New BlackBerry Pearl 8820 launches in UK on O2

O2 has introduced the new BlackBerry Pearl 8120 smartphone in the UK only days before it does the same with the Apple iPhone. They certainly seem to be hoovering up the great exclusive deals at the moment, but of course, only for so long.

Here's the full press release from O2....

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 provides rich multimedia features together with all the popular functionality users have come to expect from the BlackBerry wireless solution.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 comes complete with a 2 megapixel digital camera with a 5x zoom and video capture capability, an externally accessible microSD/SDHC slot and Wi-Fi connectivity support. These new features, along with an enhanced visual interface, add to the renowned BlackBerry smartphone experience for email, phone, messaging (SMS, IM, MMS), web browsing, multimedia, organiser and other mobile applications.

Available in a sleek blue finish, the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 smartphone from O2 maintains its ultra-stylish design, measuring only 107mm x 55mm x 14mm and weighing approximately 91g.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 provides an exceptional user experience through its trackball navigation system and RIM's popular SureType keyboard system. SureType - which allows a narrower handset design while maintaining easy phone dialing and message typing - has been enhanced to allow word completion, easier editing of misspelled words and a built-in spell checker.

In addition to quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support, O2 customers can also enjoy the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 with faster web browsing and expanded wireless data coverage via Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) networks. To meet various security requirements for users accessing a Wi-Fi connection, the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 is compliant with Wi-Fi security protocols including WEP (Wireless Equivalency Protocol), WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and WPA2.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 comes with a 2 megapixel camera with 5x digital zoom and enhanced flash. The camera also supports video capture in two resolutions: 240×180 or 176×144 for sharing via MMS.

The media player now allows users to create and edit playlists right on the handset. Alternatively, users can manage their media files from their PC with the Roxio Media Manager for BlackBerry, which is included with the BlackBerry Desktop Manager software. The Roxio software was developed with Sonic and is based on the award-winning Roxio Easy Media Creator 9, making it easy for users to search for media files on their computer, view and organise them, create MP3 music files from CDs, create playlists, add audio tags and album art, and convert files for optimal playback.

Roxio Photosuite 9 LE is also included - this comprehensive tool makes it easy to create photo albums and edit pictures. Pictures can also be cropped, rotated and straightened, redeye can be removed, and brightness, contrast and saturation levels can all be changed.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 supports the Bluetooth stereo audio profile (A2DP/AVRCP), and comes with a standard 3.5 mm stereo headset jack so that users can plug in their preferred headphones or speakers. The handset also provides the convenience of an externally accessible microSD/SDHC memory card slot for additional storage of music, videos and pictures.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 also supports high-speed USB for transferring files between the handset and a PC at data throughput rates of up to 10MB/sec.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 features an enhanced visual interface that integrates a new font rendering technology which displays characters beautifully, with greater legibility at even the smallest point sizes. The new technology is evident throughout the visual interface, complementing the new look of the BlackBerry email client, calendar, address book, task list, memo pad and web browser, while also enhancing other applications.

The BlackBerry Browser is further improved with a new "Page View" option that displays a full web page on the screen along with a magnifying glass that allows the user to quickly and accurately point and zoom on a specific area of the web page. Users can also press and hold the trackball to toggle between the "Column View" (which presents the web page in a continuous column for easy reading and scrolling on the go) and the "Page View."

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 offers many convenient phone features including Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), Bluetooth 2.0 support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits and Bluetooth peripherals, dedicated 'send', ‘end', and ‘mute' keys, smart dialing, speed dialing, conference calling, call forwarding, a low-distortion speakerphone for hands-free conversations and support for polyphonic, mp3 and MIDI ring tones.

The smartphone also includes new features that improve phone audio quality including enhanced background noise, wind and echo cancellation for better performance in loud environments such as airports, restaurants or busy downtown streets. An ‘enhance call audio' feature also allows the user to boost the phone audio's bass or treble while on a call.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 is supported on BlackBerry Internet Service, giving users access to up to 10 supported work or personal email accounts (including most popular ISP email accounts), as well as BlackBerry Enterprise Server, enabling advanced security and IT administration within IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise environments.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 smartphone will be available from O2 UK at a range of prices subject to tariff from 5th November 2007.