Airtel, RIM Launch BlackBerry Pearl 8120

Bharti Airtel and Research In Motion (RIM) have announced the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 smartphone, priced at Rs. 24,990, in India.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 available in a titanium finish measures 107mm x 55mm x 14mm, weighs approximately 91g and comes with a 2 megapixel camera with 5x digital zoom that supports video capture in two resolutions - 240x180 or 176x144 for sharing via MMS.

The media player allows users to create and edit playlists right on the handset and allows users to manage their media files from their PC with the Roxio Media Manager for BlackBerry, that is included with the BlackBerry Desktop Manager software.

The 8120 supports the Bluetooth stereo audio profile (A2DP/AVRCP), and comes with a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack. The smartphone also provides a microSD/SDHC memory card slot for additional storage of music, videos and pictures.

Sanjay Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel said, "We are delighted to introduce the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 to the Indian consumer. The Pearl 8120 excels in both functionality and design and it will help Airtel users make the most of their time in both personal and professional settings. They will get an opportunity to experience a world class product which is elegant, stylish and equipped to deliver a power packed performance. This exceptional device reinforces our commitment to innovation and to bring the latest and best communication experience for Airtel's BlackBerry users."

"BlackBerry smartphones are well received in India and we are pleased to be working be Airtel to introduce another RIM innovation to the Indian market," said Norm Lo, Vice President of Asia Pacific at RIM. "The new BlackBerry Pearl 8120, with its elegant design, advanced multimedia features and Wi-Fi capabilities, make it perfect for both personal and professional use."

In addition to quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support, the 8120 facilitates web browsing and expanded wireless data coverage via Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) networks.

The smartphone is supported on BlackBerry Internet Service, giving users access to up to 10 supported work or personal email accounts (including most popular ISP email accounts), as well as BlackBerry Enterprise Server, enabling advanced security and IT administration within IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise environments.

The 8120 is now available at Airtel Relationship Centers and retail outlets.