RIM has announced a new smartphone based on the BlackBerry 7 operating system, called BlackBerry Bold 9900, and its CMDA version 9930.

With these BlackBerry Bold models RIM plans to bring the "thinnest" smartphone to the consumer. These two smartphones feature iconic BlackBerry Bold design and NFC support, making them worth the wait. But the iconic design of BlackBerry may not remain competent for long as Samsung, HTC, Motorola, LG have also designed devices looking similar and running on Android OS.

Motorola XPRT has the form factor of BlackBerry Bold and others include HTC Status and LG Optimus Pro. All these phones are powered by Android operating system.

The latest review of Motorola XPRT by analysts suggest that it is an excellent BlackBerry alternative. The phone is priced $130 with a two-year contract from Sprint. The consumers who are familiar with Droid Pro know that Motorola XPRT looks identical. The XPRT model is mainly made focusing on business or IT professionals and the design is ideal for sending out e-mail and text messages quickly. Motorola XPRT is already available in the market.

Surprisingly, LG said in a release that its upcoming LG Optimus Pro smartphone, depending on carriers, may support Near Field Communication (NFC), useful for mobile payments. With NFC support for LG Optimus Pro, BlackBerry hopes to capture consumers in the US. But there is no word on pricing or when the phone will be released.

HTC Status is another Android-based smartphone with a dedicated Facebook share button that was made available on July 17 for $49.99 with a two-year contract.

Here is a comparison of all these smartphones:

Motorola XPRT

LG Optimus Pro

HTC Status

BlackBerry Bold 9900

Dimension

120.4 x 60.9 x 13 mm

119.5 x 59.7 x 12.9 mm

114.4 x 64.6 x 10.7 mm

115 x 66 x 10.5 mm

Weight

145 g

129g

120 g

130 g

Display

3.1-inch 320 x 480 pixels TFT capacitive touchscreen

2.8-inch 240 x 320 pixels TFT capacitive touchscreen

2.6-inch 480 x 320 pixels TFT touchscreen

2.8-inch 640 x 480 pixels TFT capacitive touchscreen

Memory Storage

2 GB storage, 512 MB RAM

150 MB storage, 256 MB RAM

512 MB ROM, 512 MB RAM

8GB storage, 768 MB RAM

3G

HSDPA 10.2 Mbps/ HSUPA 1.8 Mbps

HSDPA 3.6Mbps

HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA 384 Kbps

HSDPA 14.4Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps

WLAN/
Bluetooth/
USB

Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth version 2.1 with A2DP, micro USB version 2.0

Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth version 3.0, micro USB version 2.0

Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth version 3.0 with A2DP, microUSB version 2.0

Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth version 2.1 with A2DP, EDR, microUSB version 2.0

Camera

5-megapixel 2592?1944 pixels with autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging

3.15-megapixel 2048x1536 pixels with geo tagging

5-megapixel 2592 x 1944 pixels with autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging, face detection

5-megapixel 2592x1944 pixels with autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging, face detection, image stabilization

Operating System

Android OS, v2.2 (Froyo)

Android OS, v2.3.3 (Gingerbread)

Android OS, v2.3 (Gingerbread)

BlackBerry OS 7.0

Processor

1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 PowerVR SGX530 GPU, TI OMAP3620-1000 chipset

800 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227T chipset

Qualcomm MSM7227 800 MHz

Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.2GHz

Battery

Li-Ion 1860 mAh, up to 9 hours of talk time

Li-Ion 1500 mAh

Li-Ion 1250 mAh

Li-Ion 1230 mAh

Input features

QWERTY keyboard,

Touch-sensitive controls, Multi-touch input method, Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate, Proximity sensor for auto- turn-off

QWERTY keyboard, Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate

QWERTY keyboard, Gorilla Glass display, Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate, Proximity sensor for auto turn-off

QWERTY keyboard, Touch-sensitive controls, Optical trackpad, Proximity sensor for auto turn-off, Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate

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