David Flynn19 November 2007, 9:52 AM
Upgraded BlackBerry 8120 is same size but boasts Wi-Fi, 2.0 megapixel camera, video recording and Windows Live Messenger client - plus slightly longer battery life?
As we
tipped earlier this month, RIM's successor to the BlackBerry Pearl is set for local release. While there's no firm date set nor carrier partners announced, the Pearl 2 will make its media debut next week (we'll bring you full details as soon as we get our paws on a review unit).
Top of the new features list is Wi-Fi covering the 11b and 11g bands, a 2.0 megapixel digital camera (up from the current 1.3 megapixels) with 5x digital zoom and enhanced flash, and video recording capability onto a microSD card. Clips can be captured at 240x180, or a more compact or 176x144 for sharing via MMS. Those who favour the Pearl as a casual MP3 player will appreciate the inclusion of a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.
A pre-loaded client for the Windows Live Messenger service (everyone calls it one or the other of those, so we may as well just roll ‘em all together and be done with it) joins the existing IM menu of Google Talk, Yahoo and the largely unused BlackBerry Messenger.
The UI has also need revamped, with slicker icons and applications plus new font rendering for smoother and sharper characters. The BlackBerry's microbrowser gains a Page View option to display a full web page on the screen along, with a magnifying glass for zooming in on specific parts of the page.
Even with all that packed into a chassis that's the same size as the original Pearl, RIM is claiming a talk time of 4 hours, which is 30 minutes over the same rating for the Pearl. Overseas the device is offered in titanium and midnight blue, although we're not certain which of those we'll get (hopefully it'll be a choice between both).