OPTUS FIRST AUSTRALIAN CARRIER TO OFFER NEW RANGE OF BLACKBERRY SMARTPHONES

Optus today announced it will be the first Australian operator to offer two new BlackBerry smartphones - the BlackBerry® Torch™ 9860 and BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900. Both smartphones go on sale through Optus retail, online and other sales channels from early September.

Optus customers will be among the first globally to experience the all-new BlackBerry Torch 9860 - announced by Research In Motion (RIM) yesterday - re-igniting the full-touch smartphone market.

Austin R Bryan, Director, Optus Digital Media said, "We're excited that Optus customers will be among the first in the world to get their hands on these fantastic BlackBerry smartphones featuring the new BlackBerry 7 Operating System. This is yet another example of Optus bringing leading digital devices to its customers before any other carrier."

The BlackBerry Torch 9860 and BlackBerry Bold 9900 signal a remarkable evolution in the BlackBerry line up. While maintaining the hallmark professional-grade security and communications abilities associated with BlackBerry, the two smartphones also allow users to strike the perfect balance between their work and personal lives by packing in a host of practical apps and entertainment features.

Built on the BlackBerry® 7 Operating System (OS) and driven by a powerful 1.2 GHz processor, both new smartphones deliver an uncompromised user experience, as content comes to life through a smooth interface powered by Liquid Graphics™.

"The enhancements in the BlackBerry 7 OS, as well as the impressive level of social networking integration across both smartphones, allow Optus BlackBerry users to strike the ideal balance between work and play. The Optus Open Network™ supports these features perfectly, providing Optus customers with the performance they need to unlock the potential of their BlackBerry smartphone." Mr Bryan said.

BlackBerry Torch 9860
For those who love to touch and feel their way around their smartphones, the newest BlackBerry Torch is the ultimate entertainment device. The all-touch smartphone can be seamlessly synchronised with your PC or Mac with a single click, granting access to your favourite music playlist, latest video or random mix with ease.

The newest addition to the BlackBerry Torch family also fuses its multimedia capabilities with a number of social networking apps such as BlackBerry Messenger and integrated Facebook chat so you're always connected to your friends and family in real time. The BlackBerry Torch 9860 gives you the ability to work hard all day and break free in your downtime, revelling in the power of BlackBerry paired with a multitude of apps for your entertainment.

BlackBerry Bold 9900
The highly anticipated evolution of the BlackBerry Bold is a sleeker, slimmer take of the iconic design, paired with the BlackBerry standard of best-in-class security, communications and business applications. Retaining the market-leading keyboard, the BlackBerry Bold 9900 also now includes a high resolution touch screen that gives users the ideal medium for both typing emails and browsing the internet. A modern brushed-steel frame encases a toughened-glass body, which slims the Bold 9900 down to just 10.5mm, keeps up in the fashion stakes while maintaining a compact size for on-the-go use.

The new devices come loaded with BlackBerry® Messenger 6 (BBM 6) which provides support for 'BBM connected' apps to integrate the popular functionality of the BBM service and offer users the ability to interact with their friends from within the apps themselves. For example, with a BBM connected game app, users can invite their BBM friends to join them in a game and chat with one another in the middle of the game - without ever leaving the game app, all in real time.

Both smartphones enjoy the added protection of BlackBerry® Protect, allowing users to lock, locate and wipe their device from wherever they are to ensure work and personal information is guarded at all times.

Representing next-stage innovations in RIM's well-established BlackBerry Torch and BlackBerry Bold series, both smartphones will be available to Optus personal, small business and enterprise customers from early September on a range of pricing plans to be announced closer to launch.

To pre-register and for more information on the devices, visit www.optus.com.au/blackberry.

For more information about BlackBerry smartphones, the new BlackBerry 7 OS and BBM 6, visit au.blackberry.com.

Enterprise and Government customers can pre-order their devices from today by contacting their Optus Account Manager.

Media contacts:
Liz Greene /Danny Wong
Optus Corporate Affairs
Tel: (02) 8082 7850