The Hindu Business Line : Pearl launch in India by year-end

MR GREGORY WADE, Director, Asia-Pacific Blackberry, displaying new BlackBerry 7130g and 8700g mobile handsets in Bangalore on Tuesday. - Sampath Kumar. G.P.

Bangalore , Sept. 19

Pearl, the latest smart phone by Research In Motion (RIM), is expected to hit Indian shelves soon. It will be launched in Asia-Pacific and, hopefully in India by year-end, said Mr Gregory Wade, Director Asia Pacific, Research In Motion Ltd, speaking at the launch of the 7130g in the city.

RIM manufactures the popular Blackberry device, known for its push-email service. According to Gartner, it is the top PDA vendor with 25.5 per cent market share.

The Blackberry Pearl 8100 has just been launched in the US this month, for a price of $200 for two-year plan. "Pearl has a camera, something no other Blackberry device has. We expect this feature to draw more consumers," said Mr Wade. The traditional Blackberry has a majority of businesspersons as users, and the Pearl is expected to attract a younger crowd with its 1.3 mega pixel camera and multimedia features (can play MPEG4 and H.263 videos) alongside its e-mail service.

With its phone-centric approach and new look, the 7130g is expected to appeal to the non-traditional Blackberry user. For a price of Rs 23,990, the device is just 114.5 x 56 x 18.4 mm and weighs 120 grams. It offers intelligent light sensing, automatically adjusting the display and keyboard lighting levels depending on if you are indoors or outdoors.

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