Okay, so maybe we haven’t really talked about anything besides the Bold in a week, but this news was too shocking to pass up. Fresh on the “How dare RIM sell the new Blackberry for $300 AFTER rebate and contract” buzz, WalMart debuts the Bold for FREE, with the same stipulations.

That’s right - if you were debating before, this most recent movement should seal things up for you. You can get the newest, chicest most impressive full-QWERTY to hit the markets lately for FREE after a $199.99 mail in rebate and signing up for a new 2-year contract! Don’t believe me? See for yourself:

So hit up your local Wal-Mart superstar, and while you get your tires changed and you’re picking up your bananas, toilet paper, scrapbooking supplies, and a wireless router, you can add the coolest new Blackberry to the cart. Successful shopping trip indeed.

RIM’s Blackberry Bold has finally found its way to the U.S. With a favorable review from Engadget, this sucker is poised to compete with the iPhone. Standing in its way? A $300 with contract, after rebate pricetag. Ouch. Here are some clips from the glorious unboxing, courtesy of Engadget.
 

Finally in that gorgeous, orange AT&T packaging… 

A comparison shot with the G1 and the iPhone:

And a video unboxing…

And while you feast your eyes on these pics and video, Engadget also lets us know that yesterday the Bold showed up in AT&T stores earlier than expected. Meaning you didn’t have to wait all the way to election day to drop over $300 pre-rebate with-contract on a cell phone! And for those of you looking to save some gas money so you can try to afford the Bold, you can also pick the phone up online at AT&T’s site, and have it shipped right to your door.

 Thanks to Engadget for the scoop and the pics, and to YouTube.com for the video link!

When news broke recently that the Bold was coming to AT&T at a after-rebate, with-2-year-contract price of $299.99, people were not only a bit surprised (how well will the Bold compete with the 2/3 the price iPhone?) but also quite curious as to what the MSRP would be without the rebates and contracts.

Best Buy’s site:

 The news is in! Best Buy now has the Bold posted on their site for a cool $679.99. This means if you are looking to buy the Bold no-strings-attached, you should expect to pay over double the already-lofty price you’d get if you stopped in to your local AT&T store and made the two year commitment. This intrigues me, especially since RIM is releasing a slew of new Blackberrys in the next few months, and I’m curious as to how they intend to price those gadgets. Between the Bold, Storm, new Curve, and flip Pearl, there’s a broad variety of demographics RIM seems to be attempting to reach, and I wonder if the price points will vary as much.

Thanks, Engadget & BGR for the info!