RIM Introduces the First BlackBerry Flip Phone

Research In Motion (RIM) unveiled the BlackBerry® Pearl™ Flip 8220 smartphone, the first BlackBerry® phone to come in the popular flip form factor.

The new BlackBerry Pearl Flip provides flip phone fans with all the power of a BlackBerry smartphone in a fun and familiar design. One quick flip of the handset opens up a world of possibilities with the industry’s leading mobile messaging solution and a wide range of impressive Internet and multimedia capabilities, all in one powerful yet approachable smartphone. You can send a message to your friends or family, make a call, browse the web, snap a picture, watch a video or listen to your favorite song. It’s all in your control with a simple flip.

The quad-band EDGE based BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone presents a sophisticated look with a sleek design and a chrome-finished frame surrounding its smooth, luminescent face. Packed with an abundance of powerful features, it weighs only 3.6 ounces and measures approximately 3.9” x 1.9” x 0.7”. Featuring two high-resolution, light-sensing color displays, the external LCD makes it easy to preview incoming emails, text messages and phone calls without opening the handset, while the large, 240 x 320 internal LCD displays messages, videos and web pages with impressive detail and contrast.

“The popularity of BlackBerry smartphones has grown tremendously around the world and the introduction of this exciting new flip phone will help extend the reach of the BlackBerry platform even further,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO, Research In Motion. “The BlackBerry Pearl Flip is a full-featured smartphone with a unique and friendly design and it is a natural choice for flip phone users who want to start doing more with their phone than just talk.”

FIRST CLASS PHONE

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone is a top of the line mobile phone that flips open and cradles the face naturally and comfortably during phone calls. It delivers exceptional voice quality and includes many premium phone features, including Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), support for mp3 ring tones, smart dialing, conference calling, speed dialing, call forwarding, voicemail attachment playback and enhanced background noise cancellation. It also features a speakerphone and Bluetooth® 2.0 for use with hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, car kits and other Bluetooth peripherals such as a GPS receiver. The removable/rechargeable 900 mAhr battery provides four hours of talk time and over 14 days of standby time.

MESSAGING POWERHOUSE

Featuring a large SureType® QWERTY* keyboard that makes typing messages and dialing numbers fast and easy, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip, like all BlackBerry smartphones, provides integrated access to the industry leading BlackBerry wireless services. Users are able to easily access up to 10 supported personal and work email accounts, send and receive text and instant messages, and connect on popular social networking sites with friends, family and co-workers. The DataViz® Documents to Go® software suite is also preloaded, allowing users to edit Microsoft® Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip is supported on BlackBerry® Internet Service, BlackBerry® Unite!, BlackBerry® Professional Software and BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, which provides tight integration with corporate email systems and the security and IT policy controls that enterprise customers require to confidently allow smartphones in their organization.

MULTIMEDIA TO GO

With an advanced media player for displaying pictures, listening to music and watching videos, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip is the perfect on-the-go entertainment center. Videos play smoothly on the large internal display, playlists can be managed directly on the handset and there’s an equalizer with 11 preset filters – including "Lounge", "Jazz" and "Hip Hop" – for customizing audio ranges when using headphones or external speakers. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip works with the new BlackBerry® Media Sync application that makes it easy to sync iTunes digital music collections with the smartphone*** and it also features a conveniently accessible microSD/SDHC memory card slot that supports up to 16GB** for plenty of storage. High Speed USB 2.0 support allows files to be quickly transferred between a desktop computer and the smartphone and the BlackBerry® Desktop Manager software includes Roxio® Media Manager for BlackBerry® to help users easily manage their music and video files. Roxio Photosuite® 9 LE is also included for creating photo albums and editing pictures.

FULL FEATURED FLIP

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip packs an impressive range of features into its compact design, including phone, email, messaging, organizer, browser and multimedia applications, and it can also support thousands of other mobile lifestyle and business applications. It features a 2 megapixel camera with flash, zoom and video recording**** to capture memories while on the move, and includes BlackBerry Maps to deliver maps and step-by-step driving directions quickly and easily. An enhanced HTML browser displays web pages beautifully in either “Column View” or “Page View” and different emulation settings allow users to choose between desktop-style HTML content and the mobile version of web pages. The browser also supports RTSP for watching online streaming video from sites like m.youtube.com. In addition, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone features built-in Wi-Fi® (802.11 b/g) with support for UMA (unlicensed mobile access), extending wireless email and data coverage and supporting carrier enabled voice calls over home Wi-Fi networks, enterprise wireless deployments and Wi-Fi hotspots.

ACCESSORIES

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip comes with a variety of accessories including a stereo headset, travel charger and USB cable. Additional accessories for BlackBerry smartphones, including holsters and totes, charging pods, premium earphones, Bluetooth headsets and the BlackBerry® Remote Stereo Gateway are available through retail outlets or online at www.shopblackberry.com.

AVAILABILITY

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 smartphone will be available from wireless carriers around the world beginning this fall. Specific availability and pricing details will be announced at a later date.

* Keyboard also available in AZERTY and QWERTZ configurations to support different language groups.

** MicroSD/SDHC memory cards are available today in configurations of up to 8GB and the BlackBerry Pearl 8220 smartphone will support upcoming 16GB microSD/SDHC cards.

*** Certain music files may not be supported, including files that contain digital rights management technologies.

**** Video recording requires microSD card, which may be sold separately.
-RIM

Nokia expands Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync availability

Nokia today announced that it is expanding its device range which enables Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to all Nokia S60 3rd Edition devices. 43 Nokia devices will now feature the Mail for Exchange mobile email application, making Nokia's device range the largest ever to enable the solution chosen by more businesses than any other messaging solution. Nokia also announced today that Mail for Exchange will be available out-of-the-box in future releases of Nokia Eseries and Nokia Nseries devices.

With this announcement, Nokia is enabling about 80 million* mobile phone users - which is the number of Nokia S60 3rd Edition converged devices shipped globally to date - to connect to their email accounts on the Exchange Server.

"The Nokia-Microsoft collaboration to bring corporate mobile email to businesses and mobile professionals is truly unbeatable. No other device manufacturer provides the wide range of devices that we have which immediately mobilize the hundreds of millions of email accounts from Microsoft Exchange," said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Markets, Nokia. "The costs of mobility are contained as companies are able to utilize existing Microsoft Exchange infrastructure, and there is also the strong possibility that a large number of employees already have one or more of the 43 Nokia devices that enable Exchange ActiveSync."

"Nokia is a valued partner and we are pleased they are making it easier for their approximately 80 million S60 3rd Edition customers to realize the benefits of Exchange Server," said Terry Myerson, Corporate Vice President, Exchange Server, Microsoft Corp. "This announcement with Nokia further demonstrates the importance consumers and businesses place on accessing Exchange Server data from mobile devices in addition to traditional desktop clients. Nokia's announcement today will help give its users that access and help make them more productive."

Nokia owners whose companies use Exchange can set up Mail for Exchange for free on their devices in various ways without paying additional services or subscription fees - from the email set-up plug-in on the home screen, by launching the application from the Download! folder, or via the Settings Wizard**. Once the application is set up, users utilize their current data plan service to get real-time access to their office email, calendar, contacts, tasks and company directory over a secure connection.

"We take corporate and IT security policies seriously, and a comparison study showed that the device management and security policies for devices such as the Nokia Eseries are robust," added Mr Vanjoki. "This should give business heads and IT managers greater confidence when choosing between device brands to mobilize their workforce."

By connecting to the Exchange Server 2007, Mail for Exchange enables features such as Autodiscover, which drastically simplifies the set-up process by requiring the email account holder to only enter their email address, password, domain and usernames; 'Out of Office' messaging, enabling busy professionals to set their out-of-office messages directly from their Nokia device; synchronization when roaming, a must-have feature for travelling businesspeople; and also Flag status for follow-ups.

While the Exchange ActiveSync protocol is compatible with many types of devices, Nokia device users will have access to features that are currently not available in other Exchange ActiveSync licensees' devices. Setting email priorities, alerts for meeting request conflicts, a standalone global address list application to search for a colleague's contact details quickly, downloading and editing all types of attachments, not just image files, are must-have factors that users will expect from their mobile email application.

Microsoft Exchange Server is the industry's leading server for e-mail, calendaring and unified messaging. Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 is the foundation for a dynamic and holistic unified communications experience, and has been designed to meet the challenges, and address the messaging needs, of today's businesses. Exchange Server 2007 provides customers with anywhere access to information, advanced built-in protection and greater operational efficiency.

* As at end July 2008

** On-device set-up of Mail for Exchange may vary between devices

Nokia Devices Enabling Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync

Nokia Eseries: Nokia E71, Nokia E66, Nokia E90 Communicator, Nokia E70, Nokia E65, Nokia E62, Nokia E61i, Nokia E61, Nokia E60, Nokia E51, Nokia E50

Nokia Nseries: Nokia N96, Nokia N85, Nokia N79, Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia N95, Nokia N82, Nokia N81 8GB, Nokia N81, Nokia N78, Nokia N77, Nokia N76, Nokia N75, Nokia N73, Nokia N93, Nokia N93i, Nokia N80, Nokia N91, Nokia N92, Nokia N71

Other Nokia S60 3rd Edition devices: Nokia 3250, Nokia 5500, Nokia 6290, Nokia 6110 Navigator, Nokia 6120 classic, Nokia 6121 classic, Nokia 6122 classic, Nokia 6124, Nokia 6650 fold, Nokia 5320 XpressMusic, Nokia 5700, Nokia 6210 Navigator, Nokia 6220 classic

Sony Ericsson launches limited edition cell phone

Sony Ericsson Tuesday unveiled the C902 cybershot phone Titanium silver edition to coincide with the upcoming James Bond film 'Quantum of Solace'.

The C902, which is the company's trademark cybershot phone featuring a five-megapixel camera, is used by popular film character Bond in the upcoming movie.

The phone will cost Rs.20,995 in the Indian market.

This isn't the first time Sony has used virtual marketing to promote its product. Casino Royale, which marked Daniel Craig's debut as James Bond, showcased an array of Sony products right from its Vaio range of laptops, digital cameras and mobile phones.

Vesper Lynd, who according to the story was Bond's first and last love interest but actually was a double agent working with Mr. White - the film's villain representing the Quantum Organization - also used a Sony Ericsson phone.

In the recently released Batman movie - The Dark Knight - Nokia too used the strategy to showcase their upcoming Tube mobile phone, which will be the Finnish major's new full touch screen mobile phone.

The phones weighs Size 107 grams and is 108 mm long. With a built in memory of 60 MB which can be extended using a memory card, the phone has a screen size of two inches. The limited Titanium edition will come pre-loaded with Bond ring tones and wallpapers.

Nokia N96 Starts Shipping

Good news for those waiting for the Nokia N96!Some were waiting for their limited edition Nokia N96 just emailed by Nokia that their Nokia N96 is ready to be sent and will arrive soon. Since they will be the first in their country to receive it, the general release should follow soon.

Here is the email sent by Nokia:
Dear soon-to-be owner of a limited edition Nokia N96.

We are excited to tell you that your country’s limited edition Nokia N96 is now ready to be sent to you and will arrive soon. You will receive the delivery details to track your order in a separate email within couple of next days.

Thank you for purchasing a Nokia N96, and helping the Red Pandas of Nepal.

Kind regards,
Nokia

Some buyers have also reported they received the free bluetooth headsets for waiting on the Nokia N96.

The phone boasts a TV tuner, 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, turn-by-turn voice navigation, 16GB of internal memory that can be increased to 24GB with an optional microSD card, "superior sound and music," N-Gage gaming and a 2.8-inch display.

Nokia says that first shipments of the device have started and it will be available with an estimated retail price of 550 euros (about £450) before taxes and subsidies - although watch this space for individual operator announcements.

In the UK, operators and retailers are due to be 3, Carphone Warehouse, Orange, Phones4U, T-Mobile and Vodafone.

Checkout N96 Full Technical Specification.
-The Nokia Blog