COMDEX CHICAGO - RIM adds voice to BlackBerry

Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) has added voice capabilities to its RIM BlackBerry handheld device to create the Java-based BlackBerry 5810, which it is demonstrating at the Comdex Chicago trade show, the company announced Monday.

The PDA (personal digital assistant) is designed to work over GSM/GPRS (Global System for Mobile Communications/General Packet Radio Service) mobile networks with J2ME (Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition) as its core operating system, RIM said in a statement.

Along with voice, the BlackBerry 5810 includes "always on" e-mail, Web browser and SMS (Short Messaging Service) capabilities as well as organizer functions such as a calendar and address book that are used with a "thumb-typing" keyboard, RIM said.

The BlackBerry 5810 joins other combination mobile phone and PDA products on or coming to the market, such as the Handspring Treo from Handspring Inc., which is expected to hit shelves next month, and the Nokia 9210 Communicator smart phone from Nokia Corp., which is based on the Symbian operating system and began selling in Europe last year. Also bound for the U.S. market is the HP Jornada 928 Wireless Digital Assistant (WDA) from Hewlett-Packard Co., the first branded Microsoft Corp. Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition device.

The BlackBerry device is aimed at enterprise customers. Versions of the BlackBerry, without voice capabilities, are currently being used by about 6,500 companies, said RIM U.K. spokeswoman Tilly Quanjer.

"The BlackBerry 5810 is different from, say, the Treo because it is an end-to-end solution for enterprises and comes with end-to-end security. Plus it has push technology, which means that BlackBerry sends your email to you, so it just arrives, whereas with the Treo you have to download it," Quanjer said.

AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and the Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) subsidiary VoiceStream Wireless Corp. have begun accepting orders for the BlackBerry 5810 in the U.S. and will begin shipping the BlackBerry 5810 by the end of March, RIM said.

Though customers can place telephone orders for BlackBerry 5810 through both AT&T Wireless and VoiceStream beginning Monday, pricing was not available. "We have not yet made the pricing public," Quanjer said.

The Treo 180 communicator is now available for US$399 when bought with GSM service from Cingular Wireless LLC or VoiceStream, or for $549 without service, according to Handspring's Web Site.

In Canada, RIM has a similar deal with Rogers AT&T Wireless, though a release date has yet to be announced.

In Europe, mobile-phone operator mmO2 PLC will sell a version of the BlackBerry 5810, though it is not expected to hit the market until the end of the third or fourth quarter, according to mmO2 spokesman Simon Gordon.

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