A View on View :: Pearl Now or Pearl Later?

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the blog - examines the world of telecom and technology from a distinctly Canadian perspective.

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Pearl Now or Pearl Later?

by Mark Evans on Tue 26 Sep 2006 10:22 AM EDT | Permanent Link | Cosmos

The BlackBerry Pearl is getting rave reviews (Walter Mossberg, the NYT's David Pogue, Mark Evans :), etc.) and sales have been extremely brisk (some stores apparently sold out in the first week). That said, I'm wondering if news about a Pearl-like BlackBerry with a QWERTY keyboard (called the Blackberry 8800) will take some momentum out of the Pearl's sales. To be clear, there are a lot of people excited about the Pearl's cool look and feel and the fact it comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera as well as a video and music player. There are, however, some people less than enthused about the SureType keypad, even though it seems as easy to use as a QWERTY keypad. As information about the BlackBerry 8800 starts to escape from the geekdom (a.k.a. Engadget, BBHub, etc.) to the mainstream press will consumers decide to hold off on buying a Pearl until the 8800 is launched? As much as the Pearl is compelling, RIM may need to ramp up its marketing to show people how easy it is to use the SureType keypad.
Update: According to Think Secret, Apple plans to launch its iPhone exclusively with Cingular early next year. The iPhone will feature a 3-megapixel camera, iTunes and iSync.Apple apparently believe iPhone shipments will be 25 million in 2007. Engadget also has a post.

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Comments

Re: Pearl Now or Pearl Later?

by Trevor Stafford on Tue 26 Sep 2006 12:56 PM EDT | Permanent Link

So is this bad boy in Canada yet? I know RIM's fealty lies to its enterprise masters in the US, but it irks me that I have to wait for the Canadian distribution of a Canadian product.

Re: Re: Pearl Now or Pearl Later?

by Mark Evans on Tue 26 Sep 2006 01:09 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link

not yet. rogers is supposed to be unveiling it in the next week or so.

Re: Pearl Now or Pearl Later?

by Stuart MacDonald on Tue 26 Sep 2006 03:31 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link

Well, Pearl with QWERTY sounds like a winner for Yours Truly. Of course, having *just* acquired the 8700 (for $549 btw...argh) the idea of laying out again so soon is painful.

Mark, do you know if the Pearl operates with the higher speed EDGE (or whatever) network?

- Stuart

Re: Re: Pearl Now or Pearl Later?

by Mark Evans on Tue 26 Sep 2006 03:53 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link

the pearl runs on t-mobile's edge network. i suspect it would on rogers' as well.

Re: Re: Pearl Now or Pearl Later?

by Anonymous on Tue 26 Sep 2006 08:53 PM EDT | Permanent Link

I currently use the SureType, It's great, except for about 3 words which it always screws up!

Re: Pearl Now or Pearl Later?

by Vikesh on Tue 26 Sep 2006 03:52 PM EDT | Permanent Link

I'm not sure if the 8800 will have a camera, which may help Pearl sales if this is the case.

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