Optus set to launch BlackBerry Pearl Flip

Last week we sketched out the details of the forthcoming BlackBerry Pearl 8220 flip-phone. Now we can tip you off that next Tuesday sees the new handset, which will carry the BlackBerry Pearl Flip brand, make its local debut.

The media will be first to get hands-on during a luncheon briefing at the suitably hip and happening Restaurant Arras, while the “official launch party” will take place that evening at the MTV studios in East Sydney. The choice of MTV clearly signals the market that RIM is chasing for the Flip, and the presence of Optus’ name on the invitation tells us at least one carrier which will stock the handset (we’d suggest it may even be pumped through Optus’ yoof-oriented Virgin brand, though to date, it has avoided Blackberries).

However, there’s no word at this stage on the exact release date of the Pearl Flip to customers, nor of what pricing Optus and other carriers will offer. But the plans are likely to be cheap, in line with the phone’s positioning as an appealing affordable entry-level BlackBerry for the consumer. Optus has been negotiating improved Blackberry rates for some time with RIM, in the hope of offering the Blackberry service to consumers at a lower cost than the $25 - $50 rate charged on top of voice plan fees currently.

As previously noted, the Pearl Flip will likely be the 8220 model for the GSM band, with Wi-Fi (but no GPS) and a 2.0 megapixel camera. A 1.6 inch external display shows the time, message notification icons, incoming emails and SMS messages, signal strength and battery level without you needing to flip the Pearl open. It runs the same OS 4.6 as the BlackBerry Bold so you get the same crisp interface, HTML email, the ability to read Microsoft Office document attachments plus highly capable music and video playback.

We’re just hoping that alongside the standard black handset we get the dusky ‘burnished burgundy’ model that’s offered overseas. But no matter what colour it comes in, though, we’ll bring you a hands-on First Look at the Pearl Flip as soon as it’s parked in our labs.