BlackBerry Bold 9790 available this month

Buyers will be able to get their hands on the BlackBerry Bold 9790 by the end of this month, according to RIM and the smartphone is already available to pre-order with many mobile operators and online retailers.

Announced in November 2011, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 has a touch-screen and the BlackBerry qwerty keypad, as well as featuring an optical trackpad.

The handset ships with BlackBerry 7 OS and is powered by a 1GHz processor with 8GB of internal storage, plus a microSD slot for up to 32GB of additional storage.

Currently, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 is listed as available for pre-order at Phones4U with an expected availability date of 31 January, while Orange still lists the device as "coming soon".

However, the web site of reseller Clove Technology flags the new handset as expected 20 January, for a SIM-free price of £285.

Meanwhile, RIM unveiled an update to its BlackBerry platform, BlackBerry 7.1 OS, at CES in Las Vegas earlier this week. Mobile operators are expected to roll this out as an update to BlackBerry users in future, subject to certification processes.

The firm hopes the new handsets and platform refreshes will help turn around its recent slump. Many have predicted there could be a management reshuffle, with co-chief executives Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie forced out of their current roles by shareholders.