New top-of-the-line BlackBerry doubles screen resolution

Research In Motion Ltd. introduced a BlackBerry phone with quicker Web browsing and more room for songs and videos, getting a jump on a faster iPhone that analysts expect next month.

The device, called the BlackBerry Bold, has a brighter screen and better Web browser than previous models, co-Chief Executive James Balsillie said. The phone, which also has satellite navigation and a video camera, will start selling at AT&T Inc. for $300 to $400 this summer in the U.S.

The product sets up a showdown between Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs and Balsillie in the market for so-called third-generation phones, which offer speedier Web access and video downloads. Phones with Internet, e-mail and video are the fastest-growing part of the handset market, with users quadrupling to 400 million in the next three years, RBC Capital Markets estimates.

“You need to provide faster networks, faster processors,” said Balsillie, 47. Consumers are using “more and more multimedia” and “there are lots of contenders out there.”

Research In Motion, based in Waterloo, Ontario, rose $9.20, or 6.9%, to $141.97. Apple advanced $4.71, or 2.6%, to $188.16.

The Bold is the first BlackBerry to use high-speed downlink packet access, or HSDPA, a network technology that accelerates data delivery. Apple may introduce an iPhone with faster data in June, according to analysts such as RBC’s Mike Abramsky.

Since the iPhone’s debut last June, Apple has taken the No. 2 spot in U.S. sales of so-called smart phones, handsets with computer and Internet functions. The BlackBerry ranks first.

To fend off the iPhone, Research In Motion has expanded beyond business customers, releasing devices that have music players and cameras. Users of the new BlackBerry can listen to songs from Apple’s iTunes music program.