AT&T and Research In Motion (RIM) today announced the BlackBerry Pearl 8120, a global handset with built-in Wi-Fi. The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 features a large, ultra-bright 240 x 260 px display that supports more than 65K-colors – measures just 4.2″ x 2.4″ x 0.5″ and weighs 3.2 ounces. Combining BlackBerry email and messaging capabilities, the Pearl 8120 includes RIM’s SureType keyboard with word completion, built-in spell-checker and user-customized dictionary – as well as simultaneous voice and data access when connected to a Wi-Fi network.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 also features multimedia capabilities, including a 2.0-megapixel camera with video recorder, an advanced media player, a 3.5-mm stereo headset jack, externally accessible microSD / SDHC memory slot for additional storage and Bluetooth 2.0, with support for headsets, car kits, stereo headsets and other Bluetooth accessories. The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 also provides support for Wi-Fi 802.11b/g networks, giving customers access to public hot spots, corporate wireless local area networks and home Wi-Fi networks.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 can keep users who are abroad connected with wireless email, Internet access and other mobile applications through data services with data-roaming in more than 145 countries. Customers can also use the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 to make or receive voice calls in more than 200 countries.

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Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) on Wednesday unveiled five new BlackBerry phones with touch screens, as it hopes to revive the line’s dwindling appeal in the face of competition from the iPhone and Android smart-phones. The new phones had been expected earlier this year, but were delayed. Though the company is profitable and seeing growing sales worldwide, it is increasingly seen as a has-been that missed the chance to parlay the BlackBerry’s popularity as a corporate email device into mass-market dominance. The new BlackBerry touch-screen devices to be launched is aimed to change the situation.

RIM, which is based in Waterloo, Ontario, is updating its high-end Bold models to include touch screens. It’s also launching two Torch models with big screens but no physical keyboards, mimicking the basic design of the iPhone. RIM launched a keyboard-less touch-screen phone called the Storm in 2008, more than a year after the first iPhone, but the Storm’s quirky design and poor software made it a flop in the market.

“The ‘all-touchscreen’ Torch has been a while coming as a natural successor to the disappointing Storm, particularly when the smartphone market has gone touchscreen mad over the past 18 months,” said Malik Saadi, an analyst at Informa.
The phones run a new version of the BlackBerry operating system, which RIM says is much faster, particularly for Web browsing. AT&T Inc. said it would launch a Torch model with a physical keyboard this month, and the all-touch Torch and a Bold model later this year. It didn’t announce prices.

The Bold models, which are among the new BlackBerry touch-screen devices to be launched, will be the first BlackBerrys to include so-called Near-Field Communications chips, so they can be used in place of credit cards by swiping them across properly equipped payment terminals. Many companies, including cellphone carriers like AT&T and web companies like Google Inc. are promoting the idea of using phones as digital “wallets.”

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