BlackBerry Pearl Rings Into Action

Combining beauty with brains in the true sense, the Canadian manufacturer, Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), launched its first multimedia BlackBerry mobile phone on Thursday.

Deriving inspiration from the pearl-coloured navigation trackball, the tiny mobile device is named as Blackberry Pearl. Also known as the BlackBerry 8100, it is the advanced version of RIM’s first BlackBerry mobile launched in late 90’s.

Developed by Ontario,Canada based company , Wateroo, the device does away with the bulky looks and scrolls and instead intoduces sleek and slim looks with top most features. The set also features a built- in camera and MP3 playback capabilities. Insiders reveal that the company spent three years developing the device.

The phone weighs 3.1 ounces and measures just 4.2" x 1.97" x .57". The navigation track ball is positioned in front and center, and can be spun in any direction. All one needs to do is to click on the ball to make a selection.

The phone also features a speakerphone and Bluetooth 2.0 for use with hands-free headsets, car kits and other Bluetooth peripherals such as a GPS receiver.

The keyboard is akin to the quasi-QWERTY keyboard that RIM first developed for the BlackBerry 7100 line. The order of the letters is the same as that on a typewriter, but it has two letters per key across five vertical rows. This combination of letters has enabled RIM to shrink the Pearl's width by up to 50 percent from a full-keyboard BlackBerry.

Vis-à-vis the regular cell phone, where multi-tapping is required to choose among the three or four letters sharing most keys of the number pad, it's easier to pick one of the two letters on a Pearl key.

To make it more user friendy, the Pearl has incorporated the predictive SureType software. The software automatically suggests and chooses the likely letter combinations and words as one types. Going forward, the new versions of SureType will also analyze preceding words in a sentence to make its predictions.

The near perfect BlackBerry Pearl will be available from T-Mobile USA in the United States beginning September 12. In Canada and Europe it will be available beginning October.