BlackBerry Bold
Year First Appeared
2008
Creator
Mike Lazaridis, Jim Balsillie, Douglas Fregin
The BlackBerry Bold 9000 was a smartphone by Research In Motion (RIM) that combined the brand's signature QWERTY keyboard with a half-VGA display (480×320), 3G/HSDPA connectivity, Wi-Fi, and GPS. Released in 2008, it was the first BlackBerry to support Wi-Fi, GPS, and multimedia features including video playback.
Importance in Internet Culture
The Bold 9000 was RIM's last major market triumph before the iPhone and Android reshaped mobile computing. Released weeks after the iPhone 3G, it represented the pinnacle of the physical-keyboard smartphone paradigm and validated that enterprise-grade security and consumer-friendly features could coexist in one device.
Interesting Fact
The Bold name reportedly came from user testing, research participants kept calling the half-VGA display bold and brilliant. RIM trademarked Bold because Brilliant didn't align with the brand's professional positioning.