RIM reveals BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220, not really striking

Today RIM officially announced its first phone to come in the clamshell form factor - the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220. In addition to the one-off Blackberry form factor the Pearl Flip 8220 packs a no-thrills overall functionality and large size but still very decent looks.

The highlights of the Blackberry Pearl Flip 8220 include the company proprietary OS, Wi-Fi connectivity (with UMA support) and the traditional trackball navigation. The SureType QWERTY keyboard is also on-board and so is a 3.5mm audio output jack. The internal display of the Pearl Flip 8220 features QVGA resolution and there is a secondary external display with a resolution of 128 x 160 pixels.

BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

The new BlackBerry Pearl Flip measures 101.1 x 50 x 17.5 mm and weighs 102 grams. The size puts it in the category of the bar-shaped Blackberries even when not opened so you can bet it's a large cellphone. The Pearl Flip supports microSD cards for expanding the internal memory. The final extras include a 2 megapixel camera with video recording capabilities, Bluetooth and USB v2.0.

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 will become available at the beginning of this fall. The pricing details are to be announced at a later date.