T-Mobile Gets White BlackBerry Pearl

By Geoff Duncan Published January 15, 2007

T-Mobile Gets White BlackBerry Pearl

U.S. cellular operator T-Mobile might be the underdog in the market, still trying to get 3G data services out the door and expand its network beyond urban areas and interstates, but every now and then they land an exclusive no other mobile network can boast: today, it’s a white version of RIM’s BlackBerry Pearl smartphone.

“The BlackBerry Pearl has set the bar for combining the functionality of a full-featured BlackBerry phone and the ultimate in style, all at an affordable price,” said Mike Butler, T-Mobile’s Chief Marketing Officer, in a statement. “Now, the white BlackBerry Pearl provides our customers with another effortless, yet stylish, option to stay connected with loved ones.”

Recommended Videos

T-Mobile’s take on the Pearl supports the company’s myFaves feature, offering one-button access to five frequently-called friends or phone numbers; Pearl users can also use myFaves to get one-tap email access to their five myFaves contacts. Of course, the Pearl also handles BlackBerry Internet service with support for up to 10 email accounts; instant messaging via Yahoo, AOL, MSN, and/or ICQ; BlackBerry Maps, and a built-in Web browser. Also on board: a 1.3 megapixel camera, media player capabilities (AAC, MP3, MPEG-4, and H.263), integrated trackball for navigation, 64 MB of user memory (plus a microSD expansion slot), and a 240 by 260 pixel LCD display. And, of course, the Pearl is still a quad-band GSM/GPRS and EDGE phone offering international roaming.

After mail-in rebate, the white version of the BlackBerry Pearl is priced at $149.99 with a two-year service contract; if white ain’t your thing, T-Mobile will still be happy to sell you the original piano-black version.

“The BlackBerry Pearl has proven that it’s possible to provide a full-featured handset at an attractive price point with an uncompromising user experience and an extremely small, light and stylish design,” said Mark Guibert, Vice President of Corporate Marketing for Research In Motion in a release. “We are delighted by the immediate success of the BlackBerry Pearl in the market and we are pleased to build on this momentum with the addition of another stunning color and finish.”

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Mobile

5G coverage map: Where you can get 5G on Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile

Qualcomm 5G at CES 2019

Gone are the days when 5G was just a buzzword and deployment was experimental. Today, 5G is an established worldwide networking protocol built into most high-quality and flagship mobile devices. 5G stands for fifth-generation mobile technology, and it's destined to replace 4G (and older protocols) worldwide with speeds up to 100 times faster. Not only is it faster, but it is also more responsive for overall coverage and reception. That means faster uploading and downloading of documents, images, and videos. For home use, it means replacing fiber-optic cable with fast wireless connections.

There are two forms of 5G technology currently in use: Sub-6 relies on lower frequencies to deliver a much larger network, but the trade-off is that you'll receive only marginally faster speeds than you would with 4G. While mmWave connections rely on much higher frequencies that deliver dramatically faster download speeds, those radio waves can't physically travel long distances or make their way through obstacles like walls or even windows, which reduce signal strength.

Mobile

BlackBerry’s latest revival attempt crashes before launch

BlackBerry Key2. Credits: BlackBerry official.

Just weeks after announcing that it would definitely launch a new BlackBerry-branded phone in 2022, OnwardMobility has announced an immediate shutdown. The company will no longer be making a new Blackberry phone, and the future of the storied brand in mobile technology again appears bleak.

The Texas-based company had acquired rights to use the BlackBerry brand for mobile in 2020, with a phone initially planned for launch in 2021. When that didn't pan out, the company also announced that it was still on track, but it would just take a little bit longer. With supply chain issues affecting companies as large as Samsung, it was understandable that a small startup would be unable to make headway.

Mobile

BlackBerry is better off dead

BlackBerry Key2 LE Hands On

I haven't seen anyone use a BlackBerry since my freshman year of high school. In fact, I thought the BlackBerry had already died by the time everyone got their hands on the iPhone and/or an Android smartphone in 2011 and I was shocked to learn that the minuscule PDA-like device was still around last month when the company that shares its name decommissioned calling and messaging services for the classic models and rendered them useless. Its death was confirmed when OnwardMobility lost the rights to the BlackBerry name despite its attempts to resurrect the brand with the BlackBerry 5G, which suffered multiple delays in 2021.

Despite being one of the most popular mobile devices in the 2000s next to the T-Mobile-exclusive Sidekick, BlackBerry didn't survive the smartphone era, even though it triggered the advent of smartphones starting with the iPhone. Given its PDA-esque design, it wasn't suitable enough to be turned into a smartphone — or, at the very least, the culturally accepted definition of a smartphone: All touchscreen, no physical QWERTY keyboard. Because of its failure to adapt to the growing smartphone market dominated solely by touchscreens, not to mention the lack of updates for the newer, surviving models — like the BlackBerry Key2 — the BlackBerry as a device is better off dead for all intents and purposes.