BGR posted up some pics earlier today of the BlackBerry Bold 9790, codenamed the Bellagio. Posing here next to a 9900, it looks just like any other 97xx device, but apparently is refreshed to include a touchscreen and faster hardware, as well as the NFC we have seen integrated into all of the latest devices to roll out the doors in Waterloo.

I’m a little baffled by this device. Sure, I loved the 9700, it was one of the best BlackBerryy devices I’ve ever owned, and having one with a touchscreen would arguably be pretty awesome. However, having played with the 9900 already, I’d be hard pressed to understand why I would settle for this device instead. Unless RIM has managed to keep the awesome battery life seen with the original 9700 with this iteration, I can’t see much to recommend it over other devices newly released by RIM. Perhaps further details will shed some light on the answer, although I have a feeling it may just come down to RIM deciding that since the 97xx line has done so well for them, there must be a market for a BlackBerry 7 version of it.

[via:BGR]