RIM was pretty quiet about the pricing and exact availability of its new BlackBerry OS 7 devices when they launched in London last week. Today, however, the flagship BlackBerry Bold 9900 has popped its head above water and gone on pre-order on the Vodafone UK website.

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 will be available from next week, 16 August, but will hit your wallet hard for two-years if you want to get a free handset. The Bold 9900 will be available for free on a two-year contract at £41-a-month from Vodafone, which seems rather pricey to us considering you can get a free Samsung Galaxy S II on a £30-a-month contract.

Alternatively you will be able to nab the first BB OS 7 device for half the price per month but you’ll have to stump up £399 initially to purchase the handset. Over the course of the two-year contract the first option will set you back £984 while the second option will set you back £891 – so if you have a spare £400 lying around the second option is just about the better bet.

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 is powered by a 1.2GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 processors with Liquid Graphics, has 768MB of RAM and most importantly, will run the new operating system, BlackBerry OS7. It will record 720p video, has built-in GPS, an accelerometer, and a 1,230mAh battery. According to RIM, Liquid Graphics is “the product of a really significant piece of research and development” and makes the phone feel quicker and more responsive.

The Vodafone website seems to be currently experiencing difficulties (possibly due to everyone trying to snap up this *cough* bargain) but we’ll keep an eye on it to see if the Bold 9900 is still available when it’s back up.