant, for further details check out the link below.

Have you installed the update? If so, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Source: IntoMobile

More About: BlackBerry Bold 9700

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This handset can be purchased for just $149.99 as part of a three-year deal, however if you prefer you can buy it for $549.99 without a contract, which I must say does seem quite steep.

Your money will get you a BlackBerry with a neat white design, everything else is standard about the Bold 9700 such as the built-in WiFi connectivity, 3.2 megapixel camera and a 2.44 inch display supporting a resolution of 480 x 360. As standard the handset comes with a 2GB microSD memory card, however if you prefer more storage it will accept a card of up to 32GB.

At the time of this post the white version wasn’t available from Rogers’ website, however we are assured that it will be available pretty soon, check out this link to see if it has arrived.

Will you upgrade to the white BlackBerry Bold 9700?

Source: IntoMobile

More About: BlackBerry Bold 9700

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Version 5.0.0.656 is now available on the airwaves, and can be installed via the Desktop Manager which comes with your BlackBerry software, or on the Internet.

Previously, a leaked version of the same OS was released, but as we informed, this was in no way an official release from RIM. So if you have been holding back on updating your phone software, now is the time to do so.

Updating your OS is good practice, as it irons out issues, bugs and problems with the current version. I have just updated my phone’s software using the Desktop Manager, and was pleased to find out that the application automatically backs up your data, and restores it after the update has been completed.

If you are one of the many BlackBerry users who updated their OS, please inform us of any problems, issues or improvements you run into while using your phone.

Source: IntoMobile

More About: BlackBerry Bold 9700

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You can download the OS via this link , But remember to download and install at your own risk. It is important that you backup all your data first before installing the new OS to your BlackBerry Bold 9700.

If you are one of the many users who like to update their OS frequently, please drop back here and let us know of any problems, issues and solutions we should be made aware of. Please also be aware that this is NOT an official release, so if you would rather pass and wait for the official confirmation, I wouldn’t blame you.

Source: IntoMobile

More About: BlackBerry Bold 9700

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