iPhone News Updated

The company best known for the ubiquitous BlackBerry has started showing off the Bold 9000. The Bold has the sleek look of iPhone clones but keeps the keyboard popular with business users.

Bonnie Cha, a CNet reviewer, got an early look and came away impressed.

“I was absolutely blown away,” Cha wrote. “I can pretty much say I’ve never seen a better-looking display on a smartphone.”

The phone will be one of a new crop, including the Nuvifone from Olathe’s Garmin International, that works on the next generation HSDPA networks being rolled out by AT&T here in the U.S. and in some countries overseas.

Designed for UMTS networks including the GSM technology used by AT&T, the Bold won’t work on the Sprint network. But with potential download speeds of 14 megabits per second, it likely will be a challenger for both the Apple iPhone and the Sprint Instinct.

Both of those phones are expected out next month. Garmin’s navigation-oriented Nuvifone is expected out this fall.

RiM said the Bold would be out in this summer, and, according to CNet, projecting a price in the $300 to $400 range.

AT&T told CNet it will offer the Bold, and also has circulated marketing surveys indicating it’s considering offering the Nuvifone.

[Thanks: http://sprintconnection.kansascity.com]