RIM unveils new BlackBerry Pearl

Research in Motion revealed Thursday the latest in its line of BlackBerry mobile devices, the first aimed squarely at the consumer market.

The new BlackBerry Pearl is the first handheld device from the company to include a digital camera, a media player and a slot for a MicroSD memory card to store songs, photos and video games - the sort of recreational functions that RIM has stoically deemed nonessential or even counterproductive for the corporate user market.

The Pearl is smaller than even some traditional cellphones, but incorporates RIM's e-mail, instant messaging and PDA applications.

The Pearl is named for the glowing trackball pointing device, placed just under the colour screen. The trackball is a departure for the BlackBerry, famous for its side-mounted clickable wheel. Where hardcore BlackBerry owners use keystroke shortcuts along with the side wheel to navigate menus and on-screen information, the trackball can be spun in any direction and then clicked to make a selection. The ball uses magnetic, rather than physical, sensors to avoid getting gummed up over time.

The Pearl features a few other firsts for a BlackBerry, including a dedicated menu key and the volume buttons on the side that are typical on most cellphones. There's also built-in Bluetooth technology for wireless headphones.

The new device uses a modified QWERTY keyboard with two letters on each key, previously seen on the BlackBerry 7100 series. The letters are laid out in the same order as on a typewriter, but it's two letters per key across five vertical rows, rather than the one letter per key across 10 rows on a full-sized BlackBerry and other QWERTY devices. That compromise enables RIM to shrink the Pearl's width by about 50 per cent from a full-keyboard BlackBerry.

RIM has updated its predictive SureType software, which automatically suggests and chooses likely letter combinations and words as you type. Over time, SureType "learns" from the phrasings and spellings you pick, as well as the contents of incoming e-mail. The new version of SureType also analyzes preceding words in a sentence to make its predictions.

The Pearl has 64 megabytes of built-in memory, but has expandable storage capacity through its a MicroSD slot. The slot is located in the battery compartment, which means the battery must be removed to swap cards.

The BlackBerry Pearl will be available Tuesday in the U.S. through cellphone company T-Mobile, where it will sell for $300 US or less, depending on the contract.

In Canada, the Pearl will be available in October through Rogers Wireless. Pricing has not yet been set.

In other news, Nokia announced a new BlackBerry-like device called the E62, available Thursday from Rogers Wireless.

Nokia also announced Thursday that future cellphones will be given names rather than model numbers, in response to the popularity of Motorola's Razr and LG's Chocolate cellphones.