The BlackBerry is getting a new look as a flip phone, a design its maker Research In Motion hopes will appeal to the North American consumer market, which seems to prefer the shape.
Co-CEO Jim Balsillie said the new BlackBerry Pearl Flip is the company’s first smartphone to deviate from the familiar rectangle shape.
“I am not aware of another flip phone in the smartphone category,” said Balsillie.
“I would expect, and that’s just a personal expectation, that it would go more to the consumer market.”
Balsillie said about 70% of cellphone users in the United States use flip phones, a market he said is underserved by RIM in the smartphone category.
While he didn’t have any figures available for flip phone use in Canada, Balsillie expects it would parallel the U.S. situation.
In Canada, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip will run exclusively on the Rogers Wireless GSM network.
The new clamshell smartphone has the familiar BlackBerry function of secure push e-mail. It can be used to make calls, browse the Internet, take a picture, watch a video or listen to music. It’s also Wi-Fi enabled and has all functions of a smartphone.
It has a hinge that separates the keyboard from the screen to maximize space for the keyboard and trackball.
The new phone is the successor to the BlackBerry Pearl, which launched two years ago. Both models have 20 keys and double up some letters on each key, in contrast to the wider, more professionally oriented models that have more keys and assign only one letter to each.
