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Cingular Wireless is now offering the BlackBerry 8820, Research In Motion's (RIM) QWERTY thumb-keyboard answer to its own BlackBerry Pearl. It may not integrate Wi-Fi as originally thought - we'll have to wait for the BlackBerry 8820 for 802.11b/g wireless - (or a camera, for that matter) but the 8800 does offer much of what makes the Pearl so popular.

On its Web site Cingular lists the 8800 for $300 with a two-year contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate. The 8800 is, at .49 x 2.6 x 0.55 inches (114 x 66 x 14 millimeters) and 4.73 ounces (134 grams), RIM's thinnest and most compact device with a full keyboard yet. Like the Pearl, the BlackBerry 8800 is generally more stylish looking than its predecessor, the 8700 series, which it replaces.

And as with the Pearl the 8800 loses the traditional BlackBerry scroll-wheel for a trackball navigation system. Located just underneath the QVGA (320 x 240), 2.4-inch display and nestled between two buttons, the trackball is the most obvious 'pearl' added to both the Pearl and 8800.

There's a media player (for MP3 and ACC music or MPEG4 and H.263 video ) and a stereo headset jack. A microSD card slot is available like the with the Pearl - a first for full-size BlackBerry - to greatly enhance the 8800’s 64 MB of flash memory. This device doesn't integrate a camera like the Pearl, however.

As with the BlackBerry 8700 series, light sensing technology automatically adjusts the keyboard, trackball and display brightness for optimized visibility.

The GSM/GPRS/EDGE quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) - no 3G - device also sports Bluetooth with support for wireless stereo headsets and a GPS receiver for a number of Location Based Services, including mapping and the ability to track routes and pinpoint locations. It can be used as a wireless modem to connect a laptop to the Internet.

Additional phone features including Voice Activated Dialing, polyphonic mp3 and MIDI ring tones, speakerphone, and conference calling. Of course, the 8800 comes with a compliment of applications, including text and multimedia messengers, a web browser, and personal information management software.

And it wouldn't be a BlackBerry without support for the hosted BlackBerry Internet Service, which allows access up to 10 personal and corporate e-mail accounts, or the behind-the-firewall BlackBerry Enterprise Server for mobile access to Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Notes, Novell Groupwise and more.

In the box you'll find headset, travel charger and USB cable.