RIM Announces BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

The rumors of a RIM flip phone can now be put to rest. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 has been formally announced and makes for the first major form factor change for a RIM device since the addition of the Pearl and its SureType/candybar design.

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 iwill be a quad-band GSM smartphone. It will feature a 320-by-240-pixel (QVGA) internal screen and a SureType keyboard.

The outside of the Pearl Flip will feature an additional screen, a 2.0 megapixel camera, and the ability to control various features of the Pearl Flip through hardware buttons. A 900 mAh battery and the microSDHC memory card slot (supports up to 16 GB cards) will sit behind the keyboard.

Additional wireless features will include Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11b Wi-Fi with UMA support, and assisted-GPS.

In addition to the BlackBerry email and messaging software, DataViz's Documents to Go, BlackBerry Media Sync, BlackBerry Maps, and an enhanced HTML web browser will also come with the device. Voice-activated dialing, background noise cancellation, support for MP3 ringtones, and and enhanced speakerphone round out the features of the 8220.

Device management platforms include the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS), BlackBerry Unite!, BlackBerry Professional Software and BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) platforms. The normal suite of device management utilities (such as deployment, remote activation/deactivation, remote wipe, and more) will be able to be applied to Pearl Flip users as with other BlackBerry devices.

It will comes with a variety of accessories including a stereo headset, travel charger, and USB cable.

Availability

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 has not been announced for any specific carriers at this time.

It is assumed that T-Mobile USA will be one of the first carriers to offer it, given its similar feature set to other BlackBerry offerings from this carrier and the fact that T-Mobile is the featured carrier on the BlackBerry Pearl Flip website.

Price information has not been released.

For more information, visit the BlackBerry Pearl website.