BlackBerry Pearl: it is official

location based services

After months of speculations, this is now official. The new BlackBerry Pearl will be available with T-Mobile beginning Tuesday, September 12. RIM even launched a dedicated site for the event, http://www.blackberrypearl.com
Front and Back view of new Pearl
Front and Back view of new Pearl
Side view of new Pearl
Side view of new Pearl

The Pearl specifications are listed below:

• BlackBerry Internet Service™ - allows access to up to 10 personal and corporate email accounts, including most popular ISP email accounts

• Popular instant messaging clients: AOL®, Yahoo!® MSN® and ICQ®
• 1.3 megapixel camera with 3 zoom levels (up to 5X) and built-in flash
• Multimedia player with stereo headset jack for MP3 and AAC music files, as well as MPEG4 and H.263 video formats
• High performance HTML browser for visiting your favorite web sites while on the go
• A newly enhanced version of RIM’s popular SureType™ keyboard technology that makes typing email quick and easy
• An incredibly intuitive user interface with an easy-to-use trackball, dedicated ‘menu’ and ‘escape’ keys, and context-sensitive menus that make navigation feel instinctive and fast
• Intuitive call management features such as smart dialing, conference calling, speed dialing, and call forwarding
• First-rate phone features with Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), dedicated ’send’, ‘end’, and ‘mute’ keys, speakerphone, and Bluetooth® support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits and Bluetooth peripherals
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS and EDGE network support for international roaming

• BlackBerry Maps – a new application which adds mapping and location based services to the BlackBerry Pearl. BlackBerry Maps works together with other BlackBerry applications enabling users to send maps via email and launch maps from other applications, including contacts in your address book
• Support for polyphonic, mp3 and MIDI ring tones
• A large, ultra-bright 240×260 color display that brings images to life
• An innovative light-sensing technology that automatically optimizes the screen, trackball and keyboard lighting for indoor, outdoor and dark environments
• 64MB built-in flash memory, expandable via MicroSD expansion slot
• BlackBerry Enterprise Server™ support – integrates with Microsoft® Exchange, IBM Lotus® Domino® and Novell GroupWise® environments and features a new set of IT policy controls for IT departments to administer camera and expansion memory settings.