14 DAY TRIAL // While most of the BlackBerry fans are waiting for the availability of the high-end Bold 9000 smartphone, RIM is getting ready to release another new handset - BlackBerry 8220/8210. This is the smartphone known as BlackBerry KickStart, the first one to come from the Canadian manufacturer in a clamshell form factor.
BlackBerry KickStart will not be as advanced as the Bold, but RIM has still packed in it a set of features that can make it a good smartphone.
The KickStart has recently appeared in a new hands-on video, where lots of its features are detailed. For example, we can see that the handset runs on the latest BlackBerry 4.6 OS, like the BlackBerry Bold 9000. Moreover, the KickStart comes with a sure-type QWERTY keypad, similar with the one found on RIM's Pearl series, but way bigger. The keypad's large dimensions make the KickStart a perfect smartphone to write messages or e-mails on.
The full list of features that BlacKberry KickStart will bring includes a 240 x 320 pixel internal display, a 160 x 128 pixel external hidden display, a 2 Megapixel camera with flash and video recording, a 3.5mm headset jack, full HTML browser, Music and Video players, pre-installed games (like Sudoku and Klondike), about 80MB of internal memory, microSD card slot and quad-band GSM connectivity with GPRS and EDGE (no 3G unfortunately). The 8220 version of the smartphone will also include Wi-Fi, while the 8210 version will trade that for built-in GPS.
Rumors say that RIM will first release the BlackBerry KickStart in the US, via T-Mobile, for a decent price (around $50 with a contract agreement for two years). While waiting for this to be officially confirmed, we invite you to view the 8-minute long KickStart hands-on video (courtesy of CrackBerry):