RIM’s P’9981 Porsche Design BlackBerry Lands in Canada

Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion has officially introduced its P’9981 Porsche Design BlackBerry smartphone on the market in Canada

The handset was released in conjunction with the opening of the Porsche Design's Store in Yorkville Toronto, and it is available for purchase at this location with a price tag of $1890 (€1500) attached to it.

For those out of the loop, we should note that RIM designed the handset to be unique, with exclusive material choices, a forged stainless steel frame, hand-wrapped leather back cover, and a design that easily makes it recognizable as a Porsche Design device.

The handset sports a sculpted QWERTY keyboard, along with a crystal-clear touch display, as well as an exclusive Porsche Design interface. It also packs a Wikitude World Browser augmented reality app.

Additionally, it arrives with a premium, exclusive PIN meant to identify the customer as a holder of a Porsche Design P’9981 smartphone from BlackBerry.

“Porsche Design has been a symbol for Iconic Style since 1972. And the brand new P’9981 smartphone is a milestone product for Porsche Design,” said Dr. Juergen Gessler, CEO of the Porsche Design Group.

“It is a representation of the iconic Porsche Design styling philosophy and RIM’s technology-driven focus, which combine to deliver engineered luxury and powered performance in a smartphone for the discerning consumer.”

The specifications list of this device also includes a 1.2GHz application processor and Liquid Graphics technology, HD video recording capabilities, and built-in support for NFC (Near Field Communications), and 8GB of on-board memory, which can be expanded by up to 32Gb via microSD card slot.

The smartphone runs under the BlackBerry 7 operating system, providing users with high-performance phone, email, messaging and social apps.

“This collaboration stems from a shared belief that form equals function,” said Todd Wood, SVP for Industrial Design, Research In Motion. “The Porsche Design P’9981 is a truly modern luxury smartphone, where the timeless style of Porsche Design meets the unmatched mobile experience provided by BlackBerry.”