The slimmest handset from Canada-based Research In Motion's stable gets its name from the pearl-like trackball of the device.
The 'BlackBerry Pearl 8100' is stylish, sleek, slim and elegant but thinner than the recently-launched 8700g (weighing 4.7 oz, measuring 2.8 in x 0.8 in x 4.3 inch), weighing 3.1 oz, with a 0.6 inch in thickness, 2 inch wide and a length of 4.2 inches. The Pearl is also lighter than a Motorola RAZR V3M in closed position, and packs a real punch.
The quad-band worldphone is one of the rarest candy-bar smartphones in the world. It has many firsts to its credit, compared with other BlackBerry devices, starting with its candy-bar look. This stands out in contrast to the parallelogram or oval looks of a conventional BlackBerry.
The model also has a personal media player with music, video and camera -- a definite attempt by RIM to move out of the corporate circuit and target the growing segment of young mobile users across the world.
It has a QWERTY keyboard, but with a difference. Here each key handles two letters and uses predictive text to support typing. For someone accustomed to a BlackBerry prayer, a surreptitious glance downwards to read or send e-mails, the keyboard would be a bit of a hassle as each key has a double or triple function.
It plays MP3 music, supports polyphonic, WAV, MP3 and MIDI files, enables storing and displaying of images, and handles audio-visual files. It can connect to a laptop over wireless, might be the first BlackBerry device to sport Bluetooth technology, and can be used as a remote control for powerpoint presentation or a slide show.
Bluetooth could also be used for a wireless headset that is available with the device. The Pearl also supports EDGE that pushes data three times faster than GPRS, enables web browsing and internet faxing.
Pearl has a 1.3 megapixel camera and a built-in flash that enables the user to take pictures. With the Nokia (N-series), Motorola and Sony Ericsson rolling out 2 megapixel camera phones, a 1.3 megapixel would have to be termed as "average". A major drawback is that the phone does not permit recording of video images.
Pearl features RIM's push e-mail system. Like the BlackBerry 8700g, Pearl also supports upto 10 POP3 or IMAP4 e-mail accounts, with an easy set up and simple to use methodology.
This enables a user to sync with his company's server with support for Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, or Novell GroupWise to deliver corporate e-mail in real time. Like other RIM handsets, Pearl enables viewing of MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Acrobat documents that come as e-mail attachments. However, editing it is not possible.
Personal Information Management applications are also available on Pearl -- like address book, calendar and event manager -- standard features on all smart phones and handheld devices. Pearl has an exception, as it allows wireless synchronisation of PIM with the BlackBerry Enterprise Server that is the office server.
Among another firsts is the memory card slot of the handset. The extendable memory is handy when the user has to extra files. Pearl is the first BlackBerry handset with a memory card. The Pearl sports a 2.25-inch TFT screen that displays 65,000 colours at a 240 x 260 resolution.
Last but not the least, Pearl would be the first BlackBerry device to support voice dialing, and considering BlackBerry handsets were a runaway success, selling over 6.29 million pieces worldwide, this could also be a box-office hit.
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