Latest BlackBerry Pearl hits SA

Research In Motion today announced the new BlackBerry Pearl 3G (model 9105), the smallest BlackBerry smartphone yet. The new smartphone will soon be available from MTN and Vodacom for customers in South Africa.

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.

The new BlackBerry Pearl 3G smartphone is as powerful as it is compact. Measuring less than 50mm wide and weighing only 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 powerful processor that drives 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.

‚We expect a broad range of new and existing customers will be drawn to this smartphone’s unique combination of powerful features and compact design,‚ said Deon Liebenberg, Regional Director for Sub Sahara Africa at Research In Motion (RIM). ‚This fashionable phone packs in a wide range of advanced and easy-to-use features and includes a comfortable alphanumeric keyboard for quickly typing out messages.‚

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

Elegant candybar design measuring 108mm x 50 mm x 13.3 mm and weighing only 93 grams

624 Mhz processor with 256 MB Flash memory

360×400 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

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