Portable Planet

iPhone, SchmiPhone. There’s stillno handheld device that comes close to the addictiveness of a good old fashioned BlackBerry. And this is coming from a person who owns a DS Lite.

The latest and the greatest has arrived, thinner than Kate Bosworth and it comes with what Ms. Bosworth is sorely lacking — a full QWERTY keyboard. The Cingular/RIM job details follow.

Research In Motion(RIM) and AT&T today introduced the thinnest BlackBerry handset yet. The BlackBerry 8800 incorporates a full QWERTY keyboard and offers customers a unique blend of performance and elegance. AT&T will be the first wireless carrier in North America to launch the BlackBerry 8800 when it begins offering it across its wireless retail and business channels on February 21.

The BlackBerry 8800 from AT&T has an exclusive, premium, dark blue finish and AT&T uniquely supports Push To Talk (PTT) on the handset. It features built-in GPS (Global Positioning System), a first for an AT&T-enabled BlackBerry handset. The BlackBerry 8800 also incorporates RIM’s new trackball navigation system for fast and intuitive navigation, as well as a media player and a microSD expandable memory slot for storage of music and videos.

The BlackBerry 8800 offers proven and popular BlackBerry features including support for phone, email, text messaging, web browser, organizer, corporate data applications and more. Operating on AT&T’s high-speed nationwide* EDGE wireless data network, the quad-band BlackBerry 8800 also gives customers the ability to make phone calls in more than 200 countries and access email and other data applications in over 120 countries.**
“The BlackBerry 8800 represents the most innovative design to date for a full keyboard BlackBerry handset,” said Jeff Bradley, vice president, wireless business data services, for AT&T. “It is thin and stylish, and in addition to providing access to work and personal email it offers new features for increased productivity, without compromising the power and functionality that make BlackBerry an outstanding wireless communications tool for our customers.”

“The BlackBerry 8800 is a high-performance, high-quality handset with a truly discriminating design,” said Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO at RIM. “The BlackBerry 8800 is optimized to satisfy the most demanding mobile professionals with its thin profile, premium finish, full-featured phone and best-in-class application performance. AT&T’s BlackBerry users will also be pleased to see a range of new features available with this full keyboard handset, including a trackball navigation system, Push To Talk, media player and built-in GPS.”

AT&T boasts the largest Push To Talk network in America and its PTT service includes several differentiating features, including “availability” icons, quick group calling and the ability to easily switch a PTT session to a regular wireless voice call.

The BlackBerry 8800 features built-in GPS and supports location-based services applications. AT&T customers can receive turn-by-turn voice and on- screen driving directions on the BlackBerry 8800 with the award-winning TeleNav GPS Navigator(TM). On the BlackBerry 8800, TeleNav GPS Navigator can be used in vehicles or while walking and offers colorful 3D moving maps. Customers can also download TeleNav Maps(TM), a free application providing access to non-GPS static maps and step-by-step written driving directions. The BlackBerry 8800 also is suited ideally for industry-specific applications, such as AT&T’s wireless field service solutions powered by Corrigo and sales force automation applications from Antenna Software.

The new BlackBerry 8800 from AT&T also includes: An intuitive user interface with an easy-to-use trackball, dedicated ‘menu’ and ‘escape’ keys, and context-sensitive menus that make navigation feel instinctive and fast Robust call management features such as smart dialing, conference calling, speed dialing, and call forwarding Premium phone features with noise cancellation for enhanced audio performance, Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), dedicated ’send’, ‘end’, and ‘mute’ keys, low-distortion speakerphone, and Bluetooth(R) support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits and Bluetooth peripherals Support for polyphonic, MP3 and MIDI ring tones An ultra-bright, high resolution (320 x 240) landscape display - images appear vivid and crisp An innovative light-sensing technology that automatically optimizes the screen, trackball and keyboard lighting for indoor, outdoor and dark environments High performance HTML browser for visiting favorite web sites while on the go Multimedia player with stereo headset jack for MP3 and AAC music files, as well as MPEG4 and H.263 video formats 64MB built-in flash memory, expandable through microSD expansion slot An ultra-thin, high-capacity battery BlackBerry(R) Internet Service support - allows access to up to 10 supported personal and corporate email accounts, including most popular ISP email accounts BlackBerry(R) Enterprise Server support - integrates with Microsoft(R) Exchange, IBM Lotus(R) Domino(R) and Novell GroupWise(R) environments and features a new set of IT policy controls for managing the BlackBerry 8800’s features and usage.

The BlackBerry 8800 also comes with a complement of accessories headset, travel charger, holster, and USB cable that are included in the box. Additional accessories for BlackBerry handsets, including premium leather holsters and totes, an automotive charger, and Bluetooth(R) headsets are available online and through retail outlets.

Pricing and Availability

The BlackBerry 8800 from AT&T will be available for as low as $299.99 with a two-year commitment and after rebates in AT&T retail stores nationwide, on www.cingular.com/blackberry8800 and through AT&T’s wireless B2B sales organization. Unlimited corporate email access via BlackBerry is as low as $44.99 a month with a voice contract. Customers interested in only unlimited personal email access and Web browsing with BlackBerry(R) Internet Service can choose the BlackBerry Personal Plan for as low as $29.99 a month with a voice contract. Unlimited AT&T Push to Talk service is available for an additional monthly charge of $9.99 per device and $19.99 for Push to Talk Family. AT&T Push to Talk also features a pay-per-use option of $.15 per minute. TeleNav GPS Navigator is available for additional monthly charges of $5.99 for 10 trips and $9.99 for unlimited trips.