November 1, 2007
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For over a year, you’ve only been able to get the BlackBerry Pearl through GSM carriers like T-Mobile and AT&T Wireless, leaving customers of operators like Verizon Wireless and Sprint out of luck. This will change soon. Both of America's two largest CDMA operators are both slated to ship this smartphone this month.
First up is Verizon, which is now taking pre-orders for the BlackBerry Pearl 8130. Verizon is due to ship the 8130 on November 8th for $200 with 2 year contract after discounts.
As for Sprint, it is supposed to start offering the Pearl a couple of weeks later, on November 23rd, the same day it is rumored the carrier will start shipping its latest Motorola Q model, the Q9c. There's been no word yet regarding Sprint's asking price for the Pearl.
Here's what we know about the Verizon/Sprint Pearl so far:
It will support those carriers’ EV-DO 3G data networks, far faster than the 2.5G EDGE technology used by Pearls from the GSM operators. It also integrates GPS to support location-based services.
The Pearl 8130 measures 4.2 x 1.97 x .55 inches and weighs 3.4 ounces, slightly heaver than the GSM Pearl, the 8100, which only hits 3.1 ounces on the scale.
RIM says the Pearl 8130's battery last 9 days in standby to the 8100's 15 days and 220 minutes of talk time, the same as the GSM version.
As with the 8100 the 8130 sports a microSD expansion slot. It supports the SDHC variety of microSD card, which currently top out at 4GB and will someday reach 32GB. There's also 64MB f internal Flash memory.
For picture and video there's a 2 megapixel camera with what RIM is calling an enhanced flash. There's a 3.5mm stereo headset jack and support for Bluetooth stereo audio.
Verizon says it will carry the 8130 in silver. Sprint will offer it in amethyst.
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