Whenever an interesting handheld is announced - usually not officially - every now and then more information regarding the handheld pops up.

In this case, some leaked photos of the thin and stylish brother of the Blackberry Pearl, Blackberry 8800, have appeared. The 8800, also known as the Gamma Ray, looks just as nice as it was expected to look, comes with a track ball instead of a track wheel on the side and a new narrow QWERTY keyboard design that is said to combine form and function.

The handheld is equipped with a large 320 x 240 pixel screen, 1.3 megapixel camera with 5x digital zoom, flash and video recording capabilities, support for audio and video playback and streaming, media player, WiFi and Bluetooth. A 64MB internal memory is provided for file storage.

The internal memory can be expanded with the help of the MicroSD memory card slot also included, so the ones that need to store a lot of music or other files on their handheld will not be disappointed by the Blackberry 8800. Other features such as advanced noise and echo cancellation and stereo headset support add to a great phone experience and ensure a strong appeal of the handheld to a broader segment of users.

There is still no information regarding the Blackberry 8800's price or availability, although the handheld is rumored to be released in the first quarter of 2007. And since photos of the handheld are already out, it won't be long before Research In Motion makes an official announcement.