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The first BlackBerry with a built-in camera for picture and video as well as music-playing capabilities is no longer a badly kept secret, as Research In Motion (RIM) today officially took the wraps off the BlackBerry Pearl (also known to some as the 8100).

On September 12th T-Mobile USA will become the first carrier to launch the new BlackBerry, followed by Canada's Rogers Wireless and some European operator's in October. Asia-Pacific and Latin America availability should happen after that. Although RIM didn't announce pricing, T-Mobile is expected to sell Pearl for $199 with a service agreement.

This is an important product for RIM, as it is the company's first multimedia-friendly handset. Pearl will almost certainly expand the market for its devices.

The new BlackBerry is built in the mold of RIM's 7100 series, which means it is more smartphone than models like the PDA-like 8700 series, for example. So Pearl nixes the traditional BlackBerry QWERTY thumb-keyboard for a keypad/keyboard combo that merges numbers and text onto each button.

RIM's SureType technology helps users accurately input text. When they press a key, the new handset will know which of the two supported letters they meant to use. Although not to everyone's taste, early reports indicate the implementation of SureType in Pearl is much improved and more accurate over the 7100 series.

While 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 BlackBerry yet, which will undoubtedly help attract the consumers and mobile professionals who it is aimed at.

Pearl's 1.3 megapixel camera comes with built-in flash and 5x digital zoom. New MMS support enables you to send video and pictures as multimedia messages to others. 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 - typical of all RIM handhelds.

To navigate the smartphone you use a trackball, which, along with the display and keypad/keyboard, adjusts lighting in different conditions through light-sensing technology that is used in other RIM phone models as well. The idea is to provide an optimized view in outdoor, indoor and dark environments.

In terms of audio, Pearl will playback MP3 and AAC music files, but it doesn't appear to support digital rights management protected files. So you may not be able to play music bought or rented from your favorite online music stores without converting them first.


                 Pearl Media Apps

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. Speaker independent voice recognition for voice activated dialing is available through integrated technology from a company called Voice Signal.

A microSD slot is there to support Pearl's 64 MB of memory, a good thing if you're going to be taking lots of pictures and video or loading a lot of music. Currently, that expansion card format tops out at a roomy 2 GB.

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. Not close to 3G, but it'll likely do for many people.

As with all BlackBerrys, Pearl supports RIM's push e-mail and data access solutions. For corporate customers, BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) software tightly integrates with Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, and Novell GroupWise. RIM's says a new set of IT policy controls have been added to administer camera and expansion memory settings.

Then there's BlackBerry Internet Service, an e-mail only hosted solutoin offered by carriers, that allows users to access up to 10 personal and corporate e-mail accounts.

Pearl also bundles the AOL, Yahoo!, MSN and ICQ instant messaging clients.

After years of sticking to the corporate and professional market, limiting the feature-set of its products in the process, RIM is about to expand into unknown territory; pioneered by the likes of Palm with its Treo line in the U.S.— and since taken advantage of by other high-profile product launches, such as Motorola with the Q. Nokia, the top-selling smartphone vendor in the world, has long integrated picture, video and audio into its devices as well. (Like the Treo and all other BlackBerrys, but not Moto's Q, Pearl lacks Wi-Fi.)

Many longtime BlackBerry users have waited a long time for multimedia experience on their favorite devices. But didn't switch to another device because they relied on the mobile e-mail and security features to which they became accustomed, or simply because their enterprise wouldn't support another PDA or smartphone.

It works in the other direction too. There are plenty of folks who would have switched over to BlackBerry a long time ago: If only they could have listened to their MP3s, taken pictures and video with them, or both.

With this device, RIM may have made (almost) everyone happy. The next step would be to add these capabilities into a BlackBerry with QWERTY thumb-keyboard.