Blackberry Pearl is one of the latest GSM handheld from Research in Motion (RIM). It is also the smallest of the smart phones marketed by RIM.

Straight into its specifications, the Blackberry Pearl is quite compact unlike the earlier RIM models. And the biggest trade-off happened in this process is the inclusion of the new SureType system, the keypad in which each button handles two letters, replacing the old and better looking QWERTY keyboard. It might take a bit of practice to get used to the keypad, but it is not cumbersome either.

Another change that RIM had introduced in its slimmest smart phone is the track ball in place of the scroll wheel in its older versions. In comparison, it is far easier with the track ball to make the selections, to zip through the menus in all direction, than with the scroll wheel that used to lie on the side of the device.

On its overall design, the Blackberry Pearl weighs 90.7gm and has a physical size of 107 x 51 x 15 mm. In rough comparison, it will be as thick as two iPod Nanos stacked together. Dedicated volume keys, a pair of programmable keys, and the key atop to silence all forms of alerts in one press, makes the phone flexible and easier to use. The call quality is reasonably good when compared with its immediate competitors, the Nokia E62 and Motorola Q, if not better.

Like all smart phones in its category, the Blackberry Pearl comes with a set of multimedia features, which include music and video, ring tones, and images. The 1.3 mp camera offers good enough performance, but the video quality is just ok. If you want to exploit its multimedia features fully, you might need a microSD card as the internal memory is too small for mass storage requirements (64 MB only). Blackberry allows users to expand the external memory up to 2 GB.

Blackberry Pearl supports EDGE and quad-band GSM/GPRS networks with reasonable enough data speed. The web browser it has is quite reminiscent of its earlier models, with less or no improvements. For moderate browsing needs, like looking up scores or specific data, however this seems quite enough.

Regarding email, setting up an email account with Blackberry Pearl is quite easy. Up to ten addresses are supported, the Blackberry Enterprise Server, BlackBerry Internet Service, and Exchange options being the major corporate tools. Attachments - images, documents, and PDF files – however are only viewable and cannot be edited. In that respect, it is more like in RIM’s 7100 series phones.

The most valued feature of any business phone is its different organizer features; Blackberry Pearl offers a variety of those, and that includes Outlook, Outlook Express, Lotus Notes and Organizer, Novell Groupwise and Sage ACT! Software. Using the Desktop Manager, the Blackberry user could synchronize the memos, calendar, tasks, and contacts with the relevant organizer tools such that every relevant piece of info will be updated in the required applications simultaneously.

Blackberry 8800 is the latest on the line of RIM smart phones – feature rich and visually and functionally inspiring. It is also the thinnest Blackberry handset yet.

Going straight into its specifications, the Blackberry 8800 comes equipped with a QWERTY keyboard – unlike Blackberry Pearl – and a trackball navigation system. It appears that Blackberry had finally come into terms with the fact that joysticks are not great devices for navigational purposes, especially to zip through a phone menu. The QWERTY keyboard can be a bit confusing in the beginning, but as the user starts typing on it, gradually he/she will get used to it.

If there is another major difference between Blackberry 8800 and the Pearl, then it is the absence of the camera. Blackberry has dispensed with the camera in 8800 for a more reliable feature, the GPS, to track down roaming business users and devices. Even though, the Blackberry 8800 does not have Google Maps in it, the bundled TeleNav GPS Navigator does an exceptional job in giving the user the right directions always. The local search function also works very well.

The display of 8800 is quite bright (320 x 240 resolution) and offers good visibility in all lighting conditions. A built-in light sensing device adjusts the brightness levels of the keypad and screen accordingly to optimize visibility.

Blackberry 8800 supports EDGE and quad-band GSM/GPRS networks with reasonable data speed. For moderate to extensive browsing needs, the handset performs reasonably well. Regarding email, if using the Blackberry web services, the phone supports as much as ten corporate and personal e-mail accounts, the setup being one of the easiest one could find in any of the smart phones on earth. Attachment support is excellent – users can view Word, PDF, Excel, and JPEG files – even though there are no way you could edit the office documents. Using the Desktop Manager, the Blackberry user could synchronize the memos, calendar, tasks, and contacts with the relevant organizer tools such that every relevant piece of info will be updated in the required applications simultaneously.

Like all other phones in its category, the Blackberry 8800 also offers an assortment of multimedia features that include music and video, ring tones, and images. The Media Manager utility can be used to import photos, and videos into the device, even though, as mentioned already, one may not be able to take pictures or record videos using 8800 as it lacks a camera. The media player supports the file types - MP3, AAC, and WMA music files, as well as WMV video and MPEG-4 files. DRM support however is absent.

Other voice features include voice-cancellation for better audio performance, VAD – Voice Activated Dialing – with Speaker Independent Voice Recognition, call forwarding, conference calls, and smart dialing, a high quality low-distortion speakerphone, and dedicated ‘mute’, ‘send’, and ‘end’ keys.