BlackBerry Pearl

Infobox Mobile phone

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imagesize = 200
name = BlackBerry Pearl
screen = 240x260 pixels, 65.536 Color TFT LCD (8100 series)
240x320 and 128x160 TFT LCD (8220)
ringtone = Polyphonic Sound (72 voices), Real tones (MP3)
memory = 64MB (8100 series) or 128MB (8220) Internal, MicroSD slot
networks = CDMA (8130 only), EDGE (GSM models), GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 (8100, 8110, 8120, 8220), Wi-Fi (8120 and 8220 only)
connectivity = Bluetooth, IrDAFact|date=July 2008, USB (with Mass Storage Mode support)
network data connectivity = EDGE, GPRS
size = 107 x 51 x 15 mm
weight = 90.7g
form = Bar (8100 series),
Flip (8220)

The BlackBerry Pearl (8100 / 8110 / 8120 / 8130 / 8220) is a mobile phone developed by Research In Motion, and the first BlackBerry device with a camera and media player. It was originally released September 12th 2006. T-Mobile was the first US carrier to release the phone as a carrier device.

Specifications

* Dimensions (W x D x H): 2 in x 0.6 in x 4.2 in
* Weight: 3.2 oz
* Talk Time: Up to 210 Minutes (3.5 hours)
* Standby time: Up to 360 hours (15 days)

The Pearl comes with the following standard features [BlackBerry Pearl. http://www.blackberrypearl.com] :
* 1.33 (8100 version) or 2.0 (8110/8120/8130) megapixel camera with flash, self portrait mirror, and 15x digital zoom
* Media player with support for MP3, AAC, AMR, polyphonic MIDI and WAV sound formats
* Media player with support for MPEG-4 and H.263 video formats
* Bluetooth 2.0
* Wi-Fi Access(only for 8120)
* High-Speed Cypress West Bridge USB (8120 and 8130)
* Address book and calendar
* Web browser
* BlackBerry Maps (8130 and 8110)
* Push e-mail
* Voice Dialing
* Speakerphones
* SMS and MMS text messaging (However, MMS requires full internet service)
* Instant messaging
* Supports up to 4GB MicroSD Note: 4GB microSDHC chip requires May 2007 or later OS. With the 8130 upgrades to 32GB microSD expansion

The BlackBerry Pearl is aimed towards both business users and consumers. Its advertising campaign features several people including Mariska Hargitay and Douglas Coupland.

The BlackBerry Pearl provides Quad-Band network support on 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS and EDGE networks to allow for international roaming between North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. The BlackBerry 8130 includes EV-DO high speed CDMA data capabilities and the BlackBerry 8120 is the first Pearl model to support Wi-Fi.

BlackBerry Pearl 8120 and 8130 have one of the world's finest USB sideloading performance.Fact|date=August 2008 Their sideloading architecture upgrade from 8100 provides them with Hi-Speed USB and ultra fast connection to the microSD card, capable of transferring 1GB file in less than 70 seconds - over 16Mbyte/stransfer rate. As seen in the following EETimes article [Under the Hood: BlackBerry wins handset data-rate bakeoff http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=203101718] - this transfer speed significantly surpasses that of the iPhone, Motorola RAZR or Sony Ericsson Walkman. Per the article, this is because 8120/8130 uses the Antioch chip from Cypress Semiconductor - a Westbridge peripheral controller enabling "direct connection between peripherals, creating ultra-fast transfers".

BlackBerry Pearl 8220

The BlackBerry Pearl 8220, formerly known as the BlackBerry KickStart, is an unreleased flip phone. [http://gizmodo.com/385970/kickstart-first-blackberry-flip-phone-needs-a-kick-in-the-design-pants] [http://www.htlounge.net/article/6588/14999-for-blackberry-pearl-8220-flip/]

Comparison with other BlackBerry devices

Most BlackBerry devices have a full keyboard. The Pearl uses a modified QWERTY layout on a 4-row, 5-column keypad, with a predictive input algorithm known as SureType. The unique phone is one of a kind in securing SureType technology. It is the only modern BlackBerry to support SureType, after the 7100 series. The Pearl supports the full range of BlackBerry enterprise functionality.

Unlike previous BlackBerry devices, the Pearl includes a music player, camera, as well as other multimedia functions. It requires the purchase of a MicroSD memory card to support storage of multimedia files beyond the 64MB provided internally.

Most notably, the Pearl uses a translucent trackball instead of the traditional BlackBerry scroll wheel, which facilitates horizontal scrolling. The back lit colour of the 8100 trackball is controlled by a series of LEDs; the 8130 trackball is lit only in white. [Gizmodo. Accessed 14 May 2007. http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/cellphones/diy-change-the-color-of-blackberry-pearl-trackball-239814.php]

The Pearl is currently available with Cellcom, Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T Mobility, Cincinnati Bell Wireless, Verizon Wireless, Alltel, US Cellular, Centennial Wireless, MOSH Mobile, nTelos, Cellular One and Cellular South in the United States; TIM, Vodafone and Wind in Italy; Turkcell and Avea in Turkey; Claro in Brazil, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico; Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Communications in India, Vodacom and MTN in South Africa; Telcel in Mexico; Rogers Wireless, Telus, SaskTel, MTS, TBayTel, Bell Mobility and Virgin Mobile Canada in Canada; Telstra, Optus and Vodafone in Australia; KPN and Vodafone in the Netherlands; Globe Telecom in the Philippines; Grameenphone in Bangladesh; Vodafone in New Zealand; SingTel in Singapore; Mobilink in Pakistan and all networks in the UK.

For a list of all Pearl models, see List of BlackBerry Products.

External links

* [http://www.blackberrypearl.com/ BlackBerry Pearl] (official site)
* [http://www.blackberry.com/blackberrypearl/specifications.shtml BlackBerry Specifications]
* [http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2009811,00.asp Consumer-focused review of the BlackBerry Pearl] by "PC Magazine"
* [http://www.itweek.co.uk/2165874 Business-focused review of the BlackBerry Pearl] by "IT Week"
* [http://www.wikispecs.org/index.php?title=RIM_BlackBerry_Pearl_8130 BlackBerry Pearl 8130 at WikiSpecs]
* [http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=203101718 Under the Hood: BlackBerry wins handset data-rate bakeoff]
* Featured in PCWorld.ca's round-up of [http://www.pcworld.ca/news/column/29acec7f0a010408014218758ce82110/pg1.htm Top Canadian Smartphones and Cell Phones]

References