Specification sheet reveals quad-band 3G BlackBerry Bold for Japan

Here's one that's guaranteed to rub loyal T-Mobile subscribers the wrong way. Based on a specifications sheet on the Japanese BlackBerry site, the forthcoming Bold -- which is destined for NTT DoCoMo -- has a fourth 3G band in addition to the 850/1900/2100MHz bands found on the US model. The addition of 800MHz 3G covers the operator's FOMA Plus Area network, which is used in less populated areas throughout Japan. Needless to say, T-Mob users are probably wondering why they can't get a version with AWS 3G baked in, but we get the feeling they'll be wondering for eons.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 27th 2009 8:48AM]

NTT docomo says they're having some people says their Bold is heats up while charging. docomo says they've suspended sales and looking into the matter.
Is this a docomo-specific matter or a simple FAQ? Personally I think battery heatup is a commonplace issue in these small devices, and critical safety problems like popping defective battery are unlikely to be seen in a later model in production sold in a small country. so I guess docomo samurais are simply overreacting to what a kind of thing they had never seen, but I wanted it to be sure it's safe.

http://translate.google.co.jp/translate?prev=hp&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nttdocomo.co.jp%2Finfo%2Fnotice%2Fpage%2F090227_00_m.html&sl=ja&tl=en&swap=1

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 27th 2009 4:23PM]

word on the street was that Tmo passed on the Bold due to quality issues. you know, the same quality issues that kept AT&T from getting theirs out the door for months. Now we have this bit about Japanese models possibly overheating? For once I may have to give Tmo a pass for failing to get a competitive phone out on the market. now if only they could do something about that absolutely ancient Wing of theirs....

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 28th 2009 7:33AM]

Sigh... 800MHz = 850MHz, so it's not a separate band.