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When Research In Motion launches a new handheld, it milks the publicity for all its worth.

Take today's announcement of the Vodafone "exclusive" BlackBerry 7100v. This new handheld nixes the traditional BlackBerry boxy design and thumb-keyboard for a sleeker, smaller and more up-to-date look. It is RIM's bid for the worldwide consumer market.

Sound familiar? It should.

Just last week, RIM introduced the nearly identical 7100t for T-Mobile customers in America. From all indications, the only thing separating the two BlackBerries is the "t" and "v" in the names.

This isn't the first time RIM released basically the same product with slightly different names for more than one carrier. Another newer BlackBerry, the 7780 (GSM) for Rogers Wireless in Canada, is almost the same as the 7750 (CDMA) from another Canadian operator, TELUS Mobility, and the 7730 (GSM) in Europe.

Unlike competitors Nokia, palmOne and Hewlett-Packard—all of whom release far more handhelds—RIM upgrades its product lineup at a slower rate, while at the same time keeping major changes that would scare off traditional enterprise and professional customers to a minimum.

Perhaps that is why the company uses several names for what are essentially the same products so much of the time.

At the other end of the spectrum is palmOne, which has many PDAs but only one smartphone, the Treo 600. No matter what carrier's service you use, palmOne's smartphone is still known as the Treo 600 whether it is, for example, a CDMA version from Sprint in the United States or a GSM edition from Orange in Europe.

There isn't a Treo 600s or Treo 600o.

7100t & 7100v
As with other BlackBerries, these smartphones deliver voice, e-mail, instant messaging, HTML Web browsing and organizer capabilities. They do this, however, in a form factor that is more like a traditional mobile handset.

With these handhelds, RIM replaced the BlackBerry thumb-keyboard with one that uniquely merges a keypad and a keyboard. For text entry, each key supports two letters, while predictive text software called SureType helps you accurately input text-so when you press a key the 7100t knows which of the two supported letters you mean to use.

The software's word database encompasses approximately 35,000 words plus the user's address book. As with your word processor's spell-checker, you can add more words to it as well.

RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said "The new BlackBerry 7100v with SureType keyboard technology is the result of many years of research and innovation. We have listened to mobile users and created a new device that we believe will attract a whole new audience to BlackBerry for the first time."

Since both the 7100t and 7100v are quad-band GSM/GPRS mobile handsets, you can use the smartphones when traveling anywhere in the United States, Europe and Asia, as well as many other parts of the world.

Other features include Bluetooth for use with wireless headsets and other peripherals, a bright color screen, and 32MB of RAM. Unfortunately, there is no way to add more memory because the handhelds do not integrate a memory card slot like most other smartphones. Of course, the devices can connect to RIM's renowned enterprise software, BlackBerry Enterprise Server, for access to corporate e-mail and data.

The 7100t should be available from T-Mobile in October for about $200 after mail in rebates. Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator, said it plans to phase the 7100v in across Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the U.K., also starting in October.