BlackBerry 9700a slider caught on camera

New details of the BlackBerry Bold 9700a have surfaced online providing pictures of the rear, as well as clear shots of it in profile.

The pics on BBLeaks.com do little to illuminate the spec list but they do show it next to a Curve 8900, revealing the true form of the device.

A sliding Qwerty is expected to add a little bulk to any handset, so it's no great surprise to see that the 9700a carries a little more bulk than the Curve.

The rear shots do indicate that the camera will come with an LED-flash but there were no markings to give clues to the megapixel count. The online rumour mill has thrown up suggestions of 5-megapixels, which would bring it in line with many of the other Qwerty equipped touchscreens on the market, but there's no confirmation that this will be the case.

Considering the touchscreen interface, earlier reports that the handset would form a part of the Storm range seemed reasonable but we've now heard to the contrary and are expecting it to slot in nicely as part of the Bold line-up.

The Bold 9700a/Storm 3/Mr. T in the photos can't be switched on, meaning that we're still in the dark over the internals and OS, but with an unconvincing entry to the touchscreen market so far we'll be keeping a close eye on RIM's next outing, whatever it's called.