How's RIM's new 3G BlackBerry Bold? Pretty good, says Citigroup's Jim Suva, who gleefully played Walt Mossberg for a day, giving the Bold a 12-hour spin, including his own "drop and water spill test."

Specifically, Suva says the new Web browser is "a big improvement" from the Curve and Pearl -- good news, as the iPhone's great Web display is its biggest competitive advantage for business customers. And he says voice controls work well, the software setup was a breeze, and email and data will work in Korea and Japan -- "a big positive."

The downside: Some "occasional" 3G signal dropping, especially on streets with highrise buildings and on the 34th floor of a building he tested in. This "may be why AT&T has yet to launch the product," he notes, and predicts that RIM won't offer the phone before it fixes the 3G signal problems, either via a software patch or something on AT&T's (T) end.

While we wouldn't advise waiting forever, we think this is a good move -- it's hard to see business users as patient with a flaky BlackBerry as many iPhone 3G owners have been while Apple and AT&T figure out their own signal problems.

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