Flipping for the New BlackBerry Pearl

With all the recent hub-bub about Apple's(AAPL Quote) iPhone 3G, T-Mobile's(DT Quote) G-1 (the first Google(GOOG Quote)phone) and the new Research In Motion(RIMM Quote) Blackberry Bold and Storm phones -- no one should overlook another new device that has just been announced -- the brand new BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220.

The Flip is the first-ever BlackBerry flip-open phone and is very cool. I've been testing it for a short time, and took a look at it a month ago in this video in San Francisco. I have to tell you, this is one heck of a terrific device.

First of all, this is the smallest and lightest BlackBerry I've ever carried in my pocket. It measures 2 inches by 3.9 inches by 0.7 inches and weighs only 3.6 ounces. It is a GSM/EDGE world phone (operating on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz bands) and has a lithium-ion battery that can provide up to four hours of talk and 15 days of stand-by power.

The tiny handset has so many built-in features I don't know where to begin. There's Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth, a 2 megapixel video and still camera, real HTML Web browsing, hi-fi ringtones, a MP3 music player, microSD memory card slot (a 256MB card is included), Internet email capabilities and, of course, BlackBerry email.

The Wi-Fi is a terrific feature for two reasons. The Flip is not a 3G device. EDGE is 2.5G technology. It's a little slower than most 3G services, but is a lot easier on battery life. Wi-Fi allows the phone to fly when you're near a friendly 802.11 network.