Consumer BlackBerry On The Way?

Written by Adam Gosling

Monday, 21 August 2006

Research in Motion may be ready to shed its suit and tie in favour of a pair of sandshoes and a set of headphones if the rumours the company plans to release a consumer version of its hugely successful BlackBerry are true. The launch of the rumoured BlackBerry could come as early as first quarter 2007. Resplendent with zoom camera, built-in flash, music player and possibly even an Apple logo, this Reuters report says the planned handset would be called the BlackBerry Pearl. A "thin powerful QWERTY multimedia handset" would significantly increase RIM's addressable market for handsets from "51 million corporate and consumer users in 2006 to hit 244 million in 2009" suggests one financial analyst. RIM co-chief executive, Jim Balsillie, has made it clear in a recent interview that multimedia functionality is "a big part of our direction". One industry pundit has suggested that RIM could team with Apple to create an "AppleBerry" that could leverage Apple's iTunes music software and other multimedia features. RIM declined to comment on any either of the Pearl or AppleBerry rumours. Related news items New Pearl Colours Coming -18/09/2007 BlackBerry Gets A New Browser -03/09/2007 HP Plans More iPaqs As PDAs Become Smartphones -12/08/2007 NASA Says No iPhones, But BlackBerry Okay -31/07/2007 Google Begins Taunting Cell Phone Carriers -19/07/2007 Newer news items Portable Phone Charger Not Restricted To Motorola -05/11/2006 Nokia Nseries Due To Arrive Soon -26/09/2006 Converged Devices Continue Growth In Q2: IDC -13/09/2006 40 Million New Mobile Phone Users Per Month -10/09/2006 Qantas To Allow BlackBerries In Flight -28/08/2006 Older news items SmartPhones Fall Short Of PDA Or Laptop Replacement -01/08/2006 Two New Blackberry Handsets At Vodafone -31/07/2006 LG Has Major Hit With Chocolate -24/07/2006 Err, I think it's a Nokia ... -19/07/2006 50 Million RAZRs And Counting -19/07/2006 Tag This Now: