Apple, RIM to Throw Down on 3G

Enter the HSPDA-enabled Bold. The Bold, when available this summer, will be a grudging portfolio mate to the iPhone at AT&T, with all the well-known BlackBerry features, plus faster processing, a full 1GB of memory, better screen clarity, GPS and Wi-Fi. It also will support Windows Live, and full HTML for e-mails and browsing, for that “true Internet” experience. It boasts five hours of talk time and 13 days for standby. There’s no touchscreen, however, and despite the better clarity, the screen is still much smaller than the iPhone’s.

And as far as the iPhone goes, the fact that Apple’s Web site says the iPhone is “currently unavailable” has sparked a flurry of speculation that version 2.0 in all of its 3G glory could be here any second. That might be too aggressive, but Apple does have a history of drawing down stock in advance of major revamp launches. And, Apple’s annual developer conference is right around the corner beginning June 9. Jobs’ keynote address would make sense as a launch pad for the zippier new version.