Check out AT&T's FREE camera phonesFlipping out: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 debuts
RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8220
(Credit: RIM)While the fall CTIA show isn't really known for handset announcements, Research in Motion paid no mind and started the show off with a bang by introducing the RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 on Tuesday night. While much of the attention has turned to the rumored BlackBerry Thunder as of late, the Pearl Flip 8220 shouldn't be forgotten, as it's the first BlackBerry to sport a clamshell design.
The flip phone, which comes in black or red, measures 3.9-inches high by 1.9-inches wide by 0.6-inch deep and weighs 3.5 ounces. It features a 65,536-color, 128x160 pixel external display and front-facing 2-megapixel camera, while you get a 65,536-color, 240x320-pixel TFT display on the inside. As part of the Pearl series, you get the SureType keyboard (groan) and trackball navigator. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 also comes equipped with a 3.5mm headphone jack and an external microSD expansion slot.
Moving onto features, the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; GPRS/EDGE) Pearl Flip 8220 offers true world roaming, a speakerphone, smart dialing, and background-noise cancellation. Wireless options include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support. There's no GPS, but the BlackBerry Maps application is onboard to at least provide you with maps and text-based directions.
Supported e-mail solutions include BlackBerry Enterprise, Microsoft Exchange, IMB Lotus, Novell GroupWise as well as POP3 and IMAP4 accounts. There's also an attachment viewer for Word, Excel, PowerPoint files, PDFs, and JPG images.
(Credit: RIM)When you're done working, you can enjoy MP3, WMA, AAC, MPEG4, WMV, and other music and video formats with the built-in media player. In addition, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 has a 2-megapixel camera with flash and video-recording capabilities.
In all, there aren't a whole lot of surprises, as the smartphone keeps very much in line with the RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8120. Research in Motion was a little vague as to release date, but it will be offered by carriers worldwide sometime this fall and the company did confirm that T-Mobile will be one of the U.S. carriers. No word on pricing.
Now, here's the question: Will the flip-phone form factor work for BlackBerry? There's only been a handful of smartphones to come in the clamshell design, such as the Pantech PN-820, but they never seem to really take off. Will the RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 be any different?
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Bonnie Cha is a senior editor for CNET, covering smartphones and GPS. When she's not testing the latest gadgets, you can find her chasing after her crazy lab or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California. E-mail Bonnie.
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I wish the author had not "groaned" about the Pearl keyboard. Naturally, everyone has his/her preferences, but if you give the Pearl keyboard and SureType a fair chance, you might just find it's SUPERIOR to a full QWERTY keyboard. Hard to believe? Well, for me it IS superior--by only a little bit. And it definitely provides for a much smaller form factor for the phone. That's my big attraction to the Pearl--it's not the size of a Pop-Tart.
To see more of my opinions about the Pearl (and Curve and Bold), please check out my website at http://newBBie.com. For example, I have a series of tutorials on the Pearl keyboard and SureType that I hope demonstrates how cool it is.
Kelly Carter
http://newBBie.com
P.S.--I also own a BlackBerry Curve 8330, and love it, too. Still waiting for the Bold from Verizon.
(Don't get me wrong, I think blackberries are decent devices but Balsillie dropped the ball big-time)
As for the clam-shell, there are a lot of people who like clam-shell phones - in my experience women seem to prefer this type - thus there is a market.
I speak from experience...I used to be the biggest clamshell fiend, especially the StarTAC. Before the significant rise in cell carriers I would only deal with clamshell phones because they looked good. The candybar style just didn't do it for me.
As I got older I started to realize that the clamshells always had terrible reception compared to their candybar brothers, for whatever reason. This was especially true with Nokia phones - reception top notch even though they were ugly.
I think this flip Blackberry is "cool looking", but I wouldn't buy it. I much prefer the Pearl.
Still not sure if I'll get this one, since it's missing 3G and GPS, but it's the first BB that I'm tempted on.
Why I don't want the flip: Not much else seems improved. As Eddie points out, the phone is not really a world phone - 3G and UMTS would fix this, but BB hasn't seen fit to offer this in the Pearl (as a small device it may not have enough space for the appropriate battery, and Pearls run down very quickly with only 2.5G radios, even if you keep them out of your pocket and keep the WiFi off).
Waiting for a faster version....
I'm still using an old Samsung SPH-i500 because I haven't been able to find another smart phone that fits securely in the watch pocket of my jeans. It's taken a heck of a beating over the years, and if it hadn't been a clamshell design, protecting the screen and the keypad, it would have failed long ago. Though I'm no fan of the Crackberry in general, this is the first smart phone I've seen in a long time that I'm interested in.
I have to use Blackberry for Business, and iPhone for everything else.
RIM's OS is way superior than Windows Mobile. Windows Mobile SUCKS big time.
I did not have much problems with the new 3G iPhone except for frequent switches between 3G and EDGE.
The World Smart Phone market has room for three players. Theses are Apple, Nokia and RIMM. Everyone else will die a slow death.
Check the fine print in the Pearl's safety manual under "radio frequency" or FCC compliance...ooops, this important safety information may be "hidden" on the disk that comes with the phone. And, who the heck looks there for a PDF file with crucial safety information embedded in it?
Although the bold captivated me with it's stylish looks and fast processor, I'm not an AT&T customer, and I realized that candy bar phones are not what I really like (even though I've had them for the last 3 years, sadly they seem to make all the most powerful/capable phones candy bar shaped). Being a verizon customer, I looked at the thunder, which looks amazing, but lack of wifi and full touch screen turned me off a little. I'd have to see it when it comes out, but I like a physical keyboard to some degree, and once again, its the same shape.
Now I just kind of walked past this flip phone and didn't look back until now...I've been seeing people with blackberry pearls and thinking they look pretty nice, and then I realized that my favorite type of phone is really a clamshell. Having the phone reach your ear and mouth at the same time is so nice, as is having an external screen to quickly check time and messages, and the fact that the phone itself protects the screen. My main concern is that I've never used a suretype keyboard.
I'm now really looking forward to this blackberry, but what's up with it not supporting 3G? Wifi is a huge plus, and I hope it comes to Verizon as well as T-Mobile when it's released. Any new news on this phone, or any blackberries for that matter? Sorry for the long post!