We liked the original BlackBerry Pearl Flip on T-Mobile (read our full review here), but complained last October that the original BlackBerry clamshell wasn't capable of the high speed browsing we crave. Now that Verizon Wireless has announced its own version of the device, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 (specs), we'll finally see the Pearl Flip with faster networking, thanks to Verizon Wireless' EV-DO network.
The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 on Verizon Wireless will come in at a hefty $130 after a $70 mail-in rebate, a premium over the $50 that T-Mobile is currently asking for their version. The Verizon version doesn't include Wi-Fi, of which The Network has never been fond, so it also loses the UMA capabilities we liked so much on T-Mobile's phone. But it does get turn-by-turn navigation and GPS services with VZ Navigator, plus all of the features that Verizon Wireless' 3G network affords. Among these, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 will get Verizon Wireless' visual voicemail service, available for an extra $3 monthly access fee.
Otherwise, the RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 features all of the amenities we expect from RIM's clamshell BlackBerry. It uses a SureType keyboard, a 20-key layout for a compact design with real keyboard access. We've always liked these compact SureType keyboards, and nobody does it better than BlackBerry, as RIM designed the layout. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 will also be able to handle microSDHC cards up to 16GB capacity. This goes nicely with the standard 3.5mm headphone jack, as well as BlackBerry's new media sync software, which pulls music and playlists from your iTunes library.
As a new BlackBerry device, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 will also feature support for BlackBerry App World. The App World is BlackBerry's growing catalog of third-party mobile applications. Obviously, App World is meant to compete with Apple's App Store, and we're curious to see what the experience is like on RIM's most compact BlackBerry device.
Otherwise, features include a 2-megapixel camera with LED flash, dual LCD displays on the interior and exterior shell, plus access to plenty of preloaded BlackBerry apps, like Facebook, MySpace, Google Talk and more. The phone goes on sale June 19 for $200, with a mail-in rebate coming back in the form of a debit card, effectively knocking the price down to $130.
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