MONTREAL - Research In Motion's shares bounced to an all-time high after the announcement it will roll out the BlackBerry Bold, a new high-speed smartphone designed for business professionals.
RIM describes the new BlackBerry as a high-performance smartphone designed for professionals who want an "elegant'' device with unprecedented speed, power and functionality.
It will be the first BlackBerry to support high-speed networks using so-called 3G technology and positions RIM for a major push into markets outside North America.
Shares in the Waterloo, Ont.-based company were up $7.84 to $141.19 in late morning trading Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The unveiling of the next BlackBerry cane as RIM announced the creation of a $150-million fund to invest in emerging mobile applications and services for the BlackBerry mobile phone and other mobile platforms.
RIM will partner with Royal Bank and Thomson Reuters and several private Canadian investors in The BlackBerry Partners Fund LP, which will be co-managed by RBC Venture Partners and JLA Ventures.
RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie said the new fund recognizes that mobile applications and services represent some of the hottest opportunities in the technology sector today and "will seek to fund the best and brightest innovators from around the world.''
The new Blackberry will help keep RIM a leader in business smartphones, a field in which it's known for pioneering push e-mail sent directly into BlackBerry devices.
RIM also said the new Bold has a faster processor than any other BlackBerry to date that will allow rapid Web browsing and has streaming video capabilities with sharp image clarity.
"The newly designed BlackBerry Bold features the sharpest, most vibrant BlackBerry display to date, with striking clarity and contract that make both websites and videos come alive,'' RIM said in a news release.
RBC Capital markets analyst Mike Abramsky said the new BlackBerry is expected to launch in the United States this summer with AT&T.
But it will have "deeper penetration'' in Europe and Asia, where 3G technology is more common, he said in a research note.
The BlackBerry has the "ability to record video, play video from web, rich browsing, attachment viewing/editing,'' Abramsky wrote, adding that Rogers Communications Inc. will likely be the Canadian carrier for the new BlackBerry.
The BlackBerry Bold comes equipped with still and video camera and is GPS-enabled. It will also allow users to download and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset.
UBS Investment Research noted the new BlackBerry has the "capability to talk and surf (the Internet) at the same time, among other features.''
The phone should help international growth and help sales to replace existing BlackBerry phones, UBS said in a research note.
