MONTEGO BAY, St James – Mobile phone provider Digicel last Wednesday officially launched the new sleek BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone in front of a select gathering of the Montego Bay business community at the Blue Beat Jazz Club here.

Manufactured and distributed by Research In Motion (RIM) the new device, which is also available at telecoms providers LIME and CLARO stores across the island, is already generating much interest in the marketplace.

” Everybody seems to be asking about the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and we have already sold quite a bit,” a sales representative at LIME told the Observer West on Tuesday.

Digicel Jamaica’s commercial director Jason Corrigan said his company has also seen a high level of interest from customers in the smartphone since it was officially launched in Kingston and Montego Bay.

” The feedback has been very positive; sales have been brisk since the launch throughout our dealer stores islandwide as our competitive pre-paid and post-paid price plans continue to offer fantastic value to our customers,” he said.

Priced at roughly $68,000 the BlackBerry Bold 9700 combines an array of high-end communications and multimedia features that appeal to both professional and personal users.

At the Montego Bay launch, Digicel Jamaica CEO Mark Linehan said the phone would ” let us change the way we do business and will make our lives as business people more efficient.”

He said his company was happy to be able to keep apace with the latest in technology, pointing out that the phone is a “really nice device.”

RIM’s Enterprise sale manager Brian Sklar in his remarks noted that the BlackBerry Bold 9700 is specially designed for business executives, particularly those who spend a lot of time on the road.

But the BlackBerry Bold 9700 isn’t just for business, this cell phone gives access to the latest applications through the Blackberry App World. Combining a raft of features, the instrument offers a reliable and exceptional mobile experience that is perfect for both personal and professional use.

It offers top-of-the-line performance, functionality and features with support for 3G network connectivity, which allow owners to browse the web or view attachments faster.

The phone include a 256 MB Flash memory, built-in GPS and Wi-Fi, a 3.2MP camera and a dazzling, high resolution screen.

The exterior of the handset which has a high -gloss charcoal finish and leather grain back panel, is fitted with a smooth integrated touch-sensitive trackpad and a user-friendly keyboard.

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 some analysts say is rivalled by the iPhone 3Gs which cost roughly the same.

” The Bold’s browser is its weak spot because it is not built on Webkit, its simply doesn’t compare to the browser on the iPhone but on the whole I prefer the Bold,” a telecom sales representative said.