14 DAY TRIAL // Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion recently announced plans to make its BlackBerry Pearl 3G smartphone available for purchase in Latin America and the Caribbean, including countries like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. The phone should land in August and September in most markets, but specific availability and pricing should be unveiled by local carriers.
The new BlackBerry Pearl 3G should arrive in the area in two versions, the 9100 model with a 20-key condensed QWERTY keyboard, and the 9105 model, which features a 14-key traditional phone keyboard. Both flavors would pack the popular SureType software.
The Pearl 3G comes with a compact design, while packing a wide range of high-end features including BlackBerry email, messaging and social networking capabilities.
The specifications list of the new device includes support for tri-band UMTS/HSDPA and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks, Wi-Fi (b/g/n) connectivity, built-in GPS receiver, and Bluetooth 2.1 capabilities.
The handset is powered by a 624 Mhz processor with 256 MB Flash memory, and offer the possibility to add up to 32GB of external storage into the mix via microSD/SDHD memory card slot.
Additional specifications of the BlackBerry Pearl 3G include a 3.2-megapixel photo snapper, an optical trackpad for smooth navigation, dedicated keys for volume and media, and a 1150 mAhr battery that can offer up to 5.5 hours of talk time. The device measures 4.25 x 1.96 x 0.52 inches and weighs in at 3.3 oz.
“We are excited to introduce the smallest BlackBerry smartphone yet in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is an ideal choice for people who are looking to upgrade from a traditional cell phone to a powerful 3G handset,” said Rick Costanzo, Managing Director for Latin America, Research In Motion.
The BlackBerry Pearl 3G runs under RIM's BlackBerry 5 OS and is compatible with the new BlackBerry 6 platform, which was unveiled officially in the beginning of this month. The new OS should land on Pearl 3G in a matter of months.