The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is the successor to the ever-popular Bold 9000 and it’s due to hit Australian shores shortly.

The main upgrade is that BlackBerry has equipped the Bold 9700 with an optical touchpad rather than a navigational jogball, which makes it easier to browse the web.

The Bold 9700 may be smaller and slimmer than its predecessor but in most other areas, BlackBerry has upped the specs. It features a larger display (480×360), a 3.15-megapixel camera and greater storage thanks to the inclusion of a 2GB microSD card. Battery life has also improved - Blackberry claims the Bold 9700 is capable of six hours talk time.

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 will be released overseas in November with Australia to follow after that. Pricing will be confirmed closer to the release date.

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By Caroline Warnes