Technology Development

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the release of the BlackBerry Pearl 3G, but with WES 2010 officially underway, the official announcement of this device has finally arrived.  If you have ever owned a Pearl before, you will be happy to know that RIM has made this device more powerful while still keeping true to the compact size it is known for. Hit the jump for the list of features and press release.



Press Release

RIM Introduces the New BlackBerry Pearl 3G Smartphone

What do you want in a mobile phone? Small? Stylist? Fast? Full-featured? How about all of the above?


Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today
announced the new BlackBerry® Pearl™ 3G, the smallest BlackBerry®
smartphone yet. Despite its impressively compact and elegant design,
this stylish new handset is a powerful 3G BlackBerry smartphone with
uncompromising performance and top–of-the-line features, including all
the industry-leading BlackBerry® email, messaging and social networking
capabilities that so many people love.

“The BlackBerry Pearl 3G is unlike any other smartphone in the world
and we expect a broad range of new and existing customers will be drawn
to its powerful features and compact design,” said Mike Lazaridis,
President and Co-CEO, Research In Motion. “Considering the fast growing
consumer interest in smartphones and the fact that more than
three-quarters of the people in the global mobile phone market are
still buying handsets with a traditional alphanumeric keypad, we think
the new BlackBerry Pearl 3G addresses a substantial market opportunity.
It allows consumers to upgrade their traditional mobile phone to a
full-featured, easy-to-use and fashionable 3G BlackBerry smartphone
that supports BlackBerry Messenger and many other apps while
maintaining a handset design and layout that is familiar and
comfortable.”

The new BlackBerry Pearl 3G smartphone is a marvel of engineering
and design excellence. It’s as powerful as it is compact. Measuring
less than two inches wide (50 mm) and weighing only 3.3 ounces (93g),
it still manages to pack in support for high-speed 3G (UMTS/HSDPA)
networks, Wi-Fi® (b/g/n) and GPS along with a powerhouse processor that
drives visually stunning images on the sharp, high-resolution display.
It also features an optical trackpad for smooth navigation, dedicated
volume and media keys for added convenience, a 3.2 MP camera with flash
for quality pictures on the go, and support for up to 32 GB of personal
content.



Key features of the new BlackBerry Pearl 3G smartphone include:

• Elegant candybar design measuring 4.25" x 1.96" x 0.52" (108mm x 50 mm x 13.3 mm) and weighing only 3.3 oz (93 grams)


• 624 Mhz processor with 256 MB Flash memory


• 360x400 sharp-resolution display (238 ppi)


• Optical trackpad that makes navigation fast and smooth, plus a comfortable keyboard that enables quick and accurate typing


• Media player for videos, pictures and music (music plays up to 30
  hours), plus dedicated media keys integrated along top of the handset


• 3.2 MP camera with zoom, autofocus, flash and video recording*


• Built-in GPS for location-based applications such as BlackBerry® Maps, as well as photo geotagging 


• Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) - first BlackBerry smartphone to support 'n'


• microSD/SDHD memory card slot that supports up to 32 GB cards


• Premium phone features, including voice activated dialing,
  speakerphone and Bluetooth® (2.1) with support for hands-free headsets,
  stereo headsets, car kits (including systems that support the emerging
  Bluetooth Message Access Profile standard) and other Bluetooth
  accessories


• Access to BlackBerry App World™, featuring a broad and growing
  catalog of mobile applications developed specifically for BlackBerry
  smartphones


• Support for BlackBerry® Media Sync for easily syncing photos as
  well as iTunes® and Windows Media® Player music with the smartphone** 


• BlackBerry® OS 5


• Support for tri-band UMTS/HSDPA and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks


• Removable, rechargeable 1150 mAhr battery that provides approximately 5.5 hours of talk time on 3G networks

The new BlackBerry Pearl 3G smartphone will be available in two models
and several lustrous colors. The 9100 model features a 20-key condensed
QWERTY keyboard and the 9105 model features a 14-key traditional phone
keyboard. Both models include SureType® software that can complete
words as the user types, making texting fast and accurate. The
BlackBerry Pearl 3G smartphone is expected to launch with various
carriers beginning in May. Check with individual carriers for details
about availability and pricing. For more information visit www.blackberry.com/pearl3G.

* Video recording requires a microSD card, which may be sold separately.

** Certain music files may not be supported, including files that
contain digital rights management technologies. Photo syncing is
currently only available for Windows-based PCs.