Not every day you see Canada get a BlackBerry before the US, eh? Well, the rumors have panned out, and we’ve got an announcement of the GPS Pearl from Rogers, going for $249.99 on a three-year contract and coming in a dashing blue. Spain is getting its kicks with the 8110, and Rogers looks like the first one to pick it up over here. With both GSM and CDMA carriers having next gen Pearls, you can count on some sweet deals on the leftover BlackBerry 8100s. Keep an eye on the Rogers store for availability.
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Rogers BlackBerry 8110 gets official
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Scanbuy has announced that their 2D barcode scanning app for cameraphones is now available for BlackBerry. Using their software, you can now take pictures of particular barcodes similar to those being worked into airports with your Pearl or Curve to access related content like music, pictures and information. They’ve already got a bunch of partners doing some pretty interesting things with the technology, such as the Paris Metro which delivers point of interest and transit information using the barcodes, and Codilink who’s using it to deliver and redeem coupons. There are a lot of great opportunities for this kind of stuff, that’s for sure.
Vodafone has announced its release of the GPS Pearl, including support for Sat Nav, which offers traffic reports, points of interest and directions. As ever, Brits will be enjoying some great prices, as the BlackBerry 8110 will be available for free if you sign up for any £25 plan over 18 months, or £34 over a year. This release follows a steady line stemming from Spain, but rumors continue to trickle in of seeing this GSM device in North America soon. If you’re looking to pick one up, head on over to Vodafone’s online store.
Rumors are a-spreading of the GPS Pearl coming to Rogers sometime soon. The Spanish launch has already been announced, but it’s good to see the BlackBerry 8110 might be hopping the pond so soon. Pricetag is said to be around $249.99 on a three-year contract, and should be coming in a snazzy blue.
Yep, it’s all good and official now, shortly after the invitations to Vodafone’s Italian launch party were sent out. In order to accent the maiden voyage of the GPS-enabled Pearl, Vodafone’s giving out a free year of its navigation software and unlimited plans for 25€/month on a BES and 15€/month for BIS users. The release only mentions a black case, so those other colours are probably Italian exclusives. Tough break, Spain. Regardless, this is the first new BlackBerry of 2008 and knocks off one of the four or five that we can look forward to. What’s next? The 8110 will be packing a 89 € pricetag, or $US 130, for anyone looking to grab one.
Stefano at BBWorld has been cordially invited to RIM and Vodafone’s party for the Italian launch of the BlackBerry 8110, happening on January 30th. The GPS-enabled Pearl’s launch was predicted by Jibi last November, and will be available in 3 colors – red, blue, and grey – and also features a 2 megapixel camera. There’s no word yet on when the rest of the world will get their hot little hands on it, but if past experience with the 8120 release is any indicator, the GPS Pearl will spread to other European countries pretty quickly and North America will get it… well, sooner or later.
Another gem from the leaked Voda slides: the BlackBerry 8110, due out by the end of January on Vodafone. CDMA carriers got a bit of a heads up with the 8130 for the holidays, and the 8110 would bring GSM providers up to speed, if it weren’t for the lack of 3G. Still, a GPS Pearl is nothing to sneeze at, and should bring some joy to the folks who have salivating for the 8130 for the last few months but were locked into GSM service.
Jibi’s heard that the GPS-enabled Pearl will be coming to town early 2008, following up nicely on the 8130’s holiday performance. Great news and all, but is the 8120 not even entering into the picture, here? North America still hasn’t seen a glimmer of the Wi-Fi Pearl, and our buddies abroad have been enjoying it since the summer. C’mon RIM, show us some love.
Update! Gizmodo’s reporting that the Pearl 2 will be packing high-speed EV-DO Rev. A and be skinny to RAZR-like proportions. In addition their sources are saying we’re looking at a Q4 2007 release on Sprint.
Our buddy Jibi posted some Pearl 2 speculations on BGR over the weekend, stemming from some domain sleuthing akin to the Curve situation. Model numbers 8110, 8120, and 8130 are all on the plate. Jibi’s guessing that the 8110 will be a Pearl with an upgraded camera but no Wi-Fi, and the 8130 will be a Wi-Fi Pearl plus CDMA world phone action. As for the 8120, we’re looking at UMA (which is supposed to be called GAN, apparently), released with OS 4.3.0 and timed with T-Mobile’s other Wi-Fi handoff devices. All sounds like some pretty reasonable predictions – only time will tell if they hold.
