14 DAY TRIAL // Smartphone designer Research In Motion has just announced the launch of its new BlackBerry Pearl 3G (model 9105) handset, the smallest BlackBerry device at the moment, on the market in South Africa, when it would be released via MTN and Vodacom.
According to the company, the new device comes with a great deal of impressive features, even if it comes in a compact design.
The mobile phone measures 108mm x 50 mm x 13.3 mm and weighs only 93g, while including high-speed 3G (UMTS/HSDPA) networks, Wi-Fi (b/g/n) and GPS capabilities, not to mention its 624 Mhz processor with 256 MB Flash memory.
Other specs of the new device include a 3.2 MP camera with zoom, auto focus, flash and video recording, an optical trackpad for smooth navigation, dedicated media keys, and support for up to 32GB of storage space via microSD/SDHD memory card slot.
“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.”
The handset's screen boasts a 360 x 400 pixels resolution, while the built-in GPS receiver is complemented by location-based applications like BlackBerry Maps. It comes with a 14-key traditional phone keyboard.
Key features of the new BlackBerry Pearl 3G smartphone include:
- Media player for videos, pictures and music (music plays up to 30 hours), plus dedicated media keys integrated along top of the handset - 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
The new BlackBerry Pearl 3G (model 9105) sports support for tri-band UMTS/HSDPA and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks and includes a 1150 mAhr battery.
According to RIM, the new device is BlackBerry 6 ready, though it comes with BlackBerry 5 on board.