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T-Mobile is offering the BlackBerry Pearl in the United States and Rogers Wireless is shipping the hot Research In Motion (RIM) smartphone in the Canada. Today there are signs that the rest of the world may not have to wait too long to get the Canadian vendor's first BlackBerry with a camera for picture and video as well as an audio player.

Carrier-giant Vodafone now has a page on its UK Web site devoted to the device, as the BlackBerry Pearl 8100. It is the first operator outside of North America to do so. Vodafone's Pearl is available for pre-order at 212.77 Pounds (about $240).

It does not say when the handset will ship, however. As with the recently released Palm Treo 750v, we would expect Vodafone will ship the new BlackBerry in other markets at the same time or shortly after it does so in England. According to RIM, the BlackBerry Pearl should be available in the Asia-Pacific and Latin America by the end of 2006 as well.

Cingular Wireless is said to be on tap for the smartphone also, under the name BlackBerry Pearl 8100c.

RIM's latest handset is built in the mold of the BlackBerry 7100 series, which means it is more smartphone-like than models like the 8700 series, for example.

As result, the device nixes the traditional BlackBerry QWERTY thumb-keyboard for a keypad/keyboard combo that merges numbers and text onto each button, while RIM's SureType technology helps users accurately input text.

Although Pearl's form factor resembles the 7100 models, at a compact 4.2 x 2.0 x 0.57 inches (107 x 50 x 14. millimeters) and mere 3.1 ounces (89 grams), it is, perhaps, the sleekest-looking BlackBerry yet. Undoubtedly part of RIM's plan to expand outside of its corporate and mobile professional niche with the device.

Pearl's 1.3 megapixel camera comes with built-in flash and 5x digital zoom. You can display images and video (MPEG-4 and H.263) on the new BlackBerry's 240 x 260 pixel color screen, which isn't touch, just like all other RIM handhelds.

To navigate the smartphone you use a trackball - the Pearl in the handset- which, along with the display and keypad/keyboard, adjusts lighting to provide an optimized view in outdoor, indoor and dark environments.

In terms of audio, Pearl will playback MP3 and AAC music files. There's a stereo headset jack. And Bluetooth 2.0 support means you'll be able to wirelessly connect to wireless headsets and stereo headphones as well.

A microSD slot is there to expand upon Pearl's 64 MB of memory.

The quad-band GSM/GPRS smartphone is also EDGE-enabled, a 2.5 G cellular technology supported by T-Mobile and most other GSM carriers. That means you'll be able to send those multimedia messages, browse the Web, access e-mail and other content services at average speeds of 135 kilobits per second.

As with all BlackBerrys, Pearl supports RIM's push e-mail and data access solutions. It also bundles the AOL, Yahoo!, MSN and ICQ instant messaging clients.