We've still got thousands of unanswered questions (well, maybe not thousands, but definitely dozens) about RIM's upcoming
BlackBerry 6 platform -- and it's starting to look like we might be answering those questions at retail by way of this
Bold 9800 slider that's been making the rounds lately.
BGR claims that the handset is lining up for a mid- to late-June release on AT&T, with the carrier having placed a substantial million-plus unit order to lock it up as an exclusive for some undetermined length of time (much as Verizon has managed to do both with the
Storm and the
Storm2). We hate to point out the obvious, but from a PR perspective, June's not the best month to be announcing and / or releasing anything that
isn't an iPhone -- and when you look at the 9800's form factor and the baby steps that BlackBerry 6 seems to make toward boosting consumer appeal, we don't think you can make an argument that this is a sufficiently different market segment the same way you could with, say, the
9700. In other words: we wouldn't be shocked to see this date slip a bit, assuming the rumor pans out.
