Everything Digital

Research In Motion announced the BlackBerry® 8820 smartphone. Featuring RIM’s thinnest smartphone design with a full and highly tactile QWERTY* keyboard, large and bright display (320 x 240), user-friendly trackball navigation system and best-in-class voice and data functionality, the BlackBerry 8820 also includes built-in GPS (Global Positioning System), RIM’s latest media player enhancements, and a microSD / microSDHC (microSD High Capacity) expandable memory slot that can support current and future generations of microSD memory cards up to 32GB. The BlackBerry 8820 is the first dual-mode BlackBerry handset, combining EDGE/GPRS/GSM cellular and Wi-Fi® connectivity for data access and voice support through UMA (unlicensed mobile access) for fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) service offerings from various wireless carriers around the world.

“The BlackBerry 8820 is an extraordinary business phone for people who really care about mobile communications and productivity. It features all the renowned power and usability of the BlackBerry platform with executive class styling and unprecedented connectivity features, including cellular, Wi-Fi and built-in GPS,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at RIM. “The BlackBerry 8820 complements our carrier partners’ cellular networks with the added ability to stay connected via Wi-Fi at home, through hotspots and corporate campuses.”

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Research in Motion has finally got permission to sell it’s BlackBerry handset in China, after eight years of effort. The company says it plans to serve customers in key Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai & Guangzhou.

RIM expects to start selling their 8700g handset in Chinese shops at the end of August, and has already received nearly 5000 advance orders, mainly from corporate customers, especially from multinationals with offices in China.