SAN FRANCISCO -- CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment -- BlackBerry co-CEO Jim Basilie confirmed an expected October launch in the U.S. for the company's first major 3G launch, the BlackBerry Bold.

"Hopefully that will launch in early October with AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T)," Basilie said of the long-awaited phone toward the end of his Thursday morning keynote here at the Moscone Center. The big cheese confirmed what was already an open secret in the RIM-o-sphere -- that the phone is undergoing certification at AT&T. (See America the Bold?)

"The sales of the Bold in all of these other countries we've launched in have been good," Basilie told the crowd. The Bold launched first in RIM's home market, Canada, and is now available in the U.K. and, er, Singapore. (See Canada Gets Bold.)

The Bold will be just one of the Canadian device maven's answers to the challenge of the Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) 3G iPhone and other data-happy smartphone models. The firm is also rumored to be working on the "Thunder" touchscreen for Verizon Wireless , to be launched before the end of the year. (See RIM's Four Aces.)

The firm already unveiled its first-ever flip phone here at the show. Basilie told the crowd that the Pearl Flip will "do well" for T-Mobile US Inc. , noting that 70 percent of the U.S. market favors flip phones. (See RIM Reveals the Pearl Flip.)

"We think we've cracked the code," he said of the new Pearl, without revealing exactly when the phone will launch or how much it will cost.

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung