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Home / Cell phones / Multimedia smartphones
Verizon Wireless finds a BlackBerry Pearl of its ownBy Philip Berne, 3 October 2007
GALLERY
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Video review
RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (Verizon Wireless)
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RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (Verizon Wireless)
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RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (Verizon Wireless)
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RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (Verizon Wireless)
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RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (Verizon Wireless)
Enlarge
RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (Verizon Wireless)
Enlarge
RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (Verizon Wireless)
Enlarge
RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (Verizon Wireless)
Enlarge
RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (Verizon Wireless)
Enlarge
RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (Verizon Wireless)
Enlarge
RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (Verizon Wireless)
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The Network will soon get a high-speed Pearl, with EV-DO and VZ Navigator. Will this shiny new BlackBerry set itself apart?

After RIM's announcement on Monday that an EV-DO-equipped BlackBerry Pearl, the 8130, would be launched on U.S. CDMA carriers by this November, it wasn't much of a surprise to see the Pearl at Verizon Wireless' multi-phone launch event in New York City this week. That doesn't mean we're not interested in taking a closer look, however, as the new Pearl does have a few notable improvements. Most importantly, networking got a shot in the arm and the phone is now a 3G phone, with faster Web browsing (we assume, our demo model wasn't active) and access to VZ Navigator.

The phone won't be able to buy songs from the V Cast music store, but it will feature a 3.5mm headphone jack, just like the BlackBerry Curve. Also, for the CDMA Pearl, RIM has moved the microSD card slot from behind the battery to the side of the phone, a nice little improvement that should save some complaints later.

The new Pearl will launch some time in November for an as-yet-undetermined price that will be competitive with the other BlackBerry Pearl's on the market. Once this announcement hits, we'd guess its probably a matter of hours before Sprint announces a version of their own, if history has been a guide.
Best Consumer QWERTY phones
Name Score Price Carrier
C
RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (Verizon Wireless) 73% $170Verizon Wireless
RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (Sprint) 70% $200Sprint
LG Voyager 70% $300Verizon Wireless
RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8120 (T-Mobile) 67% $200T-Mobile
RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8110 (AT&T) 66% $150AT&T
T-Mobile Shadow 65% $200T-Mobile
Palm Centro (AT&T) 62% $170AT&T
Palm Centro 61% $200Sprint
Palm Centro (Verizon Wireless) 61% $100Verizon Wireless
LG enV2 60% $80Verizon Wireless
Click here to see full and advanced chart »
 
 
 
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