BlackBerry Bold 9790 leaks, sporting 9900 internals

If you're a BlackBerry fan that was put off by the pricey BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 that recently launched, there may be a more affordable option with similar specs on its way. The BlackBerry Bold 9790 has just been outed in a picture next to the BlackBerry Bold 9900 for comparison. The 9790 is expected to sport the same internals but packaged in a smaller form factor and at a possibly lower price.

According to BGR, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 is believed to feature a 1.2Ghz processor, a 5-megapixel camera, 8GB of internal storage, WiFi, GPS, and NFC. It maintains the same touchscreen and full QWERTY form factor but has an overall smaller footprint when compared to the BlackBerry Bold 9900. The device, however, will still be running BlackBerry 7 OS.

RIM plans to release about seven BlackBerry 7 OS smartphones by year-end before they make the full transition to its new QNX platform. RIM's first QNX-based smartphone called the BlackBerry Colt is rumored for a release in early 2012. The current BlackBerry PlayBook tablet already runs on QNX.