The brand new unveiled-today BlackBerry Pearl 3G is the first phone from RIM to come without a QWERTY keyboard.
RIM has announced the handset, launched during today’s WES2010 conference in Orlando, Florida, is the most compact device to-date.
And unlike the traditional keypad featured on other BlackBerry mobiles, the BlackBerry Pearl 3G has a standard alphanumerical keypad instead so the numbers also function as various letters. Normally, models use the QWERTY keyboard such as on the BlackBerry Bold 9700 or the semi-QWERTY keypad such as on the BlackBerry 7100.
The phone is only being released in Europe and the Middle East – the US will get the 20-key version rather than the 14-key model of the Pearl 3G.
Mike Lazaridis, president of RIM, said: “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.”
Compared to the Bold, the Pearl 3G is very little – weighing 93g versus 122g.
Speaking about the differences displayed on this newest BlackBerry, Mr Lazaridis said: “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.”
He added: “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 device also features an optical trackpad rather than the traditional trackball, a 3.2-megapixel camera, GPS, and support for 3G and Wi-Fi.
RIM is keen to widen the appeal of the BlackBerry which until recently has been seen as a business device.
So do you like the new-look BlackBerry? Or are you pining for that QWERTY keypad already?
To find out more on the BlackBerry Pearl 3G head to The Guardian UK.
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