And the 9900 keyboard is to die for; RIM even called it the best keyboard on any BlackBerry smartphone. And I tend to agree. Though the keyboard looks almost identical to the original Bold 9000 keypad, it's actually slightly larger, because it stretches almost all the way to the sides of the device, while the Bold 9000's bezel is thicker and takes up keyboard space.

I spent a few minutes typing on the Bold 9900, and it was truly a pleasure, especially since I used to employ a Bold 9000, and I really miss that keyboard.

On the inside, the Bold is packing an impressive 1.2GHz processor, which helps the software experience feel fast and smooth, with very little lag--at least in the 20 minutes or so I spent with the device. It also has 768MB of RAM, with 8GB of internal storage for media and other data, the most RAM and built-in storage of any current BlackBerry. And the Bold 9900 also supports microSD memory cards up to 32GB. All of these things make the Bold 9900 feel much more "modern" than RIM's past few handhelds.

It's also great looking. Though the silver bezels on both the Bold 9900 and Bold 9000 look similar, they're actually quite different. The new Bold's bezel is made of brushed stainless steel, compared to the silver plastic bezel on the 9000. And that change in bezel material makes a noticeable difference in the appearance of the device; the stainless steel just looks nicer and less flimsy or "cheap."

The rear battery cover is also notable, since it's coated in some sort of glassy-looking epoxy, which adds another touch of luxury to the Bold 9900. RIM definitely seems to have put more focus on looks with the BlackBerry 9900 than any other RIM device. And it shows.