The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

Pearl of the BlackBerry ocean?

8100 candybar to rival Samsung's new offering

Agentless Backup is Not a Myth

Here we are, spouting off about Samsung having a potential BlackBerry killer in the SGH-i600 and all along RIM has a smartphone in the works. Who'd have thought it?

Blackberry_pearl

The BlackBerry Pearl 8100 is a candybar that measures 107 x 50 x 14mm (HxWxD)and weighs a mere 89g. The 240 x 260 screen dimensions aren't given, but it looks to be a tad over two inches on the diagonal.

This BlackBerry doesn't have a thumbwheel, instead it uses a trackball navigation device from which the 8100 gets its Pearl name. The QWERTY keypad uses RIM's SureType technology. It's a Quad-band GSM/GPRS phone with EDGE. The Pearl also has 64MB flash memory and a MicroSD slot, a first on a BlackBerry device.

Other features include Bluetooth 2.0 and a 1.3 megapixel camera - again a first for a BlackBerry - with flash and 5x digital zoom. The Pearl has a media player and supports MP3 and ACC music files as well as MPEG4 and H.263 movie formats. Americans get BlackBerry maps, but we Europeans miss out.

Blackberry_pearl_angle

RIM has set up a dedicated website for the BlackBerry Pearl, which is available in the US from 12 September, and in Europe from October.

O2 will be the first network to offer the 8100 in the UK. ®

Customer Success Testimonial: Recovery is Everything

More from The Register

 breaking news
Curtain drops on Apple Store ahead of WWDC: What lies behind?
Steve Jobs watching from on high. No pressure, lads
 breaking news
Cold, dead hands of Steve Jobs slip from iPhones: The Cult of Ive is upon us
Billionaire biz baron's death clears way for uber-shiny iOS 7
Airbus imagines suitcases that find themselves
Point your mobe at your smalls to track their every move
First look: iOS 7 for iPad
No, Apple hasn't released it yet, but that doesn't stop intrepid devs
Surprise! Intel smartphone trounces ARM in power trials
Tests show equal performance while sipping significantly less juice
Apple said to be 'exploring' 5.7-inch iPhone
Who's the copycat this time, Mr. Cook?
Samsung plans LTE Advanced version of Galaxy S4
1Gbps download capability could stiffen drooping S4 sales forecasts
Review: Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock
Missing Mac ports reunited, for a price
 breaking news