14 DAY TRIAL // RIM's BlackBerry Pearl 8120 smartphone is now available in Canada, being offered by Rogers Wireless, the largest mobile carrier in the country. The first rumors about the release of 8120 in Canada appeared a few weeks ago, when the availability of HTC Shift was also unveiled.
The new Pearl 8120 offers support for Rogers' UMA service named "Home Calling Zone", which, according to the Northern carrier, offers users unlimited voice calls, but only via a wireless Internet connection. Furthermore, the smartphone brings Wi-Fi connectivity, a sure-type QWERTY keypad, document viewer, push-email, HTM browser, Instant Messaging, a 2.0 Megapixel camera with flash and video recording, Music player, a 3.5mm headset jack, expandable memory (up to 8GB) and so on.
Talking about the latest Pearl smartphone to be offered to Canadian users, John Boynton, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Rogers, said: "Rogers Wireless is proud to add the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 to our extensive lineup of BlackBerry phones, and especially to our innovative Home Calling Zone service, a Canadian first. With the UMA-enabled BlackBerry Pearl 8120, not only will our customers have the benefits of RIM's world-renowned push email solution, they can also experience the flexibility and convenience using their BlackBerry phone for both home and away, with Rogers Home Calling Zone."
Mark Guibert, Vice President, Corporate Marketing at Research In Motion, completed: "In addition to Wi-Fi connectivity for both voice and data, the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 smartphone offers rich multimedia features and the industry's leading mobile messaging capabilities in an amazingly compact and stylish design. The Rogers Home Calling Zone service adds another valuable dimension to the customer experience and helps make the new BlackBerry Pearl 8120 an ideal phone for both personal and business use."
The free-of-contract price of BlackBerry Pearl 8120 is of 349.99 Canadian dollars (about 345 USD), but with a contract agreement for 3 years the 8120 can be acquired for only 149.99 CAD. The smartphone is available in only one color (titanium, more exactly), either from Rogers' website (at this address), or from its retail stores across Canada.